1. Jonah
Chapter 3

2. The Setting of Jonah
Setting – the background of a story (place, time, society, environment, climate)
Israel is divided and is under the leadership of a wicked king, Jeroboam the second.
Jonah was influential in helping the king recapture parts of Israel that had fallen to Syria.
The Assyrians got in on the fighting by attacking Syria, which was weakening as an empire, and Palestine (Israel).

3. As warriors, the Assyrians were violent and cruel people, torturing some people and enslaving conquered people.
Nineveh was the unofficial capital of Assyria and was a massive place, with over 120,000 people living in the city.
The city was over 60 miles wide.
Nineveh is mentioned in Genesis 10:11, being founded by Nimrod, who led a rebellion against God. It was the center of worship of Ishtar, the fertility goddess.

4. Because of the Assyrian’s evil reputation, Jonah probably ran away from his call to preach to them out of disgust for their sin.
Their goddess, Ishtar, had many similarities to the character and nature of God
Creator
Lawgiver
Made every human a god

5. Ishtar

6. Plot: the events leading up to a conclusion
Copy this into your notebook. Place in front of your flow chart called “Providence at Work”

7. Providence At Work God calls Jonah Jonah runs from God
God sends a storm
Sailors fear for their lives and call on their gods
Jonah confesses
Sailors throw Jonah overboard
The storm stops
The sailors worship the One True God
Jonah is swallowed by a fish
Jonah repents
God makes the fish vomit up Jonah
Complete the hand out by filling in the blank spaces.

8. Providence at Work Jonah listens to God and preaches to Nineveh
God makes the fish vomit up Jonah
God calls Jonah again
Jonah listens to God and preaches to Nineveh
Nineveh sees their sin and repents
God forgives Nineveh

9. Setting
Setting: the background of a story (place, time, society, environment, climate, etc.)
Copy this into your notebook. Place in front of “Plot”

10. Word Studies
Sackcloth, 3:5 – n., coarse cloth, used for clothing to wear in mourning, distress, or mortification.
Decree, 3:7 – n., established rule or law

11. Conclusion
The allegory of Jonah can apply to our lives today. God has called on us to preach to the world. When we follow Him, others can come to Him through repentance. Jonah obeyed God and many people were saved. The setting of this story is important because it gives us a clue as to why Jonah ran away in the first place.