Teaching the Divisions of the Bible: Prophecy | Sunday School Solutions
by Aubrey Kyle
Mechanic, youth group leader, volunteer, husband, father, son—a person could be described by these roles. Throughout the Bible, we see Jesus in many different roles. You can’t accurately show all of who Jesus is if you only describe Him by one of His many roles. Instead, you must learn all the different roles and positions He has and know they all work together to make Him who He is!
Revelation, the final book of the Bible, describes Jesus in many different roles. When it comes to Revelation, many people focus on teaching what will happen in the world during the end times. While this may be the most common approach when learning about this book, there is more you and the children you teach can learn from it.
So far, we’ve talked about the Gospels, Church History, Paul’s Letters, and the Other Letters divisions of the New Testament. It’s now time to wrap up this series with the final division, Prophecy. This division is made up of the final book of the Bible, Revelation. John, the same John who wrote the Gospel of John and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, wrote Revelation while in exile on the island of Patmos. Even though John was being held on the island in punishment, God was with him. It was during this time that God showed John many things, some of which are written for us in Revelation.
Through what God showed John, we see Jesus in several different roles, including roles we’ve never seen Him in before. God also showed John what will happen in the future. Because Revelation tells us events before they happen, this book is a prophetic book. Revelation tells us about what will happen when Jesus takes His followers with Him to Heaven, what will then happen on Earth, and how Jesus will come to Earth again, this time to defeat Satan once and for all and to establish His Kingdom on a New Heaven and Earth.
The first part of Revelation has seven letters. These letters describe the report Jesus brings to seven different churches on how they are pleasing or displeasing God. Even today, these letters can help and teach us to know when we please God while also teaching us what doesn’t please Him. In these letters Jesus describes Himself as the First and the Last, the Living One who died and is now alive forevermore. Jesus also says He holds the keys of Death and Hades. Each of these things shows Jesus’ amazing power.
In the next part of Revelation, we see Jesus as the Lamb of God Who is worthy of worship. To help the children understanding why Jesus is worthy of our worship, ask the children to name things about Jesus. Things like He loves us, He took our place and died for our sins, or He gives us power to obey God. Write each answer on a paper plate. During the prayer time, give children one paper plate and have them say a sentence prayer, using what’s written on the plate to praise God for what Jesus has done.
We see Jesus as the Lamb of God Who is worthy of worship.
In chapters 6 through 18, we see Jesus in the role of Judge who punishes sin. These end times punishments may be hard for children to understand because of how terrible they are. Remind the children that God is long-suffering and patient, willing to wait for people to repent, because He loves and wants everyone to be saved. But because God is also just, He must punish sin, even though He would rather people repent and turn to Him.
In Revelation 19, we see Jesus in the roles of King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Chapter 20 shows Jesus in the role of Conqueror who wins the final battle and ultimately defeats Satan, throwing him into the lake of fire.
Finally, the last two chapters of Revelation describe Jesus in the role of the Bridegroom who welcomes His bride—His Church whom He loves—into the beautiful home He has prepared. Based on the Bible’s descriptions, we know this home in Heaven will be beautiful, but the best thing about it is that believers will be in the presence of Jesus forever!
The Bible is no ordinary book. It is God’s Word, written especially for you and me. From Genesis to Revelation we see God working to fulfill His promises. In Genesis 3:15 God promises to send someone who will defeat Satan. In the Gospels we see that promise fulfilled through Jesus defeating death and again in Revelation when Jesus will defeat Satan for the final time.
A great resource to help you teach not only about the book of Revelation, but all the Bible divisions is the Children’s Ministry Resource Bible. This Bible not only has an overview for each Bible division, but is full of teaching aids, footnotes, study helps, cross-reference guides, lesson outlines, and much more. You can find it online through CEF Press®.
With that, we’re done with the Prophecy division of the Bible, and we’ve gone through all the Bible divisions and their books. You can easily review the order of all 66 books of the Bible with the kids in your Sunday school class by adapting some of the games we had in previous blogs for this series, such as “Mini Books,” “Clothesline Review,” “Card Race,” “Pizza Pan Placement,” “Bible Book Bingo,” and “Bible Bricks”! Even games like “Mail Mix-Up!” could easily be adapted to work for all 66 books of the Bible. You could also search online for songs that teach children the order of the books of the Bible and have fun learning the books that way as well.
If you missed any videos or articles from this series, check out the Teaching the Divisions of the Bible videos on the blog. Be sure to continue watching Sunday school Solutions and reading our blog for more teaching helps and tips!