VERSES: Exodus 2:11-25; Acts 7:18-30; Hebrews 11:24-27
MEMORY VERSE: Exodus 2:12 "...he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Jeremiah. Write "Jeremiah" on slips of paper and pass out to students as they leave the classroom.
PRAYER: Pray that we will always be kind and compassionate to others.
SPECIAL SONG: "Be Careful Little Eyes" (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3),
Be Patient And Kind (see April - Lesson - Joseph Meets His Brothers Who Hated Him on this blog).
VISUAL AID: Large Construction Paper "Sand" Pocket (See Activity below), Bible Map, showing Egypt and Midian.
LESSON POINTS:
- Time went by and Moses grew up. Because he lived in Pharaoh's palace and was considered Pharaoh's daughter's son, Moses was able to receive the best education in all of the land of Egypt. The Bible says that Moses was mighty in words and deeds (Acts 7:22), but Moses had also been taught by his mother and father, Jochebed and Amram. They had taught Moses many things about God, how he should live and behave, and that he was a Hebrew, not an Egyptian. He remembered these things as he grew up.
- For a little less than forty years, Moses had seen how his people, the Hebrews, were treated by the Egyptians, how the Hebrews were slaves, and how they had very difficult lives.
- One day when Moses was forty years old, he went out among the Hebrew people and spied an Egyptian hurting a Hebrew. The Bible says that Moses looked this way and he looked that way, and when he saw that no one was looking, he...well, let's turn our Bibles to Exodus 2:12 and read what happened. (Read verse.) Let's place out bookmarks right there. Uh-oh! Moses killed the Egyptian! And where did he hide him? In the sand!
- The next day, he went out and saw that two Hebrews were fighting each other and Moses said to the one that was in the wrong, "Why are you hurting your brother?" The man asked Moses right back, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Are you going to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" Moses was very afraid because he thought that everyone knew about what he did to the Egyptian.
- When Pharaoh heard about Moses killing the Egyptian, he went looking for Moses to kill him for killing the Egyptian, but Moses had already run away from Pharaoh. He ran all the way down to Midian which was over 200 miles away! (Refer to map.) When he arrived in Midian, he sat down on the well where they were watering the sheep. There was a priest who lived in Midian and he had seven daughters. The daughters happened to come to the well to water their sheep while Moses was sitting on the well. As the women tried to water their sheep, the shepherds drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them water their sheep.
- When the priest's daughters came home from watering the sheep, their father asked them, "Why are you here so early?" The daughters said that an Egyptian had helped them water the flocks. The priest asked them, "Where is this man? Why did you leave him at the well? Go get him, so that he can eat dinner with us!" So, Moses lived with the priest and his daughters for a while and, after time, Moses married Zipporah, one of the priest's daughters and eventually had a family there.
- All the time Moses was in Midian, the children of Israel were still slaves, but time passed and finally the king of Egypt died. The children of Israel sighed when he died because of their slavery and cried to God to help them. God heard their groaning and remembered His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Bible says that God looked upon the children of Israel and had respect for them. God is going to help them out of their slavery! God never forgets a promise!
"Older Student" Tips:
- Explain how the terms "children of Israel," "Hebrews," "God's people" are all synonyms and are used interchangeably.
- Discuss how we must keep our tempers and emotions in check. Whenever our emotions are out of control, we are in danger of making huge mistakes. The mistakes sometimes come at great cost, but still we must endure the consequences. We must have self-control! (Gal.5:22, 23)
- Take a look on a map and show the students just how far Moses tried to get away from Pharaoh. Trace his steps from Northern Egypt to Midian.
- Even when we think NO ONE knows the things that we say and do, God always knows what we do. As we sang in our song, "Be Patient And Kind," 'the deeds that you do will follow after you!' We must always think out our actions before we do them.
- A long time before Moses was born, God had made a promise to Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed. He also renewed this promise to Isaac and to Jacob. During this terrible time of slavery in Egypt, God still remembered His promise. We will see that God always keeps His promises. and we should do the same.
ACTIVITY: Construction Paper "Sand" Pocket
Materials needed: Brown construction paper, white or tan paper, stapler with staples, glue, crayons, scissors.
- Fold construction paper up a third of the paper, lengthwise. (In the picture above, the brown paper is already folded and stapled.)
- Staple two staples on each side of the brown paper to form a 'pocket.'
- Draw Moses kneeling down.
- Color and cut out Moses.
- Glue or staple Moses' knees ONLY to the bottom of the folded edge. *Caution: If Moses is completely glued or stapled, the pocket will not open. (See picture above.)
- Draw an Egyptian with his eyes closed, laying with his legs straight out.
- Color and cut out Egyptian.
- Place Egyptian in pocket, so he can be taken in and taken out of the pocket.
- Write "Moses Kills An Egyptian" and "Exodus 2:11-15" at the top of the paper. (See picture above.)
- Write "sand" at the bottom of the page, close to the folded edge.
- Color sand.