# The Prophet Jonah - The Book of Jonah

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 21 Dec 2023, 13 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/a3b8cb04-7556-4bc5-968f-b4d6018a869d/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 114. Dive into our newest podcast episode where we bring to life the extraordinary tale of Jonah from the Bible! Learn how Jonah, a prophet, tries to flee from God's command to go to Nineveh and ends up on a ship headed for Tarshish. We'll experience the intense storm sent by God, Jonah's brave confession, and his dramatic sacrifice to calm the sea. But that's just the beginning! Discover Jonah's incredible journey inside a giant fish, his heartfelt prayer, and how he learns a powerful lesson about obedience and God's mercy. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord.
[0:04] Speaker 1: My prayer came to you in your holy temple. Jonah 2, 7.
[0:10] Speaker 1: Dear God, thank you for teaching us today that obeying
[0:13] Speaker 1: your voice is always the right thing to do. And
[0:16] Speaker 1: there's nowhere we can go where you aren't with us. God,
[0:20] Speaker 1: you are so strong, mighty, and loving. The rain and
[0:24] Speaker 1: the winds and even the fish in the sea know
[0:27] Speaker 1: your voice. We want to know your voice too. Thank
[0:30] Speaker 1: you for being the God of second chances. In Jesus'
[0:34] Speaker 1: name I pray. Amen.
[0:37] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:40] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports, delivering
[0:43] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world,
[0:47] Speaker 2: cultivate curiosity, and discover new interests with hands-on crafts and
[0:52] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more. All with a
[0:55] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more
[1:01] Speaker 2: and save 20% with code blessed.
[1:10] Speaker 3: The prophet Jonah. In our last story, Elisha served his
[1:15] Speaker 3: life as a prophet and went to be with the Lord.
[1:19] Speaker 3: In this story, we will learn about another prophet, a
[1:22] Speaker 3: reluctant prophet named Jonah. who will be sent by God
[1:26] Speaker 3: to preach against Nineveh, as inspired by Jonah.
[1:34] Speaker 1: Hey, it's Julia Sadler here. I'm glad you're here with
[1:37] Speaker 1: us for another story from Kids Bible in a Year podcast.
[1:41] Speaker 1: Today we're going to hear a popular story you may
[1:44] Speaker 1: have heard before. But first, let's pause and pray silently
[1:49] Speaker 1: in our hearts, asking God to teach us something new today.
[1:53] Speaker 1: something we might not have understood before. Okay, let's dive
[2:00] Speaker 1: in and go for a swim with Jonah.
[2:05] Speaker 3: The Lord told Jonah the prophet, Leave right now and
[2:09] Speaker 3: go to Nineveh. Go and tell those people that I'm
[2:13] Speaker 3: going to judge them because of their evil ways. Jonah
[2:16] Speaker 3: knew that God was good and merciful, that he would
[2:19] Speaker 3: forgive Nineveh if they asked for forgiveness. Jonah didn't want
[2:23] Speaker 3: that to happen, so he decided to ignore God's will
[2:27] Speaker 3: and ran away to a seaport town called Jabba. He
[2:31] Speaker 3: got a ticket for a ship going to Tarshish. He
[2:35] Speaker 3: wanted to get as far away from God's will so
[2:37] Speaker 3: there would be no way that Nineveh could hear God's
[2:40] Speaker 3: message and repent. When the ship left port, God sent
[2:44] Speaker 3: a storm to hit it. Sailors and people on the
[2:47] Speaker 3: boat were scared. The storm was so bad that it
[2:50] Speaker 3: was about to destroy the ship and they would drown.
[2:54] Speaker 3: The sailors threw all the cargo off of the boat
[2:56] Speaker 3: so that they could lighten the boat. When it didn't help,
[3:00] Speaker 3: they became desperate and prayed to their gods. While all
[3:05] Speaker 3: of this was happening, Jonah was taking a nap in
[3:08] Speaker 3: the hold of the boat. The captain found and woke
[3:11] Speaker 3: him up.
[3:12] Speaker 2: You're sleeping?
[3:14] Speaker 3: There's a massive storm outside. We're about to die. Get
[3:18] Speaker 3: up and pray to your god. Ask him to stop
[3:21] Speaker 3: this storm. Given a little more time, the sailors on
[3:25] Speaker 3: the ship figured that the storm was because of one
[3:27] Speaker 3: specific person on the boat. They decided that they were
[3:31] Speaker 3: going to pull straws to see who the person was.
[3:35] Speaker 3: After pulling the shortest straw, everyone realized that it was Jonah.
[3:40] Speaker 3: What have you done to cause this storm? Who are you?
[3:44] Speaker 3: Jonah was embarrassed. He knew exactly what happened to cause
[3:49] Speaker 3: the storm. I serve the Lord God, the one who
[3:53] Speaker 3: created the sea, the sky, and the ground. I've been
[3:57] Speaker 3: running away from him. As soon as he said that,
[4:00] Speaker 3: the thunder got louder and the rain poured harder, causing
[4:04] Speaker 3: all the men to lose focus for a second. Snapping
[4:07] Speaker 3: back together, they glared at Jonah and screamed over the thunder.
[4:12] Speaker 3: What should we do to you to stop this storm?
[4:15] Speaker 3: God only wants one thing. He won't calm the storm
[4:19] Speaker 3: until he gets it. You guys have to throw me overboard,
[4:23] Speaker 3: Jonah yelled back. The men didn't want to do this.
[4:27] Speaker 3: They thought Jonah was pretty innocent. They tried to fight
[4:31] Speaker 3: against the storm and get back to the shore, but
[4:33] Speaker 3: there was no such luck. They all cried out to
[4:36] Speaker 3: the Lord and asked for forgiveness for what was about
[4:39] Speaker 3: to happen. The men picked up Jonah in their arms.
[4:43] Speaker 3: and tossed him off the boat into the water. As
[4:47] Speaker 3: soon as Jonah hit the water, the storm stopped. The
[4:51] Speaker 3: men were in awe of what had happened and realized
[4:55] Speaker 3: that the God Jonah served was real. They got down
[4:58] Speaker 3: on their hands and knees on the deck and worshipped
[5:01] Speaker 3: the Lord. They all promised to serve Him with their lives.
[5:07] Speaker 3: God had sent a large fish to swallow Jonah as
[5:10] Speaker 3: his body began to fall further from the surface. The
[5:14] Speaker 3: fish gulped down Jonah, and Jonah stayed in the fish's
[5:17] Speaker 3: stomach for three days. He laid with seaweed and knew
[5:22] Speaker 3: that the fish was swimming in the deep sea. Jonah
[5:25] Speaker 3: prayed and prayed, letting God know that he knew it
[5:29] Speaker 3: was him who put him inside the fish. Jonah told God,
[5:34] Speaker 3: I'll give you whatever you want, Lord. I'll thank you
[5:38] Speaker 3: for your will and do what you want me to do.
[5:42] Speaker 3: As Jonah finished his prayer, the Lord told the fish
[5:46] Speaker 3: to bring Jonah back to land. So the fish did
[5:49] Speaker 3: as told and went to the shore. He vomited Jonah
[5:55] Speaker 3: onto the sand.
[5:59] Speaker 1: What a story! Can you even imagine being swallowed by
[6:04] Speaker 1: a giant fish? Talk about learning a hard lesson. When
[6:09] Speaker 1: God told the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah
[6:13] Speaker 1: was not too excited. Nineveh was a huge crowded city
[6:17] Speaker 1: in a very important country. It was not a city
[6:21] Speaker 1: in Israel that Jonah was familiar with. And the people
[6:24] Speaker 1: there were very powerful. God said that because of their
[6:29] Speaker 1: evil ways, he was going to judge their nation. But
[6:33] Speaker 1: he wanted Jonah to warn them. That way, if they listened,
[6:38] Speaker 1: they would repent and God would not have to punish them.
[6:42] Speaker 1: But as we heard, Jonah didn't like that idea one bit.
[6:47] Speaker 1: So he said, no way am I doing that. That
[6:51] Speaker 1: was his mistake number one. After all, these people have
[6:55] Speaker 1: been disobeying God for a long time. And Jonah did
[6:58] Speaker 1: not feel like they deserved God's mercy. Why shouldn't they
[7:02] Speaker 1: be punished? As we can see, Jonah's heart was not
[7:05] Speaker 1: very clean. He was feeling jealous, mad, and as if
[7:10] Speaker 1: he knew better than God. And that's usually where sin begins,
[7:15] Speaker 1: in our hearts. So he ran. Mistake number two. Jonah
[7:21] Speaker 1: ignored what God said and went in the opposite direction,
[7:25] Speaker 1: on a ship to a faraway place called Tarshish. Now
[7:29] Speaker 1: let's pause for a minute. Is it possible to run
[7:32] Speaker 1: away from God? I mean, is there anywhere you can
[7:36] Speaker 1: go where God can't find you? I bet you know
[7:39] Speaker 1: the answer to that. We learned this lesson a while
[7:43] Speaker 1: back from King David, and we find it in Psalm 139,
[7:47] Speaker 1: 7 through 10. David says, There's nowhere I can go
[7:51] Speaker 1: that you aren't with me, above, beneath, or anywhere in between.
[7:57] Speaker 1: God is always with you no matter what you do
[8:00] Speaker 1: or where you go. Okay, so Jonah hopped on board
[8:04] Speaker 1: the ship to get away, but God sent a huge
[8:07] Speaker 1: violent storm to bring him back. The storm was so
[8:11] Speaker 1: bad that the sailors were super scared and thought they
[8:14] Speaker 1: were going to die. They tried everything, throwing off cargo,
[8:19] Speaker 1: praying to their false gods, fighting against the storm, but
[8:23] Speaker 1: nothing was working. Finally, the sailors figured out that Jonah
[8:28] Speaker 1: was actually the reason all this was happening. Jonah told
[8:32] Speaker 1: them to throw him overboard and the storm would stop.
[8:36] Speaker 1: So off he flew into the high seas and immediately
[8:39] Speaker 1: the storm stopped. But that's not the coolest part. We
[8:44] Speaker 1: also heard that these sailors who did not know God
[8:47] Speaker 1: now believed in him because of what they saw. They
[8:51] Speaker 1: understood that the God Jonah served was real and present.
[8:56] Speaker 1: They got on their knees and promised to serve this
[8:59] Speaker 1: one true God forever. That's a great example of what
[9:03] Speaker 1: God does so often. Sometimes hard things we go through
[9:08] Speaker 1: can actually point others to Jesus. When we tell others
[9:12] Speaker 1: about our God and people see his work in our lives,
[9:16] Speaker 1: they want to know him too. Then comes the crazy part,
[9:20] Speaker 1: the part you probably think about when you hear the
[9:22] Speaker 1: name Jonah. God sent a huge giant fish to snag
[9:27] Speaker 1: him from the water and swallow him up. We heard
[9:30] Speaker 1: that Jonah lived in the belly of that fish forever.
[9:33] Speaker 1: floating around with seaweed for three whole days. Since there
[9:39] Speaker 1: wasn't much else to do, and since Jonah knew he
[9:42] Speaker 1: had made the biggest mistake ever by running from God,
[9:47] Speaker 1: he spent all his time talking to God. And that
[9:50] Speaker 1: is never a mistake. Wouldn't you love to hear this conversation?
[9:55] Speaker 1: We hear a little bit of it in Jonah chapter 2.
[9:58] Speaker 1: Jonah says, heart has turned from being sinful to being thankful.
[10:04] Speaker 1: He knows God saved him and he's ready to obey.
[10:07] Speaker 1: He's ready for a second chance. And if you know
[10:11] Speaker 1: anything about our wonderful loving father, you know he loves
[10:15] Speaker 1: to give us second chances. Just like he did for Jonah.
[10:20] Speaker 1: One more thing about those three days inside the fish.
[10:24] Speaker 1: We've learned before how the older stories in the Bible
[10:27] Speaker 1: so often point to Jesus in the New Testament. Just
[10:32] Speaker 1: as the fish swallowed Jonah and came out three days later,
[10:36] Speaker 1: Jesus was swallowed up by death and rose from the
[10:40] Speaker 1: grave three days later in obedience to his father. It's
[10:45] Speaker 1: almost as if God is saying, You think this is
[10:49] Speaker 1: a cool story? Just wait until you see how I
[10:52] Speaker 1: will one day rescue you from sin. At the end
[10:56] Speaker 1: of today's story, the Lord told the fish to bring
[10:59] Speaker 1: Jonah back to land. Now, does that mean that a
[11:03] Speaker 1: fish can hear God speak? Sure it does. The Bible
[11:07] Speaker 1: says that all creation knows God's voice. It's the very
[11:12] Speaker 1: voice that created everything in heaven and earth. Just as
[11:17] Speaker 1: God spoke to the storm, telling it to stop when
[11:20] Speaker 1: Jonah went overboard, he spoke to the fish. Can you
[11:24] Speaker 1: think of a time when God spoke to your heart?
[11:27] Speaker 1: Maybe he encouraged you with a promise from the Bible
[11:31] Speaker 1: or asked you to do something nice for someone else,
[11:35] Speaker 1: something that showed them God's love. God speaks to us
[11:39] Speaker 1: in all sorts of ways, and when he does, the
[11:42] Speaker 1: best thing to do is to listen and obey. Just
[11:47] Speaker 1: ask Jonah. Thanks for listening to this crazy, fun, exciting,
[11:51] Speaker 1: true story today. And be sure to come back next
[11:54] Speaker 1: time to hear how the book of Jonah ends. The
[11:57] Speaker 1: Bible really is the best story ever told. It's God's
[12:02] Speaker 1: story to you. And it's all true. Did you enjoy
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[12:14] Speaker 1: listening to Pray.com's Kids Bible in a Year. For more
[12:18] Speaker 1: Bible stories and wisdom to last a lifetime, download the
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[12:35] Speaker 1: Bible in a Year. I want to invite our adult
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