VERSES: Exodus 3:1-22
MEMORY VERSE: Exodus 3:3 "And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Lamentations. Write "Lamentations" on slips of paper and pass them out to the students at the end of class.
PRAYER: Pray that we will always do what God asks of us. We must trust God and He will always take care of us.
VISUAL AID: Large Burning Bush (See Activity below), Bible Map
SPECIAL SONG: Read, Read Every Day
LESSON POINTS:
- Moses had a job while he was in Midian. He was a shepherd! He watched over his father-in-law, Jethro's flocks. One day he took the flocks to the backside of the mountain when he saw a bush on fire! The unusual thing about this burning bush was that it would not burn up! It kept burning and burning and burning until Moses said to himself, "I will go over there and see why this bush is not burning up!" When the LORD saw that the burning bush had caught Moses' attention, he called out to Moses, "Moses! Moses!" Moses answered, "Here I am!" God told Moses not to come any farther unless he took off his shoes because the place where he was standing was holy ground. God said, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Moses not only took off his shoes, but he hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
- God's message to Moses was this: God said that He knew how hard life was for His people being slaves. God had heard the children of Israel's cries about their taskmasters or their 'bosses.' He knew they were extremely sad, but God said that He was going to deliver or save the Hebrews from out of the hand of the Egyptians and take them to a beautiful land that flowed with milk and honey. God was going to send someone to save the people from their slavery! Let's turn our Bibles to Exodus 3:10 to see who God was going to send. (Read verse). Let's place our bookmarks right here. Who was God going to send? MOSES! God chose Moses to help the people!
- Moses wasn't too sure that he wanted to talk to Pharaoh about saving God's people because Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go and see Pharaoh that I could even bring the people out of slavery?" God told Moses, "I will be with you. When you deliver the children of Israel out of slavery, then you shall serve God right here on this mountain." Moses asked God, "When I come to talk to the children of Israel, who should I say sent me?" God answered, "Tell them I AM THAT I AM sent you. Tell them that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sent you. Go and get all the elders of the people and tell them that I have visited you and have said that I will bring all of the children of Israel to the land of Canaan, a land that flows with milk and honey. They will listen to you. Tell Pharaoh that you want the children of Israel to travel three days in to the wilderness to worship God. Pharaoh will not let you go, but I will smite him with many wonders, then he will let you go."
- Next time, we will see how Moses answers God. Will he go all that way back to Egypt to deliver God's people from slavery? We shall see!
"Older Student" Tips:
- Talk about different names for God: God, the LORD, I AM THAT I AM, Jehovah, etc.
- Why did Moses have to take off his shoes? Because God was there!
Materials Needed: Brown paper strips, white paper, shiny orange paper (cellophane works well. I didn't have any cellophane as I was blogging, so I looked through the kitchen pantry and found a shiny orange potato chip bag. Anything orange and shiny looks like fire), glue, scissors, crayons. *In advance, cut out bits of shiny orange paper.
- Hand out any color paper to each child. This is the background for the picture.
- Cut brown paper into strips to make bush branches. (See picture below.)
- Glue into a 'bush' shape on a piece of paper.
- Draw Moses hiding his face.
- Color and cut out Moses.
- Glue Moses on paper, but a short distance away from the bush.
- Draw Moses shoes.
- Color and cut out Moses' shoes.
- Glue Moses' shoes on the paper.
- Glue bits of shiny orange paper onto the bush.
- Write "Moses And The Burning Bush" and "Exodus 3:1-22" at the top of the paper.