OT-37

"The Ten Commandments"

Exodus 19:1-20:21

Big Idea

God's rules are good.


Materials Needed:

-OT 37 Commandment Pictures: print each out (different color paper for each if available) and place in sheet protectors

-chalk or dry erase marker, depending on which board type you have

-tape, poster putty, or thumbtacks (to attach commandment pictures to the wall)

- 10 Commandments Soundboard file, computer with speakers


Setup:

1. Set up the computer in an out-of-the-way corner of the teaching area. Have your assistant open the “Resource-Moses and the Burning Bush Soundboard” file. He/she should click the buttons according to the cues in the lesson below. Example: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 1)


Lesson

1. Using the sheets from small group time, review a few of the rules the children mentioned during small group time. Explain the following:

    Everywhere we go, there are rules. Some places have more rules than others. Some  rules we like, and some we don't. Some of the rules we made up are even a little goofy!

    God has rules for us, too. His rules aren't goofy or mean. Like everything he makes, his rules are good. We're going to learn about a time when God gave his people some rules. 


2. As you explain the following, draw (as best you can) what is indicated in parentheses: 

    Three months after God had rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by sending ten plagues and parting the Red Sea, they camped near Mount Sinai, a large mountain in the desert. (Draw a mountain with a crowd of people at the foot of it.)

    God said to Moses, "I'm going to come speak to all of Israel in a dense cloud over the mountain in three days. Tell everyone to prepare to meet me by washing their clothes. Place barriers around the mountain to keep the people from touching it because if they do, they will surely die." And the people did as Moses said.

    Three days later, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, a trumpet blasted, and a cloud descended upon the mountain. (Draw a lightning bolt and a trumpet above and to the side of the mountain. Cover the top of the mountain with a scribbly cloud.) It was so awesome to see that the people trembled. Smoke rose up and the whole mountain shook. (Draw squiggly lines above the mountain to represent the smoke.) The sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

    Moses led the people to the foot of the mountain. Moses called to God and he answered. God descended to the top of the mountain. (Write "God" above the scribbly cloud at the top of the mountain.) After calling Moses to the top of the mountain to give him a few instructions, he spoke to the people and begin to give them some rules.

    These rules eventually became known as the ten commandments and you may have heard of some of them before. I have a picture that represents each of the commandments God gave. For each picture, I'll let you guess which rule it represents, and then we'll talk about it a little bit.


3. Show first Commandment Picture (large #1 sign) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:

    God's first commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 1: You shall have no other gods before me.) God wants to be the #1 thing in our lives, more important than anything else: our families, our cool stuff, even ourselves.


4. Show second Commandment Picture (stone idol) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:

    God's second commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 2: You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.) God doesn't want his people, who he created, to create their own gods out of wood and stone and worship them instead of him.


5. Show third Commandment Picture (name sticker) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:

  God's third commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 3: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.) God wants his people to treat his name as special. We shouldn't be careless when we speak his name. We also shouldn't use his name as a swear word when we are angry.


6. Show fourth Commandment Picture (calendar squares) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:

       God's fourth commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 4: Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work...) God knows we need our rest, so he commands us to do it. He also wants us to take one day of our weeks to spend time focusing on him.

7. Show fifth Commandment Picture (three silhouettes) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:

    God's fifth commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 5: Honor your father and mother.) God, our father in heaven, wants us to listen to our father and mother here on earth. Most of the time, our parents want what's best for us, and listening to them is the right thing to do.


8. Show sixth Commandment Picture (skull and crossbones) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:

    God's sixth commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 6: You shall not murder.) God was the one who created life in the universe, and he doesn't want us to go around ending it by murdering one another. 


9. Show seventh Commandment Picture (heart) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:

    God's seventh commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 7: You shall not commit adultery.) God thinks marriage is an important thing. When we meet that special someone and choose to marry them, he wants us to only be lovey-dovey them and no one else. We aren't to go around smooching everyone we meet, just our husband or wife.

10. Show eighth Commandment Picture (hand) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:
    God's eighth commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 8: You shall not steal.) God wants us to work for the things we have and to be generous with others. He doesn't want us to take things from other people that don't belong to us.

11. Show ninth Commandment Picture (mouth) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:
    God's eighth commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 9: You shall not give false testimony about your neighbor.) Another way to say this is: don't lie. God always tells the truth and he wants us to do it, too.

12. Show tenth Commandment Picture (frown face) to the children and allow them to guess what rule it represents. Attach it to the wall. Explain the following:
    God's tenth commandment was: (PLAY COMMANDMENT 10: You shall not covet that which belongs to your neighbor.) God doesn't want us to look at the things other people have and say, "Oh man, I wish I had that! I need that! I'd be so happy if only I had that!" God wants us to be content with the things he's given us and not spend all day thinking about what we don't have.

13. Explain the following:
    So there they are. The ten rules God gave the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. Even though God was good and his rules sounded good, the people were still terrified. They told Moses, "You go on up the mountain and talk to God. We'll stay here, and you can tell us later what he said." And so Moses went up the mountain to hear more teaching from God, and the people of Israel waited behind.