FAITH CHALLENGE

God Redeems Israel

October 13–November 10, 2002Lesson B Weeks 1 and 2

“Escaping from Egypt to—the Wilderness?”

Scripture: Exodus 13:17–18:27

Memory Verse: God spoke all these words, saying,

I am the Lord your God.

1. You shall have no other Gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol.

3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.

4. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.

5. Honor your father and your mother.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

(PC[USA] Book of Common Worship)

Concepts:

· God helps people who suffer.

· God saved God’s people with a mighty hand.

· God helps us through difficult times.

· God has given us a community to help us be faithful.

Objectives:

· To learn about the miraculous works that the Lord performed during the Israelites’ flight from Egypt and the forty years in the wilderness

· To learn, as the Israelites did, that the Lord protects and provides for God’s people; that what the Lord provides is to be asked for and received, not claimed or hoarded; and that the Lord expects people’s trust and faithful obedience in return

· To learn to identify with the Israelites as children of God

· To illustrate these works and lessons in a mural

Gathering Time

The Coach leads the opening routine: snack, fellowship, Prayer Wall activity, and Prayer Chain. Name tags are available.

Workshop Lesson Procedure:

Introductions (Coach):

1. Review the timeline. Ask the class where they think the wandering in the wilderness happened on the timeline--After God chooses a people but before God judges and redeems a nation. Remind the class they just finished Abraham and Joseph. Ask where Joseph’s family lived at the end of the story—Egypt. Ask if they know what happened next to Joseph’s family—All his brothers had many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Hebrew people became very numerous. After many years the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews and life became very difficult for them.

2. Explain the purpose of this workshop: Today and next week we are going to learn what happened when the Israelites finally escaped from Egypt and began the long journey to Canaan (the Promised Land).

3. Introduce Cindi Giles as the Guide for this lesson.

Scripture/Bible Story (Guide takes over from here):

1. Review the background leading up to the wandering in the wilderness. NOTE: The seventh grade class will probably require a more complete re-telling of the story than the sixth grade class because the sixth graders studied Moses and the Plagues in Faith Quest this past year.

Suggestions for this review:

· Use a Children’s picture Bible such as the Beginner’s Bible to show pictures to review the story leading up to the wandering in the wilderness.

· Ask questions such as: What was going on at the time of the plagues—The Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt Why did the plagues happen?--God caused the plagues to convince PharohPharaoh to let the Hebrews go. Who was the leader of the Hebrews?—Moses When did PharohPharaoh finally let the people go? --After the first born of each Egyptian family died.

· Make printed strips of the some of the main events leading up to the commandments and have students arrange these events in order. Examples could be Moses and the burning bush, Moses before PharohPharaoh, The Plagues, The Passover.

NOTE: Be sure the class has a basic understanding of this background information before going on.

2. For the group attending this lesson second, remind them that the events in this lesson that took place BEFORE Moses received the Ten Commandments. In other words, the events above took place first, then what they are studying now, and finally the Ten Commandments.

Application:

1. 1. The mural will comprise eight scenes. : It will take two class periods to complete this lesson.

Scene 1. The flight from Egypt by day (Ex. 13:17–19)

Scene 2. The flight from Egypt by night (Ex. 13:20–22)

Scene 3. The miraculous parting and crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:10–25)

Scene 4. The miracle of sweetened water at Marah (Ex. 15:22–25)

Scene 5. The miracle of quail and manna (Ex. 16:1–5, 9–20)

Scene 6. The Israelites’ victory over the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8–13)

Scene 7. The miracle of water from the rock at Mount Sinai (Ex. 17:1–7)

Scene 8. The assembling of the Israelites at Sinai for the Lord’s coming (Ex. 19:1–14, 16–20).

2. Divide the children into eight groups, one for each scene. Hand each group Pan ass out index card or strip of paper with their verse citations on them photocopies of these passages (see “Guide preparation in advance,” no. 3) and have the students sit in groups according to their scene numberthe numbers on their photocopies (1, 2, 3, etc.).

3. Ask the students to find their passage in their Bibles (there are extra Bibles in the room if some children forgot to bring theirs). Have them read their passage aloud within their group, taking turns, a sentence apiece, until the passage is finished. (Have the flight-from-Egypt “day” group read 13:17–19 and the “night” group read 13:20–22.)

4. Ask each group to tell the class what happens in their passage and what it says about the relationship between the Lord and the Israelites. Have two columns on a flip chart or dry-erase board—one labeled “What the Hebrews did” and the other “What God did.” As each group summarizes what happened in their part of the story, keep notes on the board. Prompt as necessary—these summaries should be brief (e.g., Ex. 13:17–19: “The Israelites leave Egypt and take Joseph’s bones with them. God remembers and protects God’s people.”)

5. Spend enough time on this review that all students have a good understanding of what is happening in each part of the story. They should also clearly see how God was faithful to the Hebrew people and how God was always present to help them.

6. Ask each group to begin making notes on how they will illustrate their part of the story. Tell them to spend several minutes planning what their part of the mural will look like. Instruct them that their mural will be on display at the end of this unit and they need to do a good job. You might consider bringing in illustrated children’s Bibles for inspiration and ideas or locating some pictures on the Internet (see “References” at the end of this lesson for a list of sites).

7. If time allows, they may begin their actual painting, but they have all of next week to work on it, so this first week should mostly be spent on a thorough understanding of the story and God’s actions with the Hebrew people.

If a short amount of time remains at the end of the first week, review the Ten Commandments (memory verse). Students could take turns reading one after the other, the whole group could read together, or you could see how many the class knows without looking at them on the wall. You could also ask each student to write them. This can also be done at the end of the second week if some time remains after the painting and review are finished.

BEGIN WEEK 2 HERE:

1. A brief review will be necessary to allow students who were not present last week to understand what is going on and allow them to join a painting group. Spend a few minutes re-telling the story.

2. Ask students to reassemble into their groups from last week and review the plans for their mural.

3. Have the groups spread out newspaper and posterboardposter board/paper and begin to paint the scenes described in their passages. The students in each group may decide among themselves who will paint what (people, mountains, water, etc.). The idea is not to produce fine art full of specific detail but to create a picture that expresses generally what takes place (e.g., the flight from Egypt by day might contain a thick cloud, one figure with recognizable features [Moses], and behind him a mass of “stick figures” against a sandy background).

4. Instruct students not to use words on their painting—observers should understand what is going on just by what is drawn. Encourage all students to contribute to the mural and encourage them to fill their entire poster board with action.

5. Allow 5-10 minutes at the end of the second week for review. At that time, have students assemble the mural in chronologicchronological order. Ask a spokesperson from each group to summarize their painting for the class. Remind the students the ways in which God was faithful to the Hebrew people in each situation.

6. Continue the discussion with questions such as: “How does it feel to be frightened but then comforted by a parent? How does it feel to be hungry and then to be fed? Help the class realize that, just as God protected, comforted, and fed the IsraelitsIsraelites during the Exodus, so God protects, comforts and feeds us, too.

Wrap-up:

1. Ask students to tidy up. Wash out brushes and sponges. If students have begun painting the first week, tape the unfinished paintings to the wall for safekeeping, unless the paint seems likely to drip. In that case, leave the painting on the tables.

2. Bring closure to the activity. Restate the lesson’s key concepts and plans for the following week.

Closing (Coach):

1. The Coach conducts the closing prayer time.

2. Close/lock the door and turn off the lights.

Guide preparation in advance:

1. For questions on this lesson plan, call Chris Mazzara at 387-0920.

1. Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.

2. Make index cards or strips of paper with scene numbers and Bible verses to hand out to each group.four copies of each Bible verse except number 1, make 8 copies of it because one group will be illustrating this for travel during the day—and another group illustrating it for night. Susan—should we provide these verses already printed out as an attachment to thi lesson—do you have the Bible on a disc that can be copied—or does Bonnie so we don’t have to retype all the verses—or am I missing an easier way to do all this??

Supply List

· Photocopies of the Bible passages to be illustrated (see “Guide preparation in advance,” no. 3)Bibles;

· Children’s illustrated Bibles, art books, or printouts of images from the Internet;

· newspapers, for protecting work surfaces;

· lots of large, old T-shirts for protecting children’s clothes;

· posterboardposter board or paper stock heavy enough to paint on;

· water-based paints;

· bowls or cups of water;

· sponge squares and paintbrushes for rough and fine work;

· towels and sponges for cleaning up;

· wall-friendly tape

References

· Bible (CEV)

· For images of the Exodus stories, see the following web sites:

The Text This Week, www.textweek.com/art/exodus.htm

The Good Book Company, www.halcyon.com/gbc

Christus Rex, www.christusrex.org

Some additional thoughts—I am not an artist—but I wonder if we should offer some other mediums in addition to the paint, such as cutting pictures out of magazines to be a part of their pictures—or stickers—or even fabric pieces that could be glued onto the paper? We could also talk with Carole Rhodes who is the art consultant for Faith Quest and writes the Creation Station lessons.