This week’s three books are short and very different. Amos was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit from Tekoa. The Lord called him straight from the flock, as Amos 1:1 and 7:14–15 tell. He preached to the prosperous northern kingdom under Jeroboam II. In 2:6 he rebukes people who sold “the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.” In 5:21–24 they keep up their feasts anyway. In 3:7 he teaches that the Lord reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. In 8:11–12 he warns of a famine “of hearing the words of the LORD.” Obadiah is a single chapter. In verses 10 and 11 it condemns Edom, Esau’s descendants, for standing aloof while Jerusalem fell. Verse 21 closes with “saviours” on mount Zion. Latter-day Saints hear in that phrase the temple work we do for those who died without the gospel.
This lesson centers on Jonah. He’s mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, in the days of the same Jeroboam. The Lord sent him to Nineveh, a great city of Assyria. Assyria would later carry the northern kingdom away. In Jonah 1:3 he goes down to Joppa and buys passage to Tarshish, the opposite direction. Most people remember the storm and the great fish. The book’s real surprise is chapter 4. Nineveh repented and was spared, and Jonah was furious. In 4:2 he explains why he ran in the first place. He knew the Lord was gracious and merciful and would forgive them. He was quoting how the Lord described Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6.
The book ends without an ending. In 4:11 the Lord asks Jonah, “Should not I spare Nineveh?” Jonah never answers. The question is left open for every reader. Adults usually know what it’s like to run from something the Lord asked. Many also know the quieter struggle of resenting someone else’s second chance. In Matthew 12:40–41, Jesus pointed to Jonah’s three days in the fish. It was a sign of His own death and Resurrection. He said Nineveh repented at Jonah’s preaching, and “a greater than Jonas is here.”
Twenty-five minutes goes quickly. One story read well and one honest talk will do more than a survey of three books. Walk through Jonah in six short readings: 1:1–3, 1:12–15, 2:7–10, 3:1–5, 4:1–4 and 4:8–11. Bridge the gaps in a sentence, and save the discussion for chapter 4. November 29 is a fifth Sunday. Check with your bishopric whether Sunday School meets. The lesson works just as well any Sunday before the next one. It’s also Thanksgiving weekend in the United States. Jonah 2:9 is a thanksgiving offered from inside the fish, before any rescue came.
