Week 443 · about 45 minutes
Ezra 4
Ezra 4 · Memory verse Ezra 4:1
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Ezra 4), the matching word search and answer key (Ezra 4 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Ezra 4 in about four minutes, stopping at Ezra 4:1: “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Ezra 4?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Ezra 4 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of 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, “Be it known now to the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.” Ezra 4 opens with these words: “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;” The line to keep is Ezra 4:1: “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;” Carry the word “adversarie” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Ezra 4:1: “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Ezra 4? Then try this: Read “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a…” 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 Ezra 4. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Ezra 4:1. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Ezra 4 and write Ezra 4:1 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Ezra 4:1
“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Ezra 4. Help us remember Ezra 4:1 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.