Week 960 · about 45 minutes
Malachi 1
Malachi 1 · Memory verse Malachi 1:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Malachi 1), the matching word search and answer key (Malachi 1 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a ribbon
Hold a ribbon. Read Malachi 1 in about four minutes, stopping at Malachi 1:2: ““I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Malachi 1?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Malachi 1 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “A revelation, Yahweh’s word to Israel by Malachi.” 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 you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?” says Yahweh of Armies.” Malachi 1 opens with these words: “A revelation, Yahweh’s word to Israel by Malachi.” The line to keep is Malachi 1:2: ““I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;” Carry the word “loved” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Malachi 1:2: ““I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Malachi 1? Then try this: Read ““I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says…” 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 Malachi 1. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Malachi 1:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Malachi 1 and write Malachi 1:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Malachi 1:2
““I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Malachi 1. Help us remember Malachi 1:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.