SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON The Captivity

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Scott Hutchinson
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1 SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON The Captivity JUDAH CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY Elementary Lesson Year Two, Quarter Two, Lesson Four AIM: to teach my class that you do not have to be enslaved by sin, through the story of God s people being carried away into captivity. OBJECTS TO HAVE: A map of the United States, or of the world Things you might take with you on a vacation (camera, sunglasses, etc.) A postcard of a place you or someone else has vacationed at A picture of a prison or jail A chain Your Bible POINT OF CONTACT: How many of you have ever gone somewhere far away from home? It s fun to travel, isn t it? When you go on vacation you see many exciting things, you take a bunch of pictures, you send postcards to your friends, and you enjoy yourself. Many of the people in our church traveled far away from home to the state of Indiana, to go to Pastors School, and though it was not a vacation, it was fun to do all of the things you get to do when you are away from home, like sleep in a motel and eat in restaurants. But even though they (or we ) enjoyed it all, usually the best part about traveling is that at the end you get to come home. Tell me about some place that you have traveled, that is away from your home. Now, it was a lot of fun, wasn t it? But do you know why you were able to enjoy traveling? Because you were not forced to go; because you were able to go with people that you know and love; and because, when it was all over, you came back home to your house, slept in your own bed, and saw your own friends again. You see, going some place like Florida sounds like fun, doesn t it? But suppose somebody took you from your home and said, Come with me, we re going to Florida! And they kidnapped you, took you to Florida without your mom or dad, put you in a room, locked you up, and didn t let you out. Florida wouldn t sound so good then, would it? No, then Florida would be more like jail. Today I am going to tell you about how that happened to God s people. STORY: God had warned the children of Israel for many years that if they ever chose to rebel against Him, they would lose His blessing upon their nation, and they would be taken away from their homeland. When Moses gave God s laws to the people, before they ever entered the Promised Land, he warned them that if they ever turn their backs on God and rebel against His Word, that they would be taken from the land that He was giving them. Listen to what God said: But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day the LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known. God was warning them that they must always do right, always obey God s laws, always love and serve God, or they would be taken away from the land that He had given them. After Moses died, God made Joshua a great leader over His people. Under Joshua s leadership the children of Israel moved into the Promised Land and made it their own. They saw God do wonderful things, and they enjoyed His blessings because they obeyed Him. When Joshua grew old and was about to die, he brought all of God s people together and warned them with the same warning that Moses had given. Listen to what God said through Joshua: When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. He said that they always must serve and obey God, for if they rebel against God and disobey His Word, they would be taken from the land that God had given them. Over the years God s people did disobey Him; so God sent preachers to preach His Word and remind Him that they must get right with God. These preachers would often remind the people of the warnings of Moses and of Joshua:

2 If you do not obey the commands of God, if you do not love and serve Him, you will be taken from the land that God has given you. Your enemies will come in and carry you away to a strange land. But it seemed that the more the people heard these warnings, the less they believed them. Maybe they thought that God s Word just wasn t true anymore. Maybe they thought that God had forgotten His warning. Maybe they thought that they had not gotten bad enough to be punished yet. But whatever the case, the people continued to disobey and rebel against God. Kids, do you know that God gives a warning to every one of us? That s why you hear preachers say that America must get right with God, or we are going to face God s judgment some day. That is why in Sunday School I warn you about the dangers of sin. Sin will hurt you. Sin will kill you. And just because you may think you are getting away with sin right now, the day will come when your sin will come back and destroy you. You can t disobey your parents and get away with it. You can t break the rules and get away with it. You can t curse and use dirty words and get away with it. You can t do drugs and get away with it. You can t look at dirty pictures or watch dirty TV shows and get away with it. Sin will always hurt and destroy you. Don t think that you can get away with your sin. God s people thought that they could get away with their sinning, so they just kept on rebelling, kept on doing wrong, kept on sinning. God would warn them and remind them, but they would not stop. Then one day it happened. Everything was peaceful. Things were going well. It was a normal day in Jerusalem, and everybody was going about their business. And all of a sudden, all of the people heard the cry of the watchman on the wall: The enemy is attacking! The enemy is attacking! Take cover! Prepare to fight! The enemy is attacking! The enemy? What enemy? They didn t know that they were going to be attacked! They weren t ready for this! A wicked man named Nebuchadnezzar was the king of a nation called Babylon. He decided that he was going to defeat Judah, steal their treasures, hurt and kill anyone he wanted to, and take all of the smartest and most successful people back to his country of Babylon with him. You say, Why would God let a wicked king do that to His people? When God s people were living for God, He never would have let that happen. But when they chose to go their own way...they chose not to be under God s protection anymore. People were kidnapped from the homes that they had built. The temple was destroyed. The walls were broken down. The enemy set the city on fire. People were screaming and crying. Little boys and girls were taken from their moms and dad, and they would never see them again. Why did these awful things happen? Because of sin. Kid s remember this: you can t get away with sin. Sin will hurt you and sin will kill you. Do not let the devil trick you into sinning. If you say yes to sin, you will be taken captive, just like the people of Israel were taken captive. But now here is the good news: Nobody has to be taken captive by sin. You can be free from sin if you want to be. In John 8:32 Jesus said, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Sin makes you a slave, but the truth makes you free. Say that with me: Sin makes you a slave, but the truth makes you free. Say it again. How does the truth make you free? When you obey the truth. You see, when you disobey your parents, you become a slave of disobedience and rebellion. Disobedience and rebellion will make you wind up in prison some day. But God s truth says to obey your parents. When you obey your parents, the truth makes you free from disobedience and rebellion. When you tell a lie, you become a slave of lying. That will ruin your life. But when you decide to always tell the truth, telling the truth makes you free from the slavery of lying. When you hate people, you become a slave of hatred. That will cause great trouble in your life. But when you love people and are kind to people, like God says to do, you become free from the slavery of hatred. The truth will make you free. Every week in Sunday School and church you hear the truth. If you say no to the truth, you will become a slave to sin. But if you say yes to the truth, the truth will make you free. You don t have to be a slave to sin. You can be free. Let s learn our memory verse. John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

3 SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON The Captivity JUDAH CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY Teen and Adult Lesson Year Two, Quarter Two, Lesson Four Teacher, choose one of the following truths to expand upon in teaching this portion of Scripture to your teen/adult class. Teach and apply the truth that you choose using statements and illustrations that are most helpful and applicable to your students. I. GOD TELLS US UP FRONT WHAT THE PENALTY IS FOR SIN. The writings and the preaching of the prophets were filled with warnings that Judah would be punished if they turned their backs on God. Likewise, there is no shortage of warnings in the Bible that, The wages of sin is death, The soul that sinneth, it shall die, and, Sin when it is finished brings forth death. God makes it plain that sin leads to destruction. No one can rightly accuse God of not warning us of the consequences of sin. II. GOD GIVES US PLENTY OF WARNINGS TO REPENT. The people of Judah had warnings from prophet after prophet, and each prophet s warnings grew more intense and more specific. If you will pay attention in your life, and refuse to live in denial, you will see God s warnings very clearly. God is so merciful to let things come into our lives that get our attention, so that we listen to Him and obey Him. III. GOD KEEPS HIS WORDS OF WARNING JUST AS MUCH AS HE DOES HIS PROMISES. When we say, God always keeps His Word, we usually mean that He keeps His promises of blessing, like, My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That, of course, is completely accurate. But never forget that God keeps His promises to judge sin, as well. When God judges our sin and rebellion, that s God keeping His word also. IV. SIN ALWAYS LEADS TO CAPTIVITY. Sin makes slaves of all of us. It puts us in bondage. There is nothing sadder in life than to see someone who is in bondage to sin, and who can t find deliverance. The old saying goes, Sinner will take you farther than you want to go, it will keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. No matter how you might think, Not me! I can get free! you will find that sin is a terrible slave master. V. EVEN IN CAPTIVITY, GOD IS MERCIFUL TO DELIVER HIS PEOPLE. When Nebuchadnezzar invaded, there were those who were killed instantly; those who were taken to Babylon as captives; and those who were left behind in the land of Judah. If you read the prophecy of Jeremiah you will find that it was the group taken away to Babylon who actually had hope. It was that group that God rehabilitated. It was that group that was used to restore the land of Israel. Some of the greatest miracles, greatest victories, and greatest prophecies in the entire Bible happened to the people who were taken into captivity. You don t want to be taken into the place of captivity; but if you wake up one day and realize that you are there, turn to God with all your heart, and God will lead you forward by His mercy and His grace.

4 JUDAH CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY God s Judgment of Judah s Sins I. 2 KINGS 24:1-5 Son Verses 3-4 Nebuchadnezzar bound him to take him to Babylon as prisoner, but he died as they left Jerusalem. They disposed of his carcass like the body of an animal. Jeremiah 22: II. 2 KINGS 24:6-16 Verses 12, He became king at 18 years old and reigned for 3 months He was the only king of Judah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, as the prophet advised III. 2 KINGS 24:17-25:21 25:6-7 When they were captured, they killed his sons, put out his eyes and took him to Babylon IV. 2 Kings 25:22-26 The People Who Were Left Behind 22 Nebuchadnezzar makes Gedaliah their ruler 25 Ishmael murders Gedaliah 26 The people leave Judah and go to Egypt V. 2 Kings 25:27-30 Adult Bible Class

burn Jerusalem and take many people into captivity.

5 JUDAH CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY Because of the sins of the people of Judah over many years, God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to burn Jerusalem and take many people into captivity. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

6 Judah Carried Into Captivity From today s Bible story, write next to each true statement below, and FALSE next to each false statement. 1. God never warned His people of the consequences of rebellion. 2. Moses warned the people before they ever entered the Promised Land that they must not turn their back on God. 3. Joshua gave the people the same warning that Moses had given them. 4. In spite of the warnings of God s men, the people disobeyed God anyway. 5. After Moses and Joshua, God never sent any more prophets to warn the people. 6. Sin always brings sorrow and destruction. 7. The people of Judah thought they could sin against God and get away with it. 8. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem and took the people captive. 9. The sorrow that was caused by Judah s sins was not nearly as bad as God had said it would be. 10. Sin makes you a slave, but the truth makes you free. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. JOHN 8:32

7 Judah Carried Into Captivity The answers to this week s puzzle FALSE FALSE FALSE 1. God never warned His people of the consequences of rebellion. 2. Moses warned the people before they ever entered the Promised Land that they must not turn their back on God. 3. Joshua gave the people the same warning that Moses had given them. 4. In spite of the warnings of God s men, the people disobeyed God anyway. 5. After Moses and Joshua, God never sent any more prophets to warn the people. 6. Sin always brings sorrow and destruction. 7. The people of Judah thought they could sin against God and get away with it. 8. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem and took the people captive. 9. The sorrow that was caused by Judah s sins was not nearly as bad as God had said it would be. 10. Sin makes you a slave, but the truth makes you free.

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