The Biblical Path of Life

Tag: Lesson 6

  • Lesson 6: Jesus’ Parables: The Four Gospels

    Key Verse

    And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

    —Mark 4:9

    Key Verse Thought: Read today’s Key Verse. Everyone has ears. What do we use our ears for? (i.e.: to hear; hold glasses; etc.). We are to understand the primary purpose for our ears is to hear. In this lesson, we will learn that Jesus taught by parables. Parables are “earthly stories with heavenly meanings.” Jesus wanted His followers to understand His teachings. He wanted them to put on their “spiritual ears” and not only hear what He taught, but to do what He taught.     

    Emphasis: In this lesson, we are to understand that God’s Word is the seed and once the seed is planted, it is to grow, producing fruit. That means that once we hear about Jesus and become a Christian, we are to live a life pleasing to Him. Christians have the ears that are to hear the truths taught by Jesus and live accordingly.

    Lesson Summary: In our last lesson, we learned about a few of the miracles of Jesus. In those miracles we saw the compassion of Jesus and the call to faith – to believe in Jesus. 

    In this lesson, we will learn that Jesus taught in parables. Parables are often referred to as “earthly stories with heavenly meanings.” Jesus told many parables, but we will only look at a few today: the Sower and the seed; the parable of the Good Shepherd; the parable of the Good Samaritan; the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son; ending with the parable of the prayer of the Pharisee and the publican. 

    In the first parable Jesus taught (the Sower and the seed), it revealed that Jesus is the Sower, and the seed is the Word of God. The people who received the Word of God grew and produced fruit. He ended with the phrase, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” for it was a call for anyone who would to receive God’s word and be saved. When the disciples asked why Jesus taught in parables, Jesus explained it to them. He wanted His followers to understand what He was teaching. 

    Some of today’s parables may be familiar to you, but try to understand what Jesus was teaching his followers. Even those who did not fully understand were called to make a decision – to follow Jesus and His teachings, or not.  In these parables Jesus taught not only how be saved, but that once saved, a Christian is to grow. Jesus also taught there is only one way to Heaven – Jesus.

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 6 Questions

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 6 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are teaching this to younger children, we planted seeds in a small pot for this lesson to remind them of the parable of “The Sower and the Seed.”

  • Lesson 6: Zechariah and Ezra 6 God’s Plans for the Future and the Temple Completed

    Key Verse

    Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

    —Philippians 1:6

    Key Verse Thought: Read the Key Verse. Try to understand that God promised to help His people. When we give our heart and life to Jesus, He will help us live faithfully for Him.  Perform means “to complete; to finish.” In this lesson, we will see the Israelites finish rebuilding the Temple. They had laid the foundation, but then the enemies stopped the work. Nevertheless, God sent someone to encourage them to finish. God promised to help us complete the work He has for our lives.

    Emphasis: Christians are to read the Bible, understanding that God will encourage us through His Word. We are to remember that God sent Jesus, just as He promised, to take away the sin of man.

    Lesson Summary: As we begin this lesson, we need to remember that the building of the Temple had been stopped. Haggai encouraged them to begin again, but the enemy had returned to stop the work. The governor of the land had sent a letter for the king to search the records and find out if the people had permission to rebuild. In the meantime, God sent another prophet to encourage His people.

    Zechariah was a priest and prophet. He prophesied at the same time as Haggai also encouraging God’s people. He wanted to let them know that God was not finished with them yet – for God had many mighty plans in store. Many of those plans were revealed in the visions that God gave Zechariah. Among the most familiar: a man with a measuring line, Joshua with the filthy garments, a golden candlestick, and the flying scroll. For lack of time, we will not study them all, but we will look at Joshua with the filthy garments. 

    Joshua was the high priest at this time, and he was a representation between sinful man and God. We will learn that the Angel of the Lord (remember we learned through previous lessons that this is the pre-incarnate Christ) removed the filthy garments from Joshua. We will find out the significance of that event today.

    Zechariah understood that Jesus would come – just as God had promised. Just as Isaiah was the Major Prophet with the most prophesies about Christ, Zechariah was the Minor Prophet with the most prophesies about Christ.   

    Zechariah especially had words of encouragement for Zerubbabel. He especially reminded Zerubbabel that when God asks His people to do something, he gives them the strength to complete it. Zechariah had a message of encouragement to the people as well. With those words of encouragement, the Temple was completed.

    Y2Q4 – Lesson 6 Questions

    Y2Q4 – Lesson 6 Children’s Worksheets

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

    We made frames with stickers and the verse Zechariah 9:9 to remember that Zechariah gave a great prophecy of Jesus that was fulfilled on what we now call Palm Sunday.

  • Lesson 6: Zephaniah: God’s Judgment and Mercy

    Key Verse

    That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.

    —Acts 17:27

    Key Verse Thought: Read the Key Verse and use the following definitions for better understanding of it:

    • seek: to seek God means to turn to Him, to strive humbly and sincerely to follow and obey Him.
    • haply: nevertheless, but stronger meaning though indeed.   

    This basically sums up the message the prophets continually presented before the people: to seek the Lord, for He is never far from His people. God never left His people; they left Him.

    Emphasis: We are to understand the importance of turning to God, striving humbly and sincerely to follow and obey Him. If Christians would just do that, they would find Him – for He is not far. He is always waiting for His people to return to Him.

    Lesson Summary: In this lesson, we take a break from the kings of Judah to study another minor prophet book, Zephaniah, as close to where it belongs in Judah’s history as possible. Remember that we learned about King Manasseh and King Amon in our last lesson. Both of them were bad kings, and even though Manasseh finally humbled himself before God, King Amon continued in his sin never humbling himself before God. From this, we understand that the nation of Judah was in a deplorable condition.

    The book of Zephaniah begins with, “The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi … son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah” (Zephaniah 1:1). He was the descendant of good King Hezekiah, and that means he was related to King Josiah. We will study the kingdom of King Josiah after learning of Habakkuk next week. Zephaniah boldly spoke of the day of the Lord – and that it was coming soon. He understood God was displeased with His people. Zephaniah warned of immediate judgment and destruction. He encouraged the people to, “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger” (Zephaniah 2:3). 

    Zephaniah warned the people of God’s coming judgment, but he left them with the hope that God promised to restore His people.

    Y2Q3 – Lesson 6 Questions

    Y2Q3 – Lesson 6 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are teaching this lesson to younger children, the following is a craft idea to go along with this lesson.

    We took a votive candle and glued the following verse on the outside: “And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles …” Zephaniah 1:12.

  • Lesson 6: 1 Kings 12:1 – 15:24; 2 Chronicles 10-16 Rehoboam, Abijam (Abijah), and Asa

    Key Verse

    Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left.

    —Joshua 23:6

    Key Verse Thought: Read today’s Key Verse. In this verse, courageous means “to be firm; be strong; to retain, hold fast, or keep.”  What are we to be strong doing? We are to do all that is written in God’s Word. Notice especially the addendum:  “that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left.”  There is no allowance for variance – one must adhere directly to God’s Word and hold fast to it with all of our might. In this lesson, we will learn of three kings. Rehoboam, who was not courageous to do all written in the book of the law; Abijam (Abijah), who walked in the sins of his father, and a king (Asa) who, after being very courageous, turned aside at the end of his life.

    Emphasis: In this lesson, we are to understand that God wants to show Himself mighty to His people (Christians). We are also to recognize the importance of remaining courageous – obeying God and His Word all throughout our lives – never failing as King Asa did toward the end of his life.

    Lesson Summary: In the last quarter, we learned about Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and how they were carried captive. In this lesson, we will begin our study of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. 

    We will begin by remembering King Rehoboam’s reign and what happened to cause the nation to divide into two separate kingdoms. King Rehoboam was considered a bad king because he forsook God. When Rehoboam died, his son, Abijam (Abijah), became the king of Judah. He “… walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 15:3). Abijam (Abijah) was also considered a bad king. Little is recorded about him in First Kings, so we will focus on information in Second Chronicles. He only reigned for three years, and although God used him to do good things for Judah (King Abijam had the right reasons for fighting King Jeroboam), God knew King Abijam’s (Abijah’s) heart.

    When King Abijam (Abijah) died, his son, Asa, became king. Asa reigned for 41 years in Jerusalem, “And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father” (1 Kings 15:11). He was a good king and it was during his reign that he made many great reformations, and the people of Judah turned their hearts back to God. King Asa knew to cry out to God when the enemy came against Judah, and God was able to show himself mighty before the people. When God sent His prophet to speak to King Asa, he listened. He was told to be strong and seek God, continually. He took courage, and removed the idol worship and broke down the false places of worship. The people recognized God was with King Asa. He even removed his grandmother as queen because she worshiped an idol. He also destroyed her idol. Nevertheless, toward the end of King Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel came against a city in Judah. King Asa sought the help of an enemy nation. Although they gained the city back, Asa had failed to seek the Lord. God sent his prophet with a message, but King Asa rejected the message. After this, King Asa was diseased in his feet, but he sought the physicians and never sought God. He died of the disease in his feet.

    Y2Q4 – Lesson 6 Questions

    Y2Q4 – Lesson 6 Children’s Worksheets

    See the following for a craft idea if you teach this with young children:

    We made a book with the Ten Commandments in them to remember the importance of obeying God’s commands.

  • Lesson 6: Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet

    For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. —Titus 2:11

    Key Verse Thought: Read today’s key verse. Use the following definitions help you understand it:

    • grace: the divine influence upon the heart;
    • appeared: become visible; able to be known.

     Today we are going to study a prophet that God sent to a Gentile nation (they were not Israelites, God’s chosen people). God makes His salvation known to all who need it.

    Emphasis: Be encouraged to know where God wants you to be, and to be where God wants you to be. Also, to be a faithful witness wherever you may be. 

    Lesson Summary: As we continue studying the Historical Books, we will intermittently study a book of the Prophets as close to the timeframe in history we are studying as we can. We have learned of the deplorable condition of the nation Israel as they only had bad kings. None of them led the nation in reformation back to the one, true God. We have remembered two very influential prophets of the Lord, Elijah and Elisha. Today we will look at another prophet, Jonah. Unlike Elijah and Elisha who spoke the Word of the Lord to the people of Israel, God sent Jonah to a nation that was the enemy of Israel. King Joash (Jehoash) was the last king in Israel of which we read (we will continue with his reign in Lesson 8). Jonah came upon the scene after King Joash (Jehoash) and during the reign of the next king of Israel, Jeroboam II (who we will study in Lesson 8 — see 2 Kings 14:23, 25).

    Jonah is a book in the Bible that is very familiar. One in which many people could probably relate without even having to go back and reread the book of Jonah. With that thought in mind if you are teaching a group, prepare to teach your students something about Jonah they may have never considered before. Be encouraged to never become so familiar with an account in the Bible that you don’t want to “hear it again.”

    Understand and know that the events that transpired in Jonah really happened. Jesus even compared Himself to the prophet Jonah (called Jonas in the Greek). “39. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here” (Matthew 12:39–41). Proof enough to anyone that Jonah was a real prophet who spent three days and three nights in the belly of a whale.

    Year Two Quarter One – Lesson 6 Questions

    Year Two Quarter One – Lesson 6 Children’s Worksheets

    There are many options to show the events from the book of Jonah. I had extra stickers from other projects and made my own picture to remember what happened to Jonah.