Elementary Level, Block 4—Moses
Week 36
Moses—Not Giving Up (Revised on 5/11/2021)
Point to Emphasize: We should never quit.
Reference Reading: Exodus 5—12
Memory Verse: …Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)
Story Sample
How many of you are learning how to write? I learned how to write when I was about 4 or 5 years old. Actually, my older cousin taught me how to write. We started with the first letter of my name. I remember that she had me write each letter SO many times. I remember I needed to fill a whole page to practice just one letter! It was a lot of writing! Sometimes when there is a lot of work to do, someone might want to quit. But the thought of quitting never crossed my mind. [Storyteller, tell a personal story of never quitting even though it took you MANY times of practicing i.e. practicing an instrument, learning a sport, learning a house chore.]
In the Bible there were two men who God asked to do something very important. Their names were Moses and Aaron. These men were obedient to go for Jehovah, but they did not know that it was going to take them MANY attempts. You see, it was time for the children of Israel to leave Egypt and start going to the land that Jehovah had promised them. But they couldn’t just pack up their things and say they were leaving. There were two million Israelites with Moses and Aaron in Egypt, and they needed permission from Pharaoh to leave. So God told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and tell him, “Thus says Jehovah, Let my people go.” This was not an easy thing to do. Moses and Aaron were telling Pharaoh to let two million people leave Egypt—that is a huge amount of people. And they were also to take their flocks and herds with them.
When Pharaoh heard Moses’ request, Pharaoh said “NO!” But do you think Moses just gave up and said, “Sorry, Jehovah, I tried, but Pharaoh said “No.” Did Moses quit? How does someone look when they’ve been told “no” to something they requested? [Make fists and rest your cheeks on them with a very glum expression.] Can you show how you look when you are discouraged? It may be that when we get discouraged, we just quit. I hope that is not what we do. Is that what Moses did? No! Moses learned not to give up. Moses went back to Pharaoh again…and again…and again…and again! Moses didn’t just go once, or twice. Moses went to Pharaoh TWELVE times! Can you believe it? Moses went TWELVE times!
Moses didn’t give up and God didn’t give up! So, at the end of the twelve visits, God defeated Pharaoh. God had done everything that He promised to do when He first told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell Him to let His people go. Now, after twelve visits to Pharaoh, the children of Israel were free at last!
Though we are not Moses and we don’t have the huge task of helping the children of Israel out of Egypt, there is one thing we can do. We can never give up when we think something is right. One day God may ask you to do something for Him! Remember this story of Moses, and never give up!