This lesson is told from the first person account of Jehosheba. She appears in the Scriptures briefly but was used by God to fulfill His sovereign plan to preserve the lineage of Christ through David’s descendants. Her story should encourage all of us that when we have a courageous faith in God’s promises we can be used by Him in this world full of darkness and sin.
This lesson is only a guide to help you to prepare for your class. It was created for older students but can be adapted for your individual needs. Click here to see all the Bible lessons in this series.
Bible Story Title: Joash is safely hidden
Bible Passage: 2 Chronicles 21-23:15
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
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Supply List: Bibles, costume to tell the story in first person, index cards with facts about the different Kings of Israel that have been studied, ball/bean bag
Learning Goal: Students will learn that believing God’s promises enables them to act courageously.
Learning Indicator: Students will demonstrate their understanding by answering review questions and participating in the learning activities.
Learning Activity #1: Name that King. Read statements from index cards and ask the students to name that king. As a challenge for students let them think up a statement of a king and let the other students guess which king he/she is referring to.
Learning Activity #2: Have examples of difficult scenarios that students face. Toss a ball or bean bag to a student to name a difficult situation that students face. Allow students to brainstorm what a person with a courageous faith acts like in that situation.
Test: Review Questions
Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”
Bible Lesson:
(If you have a volunteer step outside the classroom as your volunteer prepares the students for the Bible lesson. Put on your costume and enter the room. If you just want a simple way to distinguish that you are a Bible character just place a scarf on your head as you introduce yourself. If you are a male teacher you can adapt the story and tell it from Jehoiada the priest’s perspective.)
Good morning! My name is Jehosheba (jee-HOSH-ee-buh) and I have stopped by to share my story with you. I will tell you a little bit about my family. I am a daughter of a king. My father was King Jehoram ( and my grandfather was King Jehoshaphat. Being a daughter of royalty has many privileges. The most important privilege to me was being born into the family of my great, great, great, great-grandfather King David. King David was a man after God’s own heart and received a promise from God. God made a covenant with David and told him that from his family a king would be born who would reign forever.
All who were a part of King David’s family understood that this promise meant that God’s promised Messiah would be born from one of David’s descendants. The Messiah would rule and reign forever and ever. This is a great promise and every generation that has been born after King David has looked for this King who will rule for ever and ever!
As you have been learning about Israel’s kings you have been discovering that the kings over the northern 10 tribes of Israel have all been wicked. Many of the kings that have ruled over the southern kingdom, the kingdom in which I live have done what pleases the Lord. My grandfather Jehoshaphat was a man who loved God and sought Him with all his heart. After he died my father Jehoram (juh-HOR-uhm) became king. My father did many wicked things when he became king. He killed all of his brothers so no one could take away his power to be the king. He was married to Athaliah (ath’uh-LI-uh) the daughter of wicked King Ahab and Jezebel. My father did not fear God and did many evil things.
My father’s sins were evil in God’s sight. God is perfect and holy. He must punish sin and He had every right to destroy my entire family because of my father’s wickedness. However, God is faithful to His promises. He is not like us in that He forgets what He has promised to do. He is not a liar (Titus 1:2). He made a covenant with David and because of that He would not destroy my family completely (2 Chronicles 21:7).
God punished my father for his sins and he was put to death by his enemies. Can you imagine having your father killed and no one was upset about it? (2 Chronicles 21:20) My father chose to live a wicked life and no one cared when he died. (Galatians 6:7-8)
After my father died my brother Ahaziah (ay’huh-ZI-uh) was crowned the new king. His mother Athaliah (the daughter of Ahab) was a poor example in his life. She was a wicked influence in his life. She actually encouraged him to do evil things. (2 Chronicles 22:3-4) He was not like my great, great, great, great grandfather David in any way. He was wicked and didn’t please God with his life. Sadly his life ended shortly after becoming king because of his wickedness. (Romans 8:5-8, Romans 6:23)
After my brother’s death Athaliah wanted to rule over the southern kingdom. She knew the only way she could maintain power over the kingdom was to kill any of the sons who could be king. She wanted to destroy the royal family. She began to kill any of the sons who could be king. This is where I come into the story….
My husband Jehoiada (juh-HOI-uh-duh) is a priest. Even though wickedness is seen everywhere in the southern kingdom I never forgot God who made a covenant with my great, great, great, great grandfather King David. When God says He is going to do something He is going to do it. I didn’t know when the Promised Messiah was going to be born but I knew that He would be born from someone in my family. I believed God would keep His promise so I courageously stepped out in faith and took my nephew Joash (JOH-ash) who was only a year old at the time. I took him and hid him safely away in a room with a nurse to take care of him.
Jehoiada and I could not stand by and allow Queen Athaliah destroy the descendants of David’s kingdom. For six years my nephew Joash was safely hidden and protected from the Queen. As a priest Jehoiada had an opportunity to rise up in a very evil time and stand up for the promises of God. He did not allow Queen Athaliah to keep him from moving forward with a courageous plan to overthrow her wicked rule.
My husband’s faith in God’s covenant promise to King David gave him great courage to rise up and assign men to help him bring Joash out of hiding and proclaim him king over the southern kingdom.
The plan was to have men positioned in different places with different tasks at the temple. Jehoiada gave the men the plans and instructions on how to protect young Joash. Imagine the anticipation of this exciting event. All the men took their positions and waited for the moment King David’s heir would be crowned king.
That day my husband and our sons brought out young Joash and announced him as the king was such a triumphant day! As Jehoiada placed the crown on Joash’s head and anointed him king the crowd shouted “Long live the King!” What a beautiful sound to our ears!
It was not such a sweet sound to the ears of wicked Queen Athaliah. When she heard the jubilant shouts of ‘Long live the king!’ she ran to the temple. She was furious when she saw the joyous celebration of the crowning of Joash. She shouted “Treason! Treason!” because she believed she was the one with authority over the people. Was she ever wrong!
My husband sent out soldiers to have her put to death. They followed his instructions and the wicked queen was dead and no longer had any power over the southern kingdom. Her evil plans were stopped to destroy all David’s descendants and everyone saw God’s power to keep and protect His covenant promises.
I wanted to share my story with you because in this life many times we don’t feel like have a purpose. We know that God says He has a purpose for each one of His children but we wonder how He could ever use anyone as seemingly insignificant as ourselves. If God could use a woman like myself who is only mentioned briefly in the pages of Scripture to fulfill His purposes He can use you. When you believe what God says from the pages of Scripture you can live courageously for Him in a world full of evil. You may never know how God will use your example of courageous faith to touch the lives of people all around you.
Thank you for letting me visit your class today. I will leave you with this encouraging promise from God’s Word: (1 Corinthians 16:13) “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”
(If you just put a scarf on you can remove it and talk to the students as their teacher, or if you need to step outside to take costume off, have volunteer lead the students to recite the memory verse while you step outside.)
Ask the students if they enjoyed meeting Jehosheba. She lived before the fulfillment of God’s promise to King David. We know that God fulfilled His promise when He sent the Lord Jesus into the world through the family of David. He is the Promised Messiah and one day soon He is coming back to reign as King forever and ever. If you have believed that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, was buried and rose again, you are a child of the king just as Jehosheba was a daughter of an earthly king. God has given us many promises in His Word. When we believe that God keeps His promises we can have courageous faith that impacts the lives of those around us.
Close in prayer.
Review Questions:
- Why did God not destroy the southern kingdom when the kings were evil and sinned against Him? (He made a covenant with David that the Promised Messiah would come from his descendants)
- Who was Jehosheba? (Jehoram’s daughter, Jeshophat’s granddaughter, King David’s great, great, great, great-granddaughter)
- Who encouraged King Ahaziah to do evil things? (His mother Athaliah-Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter)
- What did Athaliah try to do when Ahaziah was killed? (She tried to kill all the boys who could be king in the royal family)
- How did Jehosheba show courage during a time of great wickedness? (She hid Joash from the Queen so he couldn’t be killed.)
- Who was Jehosheba’s husband? (Jehoiada the priest)
- How did Jehoiada show courage? (He took charge and organized a plan to present Joash as king in the temple and had the queen put to death)
- What does courageous faith look like in students your age?
- How can God use your courageous faith to be an example to others in your life?
- If you don’t have a courageous faith what changes do you need to make in your daily life to know God better and believe His promises?