The Lord loves His children! Through the ages, He has called prophets to guide, protect, and help us in our mortal journey. One of the roles of a prophet is to warn us of spiritual and sometimes physical danger. In this way, Lord's prophets are like watchmen on a tower! Through the power and blessing of God, prophets are able to see things that we may no be able to see. If we are wise, we will listen to them and heed their warnings!
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 O P E N I N G S O N G : "Follow the Prophet"
➤ P R E P A R A T IO N
You will need some sturdy chairs and some large blankets. You will also need a few familiar toys.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N A C T I V I T Y
Create a barrier using the chairs and blankets. Hide the toys behind the barrier so that the children can’t see them from where they are sitting.
Give the children a group quiz about the toys that are behind the barrier (“Is there a _____ behind the wall?”). Give several false options and several true options. Allow the children to vote yes or no by giving you a thumbs up or thumbs down. (Don’t reveal the correct answers yet, just have them guess together.)
Next, invite one of the children to be a “watchman.” Allow the watchman to climb up onto the chairs and look over the wall while you repeat the quiz activity with the group. This time, reveal the answer after each question so that they know if they were right or wrong. The children will soon learn to trust and follow the watchman when the watchman gives a thumbs up or thumbs down!
After you complete the activity, discuss the following questions:
1) Did you know the answers when there was no watchman? (No.)
2) Why not? (No one could see beyond the blanket.)
3) Why did you follow the watchman the second time? (Because the watchman could see more than everyone else!)
Explain that when Heavenly Father calls a prophet, the prophet is like a watchman. Heavenly Father helps the prophet to see more than we can see, and the prophet can warn us about spiritual danger that we might not be able to see.
🎥 V I D E O : "The Snail and the Watchtower | Animated Scripture Lesson for Kids"
Now we are going to watch a video about a colony of snails! Every time it rains, a flood comes through their home. The snails keep getting washed away because they can’t get out of the way from the flood fast enough. After a while, the snails figure out a way to escape in time! Let’s watch and see what they do!
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) How were the snails able to get away from the flood in time? (They set a watchman on a watchtower to warn the snails when a flood was coming!)
2) When the watchman warned them, could any of the other snails see the flood? Or just the watchman? (Only the watchman could see it. The other couldn’t hear it or see it coming.)
3) If the prophets warn us of spiritual danger, will we always be able to see what the prophets see? Or do we have to trust them? (We’ll have to have faith and trust the prophets, just like the snails had to have faith and trust the watchman!)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scriptures and discuss the questions that follow.
[Read Ezekiel 3:17]
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
1) Who is the Lord speaking to in this verse? (Heavenly Father is calling Ezekiel to be a prophet!)
2) When Ezekiel was called to speak to the people of Israel, how did he know what to say to the people? (The Lord was going to give Ezekiel a warning, and then Ezekiel was commanded to tell the Lord’s warning to the people.)
3) When the Lord tells His prophet to give us a warning, who is the warning really coming from? (From the Lord!)
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
1) When the Lord is doing something, who did the Lord say He will reveal His secrets to? (To His prophets.)
2) How can we be blessed by listening to the Lord’s prophets? (Discuss.)
[Read 2 Nephi 26:8]
But behold, the righteous that hearken unto the words of the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness for the signs which are given, notwithstanding all persecution—behold, they are they which shall not perish.
1) What does “persecution” mean? (Persecution is treating someone in a mean way because of what they believe.)
2) Were the prophets in the scriptures persecuted sometimes? (Yes.)
3) Were the people who followed the Lord’s prophets persecuted sometimes too? (Yes.)
4) Why do you think so many people in the scriptures followed the Lord and listened to the prophets, even when they were persecuted? (Discuss.)
➤ A C T I V I T Y
Pass out a coloring page, one for each child. Invite children to color the scene from the video. Use this time to talk about how the Lord’s prophets can warn us, like watchmen on the tower. Talk about some recent warnings that have been given to us by the Lord’s modern prophets.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
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