Israel Is Carried to Assyria
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Lesson 115 Israel Is Carried To Assyria 2 Kings 17:5-41 MEMORY VERSE 2 KINGS 17:39 “But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enem ies.” WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Two small objects such as a marble or coin. As many paper plates and tongue depressors as the number of children in your class, markers or crayons, scissors and glue. ATTENTION GRABBER! “Secret! Secret! I’ve Got a Secret!” In our lesson today we will learn that the Israelites sinned against the Lord and they tried to keep it a secret. We can never keep anything from the Lord. This fun game will help us to learn about keeping some things hidden. Have your class form two teams. Give each team an item that they will try to keep hidden from the other team (for older ages you may use a small item like a marble or coin, for younger classes you can use a larger item). Have your teams form a line and then sit on the floor facing the other team. Allow enough room behind each team for them to pass the object. Each team will take turns. You will next ask a question to the team who is not chosen to pass the object (you can use review questions from previous lessons, keep them simple enough that the children who were not there can get them). While that group is answering the question the other group is passing the item behind their backs. As soon as the first team correctly answers the question, then the team moving the item must stop. Choose someone from the “question” team to guess who has the item. Switch which team does the “question” and which team does the “moving.” You can keep points and have the winning team serve small prizes to the others. Possible scoring: If “question” team guesses who has the item, “question” team gets a point. If “question” team guesses wrong, then the “moving” team gets a point. LESSON TIME! When God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt, He gave them the Ten Commandments to show them how to live. The people were taught the Ten Commandments from the time they were children. They knew and understood the law. God told them in Exodus 20:2-5a “I am Jehovah your God who liberated you from your slavery in Egypt. You may have no other God’s than me. You shall not make yourselves any idols: no images of animals, birds or fish. You must never bow or worship it in any way; for I, the Lord your God am very possessive. I will not share your affection with any other god!” If the Israelites would follow God’s commandments, He had promised to richly bless them, but if they followed the false gods of the nations around them, they were clearly warned that they would lose the blessings and become cursed. It was clearly the people’s choice. Do good and be blessed or do evil and be cursed. We also clearly have the same choice. If we stay true to God we will be blessed but if we do evil and follow the ways of the world around us, we will be punished. The choice is ours. God had poured out His love and grace upon Israel and yet they still rebelled against Him. God is loving, full of mercy and kind. But there also comes a time when judgment comes upon those who willfully turn against Him. In today’s lesson we learn what happened to the people of Israel when they sinned, turned away from God, followed the ways of the nations around them, and worshipped false gods instead of the true Lord God. We should be faithful to our faithful God. 2 KI N G S 17:5-6 N o w t h e k i n g o f As s y r i a w e n t t h r o u gh o u t al l t h e l an d , an d w e n t u p t o S am ar i a an d be s i e ge d i t f o r t h r e e y e ar s . I n t h e n i n t h y e ar o f Ho s h e a, t h e k i n g o f As s y r i a t o o k S am ar i a an d c ar r i e d I s r ae l aw ay t o As s y r i a, an d p l ac e d t h e m i n Hal ah an d by t h e Habo r , t h e R i v e r o f G o z an , an d i n t h e c i t i e s o f t h e M e d e s . Assyria invaded the land of Samaria. After three years of war, the Asyrians won. They took the Israelites captive, took their homes and land, and moved them to Assyria. Judgment had come upon Israel. Not one single king from the time of Solomon until the captivity was a good king. Even though God remained patient and faithful to His people, the kings led the people into sin. We should be faithful to our faithful God. 2 KI N G S 17:7-12 Fo r s o i t w as t h at t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l h ad s i n n e d agai n s t t h e L OR D t h e i r G o d , w h o h ad br o u gh t t h e m u p o u t o f t h e l an d o f Egy p t , f r o m u n d e r t h e h an d o f Ph ar ao h k i n g o f Egy p t ; an d t h e y h ad f e ar e d o t h e r go d s , an d h ad w al k e d i n t h e s t at u t e s o f t h e n at i o n s w h o m t h e L OR D h ad c as t o u t f r o m be f o r e t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l , an d o f t h e k i n gs o f I s r ae l , w h i c h t h e y h ad m ad e . Al s o t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l s e c r e t l y d i d agai n s t t h e L OR D t h e i r G o d t h i n gs t h at w e r e n o t r i gh t , an d t h e y bu i l t f o r t h e m s e l v e s h i gh p l ac e s i n al l t h e i r c i t i e s , f r o m w at c h t o w e r t o f o r t i f i e d c i t y . T h e y s e t u p f o r t h e m s e l v e s s ac r e d p i l l ar s an d w o o d e n i m age s o n e v e r y h i gh h i l l an d u n d e r e v e r y gr e e n t r e e . T h e r e t h e y bu r n e d i n c e n s e o n al l t h e h i gh p l ac e s , l i k e t h e n at i o n s w h o m t h e L OR D h ad c ar r i e d aw ay be f o r e t h e m ; an d t h e y d i d w i c k e d t h i n gs t o p r o v o k e t h e L OR D t o an ge r , f o r t h e y s e r v e d i d o l s , o f w h i c h t h e L OR D h ad s ai d t o t h e m , " Y o u s h al l n o t d o t h i s t h i n g." The Israelites were carried into captivity for one reason only, because the Israelites sinned against the Lord.