Children’s Bible Program – Level 3: Lesson 17 “Israel Rebels in the Wilderness”

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  Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together:  As God delivered Israel from Egypt, they witnessed miracle after miracle! The children of Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry land with walls of water on both sides. They watched the Egyptian army get swallowed up by the Red Sea as God allowed the water to crash down on them. But they still complained to God!  When they had no water, they complained. When they had no food, they complained again. It’s understandable that they were hungry and thirsty, but instead of asking God for help, they accused Him of bringing them out into the wilderness to die. Again and again, they said “Let’s go back to Egypt”. When Moses went up to the top of Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God, the Israelites made a golden calf to worship. They bowed down to it and called it their god, even though they had just promised to obey the real God who had brought them out of slavery! When Moses sent the spies to scout the land of Canaan, they came back with a bad report even though the land was full of delicious fruit. All the spies, except Joshua and Caleb, said they should not enter the promised land because they saw the giants who lived there. They had no faith that God would deliver them, so the people refused to go in and inherit the land God had promised.  For this, and for all their constant complaining and faithlessness, God sentenced them to wander in the wilderness for forty years. This was one year for each day the spies were in Canaan, until everyone of that generation had died.

Read Together:  Ex. 15:19-24, 16:2-4; Num. 11:1-10; Ex. 32:1-8; Num. 13:17-33, 14:1-4, 26-35

Discuss:

  • Point out to your child that three days after Israel came through the Red Sea they were complaining about water.  Israel had forgotten God’s power very quickly.  Discuss why this would happen.
  • Have a discussion with your child about faith. The Israelites knew God was real, but they lacked faith.  Israel proved that witnessing miracles does not guarantee faith. Include James 2:18 in the discussion.
  • Talk with your son or daughter about the Israelites’ tendency to complain.  Do we have the same characteristic?  How does God feel about complaining?  What is the antidote for complaining?

Review Memorization:

Deut. 30:15-16  “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.”

Printable PDF – L3.17

Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: Lesson 17 “Families Grew into Nations”

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Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

by Janth English

Read Together:  God destroyed every human being on the face of the earth with the exception of 8 people – Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their wives.  A pair of every unclean animal and seven pairs of all clean animals survived with Noah and his family on the ark. After the flood, God commanded Noah, his sons, and the animals to multiply on the earth, and that is exactly what they did.  People lived longer so they were able to have many children. Soon families grew so big that they formed nations, and the nations were all separated into their own lands.

Read Together: Genesis 8:15-17; 9:1-2; 10:1-7, 19-22, 30-32

Discuss:

  • Help your child to identify the eight people that survived the flood.
  • Discuss with your child why God told Noah to take seven of every clean animal on the ark.
  • Help your child visualize what the earth might have been like after a few years with so few people and so many animals which were multiplying very quickly.
  • Explain to your student that though their numbers were increasing, the people were still united by language and culture.
  • Help your child recognize that after the flood there were only eight people, and today, about 5 thousand years later, there are almost eight billion people all of whom are descended from Noah.

Review Memorization:

Genesis 11:6  “And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.’”

Printable PDF – L1.17

Children’s Bible Program – Level 2: Lesson 17 “Abram Leaves for Canaan”

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Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together:  Abram was born 292 years after the flood. His family lived in a city called “Ur”, which was in the area of modern-day Iraq.  He was the youngest son of his father Terah whose ancestor was Shem. Abram married his half-sister Sarai, but they did not have any children. Terah left Ur for Canaan and took Abram, Sarai, and Lot, his grandson, with him.  The family stopped for a while in Haran where Terah died. Abram had become very wealthy in Haran. By the time he was 75 years old, he owned livestock, and had silver, gold, and many servants. This would surely have made it hard to leave Haran. But God commanded Abram to leave his home and go to a distant land that He would show him. In return for his obedience, God promised to make Abram’s descendants a great nation. Amazingly, Abram immediately obeyed God. He simply took his wife, his nephew Lot, and all their possessions and left his home for good.

Read Together: Gen. 11:24-32; 12:1-10; 13:2-4

Discuss:

  • Explain to your child that it was not uncommon for people to marry close relatives in Abraham’s days.  Remind him/her that everyone was closely related after the flood because only one family survived. God later commanded the Israelites not to marry close relatives (Lev. 18:6-17).
  • Discuss with your son or daughter how difficult it must have been for Abram and Sarai to pack up and move to a place that they did not know.  There were no trucks or vans to move them and no hotels along the way. Ask your student what might have been some of the hardships Abram and Sarai could anticipate on their journey.
  • Abram must have known how hard his journey would be. Still, he did not argue with God. He just obeyed what God told him to do. Talk with your child about Abram’s character. Highlight the good example that Abram showed when he obeyed God immediately.
  • God promised Abram that he would become a great nation, but that promise was not fulfilled right away.  Explain to your student that obedience to God must come first before we receive any rewards.

 Review Memorization:

Heb 11:8 NKJV “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

Printable PDF – L2.17

Second Thoughts: Don’t Be Chained to Your Thing

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An essay on Mr. Richard Ames’ Student Assembly titled, “Expand Your Horizons”

by Thomas White, LivingEd-Charlotte

“There are times for meditation, and of course, for recreation, but…have discipline and…broaden your horizons.” ~ Mr. Richard Ames

Most of us have a Thing. You know the one. That Thing that checks all the boxes – you’re good at it, it’s good for you, and you love doing it. It’s good to have a Thing. After all, without anything to make our individual lives exciting and fulfilling in unique ways, we might as well be automatons. But God made an awful lot of Things, and He made each human being versatile enough to fit a lot more than one. In the assembly this week, Mr. Ames spoke about the importance of expanding our horizons, disciplining ourselves to continuously grow into more multifaceted Ambassadors for Christ.

 

“How do you expand your horizons? … One of the ways is through various hobbies and various interests.”

Another amazing aspect to us humans is that we can get excited about almost anything, given time and exposure. Now, this has a ton of downsides we have to be aware of, so as to avoid joining those who trick themselves into caring about what a random celebrity wears to a random place. But a major positive aspect to this is that if you think you could never possibly be interested in a potential new hobby, learning more about it will probably fix that. Nothing has to replace your Thing. Just don’t trap yourself into making your Thing your only Thing. Love reading? Maybe you can give mountain climbing a shot, too. Really into sports? You could try learning to draw after you’ve hit the showers. You never know what will give you a sense of unexpected fulfillment, and contrary to popular belief, you’re totally allowed to love doing something that you’re not actually all that naturally talented in. God might not intend for you to have a career in it, but that’s no reason not to do it for fun.

“Why do you [expand your horizons]? To make you a more effective ambassador for Christ, [who] can relate to people.”

The more things we like to do, the more common ground we’ll find with others. And as Mr. Ames said, the more versatile we are, the more effective we can be as Christ’s Ambassadors. God made a lot of people, and almost all of them have passions they love talking about. Being able to talk to many different people, about many different things, can improve the light in which people see you, and improve the light in which they see “that Church you’re in.” It’s good to have a Thing, but as Mr. Ames showed, it’s even better to have many.

Children’s Bible Program – Level 3: Lesson 16 “God Explains the Statues”

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Moody Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together: Israel was so afraid when they heard God speak the Ten Commandments that they asked for Moses to relay God’s words to them. God agreed. In addition to the Ten Commandments, God gave Moses “statutes.” Statutes are laws that apply to more specific situations. They help us understand how to apply the Ten Commandments in everyday life. God’s laws and statutes were designed to provide Israel a fair and just legal system that would protect people and property. When Jesus came to earth, He supported the laws of God, including the statutes, and taught His disciples about how to keep them in our heart and mind.

Read Together: Deuteronomy 4:1–10; Exodus 22:5, 14, 28; Exodus 23:1–17; Leviticus 23:1–3; Deuteronomy 4:1–10; 22:8.

 

Discuss:

  • Explain to your student that the statutes are finer points to God’s Ten Commandments. For example, the Ten Commandments command us to keep the Sabbath, but the statutes explain there are “annual” Sabbaths as well (Leviticus 23:1–3).
  • Read, with your child, Exodus 22:28. Ask your child if he or she ever hears people “cursing” or making fun of leaders today. How would this statute guide a child to behave toward his or her parent or teacher?
  • Ask your child what the following statute means: “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Exodus 23:2). Can he or she think of a time when they’ve had to resist following others to do something they knew was wrong?
  • With your child, read the statute in Exodus 23:4. Ask him or her, “Why would God want a person to bring back the animal of their enemy? Would that kind act possibly help them to be friends again?”
  • Ask your child what the statute in Deuteronomy 22:5 means. Ask if they can see how that could apply in our world today (when some are confused about gender).
  • Ask your child why God would make the statute in Deuteronomy 22:8. Would it not protect people from accidents?

 

Review Memorization.

Exodus 20:1–17 – The Ten Commandments (long form)

Printable PDF – L3.16

Printable PDF – L3.13-L3.16

Children’s Bible Program – Level 2: Lesson 16 “Nimrod’s Legacy”

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Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together: The Bible portrays Nimrod as an evil man, and we still see the effect of his evil influence today. Nimrod is the first recorded leader to organize people into city-states so that he could rule over them. He was a proud tyrant who was openly rebellious toward God. Nimrod built the city of Babel, and led the effort to undermine God’s plan for people to spread throughout the earth, building a tower that reached to the sky. Many historians trace the pagan traditions that are part of all of the world’s religions today back to this very city. People who are really following God avoid these traditions, even if they are mixed with a worship of Christ. Instead, God’s people keep His Sabbath, Holy Days and other commands.

Read Together: Genesis 10:8–12; 11:5–9; Revelation 17:5; 18:1–2.

Discuss:

  • Ask your child what are some wrong traditions that people in the world’s churches observe?
  • Explain that many modern church traditions of the world started a long time ago. (You may wish to refer to the booklet, “Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity,” pp. 8–10, https://www.tomorrowsworld.org/booklets/satans-counterfeit-christianity).
  • Ask your child, who is really behind the false traditions and religious deception of the world? (Reference Revelation 12:9)
  • Explain to your child that the Bible shows that end-time religious deception (“Babylon”) is just a modern version of traditions started long ago (the city of “Babel”). (Reference Genesis 11:9 and Revelation 17:5; 18:1–2)
  • Explain to your child that we can only understand God’s truth because He opens our mind and helps us not be deceived (John 6:44, Matthew 13:11).
  • Ask your child what about God’s way of life are they most thankful for?

Review Memorization.

Genesis 11:9 “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Printable PDF – L2.16

Printable PDF – L2.13-L2.16

Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: Lesson 16 “The Rainbow Covenant”

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Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together: After the Flood was over, the ark came to rest on top of the mountains of Ararat. These mountains are in the country called Turkey today. Noah, his family, and the animals remained aboard the ark for more than a year. Wow! It took a long time before the earth was dry enough for them to live on it. After they left the ark, God told Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth that He wanted them to have big families and fill the earth with more people. God also made a new covenant with all living creatures that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. The sign God gave of this new covenant was the rainbow.

Read Together: Genesis 8:1–22; 9:1, 11–19.

Discuss:

  • Ask your child, by way of review, what was the Flood? Why did God bring the Flood on humanity?
  • Ask your child, what was the promise God made after the Flood was over? What was the sign of that promise?
  • Ask your child if he or she has ever seen a rainbow. What does it look like? How would he or she describe it?
  • Discuss God’s command to Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply.” Why did God ask them to have lots of children? Were there any people other than Noah and his family alive after the Flood?
  • Explain that every living human being today is descended from Noah and his sons.

Review Memorization:

2 Peter 2:5 “And (God) did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.”

 

More to Do!

These activities are optional, but some children may find them enjoyable.

  • Your child might be interested in comparing the size of the ark with modern structures. This  website had some interesting comparisons.
  • There are several Noah’s ark crafts available on Pinterest that your child might enjoy.
  • There are several videos on YouTube of the Noah’s ark replica in Kentucky. This Noah’s Ark Encounter video is short but it does mention the dimensions.

Printable PDF – L1.16

Printable PDF – L1.13-L1.16

Children’s Bible Program – Level 3: Lesson 15 “God Speaks the Ten Commandments”

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Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together: The children of Israel had been busy preparing to come before God for three days. As God approached the mountain, there were thunder and lightning strikes; the mountain quaked and the ground where they stood shook. There was an awesome display of God’s power as He descended to the mountain! Even Moses, who had been in God’s presence before, was so afraid that he too trembled! The top of the mountain looked to be on fire as God thundered the Ten Commandments from its midst. The display was to show the Israelites how mighty and powerful God is, so that they would remember and obey Him. Sadly, the Israelites were so overwhelmed by the power of God that they pleaded with Moses to ask Him not to speak to them directly anymore, because they feared they would die. God asked the Israelites to keep the Ten Commandments so He could bless them, and they agreed.

Read Together: Exodus 19:12–25; 20:1–26

Discuss:

  • Explain that the Ten Commandments are still in effect today (Matthew 5:17–18).
  • Why is the Sabbath Commandment important?
  • Explain that the Ten Commandments were given by God for our good; they are not a burden (1 John 5:3).
  • Discuss the beneficial effects of the Ten Commandments. What would the world be like if no one told lies, or if no one took what didn’t belong to him or her? How would the world be transformed if everyone put God first and loved Him?
  • Discuss the relationship between obedience to the Ten Commandments and the peace humanity desires. Help your child understand that it is breaking God’s laws that leads to the unhappiness mankind experiences. Use an example like stealing or lying to demonstrate this.

Review Memorization.

Exodus 20:1–17 – The Ten Commandments (long form)

Printable PDF – L3.15

Children’s Bible Program – Level 2: Lesson 15 “The Tower of Babel”

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Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together: The city of Babel was the beginning of Nimrod’s empire, and the beginning of mankind’s post-Flood attempt to govern himself apart from God. Nimrod led the people to build a very tall tower in rebellion against Him. But God was not pleased with their actions, so God decided to confuse the people’s language. They couldn’t share ideas and so they weren’t able to keep working on the tower. The word “Babel” itself means confusion, and you can imagine what happened when God confused the languages. Only those who spoke the same language could understand each other, and God divided the languages along family lines. People stayed with those they could understand, and they began to settle in their own territories as God wanted them to. Needless to say, work on the tower ceased. The Tower of Babel was never completed, but the attitude of mankind’s rebellion against God continues to this day.

Read Together: Genesis 11:1–9

Discuss:

  • Ask what the people of Babel did to show their defiance toward God.
  • Ask your child to imagine working on a group assignment when suddenly he or she could not understand anything other members of the team were saying. Would they be able to work together as a team? This is the same situation that occurred in Babel when God confused the languages.
  • Point out to your child that God wants people to communicate and understand one another. This is why He will restore a pure language to mankind in the Millennium (Zephaniah 3:9).

Review Memorization.

Genesis 11:9 “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Printable PDF – L2.15

Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: Lesson 15 “Noah, the Ark, and the Flood”

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Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together: Following God’s instructions, Noah immediately began to build an ark to save his family and the land animals from destruction. Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, may have worked on building the ark for many years. While the people surely made fun of him for building a boat on dry land, Noah warned them to repent and obey God so that they too could escape the coming Flood. No one but his family listened to Noah. In the end, there were only eight people that entered the ark: Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their wives. God sent seven pairs of every clean animal to the ark, males and females, so He could preserve their lives. He also sent two of every unclean animal, a male and a female, as well as seven pairs of birds, males and females, for Noah to keep in the ark. After Noah, his family, and all the animals were inside, God sealed the door to the ark. After seven days, it began to rain. The waters from under the earth gushed up and the rain from heaven poured down, for forty days and forty nights! The water was so high that it covered the mountains! Only those on the ark survived.

Read Together: Genesis 6:13–22; 7:1–20; 2 Peter 2:5

Discuss:

  • Ask your child why God destroyed all land animals, birds, and human beings. Ask why God spared Noah and his family.
  • Ask your child how many people were aboard the ark and who they were.
  • Explain to your child that during the time that he was building the ark, Noah was warning the people about the coming Flood. God was giving them an opportunity to repent and be saved. Emphasize God’s mercy in wanting the people to be saved.
  • Explain to your child what makes animals “clean” or “unclean.” Why did God tell Noah to take more clean animals on the ark than unclean? You may want to use this as an opportunity to talk about God’s dietary laws in Leviticus.

Review Memorization.

2 Peter 2:5 “And [God] did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.”

Printable PDF – L1.15