VERSES: Luke 2:39; Matthew 2:13-23
MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 2:14 "When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Acts. Write "Acts" on small slips of paper, so the students may memorize the fifth book of the New Testament. Review all five book with the class out loud.
PRAYER: Sometimes we forget that God is watching over us and taking care of and protecting us. Thank Him for His protection and providence.
SPECIAL SONG: No, Not One (see June - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #6 for tune. Click on orange circle to hear song.)
VISUAL AID: Bible map, showing Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth. Large Activity (see below)
LESSON POINTS:
- Herod, the king, was stirring up trouble! God always knows everything. God knew that Herod would be searching for the baby who was King of the Jews. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to get up and take Mary and Jesus down into Egypt. He said to stay there until he told Joseph to come back. He said that Herod was searching for Jesus to kill him! So Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus went on the long, long trip down to Egypt and stayed there until Herod died.
- Meanwhile, when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men and they had not come back to tell him where they had found the baby, he got very, very angry. Herod was a cruel man and one who did not worship God. He had told the wise men to bring him news back when they found Jesus because he wanted to worship Him, too (Matthew 2:8), but that was not true. He wanted to kill Jesus because Jesus was a king, King of the Jews. So, Herod commanded a terrible command. He commanded all of his soldiers to go through Bethlehem and the areas all around Bethlehem and kill all the babies who were two years old and younger. A terrible, terrible command by a harsh and cruel king. But, even this event was foretold in the Old Testament by Jeremiah that there would a great mourning and much weeping at this time (Jeremiah 31:15).
- Then, Herod died. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream way down in Egypt and told him that Herod had died. So Joseph took his small family of Mary and Jesus and traveled back into the land of Israel. When Joseph heard that Herod's son was ruling in Judea, he was afraid, but God warned him in a dream to go into Galilee. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went to a city called Nazareth.
- After the shepherds had gone to Bethlehem to see if what the angel had told them concerning the Christ being born were true, after the wise men had searched through Bethlehem for the King of the Jews, after Simeon and Anna had prophesied about Jesus, and after Joseph and Mary had sacrificed two turtledoves in the temple, they made their home in the city of Nazareth that fulfilled another prophecy about Jesus being called a Nazarene.
- All we know about Jesus' childhood up until he was twelve years old is written in one verse--Luke 2:40. Let's read the verse together. (Read verse out loud.) Jesus grew up strong, He was filled with wisdom, and God's grace was upon Him. That's all we know until next time!
- There were 333 Old Testament prophecies about Jesus and everyone of them prophecies were fulfilled or came true.
- We learned in last time's lesson that the wise men had given very expensive gifts to Jesus and, by selling these costly presents, Joseph and Mary survived in Egypt without friends or family. God chose this way to provide for them.
Materials needed: 9" x 12" green construction paper, 8.5" x 11" white bond paper, tan and brown scrap, glue, tape, scissors, crayons, markers.
- Hand out white paper.
- Make a long squiggly line from the top middle of the paper down to the left bottom of the white paper. This is the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
- In the bottom right of the white paper, draw a long oval with a tail in the middle. This is the Dead Sea.
- About 4" above the Dead Sea, draw a lopsided circle. This is the Sea of Galilee.
- Connect the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. This is the Jordan River.
- Draw a line from the top of the sea of Galilee straight to the top of the white paper.
- Draw a black dot 1" to the left of the top of the Dead Sea. This is Bethlehem.
- Draw a black dot 2" to the left of the top of the Sea of Galilee. This is Nazareth.
- Label Bethlehem (the lower dot) and Nazareth (the higher dot).
- In the bottom left corner of the white paper, write "Egypt".
- Draw an arrow going from the word "Egypt" and pointing to somewhere off the paper.
- Connect arrows going downward from Bethlehem to Egypt.
- Connect arrows going upward from Egypt to Nazareth.
- In the top left-hand corner of the white paper, write "...flee into Egypt and stay there until I bring you word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." and "Matthew 2:13."
- Color the words "Nazareth", "Bethlehem," and "Egypt" yellow.
- Color all bodies of water blue.
- Draw the land brown.
- Hand out scrap of tan paper.
- Write "Mary, Joseph, and Jesus" on the tan paper.
- Tape only THREE sides to the middle of the land. This is a pocket to carry Mary, Joseph, and Jesus when not in use.
- Hand out darker brown paper.
- Draw a small Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and donkey.
- Color Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and donkey.
- Cut out Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and donkey.
- Practice taking Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and donkey from Bethlehem to Egypt, then from Egypt to Nazareth.
- Place Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and donkey back in the pocket before the students go home.
