Weekly Lessons • The Kingdom Divides

Lesson Prayer

Gracious Lord God, you call us together in faith to be one people. We thank you for connecting our lives to the lives of believers across the world. Where there are issues that divide us, help us to reason together. Remind us that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Memory Verse

King Rehoboam answered the people harshly, forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him. (Kings 12:13)

Creative Idea for the Week

Using Figurines to Tell the Story:  Sometimes it is hard for children to pick up on biblical names -- especially names as foreign and difficult as Rehoboam and Jeroboam. For this lesson, it may be helpful to bring in physical representations of the three kings mentioned in the story. (You may use paper cut-outs, small figures, or even borrow the three kings from a nativity set!)

As you make reference to Solomon, his son Rehoboam, and Solomon's former advisor Jeroboam, hold forward the appropriate figure. This will give the kids a chance to "match a name to a face" so-to-speak. It will help them distinguish between the kings, and keep the interaction between the figures more clear.

Additional Resources And Links

Extra Activity: Taste Test
There's a saying, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." The meaning of this colloquialism, of course, is that if we want to persuade others to follow us or to do something for us, they will respond much better to kind language than ill treatment. 
In order to demonstrate this you could have a tray with small sized bowls on it. Each bowl could be filled with different edible things, some sweet (honey, corn syrup, sugar water) and some sour (salad dressing, white vinegar, balsamic vinegar). After tasting each liquid, discuss the saying and how it may have benefitted Rehoboam to be kind to Israel rather than to treat them so harshly.
Do you think the kingdom would have divided in two if Rehoboam had listened to the elders of Israel?