Week 326 · about 45 minutes
2 Samuel 20
2 Samuel 20 · Memory verse 2 Samuel 20:19
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (2 Samuel 20), the matching word search and answer key (2 Samuel 20 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a cup of water
Hold a cup of water. Read 2 Samuel 20 in about four minutes, stopping at 2 Samuel 20:19: “I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’s inheritance?”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 2 Samuel 20?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
2 Samuel 20 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “There happened to be there a wicked fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!”” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “He went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth Maacah, and all the Berites. They were gathered together, and went also after him.” 2 Samuel 20 opens with these words: “There happened to be there a wicked fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We…” The line to keep is 2 Samuel 20:19: “I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’s inheritance?”” Carry the word “peaceable” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 2 Samuel 20:19: “I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’s inheritance?”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 2 Samuel 20? Then try this: Read “I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through 2 Samuel 20. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 2 Samuel 20:19. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 2 Samuel 20 and write 2 Samuel 20:19 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
2 Samuel 20:19
“I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’s inheritance?””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 2 Samuel 20. Help us remember 2 Samuel 20:19 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.