1. Using your imagination, what kinds of catastrophic natural disasters might occur that could bring our nation to its knees?
2. How devastating would it be for a nation in Bible times to have their agriculture completely devoured by swarms of locusts?
3. In chapter one, what does the prophet Joel recommend as the response to the calamity of the invasion of locusts upon the land?
4. When you hear the phrase, “the day of the Lord”, what emotions are stirred up within you? How do you think the prophet Joel would have us feel about that day?
5. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32) appears several times in the Bible. Why is this important? What hope does it give you?
6. What was Amos’ profession?
7. You can imagine the people of Israel cheering Amos’ thundering pronouncements against their neighboring rivals in Amos 1:3-2:5. How do you think they would have felt about his message in 2:6 through the rest of the book?
8. How does Amos refer to the rich, privileged women of Israel in 4:1?
9. What are some ways the Lord tried to get Israel to return to Him?
10. How does Amos portray “the day of the Lord” (Amos 5:18-20)?
11. What are some of the specific sins that Amos charges Israel with?
12. What does the vision of a basket of ripe fruit in Amos 8:1 represent?
13. What nation does Obadiah proclaim judgment against?
14. What does Obadiah say about “the day of the Lord” in verse 15?
15. Have you ever run away from a calling or direction that the Lord has given you? If so, what happened?
16. How did Jonah’s rebellion against the Lord end up serving as a witness to the sailors on the ship bound for Tarshish?
17. What would you say to someone who objects that Jonah’s experience of surviving three days in the belly of a fish is a physical impossibility?
18. What effect did Jonah’s preaching against Nineveh have on the city and its residents?
19. Was Jonah justified in his anger that God did not bring on Nineveh the destruction he had prophesied? Why or why not?
20. Can you find at least four things that the Lord “provides” or “sends” in the book of Jonah?
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