Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO
Objectives:
- Children should be able to identify Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as the three young men in the fire.
- Children should be able to tell the story of the three young men.
- Children should identify Nebuchadnezzar as King of Babylon and the Jewish people as his prisoners.
Possible Lesson Plan:
- Open with prayer.
- Scripture Reference: Daniel 3. Daniel and his friends, were taken as captives to Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in Babylon. They were given Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego. I’ve never figured out why Daniel is known by his Jewish name and the others by their Babylonian names!
- Learning Game: The Big Step. Just as before, line up the students at one end of the classroom and the teacher at the other. Ask questions from the lesson. If the student gives the correct answer, he can take a step. If not, take the question to the next student. First to cross the room is the winner.
- Discussion: The story of the 3 young men in the fire is told over and over in the canons around Pascha-time. Why? This story from the Old Testament is thought to be a foreshadowing of the descent of Christ into hell to save the captives. What is a foreshadowing? Who does Nebuchadnezzar represent?
- Make Peanut People:
Take half a peanut for each character: 3 young men, Jesus,
and Nebuchadnezzar. Decorate each peanut half as the person with faces drawn with markers and bits of yarn or fabric or felt for hats, hair, etc. Put a Peanut Person on each finger and tell the story! Someone in the class allergic to peanuts? No problem! Take small strips of paper or cardstock, wrap each into a cylinder the size of a fingertip, and make finger puppets with the same decorations.
6. Close with prayer.