Kings: Review & Kings of Israel
1. LESSON: Review & Kings of Israel (1
Kings 15: 25-16:28)
- In the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the kings of
Judah
who ruled over the Southern Kingdom (2 tribes): (use actions to reinforce and review)
- Rehoboam: Not a servant king
(actions: an “X” sign with hands then open palms for “serving”)
Proud and refused to serve the people. As a
result, his father’s kingdom was split into 2 — Judah (2 tribes) and Israel (10
tribes).
Jesus is our servant King who came to give
us rest.
- Abijah: Relied on God for victory
(actions: do V for victory sign
with fingers)
God gave him victory
over Jeroboam (who tried to ambush Abijah with double the
number of troops) because of His covenant with David.
Because of His New Covenant with
Jesus, God fights our battles for us and gives us victory!
- Asa: Trust in God or trust in
self?
(actions: stand on 1 foot and
lean to one side; ie who are you leaning on?)
When Asa trusted in
God, God gave him victory over the Egyptian king and his mighty army. But when
threatened by King Baasha, Asa decided to rely on himself and formed
his own alliances, instead of trusting God.
Trust
in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
- Today, we will look at 5 more kings of
Israel (Northern Kingdom; 10 tribes) and see how they fared.
- Generally, all the kings of Israel didn’t follow God. They did evil
and led the people to worship idols. It was a vicious cycle with each new
king. And there were always wars and unrest as a result.
- Jeroboam (22 years)
(actions: 2
fingers on sides of head like cows’ horns)
- We’ve learnt about King Jeroboam. Who
remembers what he did? He made 2 golden
calves for the people to worship, so they didn’t have to go to the Temple in
Jerusalem.
- Jeroboam
tried to let unholy people worship a holy God everywhere.
Jesus’ death made us holy and opened the way for us to worship
the Father in Spirit and in truth.
- Nadab (2 years)
(actions: show
thumb; he is 1st of 5 new kings we’re learning today)
- Son of Jeroboam; followed his father’s ways.
- One day, when Nadab
was busy attacking a town in Philistine (Gibbethon), one of his own people,
Baasha, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against him and killed him!
- Baasha (24 years)
(actions:
show 2 fingers — thumb and forefinger)
- As soon as Baasha
killed Nadab, he made himself king.
- He killed Jeroboam’s
entire family, as was prophesied to Jeroboam before as a result of his
idolatry. (1 Kings 14:14-16)
- Last week we learnt
of how Baasha tried to attack King Asa of Judah, but Asa made a treaty with
King Ben-Hadad to stop him.
- Baasha also did many
evil things and worshipped idols. God sent His prophet to tell Baasha: “I
lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but
you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to
arouse my anger by their sins.”
- As a result, God told
Baasha that he and his family will suffer the same end as Jeroboam and his
family.
- Elah (2 years)
(actions:
show 3 fingers — thumb, forefinger and 3rd finger)
- Son of Baasha.
- His official, Zimri, who commanded half his
chariots, plotted against him. One day when Elah was drunk, Zimri came in and
struck him down.
- Zimri (7 days)
(actions: show 4
fingers — thumb, forefinger, 3rd finger and ring finger)
- Zimri succeeded Elah as king of Israel and
ruled in Tirzah.
- Just as Baasha killed the entire family of
Jeroboam, Zimri killed all of Baasha’s family, as was prophesied.
- However
Zimri was the shortest-reigning king in Israel. Guess how long he reigned? 7 days!
- When the Israelites in the army camp heard
that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri,
the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp.
- Omri and the Israelites then attacked Tirzah
(where Zimri was ruling).
- When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he
went into the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died.
- Omri (12 years)
(actions: show 5
fingers)
- Some Israelites supported another person to
be king —Tibni, but Omri’s followers were stronger, so Omri became king.
- Omri bought a hill from a man called Shemer
for 2 talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called it Samaria,
after Shemer (the former owner).
- Sadly, like the other kings before him, Omri
also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In fact, the Bible says he sinned more than all those before him.
- Conclusion:
- What can we
learn from the kings of Israel? (revise
with actions)
- Jeroboam
- Nadab
- Baasha
- Elah
- Zimri
- Omri
- Because they didn’t follow God, because they did evil and led the
people to worship idols, there were always wars and unrest
- (note: If you
recall, in the beginning, God was the King over the nation of Israel when He
brought them into the Promised Land. He had judges to rule over Israel. But
Israel grumbled and complained — all the other nations had kings, so they
wanted a human king too! That was how Saul was appointed as Israel’s 1st
king.)
- Through
history, we see how human kings always
fail. Because they are human. They are not perfect. They make bad
decisions. They try to do things their own way, not God’s way. And as a result,
the people will suffer.
- Today, we have a good King. He never fails. He is perfect. He makes wise decisions. He does
things His way because He is God. And as a result, all of us are blessed in
Him! His name is Jesus!
- Out of the 5
kings, 3 became king by killing the previous king — Baasha, Zimri and Omri.
They were greedy for power and seized it
for themselves by destroying others.
- Jesus was King of all who came to give His life
for us. When the people wanted to make Him
king by force, Jesus withdrew because He knew that was not God’s time (John
6:15). When He finally entered Jerusalem as a king on a donkey (John 12:15),
his purpose was to die on the cross and give His life for us.
- Because Jesus died for us, you and I can be prince
and princesses of the Most High God! Thank you Jesus!
2. Suggested Activities
David messed out — Redeemed by Grace
1. Story (based on 2 Sam 11-12)
- HOOK: Cover up
- Materials: Pile of dust/dirt, tissue paper/paper napkin, small dustpan/brush
- Put a pile of dust/dirt in the middle of a table.
- Kids, look, there’s a mess here. It’s really dirty. What should we do?
- How about we try to cover it up? I know, let’s use this napkin. If we put it over the dirt, no one will see it.<cover the dirt with the napkin>
- There. Does that work? <no>
- Oh dear. What do you think we should do? I know. I’ll clean it up and throw away the dirt. <get a kid to help sweep away the dirt>
- See … clean and as good as new now!
- Sometimes in life, we will mess up and make mistakes. But covering the mess will not work because the mess is still there. So the only way to get rid of the mess is to clean it up nicely.
- Today, we’re going to learn about someone who messed up big time.
- Last week, we learnt that David became king and he celebrated by bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. David was a good king. A man after God’s heart. He loved God and loved to worship Him. God gave him much success and favour in whatever he did.
- But even a great man like David made mistakes. And boy, did David mess up big time!
- One spring day, when kings normally go to war, King David sent his army out with General Joab to conquer the city of Rabbah. David decided that he wanted to stay in Jerusalem instead.
- One evening, David got up from his nap and walked around the flat roof of his palace and saw a very beautiful woman bathing. David found out that her name was Bathsheba. She was married, to Uriah, a soldier in David’s army.
- Now, marriage is very precious in God’s eyes; it is a covenant between one man and one woman.
- But David wanted Bathsheba for himself. So he sent his servants to bring Bathsheba to him and slept with her — something only a husband can do with his wife. That was a wrong thing David did. He took what belonged to someone else. He messed up!
- And for a while, David thought no one would know about what he did. But then Bathsheba got pregnant! David knew people would find out that he did something with Bathsheba that he wasn’t supposed to. He was busted!
- Cover-up Plan A
- Instead of admitting his wrong, David decided to try to cover up his mistake. He sent for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, to come back from the battlefield, hoping he would go home to his wife. But Uriah didn’t. He slept at the entrance of the king’s palace instead.
- Cover-up Plan B
- David’s cover-up plan didn’t work. So time for Plan B. David wrote a letter to his general, Joab. “Put Uriah on the front battle line, then pull back from him so that Uriah will be wounded and die.” Joab did as David instructed. And in the battle, Uriah died.
- After David found out the news, he brought Bathsheba back to his palace and married her. They had a baby boy. Phew! David thought his Cover-up Plan B worked as he intended. Now no one will ever know!
- Busted!
- But God knew. And God was angry. Not only did David sleep with another man’s wife, he also killed an innocent man.
- God sent the prophet Nathan to tell David a story:
- Once there lived a rich and poor man. The rich man has lots of cattle and sheep; but the poor man has only one lamb. The lamb is the pet of the poor man and his children. The poor man let the lamb eat from his plate, drink from his cup, and sleep on his lap. The lamb became like one of his children. One day, the rich man had a guest that came visiting him. The rich man doesn’t want to slaughter his own cattle and lamb to serve meal for the guest. Instead, he went and stole the lamb from the poor man. He slaughtered it and serves it as a meal instead to the guest.
- David grew angry and said to the prophet, Nathan, “Who is this rich man? I swear I would have him killed now!”
- Nathan replied, “The rich man in the story is you. God has given you everything, all the money and power and wives. Yet you murdered Uriah so that you could take his wife, Bathsheba for yourself.”
- David cries out to God
- David realised he couldn’t hide anymore. “I have sinned against the Lord.”
- Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”
- But the consequences of David’s actions resulted in his son with Bathsheba becoming very sick and died.
- After his son died, David (who had been praying and fasting) got up, combed his hair, got dressed and worshipped the Lord. Then David comforted Bathsheba, and they had another son, Solomon.
- The prophet Nathan came to tell David that God loves Solomon very much and to call him “Jedidiah” (God’s beloved).
2. LESSON:
- Every one messes up
- King David was a great man. But even he made mistakes. David realised that not only did he take another man’s wife and life, he sinned against God.
- You and I make mistakes too. We mess up. We sin against God.
- Mistakes have consequences. The Bible tells us, “For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23)
- In David’s time, under the Old Covenant, there was no remedy or sacrifice for David’s sins — adultery and murder. The offender, David, should die.
- God’s grace is bigger than our sin
- But David turned to God. He looked forward to a time when God would not only take away his sin, but wash him and make him “whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7). David did not deserve it, but God forgave him. Because of God’s grace, David lived and was blessed with another child, Solomon.
- “The Case of the Missing Story”: God’s forgiveness is so complete that when the life of David is retold in the book of 1 Chronicles, there is no mention of the story of David and Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 20:1). God’s redemption is complete —there is no trace of the failure left over when the blood of Jesus is applied.
- The time that David looked forward to was when Jesus died on the cross, for you, for me, and for King David.
- Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Jesus’ blood can wash us clean. Hebrews 10:17 tells us, under the New Covenant, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more”.
- Let’s trust in Jesus
- On the cross, Jesus took all the punishment for the wrongs we did. He paid for the sins we committed. Three days later, He rose from the dead, and we now can have His life in us.
- If we believe in Jesus and trust Him, He will clean out all the messes and mistakes and forgive us. By receiving His grace, we can experience freedom, forgiveness and life.
- Children, how many of you have trusted and believed in Jesus? Do you know that Jesus has cleaned you of all your sins? He has made you brand new, so that you can enjoy the life and love that He has for you.
- How many of have not believed in Jesus before? Would you like to trust in Jesus? If you do, please pray together with me: Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross and taking all the punishment for my wrong. You paid for all King David’s sins. You paid for my sins. I believe in You, and I want to trust in You and accept Your gift of grace and eternal life. I believe that you make me clean and I have your life and Spirit in me always. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
3. Suggested Activities:
- Memory Verse: Hebrews 10:17 “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more”.
Kelas Balita
Coach Carrie
Asst 1 :Jevelyn
Asst 2 : Laila
Kelas 1 - 3
Coaches :
Kelas 4 - 6
Coaches :
David Danced before God
- We’ve been learning about a person called David.
- What have we learnt about him so far?
- David was a shepherd.
- David was anointed king.
- Saul was jealous of him.
- Saul wanted to kill him.
- David ran away, and God protected him from all harm.
- Then one day, Saul and Jonathan were both killed in battle. David was then made king of Israel.
- David loved the Lord. He loved to sing and write songs of worship.
- One of the first things David did as king was to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem.
- Who remembers the Ark?
- The priests carried the Ark into the River Jordan, causing the water to stop, so the Israelites could cross.
- The Ark symbolized God’s presence.
- It was lost in battle and captured by the Philistines before, but they returned it to the Israelites. (1 Samuel 5-7:1).
- It stayed in a place called Kirjath-jearim for 20 years.
- David tried to bring in the Ark on a cart, carried by oxen. This was not how God had told the Israelites to carry the Ark. Anyone knows how the Ark should be carried? On the shoulders of the Levite priests. Yes, that’s right. The Ark represented God’s presence, and in David’s time, not anybody, even David, could just touch the Ark.
- So King David tried again, this time, the right way. On the shoulders of the Levite priests.
- There were trumpets and singing and dancing and shouting. All Israel came to see the procession bringing the Ark into the city of Jerusalem. It was a huge celebration.
- And right in front of it all was David. Yes, the king of Israel was dancing with all his might! And not just dancing, but dancing almost naked! David had taken off his crown, his majestic robes and fine clothes. He only wore a linen ephod.
- Can you imagine our country’s king dancing on the streets at our national day parade? Or the king of any country dancing … naked? It was unheard of. Some may say embarrassing or humiliating for the great king. But David didn’t care. He was so happy that he could bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, and he was worshipping God. He was leaping and dancing.
- Suggestion: show video of David dancing
- The ark was brought into a tabernacle that David had prepared. David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. Then he blessed the people and gave them gifts of bread and cakes. And all the people went home after that.
- Now, not everybody was as happy as King David. In fact, his own wife, Michal, Saul’s daughter, was not enjoying the celebrations with everyone else. She was looking out her window, and she didn’t like what she saw. The Bible says she despised David in her heart.
- When David returned home, Michal came to him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
- But David told his wife, “In God’s presence, I’ll dance all I want! He chose me over your father and the rest of our family and made me prince over God’s people, over Israel. Oh yes, I’ll dance to God’s glory — more recklessly even than this. And as far as I’m concerned … I’ll gladly look like a fool!”
2. LESSON:
- The Ark of the Covenant:
- The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden box, about 45 inches long, 27 inches deep and 27 inches high. It was made of solid gold.
- On top of the Ark is a gold cover called the “Mercy Seat”. There are two winged angels on both ends of the cover.
- The Ark is kept in the Holy of Holies, the holiest part of the tabernacle, where no one else could enter and no one can touch. Only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest can enter the Holy of Holies. He would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifices on the lid of the Ark, called the “mercy seat”, to atone for the sins of the people. The once-a-year sprinkling of blood would temporarily “cover” the sins of the people.
- The Ark of the Covenant represents the Presence of God to the Israelites. It was like a throne for God to sit on.
- But the Mercy Seat of the Ark is also a picture of a Perfect Sacrifice that would come one day. By the shedding of His blood, this Perfect Sacrifice would take away the sins of the whole world.
- Today, we know that this Perfect Sacrifice has already come. Jesus was our Perfect Sacrifice. On the cross, He died for us and shed His blood, so that all our sins can be washed away.
- Burnt offerings and fellowship offerings
- David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God.
- The burnt offering was an animal, either a bull, sheep, goat or pigeon, that would be burnt completely unto God. It represents Jesus, who gave His life wholly and completely as a sacrifice for us.
- The fellowship offering reminds us that because of Jesus’ blood, we have peace and fellowship with God today.
- Celebration:
- Just as David and the city of Jerusalem were in celebration when the Ark was brought into Jerusalem, there were huge celebrations when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. People lined the streets and danced and cheered, waving palm branches.
- Of course now we know Jesus came to Jerusalem to die for all of us. He loved us so much, He wanted to give His life for us so that our sins can be forgiven and we can be together with God forever and ever.
- Now … isn’t that reason for us to dance and celebrate? We can worship and celebrate God’s goodness, greatness and holiness! So when we come together every Sunday, let’s not fold out arms, or do our own things. Instead, let us sing dance with all our heart like David did, because we worship such as wonderful Saviour, Jesus!
2. Suggested Activities:
- Memory Verse: 2 Sam 6:21 “In God’s presence, I’ll dance all I want to His glory!” (MSG)
- Song and dance: The Spirit of the Lord is within my heart
(The original song lyrics state, “When the spirit of the Lord comes upon my heart.” Perhaps good to remind kids that God’s Spirit is already in us, today. Hence we should sing this song as “The Spirit of the Lord is within my heart, I will dance like David danced.”)
Kelas Balita
Coach Susan
Asst 1 : Felicia
Asst 2 : Awan
Kelas 1 - 3
Coaches :
Kelas 4 - 6
Coaches :
God was David’s protection
1. Story:
- Who was the shepherd boy who was anointed king of Israel? David
- Who was the king at that time? Saul
- God was with David in all he did. And he had great successes. The women of Israel used to welcomed him with singing and dancing. What did they say? “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”
- How did this make Saul feel? Very jealous of David.
- Saul was anointed king of Israel. But after he disobeyed God, God’s spirit left him. After that, an evil spirit came to disturb Saul. He was very troubled and bothered by this evil spirit.
- When he was not at the battlefield, David played the lyre (small harp) for King Saul. David used to play the harp when he was a shepherd taking care of his sheep. That’s when he would sing and worship the Lord and write songs, such as Psalm 23.
- Only David’s playing on the harp would make Saul feel better and drive the evil spirit away.
- But Saul was becoming more and more jealous of David. And he tried to attack him!
- One day, when David as playing his lyre, Saul was being disturbed by an evil spirit. He had a sharp spear in his hand. Suddenly, Saul hurled the spear at David, trying to pin him to the wall! But David escaped. Phew! That was close.
- What would you do if you were David? Would you stay on in the king’s palace and play for him? Work for him? Most of us would run far, far away.
- But David stayed on. God was with David and protected him. God was with David and gave him great successes. He fought battles for Saul. He married his daughter. He made a covenant with Saul’s son, Jonathan. Saul promised not to try to kill David anymore.
- So David played his lyre for Saul again. And one day (just in the next chapter of 1 Samuel), an evil spirit came on Saul. And once again, Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear. And once again, David escaped! God was with David, and He protected him. Talk about déjà vu!
- David’s wife, Michal, warned David to leave the palace and helped him escape through a window. David went away and went to see Samuel (the prophet who anointed him as king) at Ramah to tell him what Saul did to him.
- When Saul found out, he was so angry. He sent men to capture David at Ramah.
- Saul’s men saw Samuel and a group of prophets prophesying. Suddenly God’s Spirit came on them too and they started prophesying. When Saul heard about it, he sent more men. They also started prophesying. So Saul sent some more men … and … they also started prophesying!
- In the end, Saul decided he would go to Ramah himself. And guess what? That’s right. Saul started prophesying too. Not only that, he stripped off his clothes completely and lay naked all day and all night.
2. Lesson:
- What can we learn from these incidences?
- God is with us. He is our protection.
- The Bible tells us in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
- Our enemies may try many times to attack us in every way, just as Saul tried to attack David.
- Many times, he failed. God was with David and protected him. He turned Saul’s attacks to prophecies. He turns attacks against us into blessings. As Joseph told his brothers who sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”(Gen 50:20)
- God is with us. He has plans for me.
- God had a plan for David’s life. David was to be king of Israel. And no one could stop it from being accomplished.
- God also had plans for Jesus’ life here on earth. His plan was for Jesus to come down to earth and live as a man, and then to die and give His life for the whole world. That was the plan. And no one could stop it from being accomplished.
- Several times people tried to kill Jesus. They tried to throw him off the cliff, but he just walked right through the crowd and went his way. (Luke 4:28-30). They pick up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself and slipped away (John 8:59). His enemies wanted to arrest him. But the Bible tells us in John 8:20, “Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.”
- When the time did come for Jesus to give His life, He did not resist arrest. He was not killed. He freely laid down His life for all of us.
- The great news today is, God has plans for your life too. As He told the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11) And nobody can derail God’s plans for you and for me.
- God’s Spirit is in me. Always.
- In those days, before Jesus died, God’s Holy Spirit would come and go as He liked. When people sinned, He would leave.
- Saul was anointed king, but when he sinned, Saul lost God’s anointing. That opened the way for evil spirits to come and disturb him. When the Spirit came on him again, he could prophesy.
- But today, Jesus made us clean so the Holy Spirit can stay with us forever. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (1 John 14:16)
- And when the Holy Spirit is in us, no one can touch us. Amen! "Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God." (1 Sam 25:29)
3. Suggested Activities:
- Memory Verse: Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
- Join the dots & Colouring
