VERSES: Exodus 10:1-20
MEMORY VERSE: Exodus 10:12 "...Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review Old Testament books from Genesis to Nahum.
PRAYER: Thank God for all of his creation and his creatures and the balance they have in this world. Thank God for a beautiful design.
SPECIAL SONG: Day 1, Day 1 (see March - Lesson - God Created Everything)
VISUAL AID: A map showing Egypt and the Red Sea, and a poster-sized picture of a locust. If you find a free clip art of a locust on the internet and enlarge it to fit an 8.5" x 11" paper, then a copy center such as Office Max or Office Depot will be able to enlarge your locust to 18" x 24" for a reasonable amount of money. A machine that can enlarge to that size is called a SuperZoomer. Or perhaps you are able to draw a very large locust on your own or with an overhead projector (see March - Visual Aids #4).
LESSON POINTS:
- God, once again, told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and ask him how long would he continue to refuse to humble himself before God. God wanted His people to serve Him and used this situation to show His signs to the Egyptians and, also, God wanted His own people to be able to tell their future generations all these things that were done in Egypt, proving that the LORD God was the only God.
- Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh that if he would not let God's people go, then God would send locusts the next day to eat whatever was not destroyed by the hail. The locusts were going cover the face of the earth and eat all the rest of the crops that were just coming up in the field. They would, also, come into Pharaoh and his people's houses. Moses told Pharaoh that Pharaoh's father and even his grandfather had never seen what destruction was coming by the locusts He was sending. Then Moses left Pharaoh.
- By this time, even Pharaoh's servants were talking to Pharaoh and telling him to let God's people go because Egypt was destroyed by all of the plagues. So, Moses and Abraham were brought before Pharaoh again and Pharaoh told Moses that the people could go and serve God, but he wanted to know who was going to go. Let's turn our Bibles to Exodus 10:9 to see who God wanted to go. (Read verse.) Who was going to go? That's right! Moses said that "the young ones and old people, and our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds will hold a feast to the LORD." Pharaoh said that it was OK to go, but only the men would go to the wilderness, but is that what God wanted! NO! God wanted ALL of His people to go. Moses and Aaron were then driven or forced from the presence of Pharaoh.
- God told Moses to stretch his hand out over the land of Egypt and that the locusts would come up and eat everything left in the land. So Moses did what God said. He stretched out his rod over the land and the LORD brought up an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night and when it was the next morning, the east wind brought the locusts!
- The locusts went everywhere in the land of Egypt and rested on the coasts of Egypt. The Bible says they were grievous which meant they caused great sorrow to the people. The people had never seen locusts like the ones the LORD had sent. They left no green thing living in Egypt.
- Pharaoh changed his mind again because he called Moses and Aaron in a hurry and said that he had sinned against the LORD and against Moses. Pharaoh asked Moses to forgive him and wanted Moses to ask God to forgive him that He would take away the locusts. So Moses did as Pharaoh asked and God sent a west wind which took all the locusts away and threw them into the Red Sea. There was not even one locust that survived. No one could find a locust in Egypt at all! Even after God took away those locusts, Pharaoh changed his mind and hardened his heart and would not let the people go.
- On a map, show the students how far God sent the locusts into the Red Sea. That's quite a distance!
- Talk about how locusts travel in swarms and how sometimes the sky turns completely dark because of the number of locusts. Perhaps more pictures would be helpful.
ACTIVITY: 3-D Locust
Materials needed: Brown butcher paper (approx. 2' x 3' for each child), a toilet paper roll, three black pipe cleaners, tape, black marker or crayon.
- Collect empty toilet paper rolls; one for each student.
- Tear about 8" x 8" of brown butcher paper to roll around toilet paper roll and stuff excess in each end. (No scissors or precise measuring needed for this project.)
- Tear two pieces of butcher paper (about 9" each) and roll diagonally into wings.
- Stuff 'wings' into the same end of 'body.' If it seems too tight or doesn't want to go in the paper roll, take the wings out, put your fingers in, and "smoosh" against the inside of the paper roll.
- Secure 'wings' with a wide piece of tape around the middle of the 'locust' at the insertion end of roll.
- Take about a 6" x 6" piece of butcher paper and roll into a ball for a head. (See above picture.)
- Insert 'head' into the same end of the paper roll the wings were inserted.
- Wind three pipe cleaners around 'body' and twist to secure, one at a time.
- Write "Locust - Plague #8" and "Exodus 10:1-20" on one wing.
- Draw big black eyes on head.
