God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to the Ninevites. He had lost his leg in a previous encounter with Moby Dick, and has now made it his life’s obsession to take revenge on the white whale that took his leg. See how many times the big fish swallows Jonah! It shows the images with a short description of what is happening in each scene. Moreover, some critics argue that the book of Jonah depicts the prophet as being swallowed by a “great fish” (Jon. The story of Jonah is very simple and easy to understand, somehow they messed the whole thing up.

1:17), while the New Testament suggests that the creature was a “whale” (Mt. Supplies – Cup, googly eyes or a marker to draw eyes on the cup, paper for a tail, string, scissors, balloon, flour.
Jonah, after having been swallowed by the great fish, accepts his punishment, and then ends up doing God’s will once God spares him. Not one whale to be found in the OT. Did Jonah drown in the sea? And, as any schoolboy knows, a whale is a mammal, not a fish. But God prepared a fish that swallowed Jonah when he was thrown overboard. Jonah Runs from God. "Nothing in all creation can hide from him."

12:40). Jonah didn’t want to go there because the Ninevites were wicked people (see Jonah 1:2), and Jonah knew that when he came there to preach to the people, they’d repent and be … Watch this video about Bubba the Whale and how God is always with us! The translators for the original Greek didn't have a word for 'ketos' [large sea creature]. After telling the story, mix the cards and allow children to put them back in order. They gave the big fish that swallowed Jonah the name of Humphrey. Even when Jonah disobeyed God, God was with him and saved him. Jonah and the Big Fish. Select Option 1 to buy a copy for your personal use, or Option 2 (group license) if you would like to make multiple copies for your group, church, ministry or congregation. A large fish is prepared by G‑d, and it swallows the drowning prophet. God sent a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights. Jonah 2 is written in the familiar poetic form of the psalms, expressing thanksgiving to God for salvation. by Sharla Guenther. Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me," but Jonah instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa and sailing to Tarshish. About the fish: We don’t know what kind; we know it was a great fish. So we did Jonah and the fish this week as we were covering God is with us everywhere. Download Story Planner: Jonah and the large fish A free Story Planner PDF can be downloaded. The sailors picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea and the storm stopped at once. 12:40. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.


When Jonah preached, the people of Ninevah repented and God taught Jonah that even our enemies are valuable to the Lord. The fish is pictured as God’s means of salvation. God provides the fish (there are parallels to this later when he provides the vine and he provides the worm) and the fish saves Jonah from drowning, which he admits is his deserved fate. See how many times the big fish swallows Jonah! —— Jonah 1:4-17 (NKJV) In my final illustration with full color, I made sure to depict it as accurately as I could, capturing the thunderstorm that was set upon them at sea, that the ship crew had to throw Jonah overboard to appease God. Use the Jonah and the Big Fish Story Sequencing Cards to tell the Bible story of Jonah.

11:14. He prayed to the Lord from inside the fish. This is a great activity for Sunday school or your homeschool group. God protected Jonah in the fish and, again, told him to go to Ninevah. Nothing will be shipped. The provision of the fish is an act of grace on God’s part, not a punishment.