Preschool Teacher Guide Session Title: God Gave the Ten Commandments Bible Passage: Exodus 19:1-21; 31:18; 32:1-35; 34:1-9 Big Picture Question: Why did God give His people the Ten Commandments? God gave rules to show how to love Him and others. Key Passage: Exodus 20:1-17 Unit Christ Connection: God instructed His covenant people how to live holy lives in an unholy world. This sustained their relationship with God until the perfect plan was revealed through Jesus Christ. TEACHER BIBLE STUDY Prep Time God rescued His people from the Egyptians! He then led them into the desert toward Mount Sinai. The Israelites camped at the base of the mountain while Moses went up the mountain to talk to God. God gave Moses the laws the Israelites were to obey. God renewed the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the whole nation of Israel. They were His people, and He was their God. (Exodus 19:5-6) God wanted perfect obedience in response to His rescuing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. His laws covered every part of their lives, and the laws were summed up in the Ten Commandments. God did not give laws just for the sake of having laws. His laws had a purpose; they revealed to the people what life will be like when Christ establishes His kingdom. They showed how righteous people live and interact with God and with others. The Ten Commandments can be grouped into two categories: The first four laws deal with a person s relationship to God and the last six laws deal with a person s relationship to others. Just 10. It would be easy enough to keep just 10 rules, right? The Israelites proved they could not keep a single one of God s laws. Their hearts were full of sin. Moses mediated for the Israelites, asking God to forgive the people s sin. Moses was a good mediator, but he wasn t perfect. The Israelites needed someone who could keep the laws perfectly for them, mediate between them and God, and satisfy God s wrath against them. They needed Jesus. The kids you teach this week have sinful hearts. They cannot obey God perfectly, and they need a Savior. Point kids to Jesus and help them understand that God is pleased with us because He looks at Jesus, who never sinned. Because of Christ, we can have a right relationship with God. Welcome/Transition Time Lesson (15-20 minutes) Snack/Activities (20-30 minutes) Wrap Up 1 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
WELCOME/TRANSITION TIME Greet preschoolers as they arrive. Also greet their parents, and see that your church s security procedures are complete. Use this time to chat with kids and get to know them. Encourage kids to work on the activity page before selecting another activity you have set out, such as blocks or puzzles. Color Page/Activity Sheet: Find the 10 - provided Crayons or colored pencils color/activity sheet, 1 per child Circle the tablet with 10 dots. Cross out tablets with fewer than 10 dots. Explain that today s Bible story is called God Gave the Ten Commandments and that God wrote the commandments on stone tablets. Say God gave His people the Ten Commandments to show how to love Him and others. Shape Stone Tablets- provided play dough craft sticks Use play dough to shape two stone tablets. Use craft sticks to make letters on the tablets. As kids work, talk about how God Himself wrote the commandments on the front and back of each tablet. God had a plan to send Jesus, who would show us how to live holy lives in an unholy world and make a better way for us to be forgiven. Say Why did God give His people the Ten Commandments? God gave rules to show how to love Him and others. Transition to Lesson Transition cue: Ring the bell, flip the lights, or clap a simple rhythm for children to copy to gain attention. Gather the kids and move to the Bible study area..lesson (15-20 minutes) Worship Music Classroom DVD contains worship songs for each unit that the children will enjoy learning. Unit 6 DVD 2 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
Story Time Say [dramatically] Today s Bible story begins when the Israelites were camped at Mount Sinai. Moses went up the mountain to talk to God. On the third morning after Moses returned to camp, thunder and lightning rumbled, a thick cloud covered the mountain, and a loud trumpet sounded. All the people in the camp were afraid. [Make sound effects.] Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. Smoke covered Mount Sinai because the Lord came down on it in fire. The whole mountain shook. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder. Moses went up the mountain. Then, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. THE BIBLE STORY (2 year old teachers can reference the large story card in the classroom) God Gave the Ten Commandments Exodus 19:1 20:21; 31:18; 32:1-35; 34:1-9 Three months after the Israelites left Egypt, they came into the Wilderness of Sinai (SIGH nigh). They camped in front of the mountain. God had a plan to make the Israelites His special people. Moses went up the mountain to God. He made a covenant, or promise, with them: If you obey Me, God said, you will be My people. All the people agreed. They said, We will do all that the Lord has spoken. Then Moses went back to talk to God. I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, God explained. I want the people to hear Me speak to you, so that they will believe you. Moses got the people ready. On the third day thunder and lightning rumbled! A thick cloud came upon the mountain, and there was the sound of a loud trumpet. Everyone in the camp was afraid. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. God came down the mountain in a fire, and smoke covered all over the mountain. The mountain shook and the sound of the trumpet got louder and louder. God told the people not to come up the mountain not even their animals could touch the mountain! Then God gave Moses the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have other gods besides Me. Do not make an idol for yourself. Do not misuse My name. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. Do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. The people heard God speaking to Moses. They heard the law God gave them, and they were very scared. Do not be afraid, Moses said. God wants you to fear Him, so that you will not sin. The people stood still and Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days. When God was finished speaking to Moses on the mountain, He gave him two stone tablets that God had written on with His own finger. 3 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
The Israelites, however, were tired of waiting. Moses seemed to be on the mountain forever! Where was he? What was taking so long? We need a god to lead us because we don t know where Moses is, they said. So the people made a gold calf that they could worship. God told Moses what the people had done, and Moses rushed down the mountain. He carried the two stone tablets. When Moses got closer to the camp and saw that the people were dancing before the gold calf, he became very angry! He threw down the stone tablets, smashing them at the bottom of the mountain. Then he took the calf they had made and destroyed it. What were you thinking? Moses asked. Moses saw that the people had sinned. He went up to talk to God. Please forgive them, Moses said. God made Moses two more stone tablets to replace the ones Moses had broken. Moses bowed down and worshiped God. Lord, please go with us, he said. Forgive our sin, and accept us as Your people. Christ Connection: God made a covenant with His people: If you obey Me, you will be My people. (Exodus 19:5-6) But the people did not obey God. They sinned against God, and Moses asked God to forgive them. Moses acted as their mediator, or advocate, before God. When we sin, Jesus is our Mediator. Through Jesus, we are forgiven of our sins. God is pleased with us because He looks at Jesus, who never sinned. Review/Key Passage Key Passage Poster Big Picture Question Poster At the beginning of today s Bible story, the people said, We will do all that the Lord has spoken. Let s see what happened! Who is the person in the Bible story picture? (Moses) What is he holding? (stone tablets, Ten Commandments) Why were the people scared when they heard God speak? (fire, smoke, cloud, trumpet, lightening, ground shaking) How long was Moses on the mountain? (40 days) What did the people make while Moses was gone so long? (a gold calf to worship) Were they doing all that the Lord had spoken, which they had promised to do? (No, they made an idol.) When Moses saw the calf, he was very angry! The people were not loving God! What did Moses do? (smashed the stone tablets; asked God to forgive them) What did God do? (God forgave His people and continued His perfect plan to send Jesus.) Read the key passage posters and talk about the first two commandments. Sing the Ten Commandments song. Read the big picture question and answer. Mention that the first two commandments help us know how to love God. When Jesus came, He would show us how to live holy lives. 4 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
SNACK/VIDEO (20-30 minutes) Snack Signal for cleanup time using the countdown video or whatever method you prefer. Take a bathroom break and wash hands before the snack. Ask for volunteers to help set up and serve the snack. Remind kids to wait until everyone has been served before eating. Say God wrote the Ten Commandments Himself, so His people would know how to love Him and others. Let s pretend our two graham crackers are the two tablets. Thank God for the snack. Thank God for giving us rules to show how to love Him and others. Watch Video Show the video God Gave the Ten Commandments (from Classroom DVD) ACTIVITIES Beanbag Game - provided 10 Commandments beanbag Print and cut apart the commandments on the key passage posters; arrange them in a Giant Game Floor Mat, or laminate them and tape them to the floor. Kids may take turns throwing a beanbag on a commandment and leading in an exercise such as hops, toe touches, or side bends, repeating the exercise as many times as the number on the commandment. Read the commandment aloud. Briefly talk about what it means. 1 Do not have other gods besides Me. 2 Do not make an idol for yourself. 3 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. 4 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5 Honor your father and your mother. 6 Do not murder. 7 Do not commit adultery. 8 Do not steal. 9 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. 10 Do not covet. 5 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
Look at the Map - provided Genesis-Exodus Map Moses Preschool Teacher Guide Print the Genesis-Exodus map. Move Moses from Goshen, where he was born, to Mount Sinai at the south end of the Sinai Peninsula, where God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, back to Egypt, then back to Mount Sinai. Say What do you think Moses might have remembered when God gave him the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai? (He might have remembered the time God spoke to him from the burning bush at that same place, Ex. 3:12) Pick up Preschool children need to be picked up by a parent/grandparent and the adult must show the parent receipt with matching I.D. number. If the tag is missing, the adult can go to a check in kiosk and have a receipt reprinted. Welcome the second session teachers and tell them what they need to know about the children who are present. 6 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources