QUADS Content Session 2, Week 3

Read Jonah 3.

1. How is Jonah’s response to God’s command different in Jonah 3:3 than it was in Jonah 1:3? Why do you think it changed?

2. What was the message Jonah was commanded to preach to Nineveh? Is this the Gospel message? Does that affect how we interpret Nineveh's response?

3. What did the people of Nineveh do in response to God’s word to them through Jonah? Why did they do it?

4. Historians have pointed out that about the time of Jonah's mission, Nineveh had experienced a series of famines, plagues, revolts and eclipses, all of which were seen as omens of far worse things to come. Some have argued that this was God's way of preparing the ground for Jonah's message. How does this shed light on their motive in responding as they did?

5. What do you think it means to be truly repentant? Read 2 Corinthians 7:10-11.

Based on those verses and the context above, do you think the Ninevites exhibit true repentance? Look back on Jonah's repentance in chapter two. Compare and contrast it with the Ninevites. Was Jonah truly repentant?

6. How does God respond to the Ninevites in this passage? Why do you think He does this? Jonah and Nineveh were both half-hearted in their repentance yet God relented on Nineveh and spared Jonah's life. How does that encourage you in your efforts towards repentance?

7. How do you expect God to respond to you when you’ve sinned, messed things up like Jonah or the Ninevites? Does your expectation fit with his character here in Jonah? Why or why not? Read Exodus 34:6-7. That passage is the first time Yahweh ever described Himself with attributes. That is in line with how he treated Nineveh. Is it how you perceive Him?

8. Close by reading Romans 2:4. Repentance is not a "work" to earn God's kind posture towards us, but repentance is a response to it. Take some time on your walk back to your apartment, or some time before you go to sleep tonight, thinking of things you need to repent of, knowing with certainty that we have God's kind blessing on us, by faith in His Son.