The Biblical Path of Life

Tag: Quarter One

  • 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.

  • Lesson 5: 2 Kings 9:11–13:9: Jehu – Jehoahaz

    Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

    —Proverbs 4:23

    Key Verse Thought: As you read the Key verse for this lesson, use the following definitions to help you understand it a little better.

    • keep:  guard; protect; preserve
    • heart:  the center; the totality of man’s inner nature; the place where wisdom and understanding reside

     We are to be very careful of what we allow into our hearts. We should protect not only the nature (character, or attributes) but also the wisdom that we allow into our hearts. Why? What we allow into our heart is the source for the kind of life we live; the kind of person we become. That is one reason why when someone becomes saved; we say they have asked Jesus into their heart.

    Be encouraged to consider your heart as the place where a special treasure is kept — a place to be well guarded. It would also be good to understand the importance of placing God’s Word into your heart (see Psalm 119:11).

    Emphasis: We are to learn from the failings of King Jehu. We are to keep our hearts with all diligence — always continuously hiding God’s Word in our hearts so we will know what to do (unlike King Jehu).

    Lesson Summary: As we begin this lesson, we must remember that Jehoram (also called Joram) reigned in Israel. Elisha had sent one of the prophets to anoint a new king of Israel, Jehu, even while Jehoram was still king. When Jehu was anointed, he was also given a very grave message. He was to kill Ahab’s entire household.

    We will see the process that Jehu followed being established as the new king of Israel. Jehu went to Jezreel and killed King Jehoram (and Ahaziah, king of Judah, who was visiting King Jehoram). He continued by having Jezebel killed. Ahab had 70 sons living in Samaria, and they were also killed. Jehu did not stop there, he continued by killing every Baal worshiper in Israel. He then had all of the images burned, and they broke down the house of Baal. When Jehu died, we find his son, Jehoahaz, becomes the twelfth king of Israel. He reigned for 17 years in Israel, and “followed the sins of Jeroboam.” It was a greatly oppressed nation while he was king. When he died, his son, Joash (Jehoash), became the thirteenth king of Israel.

    As we read about all of the good that Jehu did, we will find an area in which he miserably failed. This is to be a lesson to us.

    Year Two Quarter One – Lesson 5 Questions

    Year Two Quarter One – Lesson 5 Children’s Worksheets

    You could have them make a journal including verses reminding them the importance of fearing the Lord and walking in His ways. That was Jehu’s failure – although he did much for God, he did not walk in God’s ways.