Lesson: The Breastplate of Righteousness

Goal:

To review the basic concepts related and tied to the breastplate and righteousness and justice.

Objectives:

1. Children will be able to identify what the High Priest wore over his chest and why it was important.
2. Children will identify how a breastplate works.
3. Children will realise that righteousness and justice are the same Hebrew word.
4. Children will be able to explain three items that should be right and just.

Resources:

The Golden Jubilee and the Millennium (No. 300)

The Last Thirty Years: the Final Struggle (No. 219)

FAQ Bible Study New Testament (No. 58)

Proverbs 31 (No. 114)

The Creation of the Family of God (No. CB4)

The Garment of the High Priest (No. CB61)

Lesson: Ephod, Curious Girdle and Breastpiece of Judgment (No. CB65)

The Ten Commandments (No. CB17)

The Law of God (No. CB25)

What is the Holy Spirit? (No. CB3)

Why we don’t celebrate Christmas (No. CB24))

The Beatitudes (No. 40)

Understanding the Beatitudes (No. CB27)

FAQ Bible Study New Testament (No. 58)

The Eternal Kingdom of God (No. 144))

Relevant Scriptures:

Ephesians 4:24

2Peter 2:4

Format:

Open with prayer.

The Breastplate of Righteousness.

Activity associated with The Breastplate of Righteousness.

Close with prayer.

Lesson:

Read: The Breastplate of Righteousness (No. CB125)

Questions and Answers:

Q1.      What two words in English have the same concept in Hebrew?

1.  Righteousness and justice are essentially the same concepts being the same word in Hebrew. The Hebrew word tsĕdaqah (SHD 6666) means justice and righteousness; it is the same word. Therefore, a Christian cannot be righteous without being just.

Q2.      What are the five centralities of Eloah and His Law?

1. A.* Righteous: Ezra 9:15; Psalm 119:172;

* Perfect: Matthew 5:48; Psalm 19:7;

* Holy: Leviticus 19:2; Romans 7:12;

* Good: Psalm 34:8; Romans 7:12;

* Truth: Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 119:142.

Q3.      Are we to become righteous and holy like Eloah and His Law?

1. A.Yes, we are also to become righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24).

Q4.      Are we become like Eloah?

1. A. Yes, we are to be partaking of the divine nature of Eloah (2Pet. 2:4)

Q5.      Who was a man after God’s own heart? Did this individual ever sin?

1.  King David sinned and made grave mistakes but due to his attitude of repentance he was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22).

Q6.      Who wore the breastpiece of all the priests and why was it significant?

1. “Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually” (Ex. 28:30). It is a memorial before the Lord continually (Ex. 28:29).

Q7.      Who did Aaron represent when he was chosen as High Priest?

1. A. Aaron as High Priest prefigured Christ as High Priest from his appointment above his fellows when he, Christ, was accepted as the perfect sacrifice on Wave Sheaf, in 30 CE.

Q8.      What were the five materials used in the breastplate and ephod?

1.  The breastplate and ephod were made of all five materials. “And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgement with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold of blue, and purple, and of scarlet material and of twined linen, shall thou make it” (Ex. 28:6,15, NASV).

Q9.      What does the number five represent?

1.  Five is the number of Grace.

Q10.    What leads us to the truth?

1.  The Holy Spirit leads us to all truth (Jn. 16:13).

Q11.    Are we supposed to guard and protect the truth?

1.  The first fruit of the Holy Spirit is the guardianship or protecting of the truth (2Tim. 6:13). The Holy Spirit is of power and love and self-control. One of the responsibilities of the elect is the protection of the truth as the first step of righteousness.

Q12.    Per Ephesians 5:9, are both righteousness and truth fruits of the Spirit?

1.  Yes, the fruit of the Spirit comes from God; it is both righteousness and truth.

Q13.    Should the elect always do works of righteousness and speak the truth?

1.  Yes, if we are to be taking on God’s divine nature all our acts and words should be righteous, and if we lie we break the Commandments (Ps. 15:2).

Q14.    How many Beatitudes mention righteousness (see Mat. 5)?

1.  Two of the Beatitudes make reference to righteousness.

Q15.    Do we have anything to fear if people try to persecute or hurt God’s people?

1.  We have nothing to fear as long as we are obeying God’s word. If God be for us who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31).

Q16.    Is Eloah righteous?

1.  Yes, He is (Ps. 7:9; 11:7; 71:15; 116:5; 119:137).

Q17.    Are Eloah’s testimonies, His Commandments and judgments and the Gospel righteous?

1.  Eloah’s testimonies are righteousness (Ps. 119:138,144) as His Commandments (Deut. 4:8; Ps. 119:172), His judgments (Ps. 19:9; 119:7,62) and the Gospel (Ps. 85:10; Rom 3:25,26) are all righteous.

Q18.    Should we pray to be lead in the righteousness of God?  

1.  Yes, we should pray to be lead in the righteousness of God (Ps. 5:8) and pray for God to answer in righteousness (Ps. 143:1).

Q19.    Is there a period of Just Rule to come to Earth? If so when, and who will be King and High Priest during that time?

1.  Messiah will usher in or bring in the Millennium. Satan and the fallen Host will already be bound, and for the first time in 6000 years the people on the Earth will not be influenced by Satan’s thoughts.

Q20.    Will Messiah rule fairly and justly?

1.  Messiah will govern righteously. It will no longer rain on the just and the unjust. Only those obeying God will receive rain in due season or at the right time of the year. Psalm 9 alludes to this when the world will be judged in righteousness.

Q21.    What happens at the end of the 1000 years or Period of Just Rule?

1.  At the end of the 1000 years, Satan and the fallen Host will be released from the pit; they lead the people living on the planet in another rebellion against Eloah and His Law. It seems amazing that after living under just and right rule for almost a 1000 years people will still choose to disobey God, but that is what the Bible tells us will happen.

Q22.    What happens to Satan and the fallen Host at the end of the Millennium?

1.  Messiah and the saints once and for all deal with Satan and the fallen Host in the final battle and their spiritual life is removed from them.

Q23.    Do Satan and the fallen Host continue to live and disobey Eloah?

1.  No, they die and are raised as men (Isa. 14:16). The fallen Host, like all beings, will be given an opportunity to learn and to live by God’s Laws in the Great White Throne Judgement.

Q24.    Will there be a time on the Earth when sin does not exist? If so, what happens at that time?

13.  Yes, there will be a time when sin no longer exists on the planet and we will then see a new Heaven and a new Earth, as described in 2Peter 3:13.

Q25.    Do we know exactly what will happen after the Great White Throne Judgement?

1.  No, the Bible is not clear about what Eloah has planned after this, yet we know He is not idle. Therefore, we can expect His Kingdom and Family to continue. We see the coming kingdom as though we look through a dark glass. We can only guess at our future.

Activity

• The Run for Righteousness

  • Description:  This is a relay race that allows the children to run for their question slips. Once all there scenarios are attained they then glue the righteous/just acts on the blue shield and rewrite the unrighteous acts on 3 x 5 cards. Mount the now righteous acts onto the blue shield. The unrighteous acts can be thrown in the trash or they can be burned in a grill to symbolize the time in the future when all the negative concepts will be destroyed.

• • Supplies: addendum with the various scenarios, scissors, glue, 3 x 5 cards, blue tag board for each teams shield.

• • Preparation: print and cut out the various scenarios, outline the course for the two teams.  Place the scenarios opposite the start line or tie the scenarios on various trees, benches etc. and allow the slips to be in variety of locations.

• • To play: assemble the two teams explaining the rules (safety being the first rule), how they will attain their scenarios, and what to do with the stories once they have collected all of the scenarios. Move the teams to a location that they are able to read, write and glue the various scenarios onto the shield.

• • Allow the children to present their work to the congregation once completed.

• • Adaptations: Bopit righteousness. Have the children sit in a circle. Have the bopit set on “pass”. The player who misses reads one of the scenarios and attaches to the breastplate or rewrites the scenario. If it is to be rewritten they share their idea with the group prior to rejoining the game.

• Create personal breastplates:

  • Tie-dyed tee shirts
    • Supplies: cotton tee shirts one per child, kit to tie-dye shirts is the easiest to use, rubber bands, gloves, outdoor work space or plastic to cover the tables, plastic bags to put the shirt in afterwards.
    • Preparation: attain supplies, and prep work area, ask the children to wear “old clothes” the day of tie-dying.
    • Warm up: have the children sit a circle and have a softball, koosh ball etc. to throw and pass. The facilitator tosses the ball to a person and states: “the nicest thing I have ever seen you do is….”. Play continues until all participants have received positives from each other.
    • Allow each child to tie-dye his/her shirt per the instructions. Follow the guidelines for drying and washing per the manufacturer’s recommendations.
    • The day the shirts are revealed again bring the children together and process: “We are all like the plain white shirts in the beginning and with time God works all our trials for our good to help bring out our inner strengths and colours”. Just as no two shirts are exactly alike, also no two human beings are alike.
    • Possibly write key scriptures on the tee shirts after they are tie-dyed, laundered one time and completely dry.

• • • Adaptation: tee shirts/sweat shirts with iron-on permanent markers or fabric paint.

o       Cardboard, foam breast pieces

• • • Supplies: cardboard, tag board or gator board, markers, colours, string and scissors.
    • Preparation: create 2-3 template patterns for your breast pieces depending on the age of the children. The breast pieces could all be pre-cut or children can cut there.
    • Warm up: have the children stand in a circle to play lion, palm tree and man. There is one person that is “it” and is in the centre of the circle. Whichever person it points to is the middle of the item selected. For example, it points to a person and says lion. The person selected roars like a lion and the persons to his right and left put up an arm for the right and left paw of the lion. The last person to get into position is “it”. Palm tree: the centre person puts his/her hands straight up and the persons to the right and left bend away from the main tree. Man: the centre person stands tall and puts their hands behind their back and the persons to the right and left crouch down to form the arms at the side of the main body.  After playing for a bit ask the children if they remember where God has “pictures” of lions, palm trees, man, open flower etc. Review how symbols convey meaning and move into the activity.

• • • Activity: provide each child with a breast piece and allow him/her to decorate the breast piece. Afterwards the child explains why they choose the symbols they did.
    • Sample ideas from historic pieces are at:
    • http://www.fleurdelis.com/meanings.htm
    • http://www.thearma.org/essays/SwordandBuckler.htm
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targe

Run for Righteousness