Children Bible Overview 101 05/04/09

GOD MADE PROPHET JONAH UNDERSTAND HIS HEARTBEAT

Recap
Children, last week, we saw how Jonah disobeyed God’s instructions and did not go to Nineveh to
proclaim the gospel. Instead he ran away. God thus planned for a big fish to swallow him until Jonah
repented. God then commanded the fish to vomit Jonah out.
Introduction
After the fish vomited Jonah out, God’s words came to Jonah to go to Nineveh to proclaim the gospel
to the people. This time, Jonah obeyed God and went to Nineveh to preach God’s words. When
Jonah reached the city of Nineveh, he preached God’s words for three days. He told the people, “In
40 days, God will destroy all of you because your sins are very evil.” When the people of Nineveh
heard that, they were very fearful. Hence all of them submitted to God, starting from the King of
Nineveh to the people. They gathered to fast and pray, asking God for repentance. God saw that they
were repentant and had given up their evil ways and violence. He hence had compassion and
changed His mind to allow a disaster to befall them. However, Jonah became angry with God, asking,
“I already know that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in
love and you would not have destroyed Nineveh. That being the case, it would have been better that I
stayed at home. Why did I have to make such an effort to come to Nineveh to proclaim Your words?
It’s better for me to die than to live!” God replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” Jonah hence went
back to the city and sat down at a place east of the city to see what would happen to the city. God
provided a vine and made it grow over Jonah to give shade for his head. The next day, God provided
a worm which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, it blazed on Jonah’s head so
that he grew faint. He told God angrily, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” But God said to
Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” Jonah replied, “Of course!” God then said to
him, “Jonah, you have been concerned about this vine even though you did not tend it or make it
grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. You think about it, there are so many cattle and more
than 120,000 people in Nineveh. They sinned because they did not know God and were almost
destroyed. Should I not be concerned about them?” At that instant, Jonah understood God’s
heartbeat.

1. Although Jonah proclaimed God’s words to the people of Nineveh, he did not
understand God’s heartbeat
1) God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to proclaim, “In 40 days more, God will destroy all of
you because you all have committed evil sins.” God’s purpose was not to destroy the
people of Nineveh but wanted them to repent and turn to God.
2) However, Jonah did not understand God’s heartbeat. He took what God told him to
do as an instruction. Therefore, when the people of Nineveh heard God’s words and
repented, God did not destroy them and that made Jonah very angry, thinking that
God did not keep His word.
3) Actually, God is a gracious and compassionate God who is slow to anger. Therefore,
when God asks us to serve him and proclaim His words, it is for us to understand His
loving heart towards man and not to punish them.
E.g God says, “I do not like you to tell lies, I do not like you to disobey your parents.”
It does not mean that God does not like us but that He dislikes seeing us being
deceived by Satan. The purpose of God telling us this is not to punish us but for us to
repent and listen to Him.
2. The people of Nineveh heard God’s words and later repented because they are
people whom God loves
1) Regardless of how bad the people of Nineveh were, and how evil the sins they had
committed (e.g. tell lies, scold and beat people or even steal the things of others),
when they heard God’s words, they knew that they had wronged and were willing to
repent and turn towards God. That was because they are loved by God. [Therefore,
children, we should not dislike others just because they are naughty but to pray for
them and tell them that God believes in them and tell them to also believe in Jesus.]
2) When the people of Nineveh admitted their wrongdoings and repented, God
immediately forgave them and decided not to allow a disaster to befall them.
[Therefore, children, when a person admits his wrongdoing and repents or when our
friends who know the Lord, Jesus do something wrong, forgive them and not pursue
their wrongdoings.]
3) Children, today, let’s think about this: Write down the names of those people we do
not like or people who were not nice to us before. After that, tell God, “God, because
You have forgiven them, I will also forgive them.” Thereafter, we must pray for them
from today so that they are able to know Jesus and also to love Jesus more.

3. When Jonah understood God’s heartbeat, he was then able to serve God joyfully
1) God loves Jonah and wants to use him. Therefore, God does not only want Jonah to
obey him but to understand His heartbeat of loving people. When Jonah understood
God’s heartbeat, he could then serve with joy.
2) God showed Jonah that He values even a vine. The growth and death of the vine
were in the hands of God, not to mention the 120,000 people from Nineveh who
committed sins daily because they did not know God and were deceived by the devil.
When God saw that, His heart was in pain. Therefore, He wanted Jonah to proclaim
God’s words to them to save them.
3) Children, let’s think about this today, are there friends or people around us whom we
love who have yet to know Jesus and your heart hopes that they too will know Jesus?
Write their names down and today, we will pray for them together.