Today, we will be covering Jonah 1-4. These are very short chapters, but they are a lot more fun to act out, than they are to read. You can read the chapters and write your own script. Here is what we did:
Lord: Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Jonah: (Jumps up) I don’t want to go to Nineveh. Those people are so wicked, they won’t listen to me. I know, I’ll hide out in Tarshish instead!
A great storm arises, people on the boat are shaking, being squirted with squirt guns or having water thrown on them, pieces of the boat break off. The people in the boat are scared and begin to kneel down and pray. Some of them start throwing things overboard to lighten the load)
Jonah: Sleeping in the bottom of the boat.
Shipmaster: Why are you sleeping?! You need to wake up and pray, or we are all going to die!
Shipmate 1: Let’s cast lots and see who made God so mad that He sent this storm! (Passes out sticks. Jonah gets the short stick)
Shipmate 2: (to Jonah) What did you do that caused this to happen? Where did you come from?
Jonah: I am an Hebrew; and I pray to the God that created the whole world. I am running away, because God told me to do something that scared me.
All Other Shipmates: Gasp
Shipmaster: Why did you do that? What should we do to save us and our ship?
Jonah: I know that this storm is my fault. Just throw me overboard and you will be safe.
Shipmaster: I hate throwing you over board in this storm. Maybe we can row really fast and make it to land.
The storm continues as they try to row to land.
Shipmaster: Please God, do not let us die. We tried to protect this man, but we know that’s not possible. We hate killing this man, but we will do what you want.
Throw Jonah overboard. The storm stops. The shipmates thank God, and the boat leaves, and Jonah is swallowed by a big whale.
Inside the belly of the whale
Jonah: (praying) Please forgive me. Thank you for answering my prayer and saving me from that terrible storm. I promise, if I make it out of here alive, I will go to the temple. No matter what happens, or whomever I am with, I will always worship Thee!
Jonah gets spit out of the belly of the whale onto dry land.
Lord: Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
Jonah: Okay!
Narrator: Nineveh was a great city that took 3 days for Jonah to travel to.
Jonah: In 40 days Nineveh will be overthrown, according to the word of God.
Townsperson: We should worship God and fast. We don’t need fancy clothes or jewels.
King of Nineveh: I too shall take off my fancy clothes and repent of my sins. I send out a royal decree that every man, woman, child, plant, and beast will begin a fast. Nothing will eat or drink anything, but we will be humble and pray to God for forgiveness.
Lord: I am pleased with the humility of these people. I forgive them and I will not let them be destroyed.
Jonah: Hey! I was like them, when I was at home, and I knew you were kind, merciful, forgiving, and not angry. That’s why I tried to leave and go to Tarshish. If you are going to forgive them that easily, I might as well just die.
Lord: Is it doing you well to be angry?
Jonah: I’m going to sit up in the mountains and watch this city fall again.
Narrator: Overnight a gourd grew and the leaves covered Jonah’s head and protected him from the sun. Jonah was grateful for the gourd. The next evening, the Lord sent a worm to destroy the gourd. Then there came a strong east wind and the sun beat down on Jonah all day, until he fainted.
Jonah: It is better for me to die than to live.
Lord: Do you still think it is worth it to be angry? Would you rather be angry at or be happy for the people of Nineveh? You are sad that the gourd died, but you didn’t do any work to create it or grow it. Nineveh is a great city, with thousands of people and animals that are mine, and I love them. Why should I not save them?
Discuss
What lessons do we learn from Jonah?
Click in the picture below to see how we did this lesson
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