Amos; Obadiah; Jonah Adult Lesson Plan (Nov 23–29)

Set the scene first. Nineveh was the great city of Assyria, the empire known for its violence and cruelty, the empire that would later carry the Northern Kingdom away. Jonah has preached, the city has fasted in sackcloth, and "God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way" (Jonah 3:10). Then read:

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. (Jonah 4:1)

...for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger... (Jonah 4:2)

Ask the class what they notice. Someone will usually see that Jonah is quoting scripture. These are the words the Lord used to describe Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6. Jonah has the doctrine right. His trouble is that he believes it applies to everyone, and he does not want it to.

The Lord does not argue with him directly. He grows a gourd to shade Jonah, then sends a worm that kills it, and Jonah is angry about the plant. Then the Lord asks whether He should not spare Nineveh, a city of more than 120,000 people who "cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand." Jonah cared about a plant he did not plant. The Lord made the people of Nineveh, so it follows that He cares for them far more.

The book stops there, and we never hear Jonah's answer. Since the question goes unanswered, each reader has to answer it.

Amos supplies the other half of the argument. Jonah resents mercy for outsiders, and Israel assumes mercy for itself. Read:

Seek ye me, and ye shall live. (Amos 5:4)

Then read verse 21, "I hate, I despise your feast days," followed by verse 24: "let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream."

Ask one question: what did Israel think seeking the Lord meant, and what did the Lord say it meant? Israel kept the feasts and still took bribes in the city gate. The Lord was not telling them to stop worshipping. He was telling them that seeking Him has to change how they deal with people. Read next to each other, Jonah and Amos show the same problem in two forms: people who belong to the covenant and treat God's mercy as their own property.

Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, calls the shrine "the king's chapel" (Amos 7:13) and orders Amos back to Judah. Amos answers that he was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycomore fruit, and "the Lord took me as I followed the flock" (Amos 7:14–15). Ask what Amaziah cared about more. Amos's authority came from the Lord's call, not from training or position, and that ties back to Amos 3:7.

Nineveh repents, and the Lord spares it. The pagan sailors on Jonah's ship pray and offer sacrifice to the Lord (Jonah 1:16). Jonah himself is given a second call. In every case the Lord answers people who turn to Him, whoever they are. Nephi teaches the same thing: the Lord "inviteth them all to come unto him," and "all are alike unto God" (2 Nephi 26:33). Because the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers every person, no one is beyond repentance. Disciples are asked to want that for others as much as the Lord does.

The sons of Mosiah show what that looks like. They had once fought the Church, and they asked to preach to the Lamanites because they "could not bear that any human soul should perish" (Mosiah 28:3). Jonah was sent to an enemy and ran. They chose to go to theirs.

• Why might it be easier to believe the Lord forgives us than to believe He forgives someone who hurt us?
• What is the difference between wanting justice and resenting mercy?

In Amos 4 the Lord lists hunger, drought, and blight, each followed by "yet have ye not returned unto me." Mormon describes the same pattern among the Nephites (Helaman 12:3). The Lord's goal was always for His people to return. Amos 5 explains what returning means: seeking good, hating evil, and establishing judgment in the gate (Amos 5:14–15). King Benjamin connects these the same way: "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17).

• Where could our worship and our weekday dealings with people drift apart without our noticing?
• How have hard seasons turned you toward the Lord, even when you did not think He sent them?

Amos teaches that "the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). Israel told the prophets to stop prophesying (Amos 2:12), and the result was a famine "of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). Latter-day Saints recognize this as the Great Apostasy, which ended when the Lord called Joseph Smith. Elder Ulisses Soares taught that "having prophets is a sign of God's love" ("Prophets Speak by the Power of the Holy Spirit," Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 99). Obadiah adds a promise: "saviours shall come up on mount Zion" (Obadiah 1:21). President Gordon B. Hinckley explained that we fill that role when we receive ordinances in the temple for the dead ("Closing Remarks," Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 105).

• How is doing temple work for someone like what the Savior did for us, even in a small way?

A coworker took credit for your project last year and was promoted. Now they are in your ward, newly baptized or returning to activity, and the bishop asks you to minister to them. Jonah 4 is a good fit here. You do not have to pretend the past did not happen. The Lord's question is whether you can want their repentance to succeed. This week, do one concrete thing for that person: a text, a ride, or a sincere sentence at church.

Some adults are not angry at Nineveh. They suspect they are Nineveh, or Jonah, and too far gone for a second call. Jonah 3:1 answers that fear. The word of the Lord came to Jonah "the second time" after he had run, and it came without a lecture. If you have been running from something the Lord asked of you, the call is still open. This week, pray about the one thing you have been sailing away from.