Manasseh

Manasseh, Hezekiah's son

Broke all God's rules, every one.

His father pulled the idols down

he smashed them all upon the ground

But Manasseh, evil man,

stood them all back up again.

This dreadful king, he truly would,

worship anything that stood

still for long enough, and then

he'd find more things and worship them!

He carved out Asherah poles and Baals

He bowed before the moon and stars

He worshipped all the heavenly host

He talked to witches, looked for ghosts

Jerusalem was filled with blood

From end to end there was a flood

From south to north, from west to east,

Manasseh moved and, what a beast,

he slashed his sword like one insane

and left behind a thousand slain

and then he went back to his home

and turned on those who were his own.

Manasseh took his own poor son

and made him through the fire run

He did all this to please the Baals,

the Asherahs, the moon, the stars

And then Manasseh, what a nerve!

Took all the gods he liked to serve

and stood them in the temple: No!

This evil king would have to go!

Manasseh was so truly bad

That God, though patient, said he had

had enough. He set a date

when like a grubby, dirty plate

Judah, he would scrape and wipe

Away with them! A single swipe

and they'd be gone. God's word was true

and that is what he said he'd do.

Manasseh, Hezekiah's son

broke all God's rules, every one.

And all the people followed him

So Judah writhed and sank in sin.

sar 2010

Athaliah

I made this for the kids talk in church this morning.  It was the warm-up/background to the lesson on King Joash (aka Jehoash) from 2 Kings 12.  [Joash is an interesting character.  Like Samuel, he was raised in the temple.  He was brought up by Jehoiada the priest and taught well.  2 Kings tells us that he did good ... all the days that Jehoiada instructed him... but leaves it at that.  Chronicles tells us what happened after Jehoiada died - and it isn't pretty.]

Enjoy.  There is no sound.  If I was clever I'd have recorded the narration over the top... but I didn't think of making it till 8.30 last night and I was pretty tired.  It's a bit boring because of the long gaps left to make room for the narration.

Athaliah had always been powerful. She was the daughter of evil King Ahab of Israel and had grown up as a princess. She liked wearing a crown and she liked being able to tell people what to do.

Now in those days, the northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah were friendly with eachother.

When Athaliah was old enough she was looking for someone to marry. Hmm. Who should she choose? She couldn't marry a common man. If she did, she wouldn't get to wear her crown any more. No. It would have to be a king, or a prince at least! Ah! How about King Jehoram of Judah? Perfect. Not too far from home and very powerful! An excellent idea.

So that's what Athaliah did. She married the King of God's people. But should he have married her?

No. Like her father Ahab, Athaliah had no time for God. So the king of Judah shouldn't have married her. But King Jehoram had no time for God either. So they were a pretty good match.

Queen Athaliah and King Jehoram lived together for years. Together they bossed people around, worshipped idols and did all kinds of evil in the sight of the Lord. When God had had enough of this zero out of ten king, he died and Athaliah was left alone and no longer a queen.

Do you think she liked that? Not being a queen any more? No. She didn't.

But she cheered up a little when her son Ahaziah became King. Being the mother of the King gave you a little bit of power... not so much as being queen, but still some.

Ahaziah wasn't king for very long. Just one year. He was up visiting relatives up in Israel when he was killed. And that was the end of him.

So where did that leave Athaliah. Not a princess anymore. Not a queen. Not even the mother of the king. Likely one of Ahaziah's sons, one of her grand-sons would become king. And she would just be the... grandmother of the king?

No way. Athaliah didn't like that idea. She would have no power at all.

So she came up with a plan. A cunning and horrible plan. Athaliah looked at all her grandchildren around her. To get the power all back for herself, all she had to do was to get them out of the way. Then she could take the crown back and rule Judah herself. She would be queen!

It was a terrible plan. But Athaliah was a terrible woman. Remember King Ahab? He was her father and she was exactly like him. She didn't care at all about what God thought and she had no regard for people either. Quickly and quietly she disposed of all of her grandchildren ...

Well, not quite all of them. See this one left over? That's little prince Joash. But he was just a baby and his clever aunty whisked him out of the way and hid him carefully

… and then she made herself Queen of Judah.

So Athaliah got what she wanted. Queen, boss, ruler of Judah. And she got to enjoy it for 7 years.

But then it was found out that little Joash was still alive and all Athaliah's muderous plotting caught up with her. She was put to death – which is exactly what she deserved – and the boy Joash became king.

But what sort of king would Joash be?

satisfaction is...

... a Sunday School set.  Made by Mel and Lizi.

 

  

 

Environment really matters for kids stuff.  A good set is worth all the time it takes to make.

1-2 Kings

On Thursday night I'm presenting my 1-2 Kings Sunday School curriculum to our teachers and the teachers of two other churches who are also using it this term. I thought I'd include some background on the books in case anyone is unaware (I naturally assume that everyone knows this stuff, but I shouldn't). Perhaps more interesting, is my take on application - which others may not agree with. Anyway, I'll be saying something like this. Any thoughts?

What is 1-2 Kings all about?

The books of Kings continue the story of the books of Samuel. (The break between Samuel and Kings is artificial.) They begin with the rise of Solomon, treating his reign as the as the golden age of Israel. The Abrahamic promises are fulfilled – Israel is a great nation, at rest in the land of Canaan, blessed extravagantly with wealth and wisdom and the nations are coming to her for blessing. Moreover, the promises to David are also fulfilled – his son is on the throne and the temple is built, and the Exodus image of God being present in the cloud comes along for the ride as well. Abraham, Moses, David all wrapped up together and given to Solomon. Bully for him!

But we don't get to enjoy this idealised picture of the kingdom for long. Solomon's foreign wives (accumulated in order to form political alliances) inevitably lead him into apostasy. In judgement, God rips the northern ten tribes out of the hands of Solomon's inept son Rehoboam and gives them to Jeroboam to rule. Only two tribes remain faithful to Davidic rule – Judah and Benjamin.

In order to keep his people away from Jerusalem and thus consolidate his rule, Jeroboam sets up two alternate shrine in his new Kingdom (called Israel) - Dan in the far north, and Bethel in the South. The writer of Kings is not impressed with Jeroboam's rejection of Jerusalem which is symptomatic of his general disregard for Yahweh's rule. All of the kings of Israel follow in Jeroboam's apostate steps, despite much prophetic activity and many clear warnings of coming doom. Successive northern dynasties are brought down before Israel is finally defeated by Assyria. We are encouraged to see the inevitability of this. Israel has chosen the path of death, rejecting the covenant, and faces the judgements outlined in Deuteronomy 30.

The faithfulness of the southern kingdom (Judah) is marginally better than that of their northern cousins. In the centuries following Solomon, there are 2 good kings (Hezekiah and Josiah) who attempt to keep the covenant, 6 not entirely bad kings (including Jehoash who we'll look at) and then there's the rest – who, like their northern counterparts, flagrantly reject God's rule. The question throughout 1-2 Kings is 'how long will God put up with this?' Each king is measured against a Deuteronomy checklist which none come close to fulfilling. The collapse of Judah seems inevitable. A better king is needed.

What should the kids get out of it?

I want the kids to become immersed in the Kings narrative. I want them to feel with the inspired writer the failures (and successes) of the kings. I want them groaning over Israel's hopelessness and feeling the inevitability and rightness of God's judgement. If the kids can learn to see and assess Israel's history from God's perspective, this will help them see their own lives and situations as God does.

I don't think we need to push too hard at application. If the children are drawn into the narrative and shown how Jesus is end point of the story, we will achieve a great deal. With the weekly story and repetition of the checklist and song, the children will learn:

• That we should worship God alone
• That we should love God with all our hearts
• That accumulating wealth and marrying people outside the faith are dangerous things
• That our most natural drift is into disobedience. Our obedience to God can be half hearted and short lived.
• God is ready to forgive us as soon as we turn to him
• The Israelites followed the lead of their king. If their king scored badly, so did they.
• Jesus is the only one who scored 10/10. The only perfect king.
• If Jesus is our king, we follow him and get his 10/10 score.