unit 9: king david and king solomon ot9.9 david and bathsheba

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OT9.9 David and Bathsheba ©Beverly Wilson 2019

Unit 9: King David and King Solomon OT9.9 David and Bathsheba

Scripture: 2 Samuel 11-12

Lesson Goal: God had chosen David the shepherd boy to become the new King of Israel because he had a heart that loved God. David had been King of Israel for many years. At first he was a good king who loved and obeyed God. In this lesson we will see how David disobeyed God by taking Bathsheba as his wife.

Introduction: This lesson is found in the book of 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel is a book that is about King David. It is in the second group of Old Testament books called the historical books. These books begin with Joshua and go through Esther. Let's say these books--Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.

Attention Getter: “Confessing Wrongs” What do you do when you have done something wrong? Do you tell your mom when you did not obey her? Do you own up to taking something that does not belong to you? It is hard to say that you did something when you know it was wrong, isn't it? But did you know that is the right thing to do? Do you tell God that you are sorry when you are mean to others? What happens when you don't do what God says? Do you tell Him that you are sorry for not reading your Bible or praying? Do you confess your sin? In this lesson we are going to learn what happened to King David did something very wrong. We will see how he hurt God.

Opening Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, We thank you that you sent your son Jesus to live on the earth to die on the cross to pay for our sins. You loved us and wanted to save us even before we knew who you were. Forgive us of the things that we have done that are wrong. Help us to obey you every day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Memory Verse: The memory verse is 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/2RcYk7nQLlM At the beginning of his reign David was a very good king. He loved God completely and obeyed His commands. One of the first things King David did was to bring back the Ark of the Covenant to the tabernacle so the worship of God could begin again! King David was so happy that he had danced for joy! God was very pleased with him. Another good thing that King David did was to find Mephibosheth the only living relative of his good friend Jonathan. David was kind to the crippled man and gave him all the land of his grandfather King Saul. He even allowed Mephibosheth to eat at his table in the palace. King David was kind and good.

King David was a great warrior! God gave King David and his men the power to fight all the surrounding nations and have great victories. When David defeated all these nations, he took their horses, and chariots, their gold, silver, and bronze, their shields, and their land. All these victories made King David very famous. Everyone loved King David. His enemies even respected his power. This gave the land of Israel great peace so the people could live and prosper without being threatened or bullied.

https://youtu.be/2RcYk7nQLlM

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All this victory and power and prosperity are not always good for us. King David began to be self-confident and proud. As King David grew older he began to sin. He began to do what the other kings of his day did.

In the Law of Moses God had told the people of Israel to only have one wife. They were not to marry foreign women who believed in other gods. The seventh commandment said, "You shall not commit adultery." They were not to want other people's husbands or wives but sadly to say King David did not do this. He saw that all the other kings of nations had many wives.

King David thought that he should have many wives too. David had already married Michal who was King Saul's daughter, Abigail who was the beautiful and smart widow of Nabal, and Ahinom of Jezreel. This disobedience would cause him many family problems.

One spring day, King David sent Joab the general of his army and his soldiers out to war with the Ammonites. Usually kings would go to war with their army but this time David decided to stay at home in his palace in Jerusalem and rest. King David was not doing his job as the king. Sometimes when we are idle we get into trouble and this is what happened to David.

One evening King David decided to walk out on the flat roof of his house to cool off from the hot day. From the roof of his palace he saw a beautiful woman who was bathing on her rooftop. David asked, "Who is this beautiful woman?" David sent someone to find out who she was and was told that she was Bathsheba, the wife of one of his soldiers named Uriah. Uriah was off fighting on the battlefield.

David sent messengers to go and get Bathsheba and bring her to his house. After spending the night with King David, she returned to her own house. Later Bathsheba learned that she was going to have a baby so she sent word to King David. David had committed a terrible sin against Uriah and against God. What was he to do? He had an idea.

David sent word to Joab and said, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah.

When Uriah arrived at the palace, King David asked him, "How is the war going?" Uriah gave him a brief report. Then he told Uriah to go to his house to be with his wife. David thought that everyone would think that Uriah was the father of the baby that Bathsheba was going to have. But Uriah would not go to his house; he stayed and slept at the door of the king's house.

The next morning David heard this and he called Uriah and asked, "Why did you not go home and visit your wife last night?"

Uriah answered, "Well, I knew that Joab and the other soldiers had to camp outside in the open fields, and when they are suffering such hardships for their country, how can I go to my house and enjoy myself with my family?"

David thought he would try again. He said, "Uriah, you need to stay in Jerusalem one more day, and tomorrow you can start on your trip back to the battle with the Ammonites." That night David invited Uriah to eat dinner with him, and during the meal the servants kept giving Uriah more and more wine to drink until at last it made him drunk.

David thought that surely this would make Uriah go home and be with his wife. But it didn't! Uriah was a very trustworthy and honorable soldier. Again he slept with David's servants at the door of the palace. Now King David was getting very nervous!

There was only one other way to keep his sin of adultery from being known and that was to get rid of Uriah. So David wrote a letter to Joab, his general, and in the letter, David told Joab to put Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and then to withdraw all the other soldiers from Uriah, so that Uriah would easily be killed in the battle by the enemy.

When Joab received the letter from David he did just as David commanded. And Uriah was killed. Joab then sent a messenger to tell King David about the battle. When David received the message, he was very pleased to hear that Uriah was dead. How terrible! King David had not only committed adultery but now he had also murdered one of his very faithful soldiers Now he could take Bathsheba to be his wife, and he could continue to cover his sin of adultery.

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When Bathsheba learned that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. Then David sent for her and she went to live in the palace and be his wife. Time went by and Bathsheba had a baby boy. Everything seemed to be working out for David. He had covered his sin and nobody knew.

But God knew all about it and God was very displeased with David. God gave David time to confess his sin and to get right with God. But David never faced his sin, nor admitted that he had done wrong. In fact, he acted like he had done nothing wrong.

Finally God sent His servant Nathan to show David his sin. Nathan told King David a story about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle but the poor man had only one little lamb. The poor man loved his one lamb so much that he kept it in his house, where he fed it carefully and treated it like one of his children.

Nathan said that one day a traveler came to the rich man's house. The rich man did not kill one of his own sheep to feed the stranger. Instead, the rich man took the poor man's one little lamb and killed it to feed his guest. Nathan waited for David to respond.

When King David heard Nathan's story, he became furious. "As the Lord lives," David exclaimed, "the man who has done should die, and he should give back four lambs for the one he took!"

Nathan looked at David for a long time and finally said, "You are the man!" How surprised David was when he heard Nathan's words. The rich man in the story was like David, and the poor man was like Uriah, and Bathsheba was like the lamb.

Nathan then gave David a message from God: he reminded David of how much God had given to him, and that in spite of all that God had done for him, David had disobeyed God's commandment by committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband Uriah. Nathan said to David, "God has said that you and your family will have much trouble because of your sin." David knew that God always keeps His Word. David was learning by experience, "Be sure your sin will find you out".

David said, "I have sinned against the Lord." David realized the terrible sin he had done. He mourned and wept and cried. He asked God to forgive him of the terrible sin. Nathan the prophet said that the Lord had forgiven David's sin and he would not die, but the consequences of his sin would remain.

Our memory verse is 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So by confessing his sin David received God's forgiveness. Just like David, we can ask God to forgive us of the things that we have done that are wrong and he will do it!

God heard David's prayer and forgave him but God would allow David to reap the consequences of his sin. Just like Nathan had said, God would bring trouble to King David's family.

The first trouble was that the baby that Bathsheba had suddenly got very sick. A week later the baby died. King David prayed and prayed for the baby to live but he remembered that God had said that trouble would come. David knew though that God had forgiven him and he said, "Someday I will go to be where the baby is, in heaven." From this verse we know that all little babies go to heaven when they die.

Several years later David and Bathsheba had another baby boy whom they named Solomon. The Lord loved him and sent word through Nathan the prophet to bless him with the name Jedidiah meaning ‘Friend of God’. Solomon grew up to become the next King of Israel.

God does not want us to sin, for sin hurts us; it hurts others; it especially hurts God; and sin always brings tragic results. But if and when, we do sin, we should immediately ask Jesus, our Savior, to forgive us. Maybe there are sins in your life that you need to confess to God.

If we pray and tell Jesus we are sorry for what we have done that is wrong—Jesus will forgive us and make our hearts clean so we can go to heaven! If you want Jesus to save you all you have to do is ask him by praying.

Remember we can ask Jesus to forgive us our sin!

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Review Questions: “Count Down” Preparation: Make a set of number cards from 1 to 26 using index cards. Procedure: Have students sit in a circle. Shuffle the cards so they are in random order. Distribute the numbered cards to students. Students may have more than one card if necessary in order for all the cards to be distributed. The teacher or leader is to ask the following review question in numerical order. If a student is unable to answer the question they may choose someone else to answer the question for them.

1. During the first part of King David’s reign why did he and his men have to fight so many battles? (The land of Israel was inhabited by many foreign enemies who had come in a possessed the land since God had promised it to Israel during the time of Joshua.)

2. How did the nation of Israel feel about King David? (King David was a very good king. He did what was just and right for all the people. The people were very pleased with King David and David tried to please the Lord.)

3. What is King David do for Mephibosheth? (He gave him the land that belonged to his grandfather King Saul and asked him to come sit at his table and be treated like one of the king’s sons. He was also given his father’s servant Ziba and all his family to work the land that belonged to him.)

4. What other good thing did King David do for Israel? (He returned the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and restored the worship of God in Israel.)

5. How did all the victory, glory, and power affect King David as a person? (King David began to be self-confident and proud. As King David grew older he began to sin. He began to do what the other kings of his day did.)

6. Which of the Ten Commandments did King David disobey first as the ruler of Israel? (In the Law of Moses God had told the people of Israel to only have one wife. They were not to marry foreign women who believed in other gods. The seventh commandment said, "You shall not commit adultery.")

7. Who were some of King David’s wives? (David’s first wife was Michal who was King Saul's daughter. His other wives included Abigail who was the beautiful and smart widow of Nabal, Ahinom of Jezreel, and later Bathsheba. This disobedience would cause him many family problems.)

8. What did David do in the spring time when the kings at the time of King David usually go to war? (This was the time of the year that nations tended to wage war against each other. David stayed home and rested. He sent his general Joab to battle for him.)

9. How did King David meet Bathsheba? (He went out on the roof of his palace and saw her bathing. He sent his servants to go get her and bring her to the palace.)

10. Who was Bathsheba’s husband? (Uriah was Bathsheba’s husband and he was a faithful courageous soldier in King David’s army.)

11. What message did Bathsheba send to King David that made him decide to have Uriah come back to the palace? (Bathsheba said that she was going to have a baby.)

12. What was King David’s first plan to have Uriah go home and be with Bathsheba? (He called Uriah back home from battle and got a report about the progress of the battle and tried to get Uriah to go home but he didn’t. Then he tried to get Uriah so drunk that he would go home but he still didn’t go. He slept at the door of the palace.)

13. Why did Uriah not go home and be with his family? (He said that he should not enjoy the comforts of home when his fellow soldiers were sleeping on the ground and enduring great hardships in the battle.)

14. How did King David decide to have Uriah murdered? (He wrote a letter to Joab the general and told him to place Uriah in the heart of the battle and then withdraw leaving him to be killed by the enemy.)

15. How did King David feel and what did he do when he heard that Uriah had died in battle? (He was happy that he could now marry Bathsheba and have her come to live in the palace and have her baby there.)

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16. What response did King David have at first about his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and then the murder of Uriah? (He was not sorry and he tried to cover his sin. He did not confess it to God.)

17. Who did God send to teach King David about his sin and how did he tell King David to repent? (God sent Nathan who told King David a story about a rich man who took a poor man’s only possession a young lamb who was without blemish.)

18. At first how did King David respond when he heard Nathan’s story? (He said that the rich man should die and repay his debt by returning four lambs for the one he took,”)

19. What did King David do when he realized that he was the rich man in the story? (He confessed his sin before God and asked for forgiveness. God forgave King David.)

20. What warning did Nathan tell King David about the consequences of his sin? (Nathan told King David that God had forgiven him but that David would have many troubles in his family as a result of his sins.)

21. What was the first consequence of David’s sin? (The baby born to King David and Bathsheba became very ill and died one week later.)

22. While the baby was very sick what did King David do? (He wept and cried, and prayed and pleaded with God to spare his son.)

23. What did King David do after his son died? (He washed his face and worshipped God and said that someday he would see his infant son in heaven.)

24. What happened to King David and Bathsheba several years after the death of their first son? (God gave them another son whom they named Solomon. Solomon would become the next king of Israel.)

25. What important lessons does God want us to learn from this experience of King David and Bathsheba? (God does not want us to sin, for sin hurts us; it hurts others; it especially hurts God; and sin always brings tragic results. But if and when, we do sin, we should immediately ask Jesus, our Savior, to forgive us.)

26. What is the memory verse? (1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.")

Bible Memory Verse Activity: “Hide ‘em in Your Heart” Relay

Our memory verse is 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Have students locate the verse in scripture and read together several times orally.

Say: “By confessing his sin David received God's forgiveness. Just like David, we can ask God to forgive us of the things that we have done that are wrong and he will do it! Let’s have a relay to see who can memorize this verse first.

Preparation: You will need 6 paper hearts, 4 chairs, and Bible stickers. Write each of the following phrases from the verse inside one of the paper hearts and fold it in half. Make two sets of texts. 1 John 1:9 /"If we confess our sins, /He is faithful and righteous/ to forgive us our sins / and to cleanse us / from all unrighteousness." Procedure: Divide the children into teams. For each team place two chairs about 15 feet (four to five meters) apart. Line the children up behind one chair. When you say “Go,” the first person dashes to the second chair, picks up a heart, reads the first phrase, dashes back, repeats it to their group, and touches the next person’s hand. Their teammate the repeats the action until all the phrases for the verse have been read. The winner is the team who completes the relay first.

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Group Learning Activity: “Believer’s Soap” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need several small mirrors, clean cloths and glass cleaner. Make sure that the mirrors are dirty (milk or toothpaste flicked onto them and allowed to dry works great). Say: “In this lesson we learned the King David committed several sins against God. God sent the prophet Nathan to help him understand his sin and to call him to repentance. We are going to do an activity that will help us understand how God forgave King David. What is our memory verse? Let’s say the memory verse together. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Procedure: Give each child a dirty mirror, a clean cloth and glass cleaner. Have the students clean their dirty mirrors using the glass cleaner and the cloth. Let the kids clean the mirrors over and over in order to get all the dirt off. Say: “How do you think that this activity demonstrates the meaning of 1 John 1:9? What does the mirror represent? (The mirror is like us.) What do you think the dirt on the mirror represents? (Our sins or the wrong things we have done.) Who or what do the cleaner and the cloth represent? The cloth and cleaner is Jesus and His blood on the cross which takes away our sin. Just like the dirty mirror, we will sometimes sin. But God will forgive us when we confess our sins to Him.” Optional: For older children you can bring enough bars of soap to allow the children to carve into them “1 John 1:9.” This is a messy project, but fun. Make sure to bring enough utensils for the children to carve with if you decide to do this one. You can use metal spoon or plastic knives.

Group Learning Activity: Object Lesson: “Sins Grow” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need a clean white piece of paper, lump of clay or glue, piece of fabric, tissue paper, cardboard, paper sack, etc. Procedure: Start with a clean white piece of paper. Wad up some small lump of paper and glue it to the other. Now provide material for the students to try and "cover up" the lump (sin). Have various materials like fabric, tissue paper, cardboard, etc available. When they are done, ask them if any of the pages are unspotted or clean as the original. Discuss how adding more things to cover up a sin just makes the original wad bigger. Say: “What is our memory verse? (1 John 1:9) How can we use this verse to help us solve the problem of our sins? (We can confess our sin to God and He will forgive us and make us clean and whole again in His sight.) What does the word “confess” mean? (Confess means to agree with God that what we have done wrong is against His will and hurts him. Repent means that we are sorry that we have committed the sin and want to turn away from it. We want to not repeat the same wrong again. We want to turn from our sin and turn to God and do right.”

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Group Learning Activity: “Entangled” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need ball of yarn or string. Say: “In this lesson we learned that King David committed one sin and then that sin got him into more trouble. That led to disobeying God in another area. We are going to do an activity that will help us see how easily we can become entangled in sin. What do you think it means to “to become entangled in sin”? (To get caught or tricked into doing more than you thought you would.” Procedure: Have a volunteer stand at the front of the class with his or her hands forward. Place a strand of yarn or string loosely around both of the child’s wrists and tie it. Explain that this one thread, which by itself is not much of an entanglement, represents an unclean thought. Then have the child break the thread by pulling his or her hands sharply outward (make sure you have thread, yarn, or string that the child can break). Say: “When an unclean thought appears in our mind, we should stop it immediately, just as the child snapped the thread.” Wrap the child’s wrists with several strands of thread, and now have him or her try to break the threads (wrap enough strands to make it impossible). Explain that if we allow unclean thoughts and desires to grow in our minds, we may become entangled in sin and find it difficult to escape. Say: “In this lesson what was David’s first sin? (He committed adultery with Bathsheba.) David could have confessed that sin and God would have forgiven him. He could have prevented having more trouble. Instead what sin did David commit next? (He had Uriah murdered.) Did the sin get harder to break and confess? (Yes because it had got King David entangled.)” Say: “Tell me about a time whenever you made a mistake. What did you do to make it right? Did you ask God to forgive you? You should always try to do what is right, but whenever you do make a mistake ask God to forgive you. He loves you very much and he will forgive you!”

Close in prayer asking God to forgive us of our sins and to help us not get entangled by our sins.

Group Learning Activity: “Discussion Scenarios” (Grades 3-5) Preparation: You will need index cards with the following scenarios below listed on them. Additional scenarios can be added as desired. Say: “We know about God’s love and forgiveness and that it is ours for the asking. But sometimes we have trouble applying this to our own lives. Today you will form groups of three or four people and discuss how you would encourage the person in each scenario to ask for God’s forgiveness and to make things right with the other party.” Procedure: Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 children each. Assign an adult leader with each group. Distribute the handouts with the scenarios listed on them.

Martha cheated on a quiz. She knows she doesn’t deserve the good grade she received.

Sam stole some candy from the store while his mom was shopping. He is afraid to tell his mom.

Alicia took her classmate’s notebook and copied the answers to their math homework.

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When Josh discovered that Matthew was doing much better in school than he was, Josh started bullying him.

Say: “What should each one of these individuals do? They fear that if they admit their wrongdoings, they will lose out on certain privileges or they will be penalized harshly. On the other hand, if they keep their sins and mistakes to themselves, they know they will have to deal with a great deal of personal guilt. In either case there will be serious consequences to their actions. How would you go about accepting God’s forgiveness for something you have done? How could you help someone seek God for forgiveness, make things right with those whom they had treated wrongly, and allow God to clear their conscience from guilt? Remember that because God has forgiven us, we are to forgive ourselves and others.”

Group Learning Activity: “Role Play: David and Bathsheba” (Grades 2-5) Preparation: You will need a crown for King David, cardboard or plastic toy swords for Uriah and Joab, and fruit juice and large plastic cups for all the other students. Procedure: Recruit four volunteers. Explain that one will play the part of King David and wear a crown, one will play Bathsheba, one will be Joab, and another will be Uriah. Tell volunteers that they will pantomime the action you read. Encourage them to be expressive. Have the other students form pairs and designate a Partner A and a Partner B in each pair. Give every child a plastic cup. Fill Partner A’s cup about ¾ full and Partner B’s cup about ¼ full. Tell students not to drink the juice until directed. If students question the amount of juice say that the different amounts are needed for the story. Read the following story: “One day King David received a visit from the prophet Nathan. Remember a prophet is like God’s announcer. God gives the prophet a message he wants others to hear. Nathan began God’s message by telling a story. He told about a rich man who had everything, including a large number of sheep and cattle. He also told about a poor man, who had nothing but one little sheep. The poor man loved this sheep and treated it as a pet. How are the rich man and the poor man like the amounts of juice in your cups? (Some cups have a lot and some have little.) Whose cups represent the rich man? (Partner A) Whose cups represent the poor man? (Partner B) In Nathan’s story a traveler visited the rich man’s mansion The rich man needed to prepare a meal for his visitor but instead of using one of his own animals, he stole the poor man’s sheep. (Have Partner A in each pair take the cup from Partner B.) What if I told you that Partner A gets to drink all the juice from both cups and Partner B doesn’t get any juice at all? (That’s not fair; it’s not right to take all someone else has; we should share.) David didn’t think it was very fair that the rich man took the poor man’s sheep. In fact he was outraged! That’s when Nathan told David the real message from God. Nathan said, “David, this is just what you have done.” David had a flashback. (If possible blink the lights on and off quickly to represent a flashback.) (Have the volunteer playing King David come out. King David should be strolling from time to time putting his hand over his eyes, searching the horizon. Bathsheba should stand off to the side.) David remembered that in the spring when all the kings went off to war, he had decided to stay home. He sent his general, Joab, to war instead. Then one evening, as David walked around on the roof of his palace, he noticed a beautiful woman nearby. David sent a messenger to bring the woman to the palace.

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(Cue Bathsheba to walk over to King David and then walk off stage with him. Have the partners pour a tiny bit of the juice from Cup B into Cup A. Have Joab come to the front and pretend to read a letter.) King David sent a message to Joab, telling him to place Uriah near the front lines of the battle. He did this knowing that Uriah would probably be killed. (Cue Uriah to come to the front of the classroom. Have Joab and Uriah pretend to battle imaginary enemies with swords. Uriah should pretend to be stabbed and fall to the ground.) That’s exactly what happened. When the news reached David that Uriah had been killed in battle, he married Bathsheba. (Have the partners pour all the remaining juice from Cup B into Cup A. Flash the lights off and on again to end the flashback.) Remember Nathan’s story? David realized that, just as the rich man had stolen the sheep, he had stolen someone else’s wife. He felt almost sick with sorrow over what he had done. He asked God’s forgiveness. (Pour juice into the empty cups to make them all even. Let the students drink their juice while they discuss the story.) If you are Partner B how did it feel to have your little bit of juice slowly poured into your partner’s cup. How is this like what happened to Uriah? (I didn’t like giving up the juice. David took Uriah’s wife even though Uriah wasn’t a rich man.) If you were a Partner A how did it feel to slowly take more and more of the tiny amount your partner had? (I felt like I shouldn’t. It was OK because you said to do it.) Did you notice the progression of David’s sin? That it was like each little bit of juice you poured into Cup A? How does one sin often lead to another? (If you lie, sometimes you have to tell another lie; if you steal, you might lie to cover it up.) How did David respond when he realized God’s sorrow over his sin? (David was sorry and asked forgiveness.) How did God respond to David? (God forgave David; God still loved David.) David did a terrible thing. He stole another man’s wife, and then he had her husband killed so that he could marry her himself. All of us have sinned. The Bible says that all of us fall short of perfection. We all have sins we need to repent of. We can tell God about our sins. That’s called confession. And we can promise God that we want to do right and that we’ll do our best not to commit that sin again. That’s called repentance. When we confess and repent, we can be sure that God accepts our apology.

Group Learning Activity: “Forgiveness” (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To help students understand what God says about the forgiveness of sins. Preparation: You will need Bibles, spiritual journal page, pencils or pens. Say: “In this lesson we learned that David disobeyed God. He repented of his sins and ask God to forgive him. Today we are going to read some important Bible verses about forgiveness.” Procedure: Have students read the following scriptures and discuss the principle taught in each verse.

• Acts 2:38 ‘Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” If you want to follow Jesus you must “repent and be baptized.” To repent means to turn from sin, changing the direction of your life from selfishness and rebellion against God’s laws. At the same time you must turn to

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Christ, depending on him for forgiveness, mercy, guidance, and purpose. We cannot save ourselves—only God can save us. Baptism identifies us with the death of Christ and is a condition of discipleship and a sign of faith.

• Acts 10:43 “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” The Old Testament prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah—Jesus. God had promised redemption from sin for His people. Jesus fulfilled that promise and those who have faith in him receive the gift of salvation.

• Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Because all of mankind has broken God’s law we are guilty of the sentence of death. Without Jesus we would have no hope of going to heaven. He has declared us to be not guilty and has offered us freedom from sin and its judgment.

• Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Christ’s death gives us redemption and forgiveness. Jesus’ death paid the price or redemption of our sin. Now we are forgiven or set free by God’s grace and mercy. We do not deserve His unmerited favor.

• Colossians 3: 13 “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” The key to forgiving others is to remember how much God has forgiven us. We need to realize God’s infinite love and forgiveness toward us and extend it to others.

• 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Have student give some examples of different sins that kids their age might commit. Examples might be picking on others, lying to parents, or stealing. Record these sins on a wall chart. Explain that God’s forgiveness covers these sins.

Have students record what they have learned in their spiritual journals.

Craft Learning Activity: “God Forgives” (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need large sheets of red construction paper, colored markers, and Band-Aids.

Say: “In this lesson we learned that God forgave King David for the sin he committed in marrying Bathsheba and murdering her husband. The good news is that whenever we do make mistakes God is willing to forgive us. If you make a mistake then you need to ask God to forgive you. God forgave David and he will forgive you too!”

Procedure: Using a template or cardboard shape of a heart have each child trace around the heart and cut out the red construction paper heart. Instruct the children to write “God forgives” on the heart and let them color it or add decorations with the colored markers. Then have the children add a few colorful band aids to the picture. Talk about how God can make everything better again no matter what mistakes they make. Review the memory verse 1 John 1:9 and write on the verse on the back of the heart.

Say: “Tell me about a time whenever you made a mistake. What did you do to make it right? Did you ask God to forgive you? You should always try to do what is right, but whenever you do make a mistake ask God to forgive you. He loves you very much and he will forgive you!”

Let the kids share their answers and then close in prayer.

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Craft Learning Activity: Paper Plate Sheep (Grades K-3) Materials: one copy for each child of the printed template below on; white paper plate, scissors; glue Procedure: Cut out the template of the face and legs of sheep. Color and cut out the face and legs of the sheep. Optional: At this point you can cover the paper plate with either cotton balls or pop corn. Glue the head onto the paper plate. Finally glue the legs onto the paper plate. Make sure the back legs are slightly higher than the ones in front.

Life Application Challenge: “God’s Love and Mercy” Procedure: Have the children draw a picture of some wrong thing they have done and are sorry for. Give them a clear plastic sheet of transparency or clear food wrap to cover their picture and help them draw a cross and a heart on the plastic. Then write at the top or bottom: “God’s love changes people.” Say: “Put the clear food wrap over your picture. What do you see? (The cross and heart covers the images in the picture.) “Everything lies behind the cross. God has taken care of all the things we have done. His love can change us so we no longer want to do those things. Just ask Him to help you and He will. “Is it easy to love someone when they do something mean to us? Why? (Allow discussion time.) What do you think about knowing that God can help a mean person change? And that God can change our hearts to love them anyway? How can that happen? (It happens when we believe in Jesus and accept Him as our Savior.) Remember that God’s love changes people. This week pray that you will show kindness and love to others like Christ has shown to us.”

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David and Bathsheba

1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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unit 9: king david and king solomon ot9.9 david and bathsheba

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