Advanced Level, Block 8—Remnant Standing Properly
Week 72
Zerubbabel and the Returning Ones
Point to Emphasize: Do we have such a heart for God?
Reading Reference: Ezra 1:1-5; 2:1-2, 64; 3:1-13, footnote 41
Memory Verse: And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
Story Sample
King Cyrus made a proclamation that a house for God would be built in Jerusalem. He announced that any of God’s people who wanted to go to build God’s house could go. What do you think was the response from God’s people to this proclamation? [Have children discuss.] Some of the people responded by choosing to leave the place they and their family had been living in for the past 70 years. During this long period of captivity, they were no longer the same people as they were before. They now had jobs and children, and there was no easy way for them to make the long trip. It was a huge decision to make. They had to stop everything they were doing to go. This was not an easy choice. But they saw something of value. So, they were willing to give up everything to go. They went because they desired to go, not because they were forced to go. Many responded and returned to Jerusalem so that the house and the worship to God could be recovered. 42,360 people made that choice to go.
The building work in Jerusalem was headed up by Zerubbabel. He was a descendant of the royal family of David. If you were building a house for God, what would you build first? [Let the children discuss] They did not start with the temple or even the foundation; the first thing they built was an altar to God so that they could worship Him. They started with the very center of God’s worship because they valued God and wanted to honor Him. Then they restored the offerings and appointed feasts to Jehovah. They made their worship the top most important thing. This brought back the genuine worship of God in the place that He had chosen. Let me say this again, they did this because in their heart they desired to do so, not because they were forced or obligated to.
Do we have this kind of heart? When my girls were about your age, we had a family time after our dinner every night. We would read a chapter of the Bible or try to memorize a verse every night. The girls would do it, but did they have a desire to do it? Not always! Often there would be a groan and, “Do we have to?” or “But my friends are waiting outside for me.” They didn’t see the value of spending time in God’s word together. They did it because they knew they had to, but their heart wasn’t really in it. [Storyteller, use your own personal example.]
How about you? How do you react when it’s your family time or when it’s time for children’s meeting? [Have an honest conversation with the children about this.] You may be one who sits through family time because you have to. And, your parents make you go to children’s meetings, but inside you would much rather be doing something else. You may even be groaning. This groaning really shows where your heart is. You know, the Jews who went back to Jerusalem to build went because they had a heart for God. They saw the value of God’s building and went to participate in it. After an honest conversation, can you really say you have such a heart? If not, then you need to admit to yourself and to God that your heart needs a change. And if we ask God to change our hearts, He will. We all should desire the things that mean something to God.