Answer: die than to live
Jonah is so upset that God forgave the people of Nineveh that he doesn't even want to live anymore.
From Quiz: Jonah Doesn't Want to Obey
Answer: 8
Jonah wasn't any great speaker. I guess we all wish public speaking could be that easy.
From Quiz: The Story of Jonah
Answer: angered
One idea expressed in Jonah is God's forgiveness versus man's. Jonah was (implicitly) forgiven by God for running away, and (implicitly) forgiven by the sailors for putting them in mortal danger. Yet, when God easily forgives the Assyrians, Jonah is incensed, in maybe the most bonkers moment of a bonkers book! So much so, that he asks God to take his life (verse 3) and then retires to a spot outside the city, hopeful that God would destroy Ninevah after all (verse 5). Let's remember that Jonah seemed so fearful of God's command to go to Ninevah in the first place that he ran away. Only after going through the difficult experiences he did, did he resign himself to take on this difficult mission, and now that it's succeeded, he's upset. Seems crazy, right?
Jonah claims to have known God would do this, to explain his anger (4:2). Jonah claims this as the reason for his flight. He really did not fear Ninevah, but rather God's willingness to forgive Ninevah. Jonah has a human's idea of justice, a desire to see wrongdoers get what's coming to them, even though he's been granted mercy himself many times. But God doesn't have this sense of justice. Christians believe God's justice is tempered by his love. While love and justice seem like parallel lines that never meet in humans, God is found at their intersection, as a being with perfect justice and perfect love.
From Quiz: The Adventures of Jonah
Answer: God relented, and spared the people and the city
God relented, and, according to Jonah 4:1, it was just this which "displeased Jonah exceedingly". To paraphrase the next few verses, Jonah said, "Oh, no, Lord! This is exactly what I said back home was going to happen! This is why I ran off to Tarshish, because I know how merciful and softhearted you are! Oh, I'd rather die than see this day!" One strongly suspects that Jonah did not like being made to prophesy disaster, and then see his prophecy *not* come true when the Ninevites repented. Jonah, I believe, did not like looking like a fool.
From Quiz: BBB Bible Series: Jonah
Answer: A plant, a worm, and an east wind.
God causes a plant to spring up to give Jonah shade, which makes Jonah "very happy" (4:6)--the first and only time he feels happy in the whole book. But the next day God provides a worm to attack the plant, and a "sultry east wind" to make Jonah miss the plant even more (4:8).
Frogs, locusts and hail are 3 of the 10 Plagues sent to teach Pharaoh a lesson.
The tree, fruit, and snake are from the Garden of Eden story.
Lost donkeys, a well, and a prophet are from the tale of the first meeting between Saul and Samuel in 1 Samuel 9.
From Quiz: The Prophet Who Ran Away From God
Answer: He fainted.
Jonah 4:8 "And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live."
Incidentally, Phil Vischer is one of the co-founders of Veggie Tales. One of their movies is "Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie".
From Quiz: Jonah Doesn't Want to Obey
Answer: God's love
According to Jonah, God is gracious. He records that grace can be forfeited because of idol worship.
From Quiz: The Story of Jonah
Answer: It was bitten by a worm and withered
God sent a plant in Jonah chapter 4 to provide shade to ease Jonah's discomfort (verse 6). However, he also had a worm bite the plant and cause it to wither and die (verse 7). When the sun came out hot, Jonah complained to God.
God answered, as he frequently does in the Bible when questioned by man, by questioning man's right to accuse God of anything. Jonah did nothing to earn the plant; God had provided it as a gift. God also points out Jonah has no cause to complain about God's judgement, or lack of judgement, against Ninevah.
God asks Jonah why he should not feel compassion for all the Assyrians who would have been destroyed if God had done as Jonah seemed to want. But God also mentions he has compassion for the animals living in the city. This last verse is heartwarming to anyone who has lost a loved pet or animal, by providing a picture of a God who is concerned even over the welfare of animals.
From Quiz: The Adventures of Jonah
Answer: the people could not tell their right hand from their left
In the context, it seems that God meant that the Ninevites didn't know what they were doing, especially in terms of telling right from wrong. It's possible that He meant that they were like little children, too young to understand.
From Quiz: BBB Bible Series: Jonah
Answer: There are a lot of people in Nineveh, and they don't understand the difference between right and wrong.
In the final verse of the Book of Jonah (4:11), God says, "And should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not yet know their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well?"
The Book of Jonah is often seen as a story of the power of repentance--it is read in synagogues around the world in the closing hours of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement--so it's noteworthy that God doesn't mention repentance at all. Instead, God says the opposite: the people of Nineveh are called ignorant and compared to animals, and thus apparently not responsible for their own actions.
From Quiz: The Prophet Who Ran Away From God
