I had a seminary professor who said if he ever went back into the pastorate he would preach through the Bible chronologically. Well, today many of us are TEACHING through the Bible chronologically, which recently brought me to the book of Hosea...for kids. And I couldn't have been more thrilled with the truths I discovered in the book...for kids.
First off, I don't think there is any need for kids to understand what a prostitute is. All they need to know is that Hosea married a women who left him for other men. It is the unfaithfulness part that is critical to the lesson.
Secondly, they need to understand that this was a giant object lesson to show Israel what they were doing themselves. So you can use the pictures below to demonstrate this. All of the pictures came from Free Bible Images.
I started with Hosea marrying Gomer. Exhibit A. What did this represent?
It represented, Exhibit B - Israel agreeing to follow God at Mount Sinai. They entered into a relationship with him in which they agreed to follow and obey him.
Then we add the picture of Gomer leaving Hosea for another man. Of course the kids all think this is terrible. Let that sink in and then add the picture which shows the Israelite's doing the equivalent.
I used a giant equal sign as photographed. I put my pictures in a pocket chart and then added the equal sign and the phrases underneath. You could also use an empty bulletin board or a magnetic board.
Thirdly, you need to transfer the unfaithfulness concept to today for application. How are we unfaithful to God? Pocket charts or white boards are great for this type of teaching.
I had some ideas already typed up like sports, video games, and friends. The kids came up with lots more. Then we talked about what it looked like to be faithful to God.
- Time - you take TIME to relate to him
- Money - you give to his work
- Will - you ASK God what he wants you to do. Yield to his will.
To conclude, we sang, You Never Let Go, which sums up the steadfastness of God's love.
And that's how you can apply just some of the truth from the book of Hosea to children.
If you want to look a little more at some of the application from the book of Hosea, check out my post, Oh for the Love of Hosea. If you are working with upper elementary children, you might want to look at the post, Keeping God at the Center. This post teaches how to overcome idolatry.
If you want to look a little more at some of the application from the book of Hosea, check out my post, Oh for the Love of Hosea. If you are working with upper elementary children, you might want to look at the post, Keeping God at the Center. This post teaches how to overcome idolatry.
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