Week 340 · about 45 minutes
1 Kings 11
1 Kings 11 · Memory verse 1 Kings 11:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Kings 11), the matching word search and answer key (1 Kings 11 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a ribbon
Hold a ribbon. Read 1 Kings 11 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Kings 11:2: “of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Kings 11?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Kings 11 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;” 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, “Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you seek to go to your own country?” He answered, “Nothing, however only let me depart.”” 1 Kings 11 opens with these words: “Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians,…” The line to keep is 1 Kings 11:2: “of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will…” Carry the word “nations” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Kings 11:2: “of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Kings 11? Then try this: Read “of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither…” 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 1 Kings 11. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Kings 11:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Kings 11 and write 1 Kings 11:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Kings 11:2
“of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Kings 11. Help us remember 1 Kings 11:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.