SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON Kings and Prophets THE PROPHET VISITS JEROBOAM Elementary Lesson Year Two, Quarter One, Lesson Three AIM: to use the story of this prophet to teach my students that we must always obey God s Word. OBJECTS TO HAVE: A picture of a golden calf A picture of an altar A picture of an oak tree A picture of a big meal A picture of a lion Your Bible POINT OF CONTACT: Have you ever played hide-and-seek before? When you play hide-and-seek, of course, you have to have rules. First of all, you have to decide where the base is going to be. Then, you have to decide where your boundaries are. And then you have to decide how long the person who is it is going to count. Let s pretend we were going to play tag this morning. I m the teacher, so I ll make the rules. First, I tell you that this chair is the base. Then I tell you that I ve decided that the boundaries are the whole Sunday School area. And I say that when you re it, you have to count 25 seconds. Now, let s suppose that you re it first. While you count to 25, we all go hide. After you count to 25, you come and look for us. While you re looking for us, we try to get back to the base before you can tag us. But, let s say that you find me and tag me before I can get to the base. So that means that now I m it. So I go to the base and cover my eyes. But before I count I say: When you re it, you have to count to 25; but when I m it, I only have to count to 5. When you re it, we can hide anywhere we want to in the downstairs; but when I m it, you can only hide right here in our classroom. This will make the game much easier for me. Let me ask you a question: should there be one set of rules for you, and a different set of rules for me? No! We all have to play by the same rules. Now, you see, God made one set of rules for all of us. We all have to live by the same rules. But today I am going to tell you about a man who was sent by God to announce the rules, but then he forgot, and he broke that rule himself. STORY: I m going to need your help today. As I tell the story, I m going to need some of you to help me act out the story. This story begins with King Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Last Sunday I told you how Jeroboam did a wicked thing. Jeroboam disobeyed God and built 2 golden calves. He told the people of his kingdom that there was a brand new religion in the land. He told them that from now on, everyone was supposed to offer sacrifices to those two golden calves. This was wicked for many reasons. The first reason it was wicked is that it broke God s very first commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Jeroboam should not have made those golden calves, and he should not have told the people of Israel to worship those golden calves. Then Jeroboam made a holiday on the 15 th day of the month, and he commanded all of the people to offer sacrifices on that holiday. The people would have to travel to the city of Dan or the city of Bethel to offer sacrifices to those calves on that 15 th day of the month. Jeroboam would stand at the altar, next to his calf, and offer the sacrifices for the people. Now I need someone to be Jeroboam for me. Come stand over here next to the altar. God did not like what Jeroboam had done. So God sent a preacher to go tell Jeroboam that He did not like what Jeroboam had done. Who wants to be that preacher for me? God told that preacher: Here s what I want you to do: I want you to go straight to Jeroboam while he is standing next to the altar. I want you to tell him that the altar is wicked. I want you to tell him that some day that altar is going to be destroyed by a king named Josiah. And tell Jeroboam that he must obey the Word of God. Now, I want all of you to help me say that phrase, He must obey the Word of God. Tell him that he must obey the Word of God. Very good. Now, preacher, do you understand? Go and tell him that he must obey the Word of God. Say it again, he must obey the Word of God. Good. Now preacher, one more thing. Before you go, I have some special instructions for YOU. When you finish giving Jeroboam my message (What is my message? He must obey the Word of God. Good), I don t want you to take any
food from anyone. I don t want you to take a drink from anyone. I want you to come straight back home, and I want you to come home a different way than the way that you went. Got it? Now, let s review it, because I want you to get it right. First, go to the altar, and tell Jeroboam that he must obey the Word of God. Right. Then don t take any what? Food, that s right, and don t accept any what? Water. Very good. Come straight back home; but come home a different way than the way that you went. Good job, preacher. Now, get going. So, the preacher did what God told him to do. He went to Bethel where Jeroboam had the altar set up next to the golden calf. With Jeroboam standing right there next to the altar, the preacher preached the sermon in front of everybody. Altar, I have come in the name of the Lord. God has said that a king named Josiah is going to arise, and he is going to burn all of these false priests on the altar. This altar is wicked in the sight of God. It is going to be broken into pieces. Jeroboam, God says that you must obey the Word of God. Well, Jeroboam did not like what the preacher was saying. So Jeroboam reached out his hand and said to his guards, Get him, boys! But when Jeroboam reached out his arm, his arm froze. He couldn t move it. It was like it went dead. Jeroboam screamed, Help! My arm! Hey preacher, please, help me! The preacher prayed for Jeroboam, and Jeroboam s arm was healed. Jeroboam said, Whoo! That s better! Thank you preacher. Then Jeroboam said, Hey, preacher, since you healed my arm, won t you come back to my house, let me feed you, and give you a drink, and give you a nice reward, and then you can be on your way! And that preacher said, No, I cannot. God has commanded me not to take any food or drink from anybody, and I must obey the Word of God. Then, the preacher turned around, and went home a different way than he came. Well, there was an old, old preacher living in Bethel near where Jeroboam s altar was. Who wants to be the old preacher for me? Good. That old preacher wasn t really the kind of preacher that he should have been. But when he heard what the brave young preacher had done, he wanted to meet him. So the old preacher got on his donkey, and he set out to find the brave young preacher. Finally, he found the young preacher sitting under an oak tree. The old preacher said, Young man, I m a preacher. I heard what you did with the king today, and I want you to know that I m proud of you. I d be honored to have you come and eat at my house. The young preacher said, No, sir. God gave me clear instructions not to take food from anyone, not to take a drink from anyone, and to go home a different way than the way I came. And I must obey the Word of God. The old man said, Well, son, I admire that. But, like I said, I m a preacher, too. And God spoke to me, too. And God told me to tell you that it would be okay to go against what He told you before. He told me that He would make an exception for you. But you see, kids, that old preacher was lying! God never changes His Word. God never goes against His own Word. And God never wants you to go against His Word. The young preacher thought for a second. Then he said, Well, I am awfully hungry and thirsty. And if that s what God told you okay, I ll come to your house. The young preacher came back, and ate with the old preacher. But while they were eating, the Lord spoke through the old preacher and said to the young preacher, You have disobeyed me. You should not have gone against the word that I commanded you. Because you disobeyed the word of God, you will not make it back to Judah safely. The young preacher s heart was broken. He finished his meal, he got up, and he started home. On his way home, a young lion jumped out into the road, and killed that young preacher. Why? Because he had told Jeroboam, You must obey the Word of God. But he himself turned his back on the Word of God. The same rule that applied to Jeroboam applied to that young preacher. You see, kids, God s rules are for everybody. Nobody sins against God and gets away with it. You may know somebody who is living in sin, and it may seem like he s having a great time, but he is going to find out that sin hurts and sin kills. The same goes for you, too. If you play around with sin, you are going to find out that sin hurts, and sin kills. You must obey the Word of God. I must obey the Word of God. Your friends must obey the Word of God. Our Pastor must obey the Word of God. God s rules are for everybody. That young preacher did a brave thing when he stood before Jeroboam. But he failed to realize that the same rules that applied to Jeroboam also applied to him. Let s learn our memory verse. James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
THE PROPHET VISITS JEROBOAM Teen and Adult Lesson Year Two, Quarter One, Lesson Three SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON Kings and Prophets 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 DEALS WITH SIN ON HIS TIMETABLE. God sent this prophet to declare a message against Jeroboam s altar; but it was a message that would not be fulfilled for over 300 years. God deals with things in His time, which is always the right time. Just because you don t see things dealt with when you think they should be dealt with does not mean that God is not doing anything about it. He knows exactly when and how to deal with things. II. III. IV. WE OUGHT TO DESIRE TO DO WHATEVER JOB GOD NEEDS US TO DO. The name of this prophet is not given, though his message was of great importance. It is not important that our names be known; what should matter to each of us is that we are ready and willing to do the job that God wants us to do. GOD REQUIRES EACH OF US TO FOLLOW HIS INSTRUCTIONS. This prophet was coming to rebuke Jeroboam for not following God s instructions; yet the prophet himself failed to keep God s instructions in the delivery of the message. None of us is exempt from following God s instructions to us. This man died for failing to follow God s instructions. GOD S WORD DOES NOT CHANGE. The older preacher deceived the younger preacher into thinking that God had changed His instructions. His? deception may seem unfair to us; nevertheless, it was this young prophet s duty to know that God s Word does not change. It is a difficult decision when we are faced with rejecting the instructions of someone we respect, when their instructions conflict with God s Word; yet, it is our duty to always adhere to God s Word. V. GOD ALWAYS VINDICATES HIS PEOPLE. 2 Kings 23:15-18. Over 300 years later, this prophet s prophecy regarding Josiah was fulfilled. And after 300 years, the people of that city still knew who that unnamed prophet was. God stood by His man, and validated his message and his ministry.
I. I KINGS 13:1- God Uses an Unnamed Messenger 1-5 The prophet gives Jeroboam a sign 6-8- II. I KINGS 13:11-11- 16- The Prophet Visits Jeroboam III. I KINGS 13:19-24 The 20-23- IV. I KINGS 13:25-25-28 The old prophet finds the youn 29-30 The old prophet buries the young prophet in his own grave 31-32 The old prophet asks to be buried with the young prophet V. I KINGS 13:33- house is condemned Adult Bible Class
THE PROPHET VISITS JEROBOAM God sent a prophet to destroy the altar of Jeroboam s wicked false religion. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. JAMES 1:22
The Prophet Visits Jeroboam From today s Bible story, write next to each true statement below, and next to each false statement. 1. Jeroboam was the king of the southern kingdom. 2. Jeroboam had built two golden donkeys and told the people to worship them. 3. God sent a prophet to Jeroboam, to preach against the altar that Jeroboam had built. 4. The prophet foretold the coming of a king of Judah named Josiah. 5. God instructed the prophet that on this trip he was not to take any food or drink from anybody. 6. Jeroboam was very happy to hear the prophet s message. 7. When Jeroboam s arm stiffened, the prophet prayed for him and his arm was instantly healed. 8. An old prophet in Bethel told his sons to lie to the young preacher, to get the young prophet to come eat with him. 9. It was okay for the young prophet to go to the old prophet s house, because he was a prophet. 10. God sometimes changes His mind about what is right and wrong. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. JAMES 1:22
The Prophet Visits Jeroboam The answers to today s puzzle 1. Jeroboam was the king of the southern kingdom. 2. Jeroboam had built two golden donkeys and told the people to worship them. 3. God sent a prophet to Jeroboam, to preach against the altar that Jeroboam had built. 4. The prophet foretold the coming of a king of Judah named Josiah. 5. God instructed the prophet that on this trip he was not to take any food or drink from anybody. 6. Jeroboam was very happy to hear the prophet s message. 7. When Jeroboam s arm stiffened, the prophet prayed for him and his arm was instantly healed. 8. An old prophet in Bethel told his sons to lie to the young preacher, to get the young prophet to come eat with him. 9. It was okay for the young prophet to go to the old prophet s house, because he was a prophet. 10. God sometimes changes His mind about what is right and wrong.