Amos

Cartography Lesson

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Create and put together a map of the countries mentioned in Amos and learn what the prophet Amos told them to change.

Scripture Reference:

Amos 1 & 2

Rotation Objectives:

At the end of the Rotation, kids should be able to…

• Understand what a prophet is.
• Know who Amos was.
• Know the basic theme of Amos.
• Understand that there are consequences when we disobey God.

Preparation & Background:

• Read Amos 1 & 2. In this passage, Amos begins by prophesying destruction on Israel’s enemies one by one. He begins with the enemies farthest away and gets closer and closer to Israel. (This was after Israel had been split into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Amos is preaching to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.) Finally, he arrives at Israel and preaches destruction for them too. It is easy to imagine that the people began by applauding Amos as he attacked their enemies and ended up angry and insulted when he ended by attacking their disobedience and unbelief.
• During your lesson, the kids will be filling piecess of the different countries that Amos talks about. Create a large poster board puzzle map of Israel and its surrounding countries at the time – Israel, Judah, Philistia, Phoenicia, Damascus (Aram), Ammon, Moab & Edom. Each country should be its own piece and its own color. Put a small “N” at the top of each country so that the kids will know which way is up. Mark the location of important cities (mentioned on the notecards) with a dot or a star, but do not write the names of the cities.
• Also create the notecards that the kids will use to fill in the maps (see below). The notecards should match the color of the country that they are talking about. The notecards should be hidden around the room before the kids arrive.

Supplies List:

• poster board (or editor, Luanne Payne, adds I have used fun foam for making puzzles, comes in various colours, size 12" x 18",  can glue to the poster board to make more sturdy and you can write on it with markers, thickness nice for fitting puzzle pieces too.)
• notecards
• markers
• map to use when creating the poster board countries (many Bibles have a map at the back that will work well or see the website mentioned in references)

Here's the Info for the Notecards:

Damascus
NC1: Damascus is the capital city of your country and the city Amos mentions as disobeying God. Write Damascus by the star on your map.
NC2: The name of your country is Aram (also known as Syria). Write “Aram” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of attacking the people of Gilead (a part of Israel) and killing its people with no mercy. Draw arrows pointing outward along the bottom of your map. Then draw a picture near the arrows showing the attack.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country with fire. Draw flames around your capital city.

Philistia
NC1: Amos mentions four cities in your country. There are four dots on your map to represent the four cities. The northern most city is Ekron. Below it is Ashdod. Below Ashdod is Ashkelon. The Southernmost city is Gaza. Write the names of the cities by the right dot.
NC2: The name of your country is Philistia. This is where is Philistines come from (remember Goliath?). The people of Philistia were ancient enemies of Israel. Write the name “Philistia” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of selling the people of God as slaves to Edom. Edom is to the east (right) of your country. Draw arrows along the right side of your map, pointing to right. Then draw a picture of slaves near the arrows.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country by completely destroying it. Draw a skull and crossbones or a grave to represent the death of your country.

Tyre
NC1: Tyre is the most important city in your country and the city Amos mentions as disobeying God. Write Tyre by the dot on your map.
NC2: The name of your country is Phoenicia. Write “Phoenicia” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of selling the people of God as slaves to Edom. Edom is to the south (bottom) of your country. Draw arrows along bottom of your map, pointing downward. Then draw a picture of slaves near the arrows.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country with fire. Draw flames around your city.

Edom
NC1: Bozrah was an important city of defense in your country. Amos prophesies that it will be destroyed. Write “Bozrah” by the dot on your map.
NC2: The name of your country is Edom. The people of Edom were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. They were also ancient enemies of Israel. Write “Edom” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of attacking Israel with a sword. Israel is to the west and north of your country. Draw arrows in the upper left of your map, pointing outward. Then draw a picture of a sword near the arrows.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country with fire. Draw flames around your city.

Ammon
NC1: Rabbah was the capital city of your country. Amos prophesies that it will be destroyed. Write “Rabbah” by the dot on your map.
NC2: The name of your country is Ammon. The people of Moab were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. They were also ancient enemies of Israel. Write “Ammon” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of Killing the women and children of Israel. Israel is to the west (left) of your country. Draw arrows along the left side of your map, pointing outward. Then draw a picture women and children near the arrows.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country with fire. Draw flames around your capital city.

Moab
NC1: Kir-hareseth was an important city in your country. Write “Kir-hareseth” by the dot on your map.
NC2: The name of your country is Moab. The people of Moab were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. They were also ancient enemies of Israel. Write “Moab” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of burning the bones of the king of Edom (not respecting the dead). Draw a picture of a king on your map.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country by destroying it. Draw a skull and crossbones or a grave to represent the death of your country.

Judah
NC1: Jerusalem is the capital city of your country. Write “Jerusalem” by the star on your map.
NC2: The name of your country is Judah. Judah is the southern part of what used to be Israel. It became its own country during the civil war at the time of King Rehoboam. Write “Judah” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of rejecting the law of God and worshipping other gods. Draw a picture of people worshipping other gods on your map.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country with fire. Draw flames around your capital city.

Israel
NC1: Samaria is the capital city of your country. Write “Samaria” by the star on your map. Gilead is an important region of your country. Write the word “Gilead” on the right portion of your map.
NC2: The name of your country is Israel. Israel is the southern part of what used to be Israel. It became its own country during the civil war at the time of King Rehoboam. Write “Israel” in large letters on your map.
NC3: Amos accuses your country of hurting the poor instead of helping them, worshipping other gods, and telling the true prophets not to speak. Draw a picture of people worshipping other gods on your map.
NC4: Amos says that God will punish your country by crushing it. Draw a picture of sad people on your map

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet the students and introduce yourself.

Open with a prayer.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:
Begin with a brief introduction about Amos.

Amos was a prophet. A prophet is a messenger from God. God gives them the words to say and they repeat them. Prophets sometimes brought words of encouragement from God, but often they brought warnings to people. God wanted to warn people that they needed to change or they would face the consequences of disobedience to God.

Amos was a prophet during the Old Testament when there were kings. He was a prophet to the Northern kingdom of Israel. We will learn more about what Amos said as the lesson goes along.

Pass out the puzzle piece maps. (You may need to form teams.) Explain that each puzzle piece is a map of one country that Amos prophesied about. All of the pieces fit together to form a larger map of nations that Amos was prophesying about. In a little while, we will fit the map together, but first you have to fill out your map. On each map is the letter “N;” this stands for “North.” It marks the top of your country. You want to make sure that you are holding your map right side up.

In order to fill in your map, I have hidden four clues for each map around the room. Each clue is written on a notecard the same color as your map. Once you have found all of your clues, you need to follow the instructions on the clues to fill out your map. When everyone has filled in their map, we will put them all together so you can see what the world looked like during the time of Amos.

After the kids have completed their maps, have them fit the puzzle pieces together. The pieces may not fit exactly together, but they should fit close enough to work. The kids can use some of their clues to figure out where the countries go. (The arrows point to where other countries are in relation to each other.) Ask each person or group to share what they learned about their country.

Once the map is together, tell the kids that the Mediterranean Sea was to the west of the countries. To the east was desert. North of the countries was Assyria – the country that eventually destroyed most of the countries. To the south and west was Egypt. The hole in the center of their countries (between Moab and Judah) is the Dead Sea.

Show the kids the order that Amos prophesied – first to Damascus, then Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and finally Israel. He started by accusing their enemies who were farthest away and then got closer and closer until finally he prophesied against Israel herself.

Questions for discussion:

• How do you think the people of Israel would have felt about Amos?
• Do you like it when people tell you that you are wrong? Why?
• Why is it important to have someone in your life to show you right from wrong?
• How can you tell when you are doing the right thing or the wrong thing?
• How can we learn what God wants us to do to follow Him? (Read Bible, go to church, ask parents, pray, etc.)

References:

• katapi . org . uk /Maps/DivKingdom785.htm for a map of countries at the time period (link removed no longer active site.
• Editor suggests using this colorful map found here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse...ent-ammon-gail-davis

A lesson written by Deborah Ward from: Williams Lake Church of the Nazarene
Waterford, MI

Copyright 2010 Williams Lake Church of the Nazarene, Waterford, MI
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material

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