Week 453 · about 45 minutes
Nehemiah 4
Nehemiah 4 · Memory verse Nehemiah 4:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Nehemiah 4), the matching word search and answer key (Nehemiah 4 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Nehemiah 4 in about four minutes, stopping at Nehemiah 4:4: ““Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity;” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Nehemiah 4?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Nehemiah 4 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews.” 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, “When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”” Nehemiah 4 opens with these words: “But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews.” The line to keep is Nehemiah 4:4: ““Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity;” Carry the word “hear” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Nehemiah 4:4: ““Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity;” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Nehemiah 4? Then try this: Read ““Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for 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 Nehemiah 4. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Nehemiah 4:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Nehemiah 4 and write Nehemiah 4:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Nehemiah 4:4
““Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity;”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Nehemiah 4. Help us remember Nehemiah 4:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.