Children are no strangers to mood swings (although they might not recognize what they are), but they often have a difficult time understanding or controlling emotions. This lesson reminds all of us that sadness is completely normal, and not always in our power to change. However, we serve a God who promises joy and restoration. He is with us even in hard times, and has the power to transform our hearts and turn our mourning into dancing.
The message Jeremiah gave to the people of Israel was one of joy despite darkness. Though the people had made mistakes and suffered, God had a plan for reunion and restoration. The prophet’s message can still encourage us today, especially in light of the Gospel of Jesus, the promise fulfilled. We sometimes adopt the mistaken understanding that Christians should always be happy and smiling, but this is of course not the case. Our joy should be deep-rooted in Christ. Sorrows will come, but we have a hope that transcends them when we trust the lasting covenants of God.
Sunday School Lesson on Jeremiah 31 for Children: Jeremiah’s Words of Hope
Passage: Jeremiah 31:1-14
Target Audience: Kindergarten-6th grade
Materials Needed: Construction paper; glue; markers or crayons; tape; scissors; decorative supplies; yarn/string; paper bags; paper plates; popsicle sticks; Bibles.
Lesson Opening: This lesson focuses on the message of hope and joy that the prophet Jeremiah gave to the people of Israel. There is an element of reunion and restoration, and lives transformed. To get thoughts started, use one of the following activities, or design some of your own.
- Opposites attract: This game is good for a larger group of students. Give each student a word on a sticky note, and attach to his or her back. Have students ask others questions about the word to try identifying what it is. Each student will have a partner who has the opposite of his/her word, and opposites should try to find one another. For smaller groups of students, play a matching game and have opposite pairs on cards that can be flipped over in turns and matched.
- How are you feeling? Play “emotion charades” and provide students with varying emotions to act out while others guess what they are portraying.
- Reunions: For younger students, discuss how families or groups of people often gather together for reunions with people they haven’t seen in a little while. Look at pictures of family reunions, or view maps to see where people might come from to gather. For older students, look at Bible maps to see where the exiles where scattered and how they might have come back together to their homes.
- Scattered flocks: For an outdoor active game, play “shepherd tag.” Have a “shepherd” student as “it,” and provide him or her with a long “crook” made out of a cardboard tube or pool noodle. Have the “shepherd” reach out to tap “sheep” with the staff. Sheep should be “herded” into hula hoop pens. For younger students or to play inside, scatter cotton ball “sheep” through the room and have students gather them and place them in bowls or cups.
- Rejoicing dance-off: In honor of the dancing and rejoicing mentioned in the passage, have students participate in a fun “freeze dance” challenge, freezing when music stops. Or provide simple instruments for them to make their own music.
Explain to students that the focus passage here involves a prophet who had a message of joy and hope for people who were going through challenging times.
Bible Lesson: (Jeremiah 31) Sunday School Lesson for Kids Explained for Children “God’s Promises of Hope”
Passages of prophecy aren’t always easy to teach younger students, as they don’t lend themselves as easily to acting or crafts. However, they have powerful and meaningful messages for us today, and are important to share even with young audiences. This passage is from the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke to God’s people who were away from their homeland. Jeremiah faced great difficulty in his life, but this chapter is one of hope. Read and explain it to students with the emphasis on God’s love and power to restore and transform.
“At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
5 Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’” -Jeremiah 31:1-6
Provide context for students to understand who Jeremiah was and who his audience was. The kingdom of Israel had split long before, and the Southern kingdom of Judah had been conquered. Many of the Israelites had fled, and Jeremiah was speaking to them from Jerusalem. It seemed that the people were headed for judgment and devastation, but in this passage, Jeremiah reassured them that God is patient and merciful. God loves with an everlasting love and the words here promised that He would bestow blessings and joy on the people. He would restore them and bring them back to where they belonged.
Ask: Have you ever felt almost hopeless? What kinds of things make you sad or glad?
For thus says the Lord:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here. -Jeremiah 31:7-8
This news was so good that not only Israel, but the whole world needed to hear it. God was proclaiming that He would bring back the people who had been scattered. Everyone from everywhere would come. For Jeremiah’s audience, far from home and feeling lost or broken, these words carried a great deal of hope. Pain and sorrow would not last, but restoration and joy would come.
Ask: Have you ever been to a family reunion, or met up with a friend you hadn’t seen in a long time? How do those things feel?
With weeping they shall come,
and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. -Jeremiah 31:9-11
God reiterated His statement that He would gather all together. The people would be rescued from bondage and returned to their master, creator, and Father. Like a shepherd gathers up a flock of sheep, God would gather the people into His loving arms. His strength would be their salvation.
Ask: Have you ever been lost and then found again? How might that relate to God’s promise here?
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.” -Jeremiah 31:12-14
These verses are particularly joyful. God promised to turn mourning into happiness and inspire dancing and rejoicing. God has the power to do this! Although the people of Israel didn’t necessarily know just when and how this would happen, it must have been encouraging to hear that God had a plan to comfort and provide joy for them. We have this hope, too! There might be times when we face sorrow, and that’s normal. We might even feel like we won’t find peace again. But God is with us and wants to help. We can pray and bring Him our troubles, knowing that He is close at hand and mighty to save. He can turn our frowns around and replace sadness with gladness!
Close with prayer, thanking God for His promises and faithfulness, and asking Him to help in times of trouble.