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TEACHER BIBLE STUDY – Prep Time Ezekiel Was a Prophet to the People of Judah During Their Time of Exile in Babylon

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TEACHER BIBLE STUDY – Prep Time Ezekiel Was a Prophet to the People of Judah During Their Time of Exile in Babylon Preschool Teacher Guide Unit 18, Session 4: Ezekiel Prophesied to the Exiles Preschool Teacher Guide Session Title: Ezekiel Prophesied to the Exiles Bible Passage: Ezekiel 10 Big Picture Question: Why did God leave His people? God left His people because they kept sinning against Him. Key Passage: Ezekiel 37:27 Unit Christ Connection: Though it appeared that sin prevailed, the covenant God promised would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. TEACHER BIBLE STUDY – Prep Time Ezekiel was a prophet to the people of Judah during their time of exile in Babylon. God’s messages to Ezekiel came in the form of visions, full of symbols and signs. God showed Ezekiel the sins of Jerusalem; the people worshiped idols. They forgot about the Lord. Despite the warnings of prophets before, the people did not turn back to God. God had been patient, and the time had come for His judgment to come. The prophecies shared by Ezekiel include details of God’s judgment on Jerusalem: the people would lack bread and water (Ezek. 4:17), die by plague and famine (Ezek. 5:12), and be ruined and disgraced (Ezek. 5:14). The vision in Ezekiel 10 reflects a previous vision described in Ezekiel 1. God told the man in linen to scatter coals over Jerusalem—a symbol of both punishment and purification. God had used fire to cleanse the lips of Isaiah (Isa. 6:6) and to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24). God’s judgment also came to Jerusalem through His departure from the temple. We must not think God was confined to the temple; He is omnipresent. (1 Kings 8:27; Jer. 23:24) But the temple was the place God’s people went to worship Him. (See 1 Kings 8:33-34.) God left the temple because He was unhappy with His people’s sin. As you teach, emphasize that sin separates people from God because He is holy. But we do not have to stay separated from God. God loves us, and He sent Jesus to earth to fix our relationship with God. Jesus took the punishment for our sin. We are not only declared “not guilty,” God says we are righteous! (See Rom. 3:24-26.) The prophet Ezekiel did not leave the exiled Judeans without hope. He told the people of Judah that after the period of judgment, God was going to restore Israel. Welcome/Transition Time (15 minutes) Lesson (20 minutes) Snack/Video (20 minutes) Activities (20 minutes) 1 © 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources Preschool Teacher Guide Unit 18, Session 4: Ezekiel Prophesied to the Exiles WELCOME/TRANSITION TIME (15 minutes) Greet boys and girls as they arrive. Direct them to work on the color/activity page. After that, they may choose to play with a favorite toy or do another activity that you have provided. Color Page/Activity Sheet: “Which One Doesn’t Belong?” - provided • Crayons or colored pencils • Color/activity sheet, 1 per child Say • Ezekiel saw strange things in the vision God gave him. In each row, put an X over the thing that does not belong. Here’s a hint: The cherubim had four different faces—angel, human, lion, and eagle. Toss a Beanbag- provided Stand in a circle and toss a beanbag around the circle. You may tape a circle on the floor to help kids visualize the boundary. When the ball goes outside the circle, say, “Why did God leave His people? God left His people …” (because they kept sinning against Him). Introduce the key passage by explaining that dwelling place or tabernacle (depending on the translation) means “where God lives.” WORSHIP Classroom DVD contains worship songs for each unit that the children will enjoy learning. Unit 18 DVD Transition to Lesson Use your usual transition cue to signal that it is time for Bible study. Ring the bell, show the countdown video, flip the lights, or clap a simple rhythm for children to copy to gain attention LESSON (20 minutes) Story Time Say • In today’s Bible story, God gave Ezekiel a vision. In the vision were cherubim. Cherubs have wings. They are a kind of angel that serve and worship God at His throne. Each cherub in Ezekiel’s vision had an amazing wheel. Other strange things were in Ezekiel’s vision. [Show the Bible story picture.] Watch to see what sad, sad thing happened at the end of the vision. 2 © 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources Preschool Teacher Guide Unit 18, Session 4: Ezekiel Prophesied to the Exiles THE BIBLE STORY Ezekiel Prophesied to the Exiles Ezekiel 10 Ezekiel was a prophet. He told God’s message to the people of Judah who were living in Babylon. The people had not loved God and had not obeyed Him like they should. God punished them by letting the king of Babylon take them far away from their homes. But God still loved them, and He was going to rescue them. Ezekiel saw a vision. It was like a dream, but Ezekiel was awake. Ezekiel had seen visions before. God gave Ezekiel visions to tell him things. In this vision, Ezekiel was at the temple where people went to worship God. He saw beings with wings, like angels. They were called cherubim. Cherubim serve God and worship Him. In his vision, Ezekiel saw something that looked like a throne. It was bright blue, like a sparkling jewel! Ezekiel also saw a man dressed in fine cloth. God told the man what to do. God said, “Pick up hot coals, and throw the coals over the city of Jerusalem.” When the coals landed on the city, they would burn the city. God was not happy with the people who lived in the city because they sinned. The coals would make the city clean. The man did what God told him to do. A cloud filled the temple. It was God’s glory. It reminded people that God was there and that He is powerful and important. Ezekiel heard something. It was the wings of the cherubim. They moved, and they were loud! They sounded like God’s voice. Ezekiel was seeing and hearing amazing things in this vision from God! Ezekiel saw in his vision four wheels next to the cherubim. Each wheel was sparkling like crystals—like colored jewels. The wheels were moving, and the cherubim were too. The cherubim had eyes all over their bodies—not just on their faces, but on their backs, their hands, and their wings. Even the wheels had eyes on them! Each of the cherubim had four faces. One face was the face of an angel. The second face was the face of a human. The third face was the face of a lion, and the fourth face was the face of an eagle. The cherubim went up, up, up into the air. Wherever the cherubim went, the wheels went too. Then the cloud—God’s glory—went out of the temple. It went above the cherubim, and the cherubim lifted their wings and flew into the air. In this vision, Ezekiel saw the cherubim leave, and he saw that the wheels went with them. The temple was the place where God’s people worshiped Him. The people did not want to do right things, so God’s glory left the temple. Christ Connection: God did not stay in the temple. He left because the people sinned. God cannot be around sin. Jesus came to earth to take away our sin. When we turn from sin and trust in Jesus, we can be with God forever. * Use only the words in bold to review the Bible story or tell it to younger preschoolers. 3 © 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources Preschool Teacher Guide Unit 18, Session 4: Ezekiel Prophesied to the Exiles Review/Key Passage • Key Passage Poster • Big Picture Question Poster • Say • What are some things you saw in the story of Ezekiel’s vision? [Listen for responses.] • Why did God punish His people? (The people kept sinning. They worshiped idols and were mean.) • Did God still love them even though they sinned? (Yes! And He planned to rescue them.) • God gave Ezekiel a vision. Ezekiel saw a cloud in the temple. What was the cloud? (It was God’s glory. God was there!) • What happened to the cloud? (It left the temple.) • Why did God leave His people? God left His people because they kept sinning against Him. • God did not stay in the temple. He left because the people sinned. God cannot be around sin. Jesus came to earth to take away our sin. When we turn from sin and trust in Jesus, we can be with God forever. SNACK/VIDEO (20 minutes) Snack Signal for cleanup time using the countdown video or whatever method you prefer. Take a bathroom break and wash hands before the snack. Ask for volunteers to help set up and serve the snack. Remind kids to wait until everyone has been served before eating. Thank God for your snack. Watch Video Show the video “Ezekiel Prophesied to the Exiles ” (from Classroom DVD) ACTIVITIES (20 minutes) Oil and Water Observation – provided Fill a jar with water and color the water blue. Add corn oil to the container of water. Invite kids to hold the jar and turn it to watch the water and oil separate. Say • Oil and water cannot mix. Sin separates us from God; God cannot be around sin, but Jesus came to fix that. Jesus came to earth to take away our sin. When we turn from sin and trust in Jesus, we can enjoy being with God forever.
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