Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
Royalty in Ruin (Prophets and Kings)
Chapter 47 - Satan, the Accuser, Christ, the Defender
Satan works feverishly to discourage the returning exiles in their work, reminding them of their sins and shortcomings. But God, through Zechariah, gives His people a message of hope.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES
2 Samuel 9:6-10
Zechariah 1:1-4
Zechariah 2:7-13
Zechariah 3:1-5
Isaiah 49:8
Zephaniah 3:9
OVERVIEW
Have you ever been a victim of bullying? Some who have never been treated in this manner don’t believe it exists. Others seem to believe that the individual being bullied caused it. Still others know it is real because it continually happens to them. Bullying is ugly because often it seems as if there is no hope of salvation from it. Today’s lesson is about a bully who has been around for ages harassing God’s people, but in today’s passages we get a picture of hope and restoration.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Ask the members of the group to identify their favorite:
1. Song
2. Wild animal
3. Olympic sport
4. Supreme Court Justice
5. City
Then, ask them to identify their least favorite:
6. Vacation destination
7. Bible story
8. Holiday
9. Day of the week
QUESTIONS
TRANSITION
We make choices every day—what to wear, what to eat, who to hang out with, etc. So what does our lesson today about restoration have to do with choices? It’s about our choice to follow God or Satan. Satan doesn’t want God to save anyone and God is willing to save anyone who truly wants to be saved. As you will discover in today’s lesson, the choice is the individual’s.
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Let’s read how David responds. Read 2 Samuel 9:7-10.
7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”
8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
QUESTIONS
Read Zechariah 1:1-4.
1In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2 “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.
QUESTIONS
Read Zechariah 2:7-13.
7 “Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” 8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye—9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.
10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
QUESTIONS
Read Zechariah 3:1-5.
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”
5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
QUESTIONS
APPLICATION
Today’s lesson is about how God has plucked us out of Satan’s grasp and restored us to His original plan. Knowing that God won’t allow Satan to destroy us is a game changer. Anytime the deceiver whispers in your ear that you aren’t good enough, God is shouting to the entire universe that you are His child and that Christ’s death on the cross restored you to a saving relationship with Him. Think about this concept the next time you make a mistake and are tempted to listen to the voices telling you that God doesn’t love you anymore.
FOLLOW UP
Read Isaiah 49:8.
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
Read Zephaniah 3:9.
9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
The temple had to be rebuilt after the remnant was released from captivity. Through Haggai, the command had come to rebuild the temple of the Lord. The call went to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant of God’s chosen people. The Lord again spoke to the people through Haggai and assured them that He was with them and they didn’t need to be afraid. They were to continue their work on the house of the Lord. The people obeyed and the temple was restored, but not to its former glory.
The Lord explained to the temple priests through the prophet Haggai that the people and their offerings were unclean and that they still needed to be cleansed. He promised that He would send a blessing on them but that the time had not yet come.
The people of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem had been ignoring the prophets’ messages for many generations. This is what caused their captivity. Over and over they were warned to turn away from sin and back to the Lord and over and over again they ignored this wise council. In this lesson we will begin to study the visions of the prophet Zechariah and what they meant for the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
Prophets, Horses, and Horns
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Read Zechariah 1, Zechariah 2, and Zechariah 3:1-5.
Zechariah 1
A Call to Return to the Lord
1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2 “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?
“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’ ”
The Man Among the Myrtle Trees
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
8 During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?”
The angel who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”
11 And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” 13 So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’
16 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’ ”
Four Horns and Four Craftsmen
18 Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. 19 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?”
He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 I asked, “What are these coming to do?”
He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
Zechariah 2
A Man With a Measuring Line
1 Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”
3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’
6 “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the Lord.
7 “Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” 8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye—9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.
10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
Zechariah 3
Clean Garments for the High Priest
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”
5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
SUMMARY
Zechariah was charged with giving the people of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem a message that their fathers had ignored for many generations. Prophets had come and gone and all had been thoroughly ignored and turned away. God spoke directly to Zechariah through visions that seemed strange, but were translated by the angel he spoke to. In the first, there were four horses that represented the ones sent by God to walk over the earth and see if all was at peace. In the second, there were four horns that tore apart the nation and four craftsmen that cast out the horns. In the third, an angel came to measure the city of Jerusalem. The Lord told the people to escape Babylon, for Judah was to be taken possession of. Then came the vision of the priest. Satan was standing by the high priest, Joshua, and the angel ready to rebuke him for his iniquity. The Lord called for Joshua’s filthy garments of sin to be removed and replaced with clean garments of righteousness. Next week we will look further into the visions of the prophets of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem.
APPLICATION
How can you take this lesson beyond our Sabbath School discussion and live it out in the coming days, weeks, and months? The Holy Spirit might impress you to challenge yourself with the following questions. Or He may impress you to adapt something in a way that will better suit your life. Either way, we know that God wants us to live out what He shares with us in Scripture.
3.IN SPITE OF ALL I’VE DONE
Listen to the song “My Deliverer,” written by Rich Mullins.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8-NxI_IWd0)
8 This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
