Intermediate Level, Block 4—Egypt to Good Land
Week 39
Moses—The Ten Commandments (2)
Point to Emphasize: We can learn to obey God’s words to us so we can become proper persons.
Reference Reading: Exodus 20
Memory Verse: Therefore you shall keep My commandments and do them; I am Jehovah. (Leviticus 22:31)
Story Sample
Last week we talked about the first five commandments that God gave Moses to give to the people. This week, we will talk about the last five. We learned that God’s commandments, or laws, are not just things that we need to do; they also tell us something about who God is. And they are also God’s speaking and words to us. The first five have to do with God. And the last five have to do with us.
These are the last five commandments:
- “You shall not kill.” Because God is the One who gave us life, we should not take any person’s life. Only God gives life and takes life.
- “You shall not commit adultery.” This means that a man and a woman should be married to only one another and be faithful to each other.
- “You shall not steal.” We should not take anything that does not belong to us. God provides us with everything we need—there is no reason for us to steal.
- “You shall not testify with false testimony against your neighbor.” False testimony refers to lying. God wants us to love one another. This includes not saying bad things about other people or lying about them, whether they are or not your friends.
- “You shall not covet.” Don’t we sometimes want what others have? Maybe we have never stolen before and will never do that, but if we are envious of things that other people have, that is coveting and is also like stealing in our heart. Remember that God always gives us what we need. We will never lack anything if we trust in Him. There is no need to compare what we have or not have with others.
Maybe you have never failed at the 6th commandment and you’re not married like in the 7th, but maybe you took your brother’s ball without permission, or you told a lie, or you wanted someone’s special pencil.
When I was younger, something happened with one of the girls at my school. I didn’t know her very well, but one day one of her friends starting saying things about her that were not very nice. That person started telling people, who started telling other people, so that soon, everyone started saying the same thing about her, including me. I just repeated what they said, even though I didn’t really know if it was true or not. Well one day, I happened to talk to this girl, and I found out that what people were saying was not true at all. There was just a misunderstanding, but now people were saying things about her that were not true. She was so hurt, and I felt so terrible that I participated in saying false things about her. Everything turned out fine in the end, but back then I did not even realize that God told us not to give false testimony against our neighbor—our neighbor could be anyone around us: our classmates, our friends, the children in our neighborhood, even our brothers and sisters. [Storyteller, insert your own story related to one of the last five commandments.]
God gave us rules to show us how proper people should behave. Because we are God’s people, like the children of Israel, we should behave like God’s people. Both in all the small things and all the big things we can learn to do what God has spoken to us. This week, let’s practice to be proper persons and behave like God’s people. If there is one commandment you failed at this past week, next week let’s try to do better at that.