Job to Malachi

NOW AVAILABLE

In this study, your preteens and teens will tackle something rare for even adults in the church—a study of the 22 Poetry and Prophets sections of the Old Testament. This whirlwind tour has a common thread: God’s story of redemption through Christ. Click here to see 13-lesson overview (master plan).

The Poetry books are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. Biblical poetry includes many figures of speech and vividly describes images and intense emotions. Your kids will resonate with the struggles of life that these books portray as well as the comfort God provides in his Word.

The five books of the Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. There are 12 Minor Prophets—from Hosea through Malachi—called that only because they are shorter in length than the Major Prophets, not because they are less important.

All of the prophets spoke for God during three periods of the history of God’s people: during the divided kingdom, during the exiles to Assyria and Babylon, and during the return of the faithful remnant. God called the prophets to warn Israel and Judah to repent and of his coming judgment. They also proclaimed the hope and certainty of salvation through the Messiah to come.

We pray this study will teach your kids the following:

• to pray more effectively
• to honestly express their struggles to God
• to turn to the Psalms for comfort and Proverbs for wisdom
• to take seriously God’s command to repent
• to trust in God’s gracious forgiveness

Each lesson in this study also does something crucial for your kids: It ties each event to God’s redemptive promise and plan to redeem a people for himself by sending the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Bible is God’s story of salvation through Christ, who is the focal point of all Scripture.

God divided the kingdom, eventually resulting in his people’s exile to Assyria and Babylon. Keeping his promise to David and his descendants of an everlasting kingdom, God eventually moved their conquerors to allow a remnant to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple and the city.

God was carrying out his plan to one day send the final King and Savior. Only Jesus could fully provide the salvation and righteous leadership his people needed. Your kids will learn how all this pointed to our perfect Prophet, Priest, and King—the Lord Jesus Christ.

At younger ages, your students have heard the stories of the prophets Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha, and they know some about Israel’s kings Saul, David, and Solomon. In this study, they will put these people and events into historical and chronological context. They’ll fill in the gaps to get the big picture of God’s redeeming work in the lives of his people.

Each lesson in this study does something crucial for your kids: It ties each event to God’s redemptive promise and plan to redeem a people for himself by sending the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Bible is God’s story of salvation through Christ, who is the focal point of all Scripture.

Getting into God’s Word for Themselves

In G2R Bible Survey, your students will read and study the Scriptures for themselves, a major shift from younger ages. They will also put what they have learned at younger ages into historical and chronological context. These are essential steps to growing in faith and great preparation for high school and beyond. (Read Why a Bible Survey?)

Also important to your kids’ spiritual growth is learning to have time alone with God and his Word. To help, we provide a weekly Devo paper that explores memory work as well as other Scriptures related to the lesson. Encourage your kids to set aside time to complete this paper, and ask them about it.

You’ll also see another paper called G2R. It’s full of games and activities to get students excited about the world of the Bible and learning about Jesus.

Connecting with Parents

Each week, consider sending an overview of the lesson to the parents. It’s provided as a digital download (free with Teacher’s Kit purchase) and called Preparing Your Heart. As your parents and families learn more about God’s great story of redemption, they too will grow in trusting and worshiping him as Savior.

It’s a Survey!

Remember that this is a survey—an overview—not an in-depth study. Don’t get bogged down in the details of each lesson. Try to do a lesson a week to keep your students interested and growing. Ask questions at the beginning of each lesson to ascertain what they already know about the Scriptures you are covering, and then adapt the time to focus on those areas they don’t know or are less familiar with.

Read the Getting Started Guide (pp. 8–12 in the Teacher’s Manual), and then each of the Preparing Your Heart sections to get a good overview of the scope of the 13 lessons. Then begin the exciting adventure of leading your students lesson by lesson through 1 Samuel to Esther.

God’s Word is our “only rule of faith and practice” in which God himself tells us what to believe and how to live. The Holy Spirit is the One who enables us to be both hearers and doers of the Word. By God’s grace, the intent of these studies is that both you and your students will gain a deeper hunger and thirst for God in his Word, and a greater love for and trust in the Savior he promised and sent to reconcile us to himself, Jesus Christ.