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Amos

Drama Workshop Lesson


Summary of Lesson Activities:

Children will use a script to learn the story.


Scripture Reference:

Amos 3:1 “Hear this word the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel – against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt.”

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 the destruction of 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.
  • Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

  • nametags
  • tape (to put nametags on)
  • wooden box or platform
  • megaphone
  • reaper’s hook
  • rope
  • bag of coins
  • sword
  • knife
  • book of matches
  • something to represent an idol
  • a crown


 

Presentation

 

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

 

Open with a prayer.

 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:


Drama Characters:

Amos – stands on a box with a megaphone
Damascus – carries a reaper’s hook and periodically swings it
Gaza – carries a rope and ties it in knots
Tyre – carries a bag of coins and periodically counts them
Edom – carries a sword that he/she swings around
Ammon – carries a knife that he/she stabs in the air
Moab – carries a book of matches
Judah – carries a little idol that he/she worships (bows down to, prays to, pats, etc.)
Israel – wears a crown and sits at the feet of Amos, nodding in agreement with him until Amos gets to Israel


Lesson Plan:

Tell the children that you are going to be acting out some of the book of Amos today. Amos was a prophet who spoke to the people of Israel. Prophets were people sent by God to give his messages. Sometimes the messages were good, but usually a prophet told people that they were disobeying God, and if they didn’t change, God was going to punish them in some way.

Assign roles (if you do not have enough kids, either some kids can play two roles or you can eliminate some of the characters). Give each child their nametag and prop. Explain what action each character is supposed to perform. If possible, set the kids up so that Damascus is farthest away from Amos and Judah is closest. Tell each child to walk around while performing their action.

Give Amos his/her script and have him/her read it into the megaphone. After he finishes yelling at each character, the character will fall over and pretend to die. Israel is the exception. As Amos yells at the other characters, Israel nods and smiles – he/she likes what he/she is hearing. When Amos yells at Israel, though, Israel gets angry, stands up, and yells at Amos. Amos walks calmly away.

Script: (Spoken by Amos)

“Hey, you – Damascus! God says that you have disobeyed. You killed people just like you were harvesting grain – not caring at all that they died. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Damascus falls down.

“Hey, you – Gaza! God says that you have disobeyed. You took whole cities and sold them as slaves – not caring about them at all. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Gaza falls down.

“Hey, you – Tyre! God says that you have disobeyed. You also took whole cities and sold them as slaves – breaking a promise in the process. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Tyre falls down.

“Hey, you – Edom! God says that you have disobeyed. You killed people with the sword and burned with anger. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Edom falls down.

“Hey, you – Ammon! God says that you have disobeyed. You killed pregnant woman and rejoiced that you were killing the babies of your enemies. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Ammon falls down.

“Hey, you – Moab! God says that you have disobeyed. You did not respect the dead but burned the body of Edom’s king. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Moab falls down.

“Hey, you – Judah! God says that you have disobeyed. You rejected my laws and would not follow them. Instead, you worshipped other gods. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Judah falls down.

“Hey, you – Israel! God says that you have disobeyed. You hurt the poor instead of helping them. You worship other gods instead of me. You told my prophets not to speak. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.” Israel stands up and begins to yell at Amos. Amos gets off the box and walks calmly away, ignoring Israel.

Questions for Discussion:

  • How do you feel when someone that you don’t like (bully, enemy, annoying person, etc.) gets in trouble? Why do you think that you feel that way?
  • How do you feel when your best friend gets in trouble? Your sister or brother? Why?
  • How do you feel when you get in trouble? Do you like it?
  • Why do you think that God punished these nations?
  • Why didn’t Israel like it when Amos yelled at him?
  • What are some ways that your parents use to disciple you?
  • Why do you think that your parents punish you? The important part of this question is to point out that our parents discipline us because they love us.


God sent Amos to Israel to warn them that if they did not repent and turn back to God, he was going to destroy them. He did this, not because He is mean or evil, but because he loved the people of Israel. He wanted them to obey Him because He knows what is best. They were going their own way and that way led to destruction. If they wanted to live, they needed to follow God.

 

Editor's Note

The theological idea that God "destroys" the wicked is not an uncommon theme in the OT Prophets. It does seem somewhat (if not entirely) at odds withe the message of the Gospel. Thus, Amos is the perfect opportunity to address this OT vs NT idea. 

 

What many churches and pastors say these days is that sin leads to destruction. It destroys relationships and trust. The consequence of sin, whether personally or globally is self-evident. God set up the world this way, -with "punishment" or penalty as a natural result of sinful behavior. 


 

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

 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

 

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer
Original Post

Life Application Idea for Amos Drama

Originally posted by Neil MacQueen

 

After doing the original drama, work through the idea that sin leads to all types of destruction. Bad behavior leads to destroyed friendships for example. 

 

Assign each of Amos' script pronouncements to groups.

Have each group rewrite Amos' prophetic announcement to speak to a situation students may face. 

 

Example:

Hey, you – Israel! God says that you have disobeyed. You hurt the poor instead of helping them. You worship other gods instead of me. You told my prophets not to speak. Because you did this, God is going to destroy you.”

 

BECOMES...

"Because you did this you will not know God and then you will say God is unfair and the world is cruel. Instead of hopefulness you will feel that God has abandoned the world." 

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

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