The Prophets Curriculum

Lesson Outline

• Jonah

  Written by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes, Edited by Tucker Fleming

  ACT I: RUNNING, TURNING, DYING, AND LIVING (1:1-2:10)

  • Lesson 1: Hide and Seek (1:1-3)
  • Lesson 2: The Prophet Who Wasn’t (1:4-16)
  • Lesson 3: Death and New Life (1:17-2:10)

  ACT 2: NEW CREATION, SAME SINNER (3:1-4:11)

  • Lesson 4: Do-Over (3:1-10)
  • Lesson 5: Jonah’s Double Standard (4:1-3)
  • Lesson 6: The Mission to the Missionary (4:4-11)

• Daniel

  Written by Seth Stewart, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes

  • Lesson 1: Daniel’s Faith in Exile (Daniel 1)
  • Lesson 2: Nebuchadnezzar’s Dreams (Daniel 2)
  • Lesson 3: The Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3)
  • Lesson 4: Nebuchadnezzar’s Humiliation (Daniel 4)
  • Lesson 5: Belshazzar and the Writing on the Wall (Daniel 5)
  • Lesson 6:The Lions’ Den (Daniel 6)
  • Lesson 7: Daniel’s Dreams (Dan 7-9)

• Haggai

  Written by Rebecca Lankford, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes

  • Lesson 1: A Loving Wake-Up Call (1:1-11)
  • Lesson 2: Spirit-Fueled Service (1:12-2:9)
  • Lesson 3: Unholy Workers and Their Faithful God (2:10-23)

• Malachi

  Written by Kendal Conner, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes

  • Lesson 1: The Love of the Lord (1:1-5)
  • Lesson 2: The Reproof of the Lord (1:6-2:16)
  • Lesson 3: The Promise of the Lord (2:17-3:5)
  • Lesson 4: The Reconciliation of the Lord (3:6-15).
  • Lesson 5: The Remembrance of the Lord (3:16-18)
  • Lesson 6: The Day of the Lord (4:1-6)

• Old Testament, Messianic Prophecies

  Written by Cameron Cole, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes

  • Lesson 1: The Promise of the Coming Light of God through a Body (Isaiah 9:1-7)
  • Lesson 2: A Good Shepherd of All the Nations to be Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:1-6)
  • Lesson 3: A Messenger Will Precede the Lord’s Coming (Isaiah 40:1-4)
  • Lesson 4: The Anointing and Mission of the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1-11)
  • Lesson 5: The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man (Daniel 7:1-14)
  • Lesson 6: God Defeats His People’s Enemies through a Humble King (Zechariah 9:1-13)
  • Lesson 7: The Suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
  • Lesson 8: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-32)
  • Lesson 9: The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Contributors

Rooted’s Scope & Sequence

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“My experience with the rooted curriculum, especially the prophet’s package has been nothing short of phenomenal. It offers an easy-to-understand Old Testament view into the person and work of Jesus Christ. As a teacher it is easy to follow but offers depth and richness in study that isn’t found in most curriculum.”

Michael P. | Student Minister | Field Street Baptist Church

What will students learn from Jonah?

Jonah is not too different from many of us today. He is a child of God and he is aware that he is part of God’s great plan to redeem the world. But just like many of us so often do, he fails so stupendously—not just once, but multiple times! And yet, in God’s mysterious ways, God still uses Jonah to accomplish His grand purposes. He doesn’t cast him aside, but He continues to use this unlikely tool to craft His perfect masterpiece.

The book of Jonah speaks to our students who are insiders, who consider themselves God’s chosen ones, who seem to have this whole “Christian thing” down pat. It shows them that it is easy to have it all together on the outside, but be far from God on the inside, yet God is merciful towards us when that is the case.

The book of Jonah also speaks to our students who are outsiders, who feel that they are very far from God, even beyond His reach. It shows them that there is nowhere we can go, nothing we can do that puts us beyond the reach of God. He seeks and saves lost sinners just like them in unexpected and surprising ways so that they might be called children of God.

What will students learn from Daniel?

Daniel was a teenager when he was exiled to Babylon. Cut off from his family, his friends, and his religious community, Daniel was surrounded by the pagan culture of Babylon. Immediately, he was thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s “university” where he was taught the “language and literature” of Babylon (Dan 1:17). Almost all teenagers will eventually leave their homes and feel “exiled” in a hostile world intent on indoctrinating them with its “language and literature.” Daniel shows students how to be faithful in places that are designed to erode their faith.

While most of our students are not physically exiled like Daniel, most teens will tell you they feel lonely and displaced. They feel displaced from one another by the failing promises of social media, displaced from their emotions as depression and anxiety are increasingly medicated, and displaced from politics as parties look less and less like the good guys and bad guys they were told to expect. Daniel offers hope to exiled teenage hearts.

Kings, political parties, and nations have always claimed to have the power and authority to bring about a newer, better, and brighter vision for our country. Daniel helps students put politics and politicians in their proper place. People who trust in God neither have to despair over their political landscape, nor obsess over the victory of their “side.” Instead, we can trust the God who “removes and sets up kings” as we attempt to live in a politically charged world.

Daniel’s life was full of suffering. Not only was he persecuted for his faith, but he also suffered separation from his home and family by one of the most powerful nations on the planet at that time. It was precisely in these dark moments that God worked most powerfully. Our students need to know that it’s often darkest before the dawn. They need to know it’s precisely when we are stuck in the lions’ den that God will rescue us, and that, before we can be resurrected, we must die.

What will students learn from Haggai?

Haggai is especially relevant for students today in a world filled with distractions and empty pursuits that keep them from finding their satisfaction in the Lord. Our hearts are indeed “idol-making factories” (Calvin), and our students are no exception as they chase after things that they think will bring life, significance, and satisfaction but instead will ultimately disappoint. Haggai calls students to “consider their ways” (1:5) and to reorient their priorities in line with the Lord’s because that is where true satisfaction is found.

When our students feel unmotivated, Haggai reminds them that we operate out of the finished work of Christ, the One to whom the end of this book ultimately points. There is great comfort and hope to be found in the words God spoke through Haggai, as He reminds us that all work is ultimately the Lord’s work. He graciously invites us into work for His glory, but He does so with the promise that He is with us every step of the way (1:13).

Finally, Haggai assures students that God is a promise-keeper as we see Him fulfilling His covenant in restoring the Davidic lineage through Zerubbabel at the end of the book (2:23).

What will students learn from Malachi?

Malachi may be a short book, but it is both powerful and important for our students as it gives them framework for understanding our promise-keeping, covenantal God. The composition of Malachi also offers our students an instructive framework for their own relationships with God. 

The foundation setting up Malachi’s prophesy is the confusion and frustration God’s people feel toward God. They believe they have obeyed God’s commands, yet feel as if God has forgotten them. Malachi speaks to the hearts of any believer who has ever wondered “where is God?” or who has questioned God’s goodness because of their circumstances. The book of Malachi will help our students not only see the love of God, but understand His faithfulness. They will also see God’s love is expressed in both judgment and salvation.

What will students learn from the Old Testament, Messianic Prophecies?

God is moving history in a redemptive direction and to an appointed end: A theme of the postmodern and post-Christian world in which students live is that mankind and the world do not live under a cohesive, purposeful narrative. There is a belief out there that there is no higher plan or meaning in life. But the prophecies about the Messiah and the age to come demonstrate that, in fact, God is writing a narrative for the world. We see validation of that redemptive narrative and fixed plan when Jesus lives, dies, and is risen, as the prophets foretold. This also validates God’s total control in bringing about redemption. He says the He will restore His people and take His promise of grace to the nations. Through Christ, He does exactly that and demonstrates His sovereignty.

The unity of God’s word—Old and New Testaments: One of the tougher issues for students to understand about the Bible is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. It can be challenging for them to see the Bible as one cohesive book. When we look at Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillment in the New Testament, we see how the Bible has one ultimate author: God. These prophecies help to show how the New Testament is a fulfillment and continuation of God’s redemptive work throughout time.

Fulfillment of prophecy validates that Christianity is absolutely true: One reasonable question young Christians often ask is “Why should we believe that Christianity is absolutely true?” Fulfillment of prophecy is one of the most compelling proofs of the veracity of the Christian faith. We can show that hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus came, God made concrete predictions about His life and work. When we show students the dozens of examples of fulfillment of prophecy in the Bible, their confidence in the truth of Christianity grows.