B-2 Stories From Babylon

Decoded Message

Theme: Only God's prophet could read the message God wrote on the wall (Daniel 5)

Supplies: Printed code, Printed key, Printed message (see below)

How to do it:

• Give each child the printed coded message. 
• Give them two minutes to figure it out. 
• When no one can figure it out, provide the answer key

Discussion:

• King Belshazzar could not read the handwriting on the wall any better than you could decipher my code.
• Only God has the key to understanding prophecy. People cannot understand it on their own.

Coded message: 👉👈👆👦💨👀👉✋👨👍💨👊👌👉👊👂✌👎💨✊👉👏👆✋💨👌✌☝✋💨👃👎💙

A☝

B☺

C✊

D✋

E✌

F❤

G👀

H👂

I👃

J👄

K👅

L👆

M👇

N👈

O👉

P👊

Q👋

R👌

S👍

T👎

U👏

V👤

W👐

X👥

Y👦

Z👧

'👨

.💙

Space💨

Answer: Only God's prophet could read it.

B-1 Witnesses in Babylon

What to Pack

Theme: Daniel and his friends only took their character to Babylon (Daniel 1:1-3)

Supplies: items you would take on a trip (toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, clothes, walking shoes, wallet, identification, Bible, water, food, etc), a box (to hold items), a large suitcase

How to do it:

• Ask for two volunteers. Tell them they are going on a long trip and need to pack their bags. 
• Have one volunteer remove items from the box. 
• Have the second volunteer pack them into the suitcase.
• As items are removed, discuss why you would need said item on the trip
• After the suitcase is packed, thank the volunteers. Then tell them that it was nice they packed a suitcase, but they actually can only take identification on the trip; everything else has to stay behind. 
• Have the volunteers find where they packed the identification and give it to you.
• Take the suitcase away.
• Now explain to the class that when they reach their destination, even the one thing they were allowed to bring, their identification, will be taken away from them.
• Ask how this makes them feel.

Discussion:

• Explain that this is exactly what happened to Daniel and his three friends when they were taken to Babylon. They were only allowed to take their Israelite names, their identification. But when they reached Babylon, this was taken away from them and they were given Babylonian names.
• But there was one thing that they secretly brought to Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar didn't know about and was not able to take away from them. What was it? Have a volunteer read Daniel 1:8.
• Have you purposed in your heart to stay loyal to God? That is the one thing that no one can ever take from you!

A-52 God’s Faithful Prophets

(1) Wild Vision of God’s Glory

Theme: Ezekiel has to describe something he has never seen before

Supplies: 2-3 mystery objects hidden inside individual bags (make them unusual—like a pinecone glued to a toy wheel or a small dinosaur figure stuck halfway into a kitchen sponge, etc).

Instructions:

• Kids take turns sticking their hand in the bag and feeling the object without seeing it.
• They must describe what they think it is—out loud.
• Have the rest of the class try to guess what they are feeling.
• After 4–5 guesses, reveal the strange object.

Discussion:

• Ask: "Do we have anything in the world like what Ezekiel saw in his vision in Ezekiel 1?"
• Ask: "How hard is it to describe something that you don't have anything you can reference to explain what it is."
• Say: "Ezekiel saw God's throne, which is so amazing that his human words struggled to explain it."

(2) Valley of Dry Bones

Theme: Ezekiel sees God change a field of dry bones into a strong army.

Supplies: Two duplicate copies of paper bones (from a template), tape.

Instructions:

• Scatter paper “bones” around the room.
• Divide the class into two teams. 
• On “go,” kids race to gather bones and assemble a skeleton on the wall or floor.

Discussion:

• Say: "Imagine God telling bones much bigger than these to come alive!”
• Say: "This is exactly what God wants to do in your life. He wants to take your dead broken promises, goals, and dreams, and make them alive!"

A-51 Hope Beyond Doom

Jeremiah Buys a Field in Faith

Theme: Searching for a Treasure That Isn’t There… Yet

Supplies:, 5–6 empty envelopes labeled CONTRACT, prizes/treasures children can take home

Directions:

• If more than 4 children, divide into groups
• Give each child (or group) a sealed envelope labeled CONTRACT.
• Inside each envelope is a message that says something like: “A treasure has been promised. Search the room to find it.” 
• After each group opens and reads their envelope, say, “You won’t see any treasure yet, but you have a promise. Go search.”
• Let kids search for 30–60 seconds (But there is NO treasure hidden).
• After the search fails, call them back.

Discussion:

• Ask: “How did it feel to search when nothing seemed to be there?”
• Ask: “Did the promise feel real when you couldn’t find anything?”
• Ask: “Would you buy land during a war when your city is being captured?”
• Explain: Jeremiah bought a field—even though Babylon was taking over and the land looked worthless. Why? Because God promised the people would return someday. Jeremiah acted on God’s promise, not on what he could see.
• “Just like God’s promises, the treasure didn’t exist yet—but it does now.” Place small prizes in a visible spot and let them “find” them.

A-50 True and False Prophets

Secret Sins in the Temple

Theme: Hidden sins revealed

Supplies: Flashlight, sticky notes with “hidden actions” (good and bad).

Activity:

• Place sticky notes around the classroom—some in plain sight, some hidden.
• Turn the lights slightly down. Give kids a flashlight and 30 seconds to find as many notes as they can.
• On each note is something like:
• "Helping a friend”
• “Lying when scared"
• “Praying for someone”
• “Being mean in secret”
• “Doing chores without being asked"

Discussion:

• Say: "In Ezekiel 8, God showed Ezekiel the sins the leaders were hiding in the temple. God sees everything—even what is hidden."
• Say: "Nothing is hidden from God, and He wants our hearts to be clean inside and out."

A-49 Up and Down Years

“Torn & Rewritten” Scroll Relay

Theme: Foolish King Destroy's God's Word (Jeremiah 36)

Supplies: long strips of paper, pens, scissors

How to Play:

• Divide children into two teams. 
• Give each team a long strip of paper (their “scroll”).
• Write one short message: "Babylon will destroy Jerusalem" on each roll of paper.
• One child in each team plays “King Jehoiakim” and is given scissors.
• Teams race to rewrite their scroll each time Jehoiakim cuts a piece off.
• Eventually, the student with the scissors should cut the final piece up.
• Remove the scissors and provide another sheet of paper to each team. This time, the teams are to write the message large enough to fill the entire strip of paper.

Discussion:

• Ask: Did Jehoiakim's destroying the message prevent God's word from coming to pass?
• Today, we may try to destroy God's word by refusing to listen to it or making fun of His messengers.
• Will ignoring, mocking, or disobeying God's word keep it from coming to pass?

A-48 From Crisis to Crisis

“The Pride-O-Meter” Balloon Challenge

Theme: Uzziah's pride (2 Chronicles 26)

Supplies: balloons, cups, beanbags, simple spelling words

How to Play:

• Give one child (or adult) a balloon.
• Have the other children complete specific tasks (spell simple words correctly, stack cups, toss bean bags, etc).
• Every time the task is completed correctly, blow more air into the balloon.
• Continue until the balloon pops.

Discussion:

• Who gave Uzziah the ability to make good decisions?
• What things do we take credit for instead of giving the credit to God?