MEMORY VERSE: 2 Samuel 4:4 "And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Leviticus. Write "Leviticus" on small slips of paper and hand out at the end of class.
PRAYER: Thank God for keeping his promises as we should keep our own promises.
SPECIAL SONG: Be Patient And Kind (see April - Lesson - Joseph Meets His Brothers Who Hated Him on this blog)
VISUAL AID: Large Activity (see below)
LESSON POINTS:
- When Israel's King Ishbosheth, Saul's son, heard that his great-uncle Abner was dead, he couldn't or wouldn't do anything. Abner had been the power behind the throne, not Ishbosheth, and all of Israel was troubled.
- Do you remember Jonathan, King Saul's son and David's best friend? He had a young son who had a very long and hard name. We will try to learn his name today. His name was Mephibosheth. Can you say that? Me. Phib. O. Sheth. Mephibosheth. A long name for a little boy.
- The day that Mephibosheth's family heard that Jonathan and King Saul had died in the battle with the Philistines, Mephibosheth was five years old. At that time, he had a nurse or someone who watched over him. When everyone heard that the king and Jonathan had died, everyone panicked. Mephibosheth's nurse hurriedly picked him up and was running with him when his nurse fell. Mephibosheth fell, too, and his feet were hurt so badly that he could never walk again. Mephibosheth was lame. We will read in a few more lessons how David was very kind to his friend's son and how he took care of him.
- Ishbosheth's two captains of his army went into Ishbosheth's house in the middle of the day. Ishbosheth was laying on his bed at noon because it was so hot and his two captains came into his room and killed him. Thinking that David would reward them for killing his enemy, the captains headed over to see David and tell him that they were the ones who had killed Ishbosheth.
- Hmmmm...remember what happened to the Amalekite man who tried to take credit for killing King Saul? Do we remember what happened to him when he went to get a reward from David? The Amalekite man was killed for claiming to kill King Saul, the LORD's anointed. What do you think happened to these two men who had killed King Saul's son? That's right! They died, too. David was very angry because they had killed a righteous man in his own house upon his own bed!
- (At the end of the lesson, see if anyone can name the little boy who could not walk.)
"Older Student" Tips:
- It was a way of life for new kings to come into the old king's palace and kill all of the old king's family, anyone who would be a threat to the new king. David did not do that. He honored the LORD's anointed and, as we will see, takes care of Saul's family. The Bible calls David a man after God's own heart and this was one way that David showed his love, kindness and compassion.
ACTIVITY: Mephibosheth Couldn't Walk.
Materials needed: 4 1/2" x 12" piece of dark brown construction paper, 3" x 7" piece of red construction paper, scraps, white crayon, glue, scissors.
- Hand out brown construction paper.
- Hand out red construction paper.
- Place red paper on top of brown paper, about 1" down.
- Fold both papers at the same time: about 4" from edge. Crease.
- Turn papers over.
- Fold both paper at the same time: about 3" from other fold. Crease. One end should be longer than the other end, so that, when sitting on the edge of the table, it "sits" up.
- Set brown paper aside. DO NOT glue red paper on top of brown paper at any time!
- From top fold on red paper, cut, angling up.
- Cut other side, angling up. Should look a little like a triangle.
- Take leftover red scraps and glue to red paper, so it looks like arms.
- Cut three 1" circles out of tan scrap paper.
- Glue one circle on small edge of red paper. Should look like a head.
- Taking the other two circles, cut in half. Two half-circles are hands and two half-circles are feet.
- Glue hands and feet to red paper. This is Mephibosheth.
- Color Mephibosheth's head.
- Cut a square out of the middle of the shortest end of the brown paper. This should look a little like a chair.
- At the top of brown paper, write "Mephibosheth."
- On one of the legs of the chair, write "2 Samuel 4:4."
- On the bottom of Mephibosheth's robe, write "couldn't walk."
- When the student is finished, Mephiposheth should "sit" on the edge of a table in his own chair! (Crease folds better if he falls.)
- Fold on both folds with Mephibosheth in the middle when taking home.
