Book of Jonah Quiz: Part 2

1. After being vomited onto dry land, Jonah received God's call a second time. How was the second call worded differently from the first?

1. The first came with a threat of punishment; the second came with a promise of protection during the mission
2. The first gave no specific message; the second specified the exact words Jonah must say
3. The first said 'preach against Nineveh'; the second said 'proclaim to it the message I give you' — shifting from condemnation to proclamation
4. The wording was identical — God repeated himself exactly to underscore the command Jonah had already been given

2. How large was Nineveh, according to Jonah 3:3?

1. A city so vast that ten days were needed to cross it on horseback
2. A city with walls ten miles long and wide enough for three chariots abreast
3. A very large city — it took three days to go through it
4. The greatest city on earth with a population of five hundred thousand souls

3. What was the entirety of Jonah's recorded sermon to Nineveh?

1. 'Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown'
2. 'Hear the word of the Lord your God — forty days remain before your destruction comes upon you'
3. 'Repent and turn from your evil ways, or the Lord will destroy you as he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah'
4. 'The God of Israel has seen your wickedness and his wrath will consume you — turn or be destroyed'

4. The Ninevites' response to Jonah's message was extraordinary. What did the people immediately do?

1. The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth
2. They drove Jonah out of the city but declared a day of prayer among themselves afterward
3. They gathered in the city square and debated whether Jonah's God was real before deciding to repent
4. They threw Jonah in prison and sent messengers to the king to decide what to do

5. When the king of Nineveh heard Jonah's message, what did he do?

1. He declared a public holiday and invited all people to hear Jonah preach in the city square
2. He ordered his soldiers to test Jonah with a trial to see if he was a true prophet
3. He rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust
4. He summoned Jonah to his palace and questioned him at length about the God of Israel

6. The king of Nineveh issued a royal decree about the fast. What did it command, and what hope did it express?

1. All citizens must confess their sins publicly before an assembly of priests and then fast for forty days
2. All people and animals must fast and wear sackcloth — no person or animal is to eat or drink; everyone must call urgently on God and give up their evil ways — 'Who knows? God may yet relent and not destroy us'
3. The city must be silent for three days — no work, no speech, no food — then God will hear and forgive
4. The king decreed that all idols be torn down and their temples burned, and that the people worship the God of Israel from that day forward

7. How did God respond when he saw Nineveh's repentance?

1. He decided to give them forty more years before judging them, as a test of their sincerity
2. He relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened
3. He sent Jonah back to tell the city they had been forgiven permanently
4. He was pleased but told Jonah to return in forty years to check on their faithfulness

8. Jonah's reaction to God's mercy on Nineveh was deeply negative. What does Jonah 4:1 say?

1. 'But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry'
2. 'Jonah sat down outside the city, despairing that his prophecy had not been fulfilled'
3. 'Jonah was confused — he could not understand why God would spare such evil people'
4. 'Jonah wept and said: Lord, why have you made me preach mercy when I preached only judgment?'

9. Jonah prayed angrily in chapter 4. His prayer reveals the real reason he had fled to Tarshish. What was it?

1. 'Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity'
2. He did not believe Nineveh could truly repent — he knew their hearts were too hard and corrupt
3. He was afraid the Ninevites would kill him before he finished preaching
4. He was concerned that if Nineveh repented, God would favour them over Israel his own people

10. After his prayer, Jonah asked God to take his life. What did he say?

1. 'It would have been better for me never to have been born than to see this day'
2. 'Lord, if you will not destroy Nineveh, then destroy me — I cannot live in a world where such evil goes unpunished'
3. 'Lord, take away my life — I am ashamed of what I have done and cannot face my people'
4. 'Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live'

11. God's response to Jonah's anger was a single question. What did God ask?

1. 'Do you have reason to be angry about Nineveh's repentance?'
2. 'Is it right for you to be angry?'
3. 'Jonah, why are you angry? Is my mercy not my own to give as I please?'
4. 'Who are you to judge my compassion, Jonah?'

12. Jonah built a shelter east of the city and waited. What was he hoping to see?

1. He hoped God would change his mind and still destroy Nineveh after all
2. He sat in the shade hoping God would speak to him again and explain his reasoning
3. He was resting after his exhausting mission and had no particular expectation
4. He was waiting to see if Nineveh's repentance was genuine or would fade away

13. God provided a plant to give Jonah shade. How did Jonah feel about the plant?

1. He took the plant as a sign that God approved of his waiting and would yet destroy Nineveh
2. He was relieved to have more shade than his small shelter provided but was still angry at God
3. He was surprised by the plant but suspected God was trying to comfort him to change his mind
4. Jonah was very happy about the plant — it gave him great comfort

14. The next morning God provided two more things — one to destroy the plant and one to add to Jonah's misery. What were they?

1. A frost that killed the plant overnight, and strong cold winds that made Jonah shiver in his shelter
2. A storm that uprooted the plant, and a drought that parched the land around the city
3. A worm that chewed the plant so it withered, and a scorching east wind — with blazing sun on Jonah's head
4. Locusts that consumed the plant's leaves, and a thick fog that brought no relief from the heat

15. Jonah again asked to die over the withered plant. What did God ask him this time?

1. 'Are you more concerned about a plant than about the souls of Nineveh?'
2. 'Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?'
3. 'What is more important to you, Jonah — your comfort or my glory?'
4. 'Would you rather have shade than see my mercy at work in the world?'

16. God's final speech to Jonah is the climax of the book. What was his argument?

1. 'If I show mercy to a plant that lasts a day, how much more will I show mercy to a great city full of human beings made in my image?'
2. 'Is your mercy for yourself greater than my mercy for the world?'
3. 'You are angry about a plant you did not tend or grow — how can I not be concerned about Nineveh where there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?'
4. 'Your concern is for your own comfort, Jonah. My concern is for all people everywhere — including those who are your enemies'

17. What does the phrase 'who cannot tell their right hand from their left' in Jonah 4:11 most likely refer to?

1. People who are morally confused and cannot distinguish right from wrong
2. People who are spiritually blind — stumbling in the darkness without God's revelation
3. Soldiers who do not know which direction to fight — the city is militarily helpless
4. Young children — perhaps indicating how many innocent children lived in the city

18. The book of Jonah ends abruptly with God's unanswered question. What is the literary effect of this open ending?

1. It demonstrates that God's grace always has the final word — even an angry prophet cannot silence it
2. It invites the reader to place themselves in Jonah's position and answer the question themselves — do we share Jonah's attitude or God's?
3. It shows that Jonah was condemned for his attitude and God withdrew his favour from the prophet
4. It suggests the story is incomplete and Jonah eventually repented — the ending was lost

19. Which of these is a key theme of the book of Jonah?

1. Prophetic accuracy — God's word always comes to pass exactly as spoken
2. The danger of false prophecy — Jonah's message did not come true and this tested his credibility
3. The importance of baptism — the water imagery of the sea, rain and the fish represent spiritual cleansing
4. The universal scope of God's compassion — extending even to Israel's enemies

20. What does the structure of the book reveal about Jonah as a character? He prays twice — once from inside the fish and once in anger outside the city. What contrast do the two prayers show?

1. The first prayer is full of gratitude and praise; the second is a complaint — yet both show Jonah engaging honestly with God rather than abandoning prayer altogether
2. The first prayer is long and elaborate; the second is brief — showing how suffering improves our communication with God
3. The first prayer is orthodox theology; the second is heresy — Jonah has regressed spiritually from his experience in the fish
4. The first prayer shows faith in God's power; the second shows ignorance of God's character