This lesson teaches children that people who choose wrong and cheat others do not stay on top forever, while God remains faithful and fair. It suits children ages 5 to 11 and takes about 20 to 30 minutes.
Big Idea
God sees what is wrong, and wicked choices never lead to a happy ending. We can trust God to make things right in his own good time.
Memory Verse
Job 20:5
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
(WEB)
Ask children to stand tall with arms raised, then slowly sink down to a crouch as you say the verse. Repeating the motion helps them remember that the bad person’s joy goes down quickly.
The Story: Job 20 for Kids
Zophar was one of Job’s friends. Job had lost his children, his animals, and his health, and Zophar had been listening to Job talk about his trouble. Zophar was upset, so he began to speak. He felt sure that God always punishes wicked people, and he wanted Job to understand that.
Zophar talked about a man who gets rich by cheating and hurting poor people. This man feels happy for a while. He eats good food and thinks he is safe. But Zophar said that happiness does not last. The man’s wealth slips away, and what he worked so hard to get is taken from him.
Zophar described how the wicked man’s life falls apart. He is like a dream that disappears when morning comes. People who once saw him look for him, but he is gone. His children may even have to beg help from the poor people he once treated badly. Zophar said, in his own words, that God does not let wrongdoing go unpunished.
Zophar was wrong about Job, though. Job had not done the evil things Zophar described. Still, the story teaches us what Zophar believed about wicked choices. Children can learn that Zophar’s picture of a bad man losing everything is a true warning about how wrong choices end.
Read It Together
Job 20:4-5
4 Don’t you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth, 5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
(WEB)
Point out that Zophar is speaking as a man who thinks he knows how things work. Help children see that the wicked man’s happiness is described as short, lasting only a moment, and that this is the main thing Zophar wants to say.
Job 20:21-22
21 There was nothing left that he didn’t devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure. 22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him.
(WEB)
Explain that Zophar says the wicked man’s prosperity will not last and trouble will come to him. Show children how the verses describe the man who kept taking more and more and then lost all of it.
Job 20:27
The heavens shall reveal his iniquity. The earth shall rise up against him.
(WEB)
Tell children that Zophar says the heavens will reveal wrongdoing and the earth will rise up against it. Ask them what this shows about how nothing bad stays hidden from God.
Talk About It
- Why do you think the bad man felt happy at first, even though he was doing wrong?
- What did the man lose at the end, and what does that teach us about the things we get by cheating?
- How can we be kind to people who have less than we do?
- What is one thing you can do this week to choose what is right, even when it is hard?
- Who can we trust to be fair and to make things right in the end?
Activity Ideas
Melting Snowman Drawing
Give each child a sheet of paper, crayons, and a pencil. Ask them to draw a tall, happy snowman on the left side, then draw the same snowman melting into a puddle on the right side. Talk about how the snowman looked strong at first but could not last, just like the wicked man in Zophar’s words.
Lost in the Night Game
Play a simple hide and seek game where one child hides a small toy in the room while the others close their eyes. When the children search and cannot find it, talk about how the wicked man was gone like a dream. Let the children take turns hiding and seeking, and remind them that God always knows where everything is.
Kindness Jar at Home
Find an empty jar and some paper strips. Each day for a week, have the family write one kind thing they did for someone else on a strip and drop it in the jar. At the end of the week, read the notes together and thank God for helping us choose what is right instead of what is easy.
Teacher Notes
For adults, Job 20 is Zophar’s speech in an argument where he insists that wickedness always leads to ruin and that suffering proves guilt. The chapter shows a traditional view of cause and effect that the book of Job later questions, since God says Job is righteous. Adults can recognize Zophar’s words as a real perspective that the wider story examines, not as the final word on how God works.
One thing to avoid overstating to children is the idea that every bad person will be punished in this life in a clear, visible way, or that anyone who suffers must have sinned. Children may then wonder why good people sometimes suffer, so keep the focus on God’s faithfulness and his justice rather than on a simple formula.
A Prayer to Close
Dear God, thank you that you see everything we do and that you are always fair. Help us choose what is right, even when it is hard, and help us be kind to people who need help. Thank you that we can trust you to make things right in the end. Amen.
