PROVERBS AND SONG OF SONGS
Objectives:
- Students should identify Solomon as the author of these books and also Ecclesiastes.
- Students should identify Proverbs as a book of wise sayings.
- Students should identify Song of Songs as a love poem of Solomon.
Possible Lesson Plan:
- Open with prayer.
- Scripture Reference: Proverbs 1 and Song of Songs 1. Have students look these two chapters and compare and contrast their style and content. Historically, Solomon is known for his wisdom and his wives; the wives finally got him in trouble with God and the kingdom was divided after the death of Solomon. Solomon’s great love was the Queen of Sheba from today’s Ethiopia. They were married and had a son, but the queen took their son back to Ethiopia to rule. This son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba began a dynasty that was to last longer than any dynasty in the history of man – ruling in Ethiopia until the death of Emperor Haile Selassie in the late 1900s.
- Learning Game: Scavenger Hunt – Divide into teams of about 3 students and give each team a bag and a list of the references from Proverbs. They should find the thing mentioned in the verse and put it in their bag. First team to find all wins.
Proverbs 3:3 – “write them on the _______ of your heart.” (tablet)
Proverbs 17:3 – “the refining _____is for silver” (pot)
Proverbs 9:17 – “_____eaten in secret is pleasant.” (bread)
Proverbs 15:17 – “better a dish of ____where love is” (vegetables)
Proverbs 30:19 – “a serpent on a ______” (rock)
Proverbs 23:31 – “when it sparkles in the _____” (cup)
Proverbs 27:21 – “the furnace for _____” (gold)
Proverbs 10:26 – “like _____to the teeth” (vinegar)
- Discussion: Discuss different types of love – love parents for children, love between friends, love between a man and a woman, love of God. How are these alike? How different? Discuss the two greatest commandments, according to Jesus – “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God…” and “thy neighbor as thyself”. How did Jesus answer the question about “Who is my neighbor?” Review the story of the Good Samaritan. Who is your neighbor? Who is in need of your love as a neighbor?
- No need for the Jesse Tree today so let’s make a Valentine… for God? For one of His children in a hospice or orphanage or hospital? Use red and pink paper hearts, doilies, stickers, etc. Who’s going to deliver them and to where?
- Close with prayer, praying especially for those neighbors named during class.