Lesson:
Law at our Doorposts
Goal:
To discuss and then act out the Children of Israel engraving the Commandments on their doorposts as instructed by God.
Objectives:
- Children will understand we are instructed by the Bible to post engraved copies of the Commandments at our doorposts.
- Children will understand that one way we are known as Christians is by God’s mark.
- Children will learn the symbolism associated with the colours red, blue, and purple.
Resources:
Relevant
Scriptures:
Exodus 12:5-7, 13 (Passover)
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (Instructions about Law on Doorposts)
Mark 12:28-31 (Two Great Commandments)
1Peter 2:9 (Royal Priesthood)
1Peter 1:19-20 (Foundation of the world)
Memory
Verses:
Deuteronomy
6:4-9
Format:
Open with prayer
Lesson
Activity
Follow-up discussion
Close with prayer
Materials Needed:
· 2 sheets of 20” by 30” foam core board for the Ten Commandments. Needs to be at least 1/8” thick.
· 1/8” diameter dowel rods cut to 4” length. Each child should have one.
· Blue ribbon – 15 feet of ¼” ribbon
· Red ribbon – 20 feet of ¼” ribbon
· Purple ribbon – 30 feet of ¼” ribbon
· Printed Commandments using size 60 Font
· Pre-cut foam boards:
10 - 4”x 8” (Ten Commandments)
2 – 6”x 8” (Love God and Love Man)
1 – 8”x 8” (Two Great Commandments)
6 – 4”x 30” (Lintel and Doorposts)
Lesson:
Most people today will decorate the entry to their home. Some use decorations such as wreathes or pumpkins to reflect holidays or seasons, or others may have a large welcome mat or flowers. Still others may hang a cross by their door. In addition to reflecting holidays or seasons, these decorations also show the personality and/or beliefs of the family.
We are instructed by the Bible to post engraved copies of the Commandments at our doors. Read Deuteronomy 6:1-9:
"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it; 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them; that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; 5 and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (RSV)
(Note: For the following Q&A session allow the children time to answer the questions on their own before leading them to the answer prepared. Also, it might be helpful to direct certain questions to the older children and certain ones to the younger children. You also might consider asking specific groups of children a question – i.e. all the boys, or all the girls, or all children of a specific age, or wearing a certain colour. This may help to keep the children engaged.)
Question: Why does God want us to have the Ten Commandments on our doorposts?
Answer: When we have God’s Law on our doorposts, it is for a sign to God and man. We show God that we are obedient to His instructions, and we show man what Law governs our homes.
Question: What about in verse 8? What does it mean to bind them as a sign upon your hand or frontlets between your eyes? Do we strap copies of the Commandments to our wrists as some do? How about filling little boxes with the Commandments and strapping them to our head?
Answer: No. Our hand is symbolic of what we do and our forehead is symbolic of what we think. We show our obedience to God by giving our ways and thoughts to God. In this way we bind them as a sign on our hands and foreheads because the Laws of God govern our actions and our thoughts.
Question: Is there anywhere else in the Bible where the children of Israel were instructed to mark their lintels and doorposts as a sign?
Answer: The blood from the Passover Lamb. This was a sign to God. The blood was put on the doorposts and lintels to show God who was obedient to his instructions and marked the houses of those that were protected from the death of the first-born.
Exodus 12:5-7,13 “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats; 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening. 7 Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them …13 The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Question: How did the Children of Israel “write” the Law of God on their doorposts?
Answer: The word write actually means to engrave. The doorposts were stone and they engraved them with a chisel.
Question: What are two other examples in the Bible of engraving the Law of God?
Answer: God engraved the Ten Commandments on the tablets twice.
Exodus 31:18 And he gave to Moses, when he had made an end of speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. (RSV)
Exodus 34:1 The LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tables of stone like the first; and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which you broke. (RSV)
Question: Why were there two sets of tablets?
Answer: This represents the two covenants. The children of Israel made the first covenant to keep the Laws of God at Mount Sinai. The second covenant was introduced by Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (RSV)
The new covenant is a new commitment to keep the same commands. The Law did not go away; we were given the Holy Spirit so that we could keep it in spirit and truth.
Activity:
The children are going to “engrave” the Ten Commandments onto pre-cut pieces of gator foam and place these on the doorposts. It might be necessary to cut the structure that will hold the Commandments out of gator foam as well so that the Commandments can be attached to the gator foam rather than the actual doorpost. A diagram is below.
Set-up:
1. Pre-cut the six large rectangles of foam board which will be used to support the Ten Commandments (4”x30”). The dimensions will depend on the dimensions of the doorframe, but they should fit just to the side and above the actual doorframe. Two on the top lintel and two on each doorpost. (Note: The actual assembly should take place on the floor before it is lifted and attached to the doorframe.)
2. Pre-cut 1 (8”x12”) foam board for the Two Great Commandments piece. Print out Mark 12:29-31 and attach to the foam board.
3. Pre-cut 2 (6”x8”) foam board for the words “Love God” and “Love Man”. These can be attached to the left and right sides of the lintel.
4. Pre-cut 10 sections of foam board (4”x6”), which will be used for each commandment. Note – The size can be adjusted if necessary. They must be large enough to fit the wording from the commandment, but small enough to fit 6 on the right side of the doorpost.
5. Type (using 48 Font) and then print out on a sheet of paper the abbreviated wording for each of the Ten Commandments (see above diagram for examples). Cut out each commandment and glue it to the pre-cut section of foam board.
6. Pre-cut red, blue, and purple ribbon which will be taped to the lintel and doorposts.
Children’s
assembly: (Note: the older children can start on #10
while the younger children are busy taping the ribbon).
7. Tape the red ribbon on the top of the foam board which will be above the lintel and on the outside of the foam board that will be beside the doorposts. This should “frame” the entire doorway (see above diagram).
8. Tape the blue ribbon on the inside of the foam board that will be beside the doorposts (see above diagram).
9. Ditto with the purple ribbon.
10. Utilizing a 1/8” dowel stick, have the children “engrave” a commandment by pressing the dowel into the foam board multiple times over each letter until the entire letter is indented.
11. Once the Ten Commandments are “engraved” have each child or team of children place their commandment on the foam board which will be on either side of the doorpost. The first four, which fall under “Love God”, will be on the left, and the second six, which fall under “Love Man”, will be on the right. Double-sided tape should work fine.
12. When all of the pieces are in place, the foam board doorposts and lintels can be put in place over the actual doorframe of the meeting hall.
Follow-up discussion:
Question: What does the blue ribbon represent?
Answer: Law of God administered by the Priesthood of Aaron. Blue ribbons are to remind us of the commandments.
Numbers 15:38-39: “Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put upon the tassel of each corner a chord of blue; and it shall be to you a tassel to look upon and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after wantonly.”
Question: Who is now our High Priest?
Answer: Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:11-12 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Question: What does the red ribbon represent?
Answer:
a) Blood of the Passover lamb in Egypt.
b) Red is the laying down of Messiah’s life as priest for his brothers, both men and angels.
c) Royal line of David (Gen. 35:27-30). The royal line was promised to David and descends to Jesus Christ from him (2Sam. 7:12,16). This is why the lineage of Jesus Christ is listed twice, once of Joseph in Matthew 1 and once of Mariam in Luke 3. Jesus Christ is a royal descendant of David and when he returns he will take up the crown worn by the Kings and Queens of England.
d) Red ribbon was intended to mark the royal line of Tamar (Gen. 38:27-30).
Question: When did God come up with the plan to substitute the blood of Christ for the blood of a lamb?
Answer: From the foundation of the world (1Peter 1:19-20).
Question: What does the purple ribbon represent?
Answer: The priesthood after the order of Melchisedek. Blue and red combined make purple. Melchisedek was both king and priest (Heb. 7:1-2).
Question: Was Christ like Melchisedek?
Answer: Yes; see Hebrews 7:14-17.
Question: Were the Romans who scourged Christ required by the Holy Spirit to acknowledge him as king?
Answer: Yes; see John 19:1-5.
Question: Who will rule the Earth as both Kings and Priests after Jesus Christ returns?
Answer: The elect (1Pet. 2:9).
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