The Biblical Path of Life

Tag: Lesson 11

  • Lesson 11: Jesus is Alive: The Four Gospels

    Key Verse

    3b. … Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.

    —1 Corinthians 15:3-5

    Key Verse Thought: Read the Key Verses. We learned of Jesus death in our last lesson, ending with His empty tomb having only a few women who were witnesses to His resurrection. In this lesson’s Key Verses, we can understand that Jesus not only died for our sins – just like the Old Testament had foretold, but He was buried and rose again – just like Jesus had taught. Finally, we can read that Jesus was seen by Cephas (which was another name for Peter, and which means “a rock”). He was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. In this lesson, we will learn that Jesus appeared to many more people than this, showing that He truly was alive.

    Emphasis: We are to understand that Jesus died for the sins of the world, and Jesus wants his followers, Christians, to know this. But more than that, Christians are to share this Gospel Message with the world.

    Lesson Summary: In the last lesson, we read that Jesus appeared first to Mary. He then appeared to the other women who had gone to the tomb. In this lesson, we remember again the rumor the guards were paid to spread that Jesus’ disciples had stolen His body. At this time, we understand that many people did not know what to believe. Two particular followers of Jesus were on the road to Emmaus when Jesus began to walk and talk to them – but they did not recognize Him. When they asked Him to stay for dinner, it was not until after He blessed and broke the bread that they recognized Him – and He disappeared. The two immediately went back to Jerusalem and told the disciples. That very night, Jesus appeared to the disciples in a room where the doors were shut. However, one disciple was missing. Jesus opened their understanding, and we will learn that Jesus explained to His disciples what He had done. Jesus then revealed the plans He had for them. And the missing disciple? Jesus appeared again – just for Him.

    After the disciples saw Jesus, they went fishing. Jesus met them, cooking fish for them on the shore. It was here that Jesus began the commission given to His followers. Jesus completed that commission in what we, today, call “The Great Commission” found in Matthew 28:18-20. In that commission, Jesus gave the plan and direction of the furtherance of the gospel. Finally, we will read of the events of Jesus ascension into heaven.

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 11 Questions

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 11 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are teaching this to children, the following is a craft idea to help them remember this lesson:

    We used resurrection stickers to make a scene to remember Jesus is alive!

    The Biblical Path of Life – Year Three Quarter One is now available through Amazon.

  • Lesson 11: Malachi: The Last Warning

    Key Verse

    For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.

    —Psalm 5:4

    Key Verse Thought: Read today’s key verse. We are to remember that God does not like sin, and sin cannot stand in God’s presence. For that reason, God continually sent prophets to warn His people when they disobeyed God’s commands. In this lesson, will learn about the last prophet God sent to His people in the Old Testament – the final warning before a four hundred year silence of no new word from God to His people.  

    Emphasis: Christians are not to practice a religion as the priests in Malachi’s day were doing, but to live obeying God’s Word. Although going to church is very important (as we have learned), it is most important to live according to God’s Word. We should also have Christian friends to encourage us, and we should encourage them

    Lesson Summary: In our last lesson, we learned the condition of God’s people when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. God’s people, including the priests, had fallen deeply into sin. Nehemiah once again corrected the sin and prayed. 

    God sent Malachi with a message for His people, beginning with the priests who were just practicing a religion and not serving God according to His Word. The priests, and then the people, had fallen into sin once again. As we will learn, Malachi dealt with many of the same sins that Nehemiah dealt with in the lives of God’s people. Malachi was the last voice to God’s people before about four hundred years of silence. 

    God had Malachi remind the Jews of the great love God had for His people. The memory of Jacob and Esau was recalled – the love of Jacob and the hatred for Esau. Jacob loved and sought after the things of God, and Esau hated and despised the people and things of God. Yet, God’s people were not living as His people – for they sinned and did not even recognize how great their sin had become. God had a poignant question for them. “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? …” (Malachi 1:6). The people needed Malachi to show them how far from God they had fallen. Nevertheless, a few people still feared God. God saw that they encouraged each other often. God knew them and wrote them in a special book of remembrance. Remember, God knows the heart. 

    We will not only learn of the condition of God’s people and the words of correction, but the promises of which God reminded His people – especially the promise of the Promised One, Jesus.  

    Malachi was not only the last prophet call to God’s people before the four hundred years of silence, but also that call ended with a promise of a curse.

    We will learn a few details of the four hundred years of silence that came after Malachi, discovering some of the changes that took place among God’s people.

    Y2Q4 – Lesson 11 Questions

    Y2Q4 – Lesson 11 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are teaching this to children, the following is a craft idea to reinforce this lesson.

    We made a “Book of Remembrance” to help us understand the importance of fearing the Lord and thinking upon Him.

  • Lesson 11: Jeremiah, God’s Suffering Servant

    Key Verse

    For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

    —Romans 8:18

    Key Verse Thought: Read the key verse. Have you ever suffered? Suffered means “endured affliction (hardships, troubles, misery, etc.).” This verse is comparing suffering here in this life with the eternal “glory” that we will know one day. (Glory means “the ideal condition God created man –the condition that was lost in the fall, but that can be recovered in Jesus.”) We will learn about a prophet who suffered greatly, yet remained faithful to God. He understood that sufferings now “are not worthy to be compared” to what we will be in heaven one day.

    Emphasis: We are to be faithful to God (just like Jeremiah was) – no matter what “sufferings” we think we endure.

    Lesson Summary: In our last lesson, as we began the book of Jeremiah, we learned that God knew him before he was even born. And that he would be a prophet to the nations! We read many of the words that Jeremiah spoke to God’s people, and even to the kings of Judah.

    As we continue in our study of Jeremiah, we will read about some of his rejections and sufferings. We will begin to understand why Jeremiah is known as the “Weeping Prophet.” Jeremiah faithfully proclaimed God’s Words to the people, warning them of the coming destruction and captivity, if they did not repent and return to God. When the people failed to repent, God allowed the Babylonians to besiege them. Jeremiah witnessed the captivity of Judah by Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalem, the city where God had chosen to place His name. Even through all of this, Jeremiah faithfully shared the Word of the Lord with the people. We will learn of God’s protection of Jeremiah, allowing him to remain in the land to continue delivering God’s Words to the remnant that was left behind.

    God gave Jeremiah many words on the future of the nation Israel. We will look at a few of them today. He also reminded the people that God would keep His promise and send that Promised One, Jesus. See one of those promises. Jeremiah called Jesus the Branch of David. “In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 33:15).

    Tradition has it that Jeremiah was stoned to death.

    Y2Q3 – Lesson 11 Questions

    Y2Q3 – Lesson 11 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are teaching this lesson to younger children, the following is an idea for a craft that may go with this lesson:

    We made wall hangings with stickers and a verse (Jeremiah 38:6) to remind us of Jeremiah and his faithfulness to proclaim the Word of God no matter what they did to him.

  • 2 Kings 14-16; 2 Chronicles 25-28: Amaziah, Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, and Ahaz Lesson 11

    Key Verse

    Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.

    —Psalm 33:18

    Key Verse Thought: Read the key verse. What does it mean to fear the Lord? (A good example is Job. “… Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” Job 1:1. He showed his fear by turning from evil.) To fear God is to obey His word. Church is a good place to learn God’s Word.

    Emphasis: To recognize the importance of frequenting the house of the Lord often, knowing that it is there we will learn the fear of the Lord, seeking his mercy upon our lives.

    Lesson Summary: In the lesson before Joel, we remembered the last two who reigned in Judah: Athaliah (an illegitimate queen), and Joash (a good king). Although King Joash made great reformations, he forgot God after Jehoiada (his uncle the priest) died.      

    So far, we have learned of the first eight kings of Judah, with only three good kings so far. In this lesson, we continue in our study of the kings of Judah. We will look at the next four kings of Judah. When Joash was killed, his son Amaziah became king. He reigned for 29 years and was a good king. After killing the servants who killed his father, he began his reign relying upon God. Nevertheless, like many kings before him, he forgot God. It was then that God’s anger was kindled against Amaziah. When Amaziah challenged the king of Israel, Joash, and they fought, he lost the battle. Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, and conspirators killed him in Lachish. His son, Uzziah, became king. 

    Uzziah reigned for 52 years, did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and did much good for Judah. Moreover, God blessed him. Uzziah defeated enemies around, built up the cities, the army, and the defenses of the cities in Judah. However, when he was strong, his heart was lifted up. He went to the temple to perform the duty of the priest (he could not because he was not a priest). When rebuked by the priests, he rejected that rebuke, and God struck him with leprosy. His son, Jotham, judged the people until he died. 

    After Uzziah’s death, Jotham became king. He did right in the eyes of the Lord, but he never entered the house of the Lord. When he died, his son Ahaz became king. He was a very bad king – for he did not right in the eyes of the Lord, but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He made images for Baalim and burnt his children in the fire to false idols. God delivered him into the hand of Syria. When rebuked by God’s prophet, not only did he reject the rebuke, but he also sought help from another enemy nation. Instead of helping, that enemy nation took more. Ahaz shut up the house of the Lord and made altars in every corner of the city – provoking the anger of God. When he died, his son, Hezekiah, became king. We will learn about him in our next lesson.

    Y2Q2 – Lesson 11 Questions

    Y2Q2 – Lesson 11 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are doing this lesson with younger children, the following is a craft idea:

    We made a Ten Commandments to remember the importance of obeying God’s Word.

  • Lesson 11: Nahum: Nineveh’s Destruction Foretold

    Key Verse

    Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves … Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

    —Romans 12:19

    Key Verse Thought: After reading the key verse, understand that vengeance means “to execute justice; penal retribution; execution of right.” Think about a time that you have known someone who may have wanted to get back at someone for something that was done to them. We often call this revenge — or getting even. After learning of Israel’s captivity by Assyria last week, do you think the Israelites wanted to take revenge? They had been taken from the land God had promised them — by their enemy! As we read our memory verse today, we must remember that it is not our place to get back at anyone. God has reserved that right for Himself. He will repay — He said so!

    Emphasis: We are to know that God is a stronghold for those who trust in Him — and to live with that in mind!

    Lesson Summary: We have been studying and learning about the history of Israel, God’s chosen people. Remember that this was only ten of the twelve tribes, the Northern Kingdom. We read how after many warnings, God’s people were carried captive out of the land God had promised to them. They were carried into an enemy land and scattered (see 2 Kings 17:6). After reading of the prophets’ many cries for Israel to repent and turn back to God, we learned of God’s discipline that fell upon Israel for disregarding that call to repentance. As we enter into our study of Nahum today, we should remember back for a minute to Jonah. God sent Jonah to warn Nineveh of destruction for their wickedness. “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). In addition, he told them, “… Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4b). We also learned of the repentance that city showed. “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5). Because of that repentance, God spared the city. “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not” (Jonah 3:10).

    The book of Nahum takes place over 100 years after Jonah. Nineveh was the world’s greatest city at this time in history. Although the nation repented in Jonah’s time, they had reverted back to their sin, falling even deeper. See what we will learn. “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked …” (Nahum 1:3a). (Another verse to consider is Psalm 9:17: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”)  Today we will read the words Nahum preached against the nation of Assyria — the same nation that carried God’s people, Israel, away from their homeland.

    The book of Nahum takes place about the time of 2 Kings 21. Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, was utterly destroyed around 612 B.C.

    Y2Q1 – Lesson 11 Questions

    Y2Q1 – Lesson 11 Children’s Worksheets

    If you teach this lesson to children, see the following for a craft idea:

    We decorated a frame with the verse Nahum 1:7 inside of it.