Materials: road map; Ten Commandments posters for each child
Objectives:
- to list the four parts of God’s promise to Abraham
- to retell the story of Moses
- to explain that The Law is a set of rules given to people by God to protect and point to salvation
- complete the Ten Commandments poster
Geography: locate Egypt, Israel, and the Red Sea
Background:
The Israelites were forced into slavery and God raised up Moses to be The Deliverer. Pharaoh‘s heart had been hardened even after nine horrible nationwide plagues that destroyed Egypt’s economy and way of life. But Pharaoh’s heart still would not allow the people of Israel to leave his nation. The tenth and final plague caused a cry to be heard throughout Egypt as the Angel of Death killed the first born of all Egypt and passed over the homes with the blood of the lamb on the doors.
Main Events of the Story:
As the Hebrews left Egypt, they carried along with them riches given to them by the Egyptian people. Moses, directed by God, had the people follow an angel of the Lord in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Pharaoh let the people leave and then changed his mind once again. He and the army of Egypt went in pursuit. The Israelites panicked because they had reached the Red Sea with no way across, but Moses told them, “The Lord will fight for you!” Moses obeyed God and raised his staff. The water split and the Hebrew people crossed over on dry land. The Egyptians tried to cross as well, but God thwarted their way and caused the wheels to fall off of the chariots. Once the people were on the other side, the waters crashed down and the army of Egypt disappeared.
The Israelites walked on. Soon they began to complain to Moses. They said they had no water or food and that they should return to Egypt. In each situation, the Lord provided for the Israelites’ needs. He provided water from rocks, quail for meat, and bread from heaven. The people traveled for three months until they reached Mt. Sinai.
Moses with the Two New Tables of Stone (illustration from the 1897 Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us by Charles Foster) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(Show the map and tell a personal story about using a map and getting lost.) The reason we use maps or GPS systems is so we can find our way. And in order to get where we are going, we have to follow the rules. We have to drive the speed limit. We can’t drive down the median. We stop at red lights and stop signs. Why is it important to follow driving rules? (They keep us safe and allow us to reach our destination.) God gave the Israelites some rules called the Ten Commandments. These Commandments would be The Law that everyone in the nation would follow. These laws were given to the people by God to protect them, to set them apart from the other nations, and to teach them how to live for God. The first 4 laws deal with the people’s relationship with God. The last 6 deal with the people’s relationships with each other.
Life Application:
Was there any way the Israelites could keep the whole law perfectly? (No.) In fact the Bible tells us that even if you keep ALL of the commandments and break just one, that you have broken all of them. We are sinners. We are not perfect. The Law tells what what we cannot do. And because we cannot keep the law of God we deserve death. In fact, many of the punishments the Israelites had to enforce involved death or being removed from the people group. Who is the only One who has followed the whole law? (Jesus) Jesus chose to take our place of death because He can follow the entire law without messing up. He took your punishment. What a great gift! And He did it because He loves you.
** clipart is from http://www.christiancliparts.net/
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