VERSES: Gen. 22:1-19; Heb. 11:17-19
MEMORY VERSE: Gen. 22:12 "...for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: 2 Samuel Check to see how the students are doing on their memorization. Are you charting their progress? Are you praising those who work hard and know their memory work? A little praise from a Bible teacher can encourage and motivate!
PRAYER: Thank God for providing us a way to heaven by offering His only son on the cross. (Jn. 3:16) Pray that we can all have Abraham's strong faith in God.
SPECIAL SONG: Children, Obey your Parents (see on this blog March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4)
VISUAL AID: Large Picture like Activity below
LESSON POINTS:
- As time went by, Isaac was born to Abraham (who was 100 years old) and Sarah (who was 90) and the young boy grew into a young man. We do not know a lot about Isaac's childhood, but we do know that Isaac was obedient to his parents in all things. There may be times when we do something that our parents have told us not to do and what happens? We get in trouble, don't we? Sometimes we get in trouble for something we forget to do, too! From the story today, we know that Isaac was a good, obedient boy because of the things he did and did not do!
- One day God told Abraham to take his only beloved son, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer a burnt offering on top of one of the mountains that God would tell him later. So, Abraham got up early in the morning, got his donkey ready, took two men that would help him, took some wood, and took Isaac with him. They traveled for three days! That's a long time! How long did they travel? Three days!!
- Then, on the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place where God had told him to go. Abraham told the two men to stay right there with the donkey and he and Isaac would go a little ways and worship, then they would come back. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son, took the fire in his hand, and walked a little bit up the mountain.
- Isaac must have been wondering where the animal was that they were going to offer to the LORD because he asks Abraham, "Father, I see the wood and fire for the offering, but where is the lamb?" Abraham said, "My son, God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering." They went on a little farther.
- When they came to the place that God had told him, Abraham built an altar, laid the wood on the altar, and bound his son, Isaac, up on the altar. As Abraham stretched his hand out and took the knife to kill his son, the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" And Abraham said, :"Here I am." And the angel said, "Do not harm your son or do anything to him because now I know that you fear God because I see you have not withheld your son, your only son from me." Abraham looked up and do you know what he saw? A ram that had his horns caught in a thicket or a bush! How happy Abraham must have been when he saw that ram!! Abraham went over and took the ram and offered the ram up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
- Then the angel of the LORD spoke to Abraham a second time and said, "Because you have done this thing and did not withhold your only son from me, I will bless you and will multiply your seed (or children) and they will be like the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore." What does that mean? Can we count the stars at night? Can we count the sand on the seashore? No! There are too many! The angel was saying that Abraham would not even be able to number his children, there would be too many to count! The angel went on to say that through Abraham's seen all nations of the earth would be blessed all because Abraham had obeyed God! That meant that Jesus was coming and He would be born to a descendant of Abraham's. So, after everything was finished, Abraham and Isaac walked back to the two men and went to a town called Beersheba. Don't you know that Abraham and Isaac were happy as they walked down the mountain?!
- Let's think a minute more about Isaac. Isaac did not complain or say that it was too far to walk. He did not argue with his father. He obeyed his father, didn't he? He even got up on the altar! How many children would follow every command that their father told them to do? Hopefully we would! We should always obey our parents, shouldn't we? That's what the Bible says to do in Eph. 6:1. That's the song that we sang a few minutes ago. Always obey your parents; they know what is best for you because they love you! When you obey your parents, it makes God happy!
- As we read a little more about Isaac in the days to come, we find him to to be a faithful man who loved and served God all of his days. From today's lesson, we learn why Isaac was faithful: He had a faithful father...Abraham! Fathers are to teach their children to love God with their whole heart and to honor their parents. (Eph. 6:1, 2) When we do things God's way, we are obedient and please God.
- Hebrews 11:17-19 says that Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead if he had offered him. That's faith!!
Materials needed: Construction paper, copy of blackline (no color) picture of Abraham, Isaac, and the ram (remember it doesn't matter if you are an artist, draw stick people if you feel better about it), twelve one-inch gray circles for altar, strips of brown paper for wood, green paper for bush, scissors, crayons, glue, tiny piece of aluminum foil for knife.
- Pass out a 9" x 12" sheet of construction paper to each student.
- Pass out a 4 1/2" x 12" piece of brown paper as the mountain.
- Glue 'mountain'.
- Glue twelve gray circles for stones as an altar.
- Glue long brown strips of paper for wood on 'altar'.
- Glue green bush.
- Cut out Abraham, Isaac, and the ram.
- Glue in appropriate places (see top picture).
- Glue small piece of aluminum foil for knife in Abraham's hand.
- Write, "Abraham Offers Isaac" and Gen. 22:1-19 on paper (see top picture).
- Color Abraham, Isaac, and the ram.
