MEMORY VERSE: Genesis 18:32 "...And He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: "Ruth" Make sure the children have "Ruth" written on a slip of paper to take home at the end of class.
PRAYER: Thank God for being a good God, one who loves us, and wants us to do right. Thank God for listening to our prayers and answering them.
SPECIAL SONG: Books of the Old Testament and Be Careful Little Eyes (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3).
VISUAL AID: TV Box Draw pictures on a long strip of paper, then thread it through your TV Box. You might want to look at February - Visual Aid #1 on this blog for directions on how to make a TV Box and dimensions of the paper.
LESSON POINTS:
- We have learned from the Bible that God changed Abram's name to what? That's right! Abraham! We also learned that a new baby boy was promised to Abraham and Sarah. Do we know the baby's name? Yes! Isaac! And we have also learned how Lot (Abraham's nephew) had chosen the land where Lot fed his livestock the grass that was close by cities that were filled with wicked people, Sodom and Gomorrah. We sure are learning a lot about the Bible! We are getting very smart by reading God's Word! Once we learn something from the Bible, it never changes. We learn for life!
- Let's turn to Genesis 18:1 to see what Abraham is doing in the lesson today. (Read verse.) Where was Abraham? In his tent by the door. Why? Because it was hot! We do that, too, don't we? As the story goes on, Abraham looks out the door and there are three men standing and Abraham runs up and asks them to come and rest under a tree. Abraham is a gracious host! He gets some bread and water for them and shows them hospitality. They did not have hotels or McDonald's like we have now, so people would invite people passing by and show hospitality by inviting them to their house or tent. This is what Abraham did. Abraham runs and tells Sarah to quickly make some cakes. He hurries and gets some food ready and the three men eat it. The Bible tells us that we should show hospitality to strangers, too. (Heb. 13:2)
- The men ask Abraham where Sarah is and,when Abraham says she is in the tent, the men tell Abraham that Sarah will have a child. Sarah heard what they said and do you know what she did? She laughed! She laughed because she was ninety years old and Abraham was 100 years old! She should have believed the men who were really angels, but she laughed. The Lord then said, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" No, nothing is too hard for God to do! So the men got up and looked towards Sodom. Abraham was kind and went with them and walked with them along the way.
- The Lord told Abraham what He was going to do. He was going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because the people were very wicked and their sin was 'grievous' or serious and terrible. Sodom and Gomorrah made God very sad because they were not obeying Him and doing what only they wanted to do. Disobeying God is a very serious act! God had plans about destroying the sin in the cities. God hates sin!
- As the men went towards Sodom, Abraham stopped and talked to God. He asked God if He was going to destroy the good people with the bad people. Abraham asked if God would save the cities if there were fifty righteous (or good) people in the cities. God answered that He would spare the cities if there were fifty good people in them.
- Abraham was very respectful and polite to God and asks if there were forty-five good people, would God save the cities. God says He would save the cities for 45 good people. Abraham, very humbly and meek, talks even more to God and asks if there were 40 people, then 30, then 20, and finally 10 good people, would God save the cities. Can you think of one good reason why Abraham was so concerned with saving the cities that had so many bad people in them? Who do you think was living there that Abraham wanted to save? That's right! Lot...and his family! So, by talking respectfully to God, Abraham had made it possible to save the cities, but there had to be how many good people in the cities? That's right! TEN! That doesn't sound like very many--only ten, but next week, we will see if there are ten good people in the great big cities of Sodom and Gomorrah!
Materials needed: Construction paper, scissors, tape, crayons.
- Pass out a piece of construction paper to each student for a background.
- Have the students draw Abraham on the left side of the paper.
- Cut one 1 1/2" slit four inches from the top of the background paper (in the middle of the background - see picture below).
- Cut another 1 1/2" slit four inches from the bottom of the background paper.
- Pass out a 10" x 1" strip of different colored paper.
- Write the numbers 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, and 10 down the 1" strip of paper.
- Thread the strip of the paper through both slits and tape on the back side. (See picture below.)
- Add the words, "Abraham asks God," and "If there are" and "good people, will you spare the city?" and "Genesis 18:23-33" in the appropriate places on the background paper. (See picture above.)
