King Joash (Part 1)

1. HOOK: Eagle vs Mother Hen

• Choose a kid as the eagle and another kid as the mother hen. The rest of the kids will be the chicks. In the game, the eagle tries to catch one of the chicks, and the mother hen tries to protect the chicks from the eagle.
• The chicks will line behind the mother hen one by one. The eagle can catch the chick by tagging the chick, and the mother hen can protect the chicks by spreading her arms shoulder high. When the chasing begins, the eagle is free to run anywhere to catch the chick. The mother hen will try to be in front of the eagle to protect the chicks.
• The eagle has to go around the mother hen to catch the chick, and he will try to avoid any contact with the mother hen. To help the mother hen, the chicks will try to run out of the way of the eagle. The chicks don’t have to be in the line all the time. They may run out of the line and play tag with the eagle.
• If the eagle catches a chick, this game will be over and that chick will be the eagle in the next game.
• Conclusion: Just as the Mummy Hen protects her baby chicks, God protects all of us!

2. LESSON: King Joash (2 Chron 21-22)

• Last week, we learned about a new king of Judah. What was his name? Jehoshaphat
• Remember how Jehoshaphat sent out the worshippers to praise God even as the enemy armies were attacking him?
• After King Jehoshaphat died, his eldest son, Jehoram, became king. Jehoram married King Ahab and Queen Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah. He ruled for 8 years.
  (When Jehoram became king, he killed all his brothers! He did evil in God’s eyes. He was invaded by the Arabs and Philistines, who killed most of his sons and wives. In the end, he died of an incurable disease of his bowels — his intestines all came out, and he was in great pain!)
• After he died, his youngest son, Ahaziah became king at age 22. Ahaziah ruled for one year. He, too, did evil, and was killed during a visit to the kingdom of Israel.
• When Ahaziah died, his mother, Athaliah — the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel — wanted to rule Judah and declared herself queen.
  (She was so evil that she killed her own grandchildren so that they would not try to be kings or queens in her place.)
• All through the years, God never forgot his promise to King David — that he will always have a king on his throne.
• So despite King Jehoram and King Ahaziah’s evil doings, God never wiped them off! And now, this evil Queen Athaliah has killed off the baby boys in King David’s line!
• But wait … she didn’t kill off ALL of them.
• One little baby prince escaped! Baby Joash was hidden in the temple by his aunt so he was not killed. Jehoiada, the priest, took care of Joash and taught him about God. Baby Joash was kept safe and sound for six years, until he was anointed king (we’ll learn more about that next week!)
• God kept His promise to King David. He promised a forever king. And this king is Jesus. From the beginning, the devil has always tried to destroy God’s plans and promises. For example, if Queen Athaliah managed to kill Baby Joash, then there will be no more line of David! But God preserved the line by saving Baby Joash, so that one day, a Saviour could come to die for the world and rise again to reign as the Perfect King forever!

Today, we’ve learnt that:

• God protected Baby Joash; God protects me! Although his parents were dead, God provided his aunt and uncle to rescue him and take care of him. Many of us have our parents to look after us, but even when they are not with us, God will still take care of us. Eg you are in school and your bus comes late, or your father may be working in another country and can’t be with you.
• God kept His promises; God will always keep His promises. His most important promise was not to David. It was way back in the Garden of Eden where He promised to send someone to crush the head of Satan. That someone is Jesus!

3. ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

• Sharing: Ask the children to share how God has guided them or protected them.
• Memory Verse: Psalm 121:7-8 (just vs 7 for younger classes)
  The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
  the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.