What is the book of Jonah?
Jonah is a book of Israel’s prophets. It shows how full of mercy God is. It does this through a story about the prophet Jonah and the Assyrians of Nineveh.
The story about Jonah took place while the Assyrian government was strong and ruled over many nations.
It isn’t known when Jonah served as a prophet. It was before King Jeroboam the second stopped ruling the northern kingdom. He ruled from around the year 793 to around the year 753 BC.
It isn’t known who wrote this story down.
Who was this book written for?
For the people of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Why was Jonah written?
To give an example of outsiders showing respect for God.
To give an example of people changing their ways after hearing a message of judgement.
To show that God loves all people groups and all that he made.
Main ideas
God is angry at the evil and sinful things all people do.
God is full of love and mercy toward all people. This includes the people of Jacob’s family line and all other people groups.
God wants all people to turn away from evil and to follow his ways for living.
Outline
Jonah disobeys God’s instructions (1).
Jonah prays (2).
Jonah obeys God’s instructions (3).
Jonah’s anger (4).