Intermediate Level, Block 4—Egypt to Good Land
Week 38
Moses—The Ten Commandments (1)
Point to Emphasize: We can learn about God through His rules.
Reference Reading: Exodus 20
Memory Verse: If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15)
Story Sample
In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt they encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. God called Moses up onto a mountain and into His presence and began to speak to him. What Moses received from God we have come to know as the Ten Commandments, or the Ten Words. This was wonderful! God gave these words to the children of Israel not only to tell them how to behave, but even more, He wanted the people to know what He was like.
Can anyone of you tell me one of the rules your mom has for you at home? For example, my mom had a rule that we could not go out and play after school until our homework was all done. It was very important to her that we were diligent. Now as an adult, I can see that it was not only just a rule, but that rule also spoke something about what kind of person my mom was. She was diligent and responsible and always did her work before she had fun. So who can give me an example of one of your rules at home? [Storyteller, when they give an example, be sure to point out what that tells them about their mom.]
Today, let’s go through the first five commandments, and then next week we can talk about the last five.
- “You shall have no other gods before Me.” This means we shouldn’t worship anything or anyone except God. We can see in this commandment that God is jealous. He wants our love only for Him. This is very important to God, which is why it is the very first commandment.
- “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” Similar to the first commandment, we should never have any statues or images of other gods, nor should we set up anything to take God’s place. [This could be TV or sports celebrities, video games, etc.]
- “You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain.” God’s name is very important to Him and we should never use it in a careless way. Today it is very common for people even your age to use the expression “OMG.” I don’t think God likes that very much, because His name is precious, not common.
- “Remember the Sabbath day so as to sanctify it.” This one might be a little hard to understand when you first read it. Let me explain. As we can see in Genesis, God created everything in six days, then on the seventh day He rested because He was satisfied and didn’t need to do any more. Now He wants us to have a day of rest to remember His creation and that He Himself did everything, not us.
- “Honor your father and your mother.” You all know this commandment, don’t you? I’m sure you are told nearly every day that you need to obey your parents. But do you know why this is important to God? Just like you came from your parents, your parents also came from God. He is our source, where we all come from.
Who in this room honor their parents in everything they say? By now, we have come to find out how hard it might be to follow God’s commandments. I want to tell you that we need to be those who follow God’s commandments. By honoring our parents, we honor God and we even get to know so much more about God.
These first five commandments tell us a lot about God, don’t they? Just as creation shows us who the Creator is or what He is like, so do the things He says or writes. In Exodus 20 God says a lot about Himself in these Ten Words. Next week we will talk about the last five commandments, which have so much to do with our actions and behavior.