Kindergarten · Lesson 4

Jonah and the Whale

Obedience and God’s Forgiveness

Reading Portion

Jonah ch.1-2

Jonah ch.1 ↗ ch.2 ↗

Story Pictures

Follow the pictures as you tell the story of Jonah and the Whale.

  1. 1

    Go to Nineveh

    God told Jonah to go — but Jonah ran the other way.

  2. 2

    On a ship

    Jonah tried to hide — but we cannot hide from God.

  3. 3

    The storm

    Wind and waves crashed. Jonah said, “Throw me in the sea.”

  4. 4

    The big fish

    A great fish swallowed Jonah for three days and nights.

  5. 5

    Forgiven

    Jonah said sorry — and obeyed God at last.

  6. Talk about it Is it ever good to run away when God asks us to obey?

Lesson Content

1. God told Jonah, "Go to the big city of Nineveh and tell the people to stop doing wrong." But Jonah did not want to go (Jonah 1:1-3).

2. Jonah ran away and got on a ship sailing the other way. But we can never hide from God! (Jonah 1:3).

3. God sent a great storm. The wind blew and the waves crashed. Jonah told the sailors, "It is my fault — I ran away from God. Throw me into the sea" (Jonah 1:4-15).

4. God sent a great big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah stayed inside the fish for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17).

5. Inside the fish, Jonah prayed and said sorry. God forgave him, and the fish put Jonah safely on dry land. This time Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh (Jonah 2:1-10; 3:3).

Talk about it: Is it ever a good idea to run away when Mummy, Daddy or God asks us to do something?

Moral

We should obey God right away. And when we do wrong, we can say sorry — God loves to forgive us, just like He forgave Jonah.

Memory Verse

“Salvation is of the LORD.”

Jonah 2:9

Resources

Jonah and the Fish — Saddleback Kids

Video