An Unsettling Grace

Whoops! Got invited to go fishing and forgot to update Wonderwhat. Sorry about that. This Sunday we will be doing our final study in the book of Jonah. What a fun ride this has been! We’ll be reading all of Jonah 4.

Does a movie with really happy ending ever cause you to be furious enough to want to die? I’m going to suppose not. At least I hope not. That would be attitudinal behavior that would warrant some professional intervention, wouldn’t it? Yet that’s very much like what we’ll read about our prophet in this final installment of our study.

What reason does Jonah give for being so mad in v2? Why do you think God’s grace and mercy are  so upsetting to Jonah? Have you ever struggled with the idea that God really, really loves that person who did something terrible to you, and would forgive them if they repented? What ways do you find to reconcile God’s justice and mercy?

What does the vine God appointed represent to you? If Jonah built a shelter to get shade from the sun – why do you think God provided the plant? What does v6 say that God gave him the plant to save him from? The Hebrew word that’s translated “discomfort” in the ESV is “re’eh”. It appears 306 times in the bible and 112 times it’s translated at a different word. Follow the previous link to find out what it’s translated as 112 times. Does that change your idea about why God provided the plant?

If you were to summarize what God is trying to get across to Jonah as a stand in for all of  God’s people, what would that message be?

I hope you’ve like this study as much as I did! Hope to see you on Sunday!

 

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