Lesson Title: Always Obey God
Bible Reference: 1 Kings 11:28-43
Target Age Group: Preschool
Learning Context: Children’s Church
Target Time Frame: 1 ½ hour
Gospel Connection: Even with the gift of wisdom Solomon could not remember to always obey God. His sin had a lasting impact on himself and his family whenever Israel was divided and Jeroboam became the king of most of Israel. If Solomon had just obeyed God then his family may have been able to keep their status. Today, preschoolers will learn that they should always obey God.
Learning Aim: Obey God.
Materials Needed:
- Large Brown Paper Bags
- Crayons
- Cheerios
- Dominos
You say the Italicized words. Non-italicized words are directions.
Bible Story
Open your Bible to 1 Kings 11.
Say, Solomon was the king of Israel and God blessed him with great wisdom. Solomon was a good king but he made a mistake and did not obey God. God had to punish Solomon for disobeying him. He did this by dividing Israel and taking most of the kingdom away from Solomon and his family. Here’s how God did this:
A man named Jeroboam rebelled against King Solomon. That means that he wanted to be the king instead of Solomon. One day Jeroboam was walking in the country whenever he met Ahijah. Ahijah was a prophet and he had a message for Jeroboam from God.
Ahijah took his cloak and tore it into 12 pieces. He gave 10 pieces of the cloak to Jeroboam and told him that God said that Jeroboam would be given 10 of the tribes of Israel. The rest of Israel would still belong to Solomon’s family.
Solomon was punished because he didn’t obey God. What does obey mean? Let the kids answer and discuss the meaning of obey.
Think of a time whenever your parents asked you to do something and you did not obey them. What happened? Talk about how their disobedience could hurt them. Example: They ate too many sweets and got a belly ache; They climbed on top of a table and fell and got hurt; They yelled in church after being asked to be quiet and got in trouble.
You have to obey your parents because they love you and they know what is good for you. We have to obey even if we don’t want to. God wants us to always obey him because He is God and He knows what is best for us.
Obey God Cloaks
Cut the top off of a brown paper bag and cut arm holes in each side and an opening in the front like where a zipper would go. This will be their very own cloak. Write OBEY GOD on the back of their cloak and let them color it.
Say, Whenever the prophet, Ahijah, saw Jeroboam he tore his cloak into 12 pieces to show that Israel will be divided. Israel was divided because Solomon sinned and did not obey God.
Stacking 12 Cheerios
Give each child 12 cheerios and have a race to see who can stack them the quickest.
Say, Good job! There were 12 tribes of Israel. Solomon was king over all of the tribes but once he disobeyed God, Jeroboam became the king over 10 of the tribes. Can you count out 10 of your cheerios? If the tribes of Israel were cheerios then Solomon would have lost 10 of his cheerios and only been able to eat 2. If Solomon would have obeyed God he would have kept all of his cheerios. It is always better to obey God.
Dominos
Stand up 12 dominos in a line and then knock 10 down. Talk about how Israel was divided and God took the kingdom away from him and his family. Once you are done talking about Israel let the kids play with the dominos for a while.
True and False
Say the following statements about today’s lesson. If the statement is true the kids will stand. If it is false they will sit down.
- There was a king named Simon. (false)
- Solomon was very wise. (true)
- Solomon wrote the book of Psalms. (false)
- Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs. (true)
- Ahijah was a prophet. (true)
- James rebelled against king Solomon. (false)
- Jeroboam rebelled against the king. (true)
- Jeroboam was given 10 tribes of Israel. (true)
- Solomon got to be the king forever. (false)
- You should always Obey God. (true)
Closing the Lesson
Say, Today we learned that you should always obey God. What does it mean obey? Let’s remember to obey God this week. Close in prayer.