Christian Churches of God
No. CB40_2
Lesson:
Moses and the Israelites Move on to Sinai
(Edition 1.0 20060824-20060824)
In this Lesson we will review the study paper Moses and the Israelites Move on to Sinai (No. CB40). The aim is to familiarise the children with the various things that happened to Moses and the Israelites as they moved from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai.
Christian Churches of God
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(Copyright ã 2006 Leslie Hilburn, ed. Wade Cox)
This paper may be freely copied and distributed provided it is copied in total with no alterations or deletions. The publisher’s name and address and the copyright notice must be included. No charge may be levied on recipients of distributed copies. Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles and reviews without breaching copyright.
This paper is available from the World Wide Web page:
Lesson:
Moses and the Israelites Move on to Sinai
Goal:
To familiarise the children with the various things that happened to Moses and the Israelites as they moved from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai.
Objectives:
Children will understand the symbolism of the Rock and water.
Children will know where our help and power come from.
Children will be familiar with the Song of Moses.
Resources:
Moses and the Israelites Move on to Sinai (No. CB40)
Relevant Scriptures:
Exodus chapters 15 to 20
Exodus 17:1-6
Numbers 20:7-12
Format:
Open with Prayer.
Lesson on Moses and the Israelites Move on to Sinai – interactive questions with the children.
Activity associated with the lesson.
Close with Prayer.
Lesson:
Read through the paper: Moses and the Israelites Move on to Sinai (No. CB40), unless it is read as a sermonette with the children present.
Children’s questions are in bold. This is a general review of the material covered in the Bible story. Rotate asking the questions to the children with each child participating. Not all the questions need to be reviewed – it is up to the facilitator to determine how many (which ones) should be reviewed.
Q1. Who led the Israelites through the Red Sea under the physical leadership of Moses? A. The Angel of Yahovah – or Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Q2. What is the first thing the Israelites did after they came through the Red Sea?
A. They thanked God and sang a special hymn of thanks. We call this the Song of Moses.
Q3. As they moved into the desert, they came to Marah. What was the water like?
A. It was very bitter.
Q4. What did God tell Moses to do?
A. Moses threw a branch into the water and the water turned from bitter to sweet.
Q5. What did the branch represent?
A. The branch is Messiah, a branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11:1), the "beautiful branch" (Isa. 4:2), a "righteous branch" (Jer. 23:5), "the Branch" (Zec. 3:8; 6:12).
Q6. At Elim, how many springs and palm trees were there?
A. 12 springs and 70 palms.
Q7. What else do you know that has the number 12?
A. 12 tribes, 12 judges, 12 apostles.
Q8. What else do you know that has the number 70?
A. 70 elders, outer council, Sanhedrin.
Q9. What two things did God give the Israelites for food?
A. Quail and manna.
Q10. What were the instructions for collecting the manna on the first day?
A. They could only gather enough for each person (one omer or about 3 quarts), they had to gather it in the morning, and they couldn’t keep it overnight or it would spoil.
Q11. What happened to the manna that some of the Israelites kept overnight?
A. It rotted and got worms in it.
Q12. What did the Israelites have to do differently on the sixth day of the week?
A. They had to gather enough for two days.
Q13. Why did God have them gather twice as much on the sixth day?
A. To show the Israelites which day of the week was the Sabbath. They were not to gather their food on the Sabbath, but were taught to use the preparation day.
Q14. Did the extra portion of manna rot on the 6th day?
A. No, God preserved it so they could eat it on the Sabbath.
Q15. What did the manna taste like?
A. Fresh bread with honey.
Q16. How long did the Israelites have to eat manna?
A. 40 years.
Q17. At Horeb, when the Israelites complained again about being thirsty, what did God tell Moses to do?
A. Strike a rock with his shepherd’s rod that he used in Egypt. The water then flowed out from the rock.
Q18. Is there anywhere else in the Bible that tells us about water flowing out of a rock?
A. In New Jerusalem, a river of water will flow out of the Mount of Olives.
Q19. What do the rock and water symbolise?
A. Eloah and the Holy Spirit.
Q20. Was this the first time God told Moses to strike a rock?
A. Yes, see Exodus 17:6.
Q21. Were there other times Moses was instructed to have water come from a rock?
A. Yes, see Numbers 20:8ff.
Q22. Did Moses always do exactly what God said?
A. No, in the first case Moses did listen and follow God’s instructions of how to strike the rock. In the case in Numbers, Moses was told to speak to the rock (Num. 20:8). Rather than following God’s instruction Moses struck the rock 2 times. Due to his actions Moses was not allowed to bring Israel into the Promised Land because he did not "treat God as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel" (v. 12).
Q22. When the Amalekites attacked Israel, who was put in charge of the army?
A. Joshua, from the tribe of Ephraim. He was the war leader.
Q23. Who was up on the ridge with Moses watching the battle?
A. Aaron and Hur (Ex. 17:10-12).
Q24. Who was Aaron?
A. Moses’s brother, the High Priest.
Q25. Who was Hur?
A. He was from the tribe of Judah, the royal tribe and grandfather of Bezaleel (Ex. 31:2; 35:30; 1Chro. 2:19); the husband of Miriam, Moses' sister (see Flavius Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, Book III, Chapter II, Paragraph 4). He was associated with Aaron in charge of the people when Moses was absent on Sinai (Ex. 24:14).
Q26. What did Moses have to do in order for the Israelites to win the battle?
A. He had to hold his staff above his head.
Q27. What happened when his arms got tired and he lowered the staff?
A. The Amalekites began to win.
Q28. How did Moses keep his arms up?
A. Aaron and Hur helped him. They sat Moses on a rock and then each held up one arm (Ex. 17:10-12).
Q29. What did that symbolise?
A. The rock symbolised the power of God, Moses symbolised Jesus Christ, and Aaron and Hur show us that we have to work as Christ works. It’s not Christ who does the job on his own. It is all of us who are holding Christ’s arms up – Christ is the Moses to come. We have to work. If we don’t work, we don’t achieve as much as we could and fewer people are exposed to the truth. (See the paper The Holy Spirit (No.117).)
Q30. Who won the war?
A. The Israelites. Moses, Aaron and Hur were able to support Joshua and the army just like we are asked to help support Christ as he leads God’s army today.
Q31. Which mountain did God then lead them to?
A. Mount Sinai.
Q32. Did all of the Israelites get to go up the mountain?
A. No, only Moses went up on Mount Sinai the first time.
Q33. What did God tell Moses?
A. "If they (the Israelites) obey me fully and keep my covenant, they will become a special people I will treasure above all other nations. They shall become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Q34. Was it God that was actually speaking to Moses?
A. No. It was the Angel of Yahovah who spoke for God. The Bible tells us that no one has ever seen God or heard His voice.
Q35. When Moses went back up the mountain, was there something different about the mountain?
A. Yes, there was thunder and lightning on the mountain, with a thick cloud over the mountain. And then there was a very loud trumpet blast. The mountain was covered in smoke because the Lord descended on it in fire.
Q36. What instructions did God give to Moses and Aaron?
A. The Ten Commandments.
Q37. Was this the first time that the Law of God had been in effect?
A. No, God’s Laws have always existed. We know this from many examples. Abraham was called a friend of God because he kept God’s Laws – and he was alive many years before Moses. Adam and Eve had to have known the Law or they could not have sinned and broken the Law.
Q38. After Moses told the Israelites everything that God had instructed him, what special thing did they need to do?
A. They made a blood covenant. They made an altar and placed twelve large stones around it to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The blood on the altar symbolises God’s forgiveness and His acceptance of the offering. The blood on the elders, who represented the people, points to an oath that binds them in obedience to God.
Activity Section:
Activity A – Song of Moses
Each child will receive a Song of Moses colouring book, which pictures the song of praise that was sung after the Israelites passed through the Red Sea.
Have the children each pick one or two pages of the colouring book to colour. Work on memorising the Scriptures that relate to the pages.
Activity B – "Arms Up"
This lesson will demonstrate how difficult it was for Moses to hold his arms up during the battle, and how important it was for Aaron and Hur to help him.
Preparation: Before the lesson begins have each child find a branch, large enough to hold with both hands over their head. If there are no branches readily available, a broomstick could be used. Also, have one chair handy.
Have all the children stand up.
Explain to them that they are to hold their stick above their heads (like Moses did) for five minutes.
Time them with a clock and update them as each minute passes.
As the children’s arms begin to tire and the stick is lowered, have them sit down and wait.
When the third child lowers his/her arms, have the two children that are sitting stand up and help the third child. Bring a chair over to the third child and allow him to sit while he is holding up his arms with the other two children helping.
As everyone else drops their arms, the child that has the two helpers should be the last to drop his/her arms.
Review the spiritual significance.
Close with prayer.
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