Minor Prophets -- Micah

MINOR PROPHETS: MICAH

Objectives:

  1. Children should be able to identify Micah as a prophet who spoke for God.
  2. Children should know that Micah lived in Judah, the southern kingdom.
  3. Children should know that Micah prophesied the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
  4. The main thrust of Micah’s message was the destruction of Samaria and Jerusalem.

 

Possible Lesson Plan:

  1. Open with prayer.
  2. Scripture Reference: Micah 1:1-12, Micah 6:8 and Micah 5:2-4. Micah lived near Jerusalem, a contemporary of Isaiah, but correctly prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem 100 years later.

 

  1. Learning Game: Quotations – Take a well-known quotation from each of the “minor prophets” (yes, there are well-known quotations, you just may not know where they’re from!) and write each on an index card. Tear the cards in half and give one half of each quote to each student and hide the other around the room. Students must find their missing half. Now read all aloud. Some suggestions would be:

Hosea 11:1      Obadiah 4       Nahum 1:3a                 Haggai 2:9

Joel 3:10          Jonah 2:1         Habakkuk 3:19            Zechariah 9:9

Amos 3:7         Micah 6:8        Zephaniah 1:7a            Malachi 3:1a

To review? Make a "Prophet Catcher":

Prophet Catcher

  • With the printed side up, fold the square in half horizontally and then vertically, open the folds.
  • Turn the square over.
  • Fold each corner over so they meet in the middle, do not let them overlap.
  • Leave the square folded, and flip the square over.
  • Now fold the corners into the center – make sure they do not overlap.
  • Fold the entire square in half and poke your thumbs and forefingers in under the flaps.
  • Bring your fingers together so the Fortune Teller forms a peak –
  • YOU are ready to PLAY!

Amos, the shepherd, Habakkuk with his pot of stew for the Prophet Daniel, Micah and his prophecy of the city of Bethlehem, and Haggai with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem are on the 4 outside flaps. Can the students correctly identify the prophets associated with the quotes beside the numbers?

  1. Review the prophecies about the Christ: Isaiah? (born of a virgin, a Nazarene, suffering and death); Micah? (born in Bethlehem); Jeremiah? (the slaying of all children under two); Zechariah? (riding on a donkey), Malachi (John the Baptist). These prophecies are scattered all over the Old Testament, yet Jesus fulfilled them all!
  2. Make a “Kindness Jar”:

Read Micah 6:8: What does God want of us? “Mercy” is similar to kindness. Have eachchild write on small red paper hearts several acts of kindness that he or she could perform – for parents, for friends, for school, for the church. For example, “Tidy my room”, “Empty the trash”, “Pick up used candles”, etc. Cover a jar or can with a piece of construction paper. Write on it “Kindness Jar” and decorate it with hearts, flowers, etc. Take the jar home and remove a heart each day and do what it says.  

  1. Close with prayer.