unit 5: life of moses ot5.14 wandering in the wilderness ... · you have brought us out of egypt...

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OT5.14 Wandering in the Wilderness ©Beverly Wilson 2017

Unit 5: Life of Moses OT5.14 Wandering in the Wilderness Lesson

Scripture: Numbers 16-20

Lesson Goal: God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and took them to the Promised Land. Because of their lack of faith and trust in Him, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In this lesson we will learn about the rebellion of Korah and Moses striking the rock and how God punished their sin.

Introduction: This is the fourteenth lesson in Unit 5: Life of Moses. God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and took them to the Promised Land. Because of their lack of faith and trust in Him, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In this lesson we will learn about the rebellion of Korah and Moses striking the rock and how God punished their sin. This lesson is found in the book of Numbers. Numbers was written by Moses and tells the story of how Israel was prepared by God to enter the Promised Land. It is fourth book of Law. The books of Law are the first five books in the Old Testament. Let’s say the first five books of Law together: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Attention Getter: “Punishment” What kind of punishment do you get when you are naughty? Do you have to go to your room? Maybe you do not get to play video games or watch television. Do you think your parents are fair when they punish you for doing wrong? Do you think you deserve to be punished? What would happen if you didn’t get punished? Parents generally punish us for our own good so we will grow up and be responsible adults. Do you ever feel like you don’t want to obey your parents or your teachers? Why should we obey them even when we don’t feel like it? God expects us to show respect for and to obey our parents, teachers, elders, and others that God has put in charge, because they are responsible for us and are trying to help us. Do you think that God punishes people when they disobey Him? How does He punish people? Do you think that is fair? In this lesson we are going to learn about how the nation of Israel sinned against God. They did not trust or obey His commands. They constantly complained and rebelled against Him. As a result they were punished for their disobedience by not being allowed to enter the Promised Land. They had to wander for forty years in the wilderness. Optional: Have you ever felt an earthquake? It can be a frightening experience. Sometimes during an earthquake, the ground will crack, and that can damage buildings, streets, and pipes. In today’s lesson, we will learn about some Israelites who challenged Moses’ authority. God punished their rebellion by having the ground split open and swallow them, their families, and all their possessions. Let’s open our Bibles to Numbers 16 and see how all this happened!

Opening Prayer: Let’s pray: “Father, thank You that there is forgiveness with You. I know that You said that all sin must be punished! But, I praise You for sending Jesus to come and take my place on the cross. Thank You, Jesus, for taking my punishment! I owe You my life. Please give me the power of the Holy Spirit so that every thought I have, word that I speak and thing that I do will be pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Memory Verse: The memory verse is Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/ieiJMDOQSXA God had called Moses to rescue the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and to lead them into the Promised Land. God had been faithful to Israel by providing for their needs and protecting them. He had miraculously parted the Red Sea so they could walk across on dry land and saved them from the Egyptian soldiers who were pursuing them. God had given them water in the desert by making the bitter water sweet. Later He made water flow from a rock when Moses struck it. Everyday God provided food from heaven called manna. This perfect food provided all the nourishment they needed. All they had to do was gather it in a basket! During the day God guided them with a cloud. This cloud not only gave direction but provided Israel a shadow to cool them from the hot desert sun. At night God gave Israel a pillar of fire to remind them of His presence with them. It also warmed them in the cold desert air. At Mt. Sinai God revealed to Moses His plan for Israel to be happy and blessed by Him. They were to obey the Ten Commandments and the Law. These rules were for their own good and provided them the way that they were to worship Him. God even gave them instructions for building the Tabernacle. God promised that He would show them His mercy and forgiveness when they offered the sacrifices. He appointed Aaron to be their high priest. All these blessings should have been a great encouragement to the people! You would think that this would cause the nation of Israel to rejoice and praise God in thanksgiving to Him for His great love! But it did not! The people were often guilty of complaining and murmuring among themselves. Even when Israel came to the Promised Land and twelve spies were sent into the land to check it out, only two of the spies came back with a good report. The other ten spies discouraged the people. They said they couldn’t take the land away from the giants; their cities were too well fortified. Their faith in God was weak and they discouraged all the people. They even complained against Moses and threatened to get a new leader and go back to Egypt. Because of their unbelief and lack of trust in Him God told Moses that the nation of Israel could not enter the Land. They would wander for forty years in the wilderness. He said that all the people over twenty years old would die in the wilderness! Only the two faithful spies Joshua and Caleb would live long enough to enter the Promised Land. It was hard for Moses to tell the people that they couldn’t go into the Promised Land. But he knew God was right. The people were not ready to follow God. Their faith was not strong enough. The people were very upset. To think of spending forty more years in the wilderness was horrible! So they said, “Why should we not get to go into the Promised Land? Who is Moses anyway to tell us to return to the desert? Who do Moses and Aaron think they are?” Korah who was a Levite priest thought he was as great a leader as Moses. So he started a rebellion. He talked to two other men of Israel--Dathan and Abiram who were also jealous and resentful. Together these three men stirred up two hundred fifty other leaders and together they all went to see Moses and Aaron. They said to them, “You have gone too far! Everyone in Israel is chosen by God and we are just as important as you are! What right do you have to act like you are greater than anyone else?” How disrespectful! These people didn’t appreciate all that God had done for them. They blamed Moses for their troubles. They had forgotten that God Himself had chosen Moses and Aaron to be their leaders! It was God, not Moses, who had told the people that they must go back into the desert for another 40 years. But the people were jealous of Moses’ authority. When Moses heard this, he fell face down on the ground. He prayed to God and asked Him to take care of this problem. Then Moses told Korah and the 250 men who with him to meet with him and Aaron at the gate of the tabernacle the next morning and that God would decide who should be the leaders. Moses told them to bring their censors and fill them with fire and incense before the Lord.

https://youtu.be/ieiJMDOQSXA

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Moses said, “You are being disrespectful to God. He chose you to be priests and you are not satisfied. You are speaking against Aaron the High Priest and are jealous of his position as a leader. You are grumbling against God!” Moses then sent messengers to Dathan and Abiram the other two conspirators and told them to come to the tabernacle in the morning as well. But they said, “We will not come! You have brought us out of Egypt where we had food and now you are going to kill us in the wilderness! You have not given us a land with fields and vineyards. So we will not come!” The next morning Korah and all 250 of his men gathered together everyone who opposed Moses and they all came to the door of the tabernacle. Suddenly the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron and all those who faithfully followed the Lord, “Separate yourselves from those who oppose you and I will put an end to them at once!” But Moses and Aaron fell on their faces and prayed, "0 God, do not punish all the congregation for the sin of one man." And the Lord answered Moses, "Then, tell the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." Moses, followed closely by the leaders of Israel, went through the crowd until he came to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, who stood defiantly with their wives and children at the door of their tents. Korah went to join his wife and children, and they stood by their tent door. "Stand back, stand back!" Moses called to the throng of onlookers. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins." So the people moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my own idea; God shall prove whether I have ruled by God's command or whether I have chosen myself as the ruler. If these men die a natural death from some ordinary accident or disease, then the Lord has not sent me. But, if the Lord causes the ground to open up and swallow them and everything that belongs to them and they go down alive into the pit, then you will know that these men have insulted the Lord and that God has not chosen them as leaders of Israel." Moses had hardly finished speaking when there was a terrible roar, and the ground under the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram began suddenly to split wide open; the earth immediately opened and swallowed the rebels up, along with their tents, their possessions, and their families. All those who gathered with Moses saw it happen before their very eyes. So the three men and their families went down alive into the pit with everything they owned, and the earth closed together over them, and they perished. Shrieks of panic filled the air as the people of Israel fled, fearing that the earth would also swallow them up. Then fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who had brought their censers with incense. The Lord told Moses to have the 250 brass censers flattened to cover the altar, for "they are holy, dedicated to the Lord." The people would later see the brass covering on the altar and remember that only Aaron and his descendants were chosen to offer incense before the Lord. No one else! After this terrible experience you would think that the people would be careful how they spoke against Moses and Aaron but the next morning some were saying, “You have killed God’s people!” They were sympathizing with those who had sinned! So God sent a plague among the people. While the crowd was criticizing Moses suddenly the cloud of the Lord came down and covered the tabernacle. Moses and Aaron ran into the tent. Then God said, “Get away from the crowd so I can put an end to them at once.” God was sending a plague among the people.

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Moses told Aaron take his censer and put incense in it and pray to God for the people. Aaron "stood between the living and the dead," making an atonement offering for them, and the plague stopped. But over 15,000 people died from this terrible disease. The great rebellion was finally over. God had judged the people of Israel because they had sympathized with the evildoers. Then God told Moses that He wanted to prove once and for all who He had chosen to be the high priest over the people. Moses told each tribe to bring a rod with the name of the leader of that family group carved on it. The twelve men came with their rods, and Moses was instructed to write the name of each leader on each rod. Aaron’s name was on the rod from the tribe of Levi. God commanded. "Put these rods in the inner room of the Tabernacle where I meet with you, in front of the Ark. I will use these rods to show clearly the man I have chosen; for blossoms will grow on the rod of the man whom I shall choose. Then at last this murmuring and complaining against you will stop!" So the rods were left overnight in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. The next morning, when Moses went into the Tabernacle, he found that Aaron's rod, from the tribe of Levi, had budded and was also blossoming with flowers and even had ripe almonds on it. This was indeed a miracle of God! The other rods remained the same dead sticks as before! There was no doubt now that God had clearly shown that Aaron was God's appointed High Priest, and Moses was God's appointed leader. God settled it by this sign: He had brought life out of the dead stick. The Lord told Moses to place Aaron’s rod in the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments to remind them that God had chosen Aaron. If there was ever any doubt again about Moses’ and Aaron’s authority over the people, they could show them Aaron’s rod that budded. Unfortunately the children of Israel did not learn from their mistakes. They kept forgetting God’s punishment for doubting Him and not trusting Him. All they did was grumble and complain to Moses and Aaron. Later while they were wandering forty years in the wilderness they ran out of water. Once again they gathered together and complained to Moses and Aaron. The people said, “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!” “ Then they accused Moses and Aaron of trying to kill them by bringing them out into the desert to die! Once again Moses and Aaron went to meet with God at the gate to the tabernacle and ask Him what to do. God appeared to them and said, “Take Aaron’s rod and gather the people together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and you shall bring water for them out of the rock. Give the water to the people so they and their animals can drink.” Notice that God said to speak to the rock! So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the people together before the rock; and Moses angrily said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Them Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with the rod. Water gushed out of the rock and everyone drank. When you’re angry you don’t always think straight and Moses was so angry he didn’t speak to the rock as God had told him to do; he struck the rock with the rod, not once, but twice! God loved the people so much he made the water gush out of the rock so that they and their animals could drink. But Moses had disobeyed God. Would God have to punish Moses for disobeying Him? Yes! All sin must be punished. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not get to bring these people into the land that I will give them!” Not go into the Promised Land! Moses must have wept many bitter tears. How he must have regretted not obeying God! Even though Moses obeyed God many times before, God expected him to set an example for the people he was leading.

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God expects us to be good examples to others, too. When we don’t that it brings disgrace to God’s name. God still loved Moses even though he had sinned against Him just like He loves us when we do wrong. If we do anything that displeases God then all we need to do is go to Him in prayer and ask Him to forgive us. God promises to forgive. Even though God forgives us of our sin, sin must be punished. There are consequences to our sin. Some sins have bigger and longer lasting consequences. For Moses, he was never allowed to go into the Promised Land. Moses did not stop serving God because he couldn’t go into the land. No, he knew he had done wrong. He accepted his punishment without complaint and became a good example to the people of Israel. Moses still believed in God and trusted Him. This lesson also teaches us that we should always respect authority! God did everything He could to show love to Korah and his men; but, they refused to obey Moses’ authority over them. God couldn’t do anything more to save them. God didn’t want to kill all those people. God loves everyone but He has to punish sin. God has placed certain people in our lives to be our leaders. He’s put them there to protect, guide, and help us to grow up to be followers of Jesus. So, He expects us to respect those leaders. That means we are to obey our teachers and parents. Our memory verse is Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Spiritual death is eternal separation from God. That’s why Jesus came to die on the cross; He took the punishment for our sins. Let’s say our verse again together. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus died in our place so that we don’t have to. If we believe that, our sins will be forgiven. When we are forgiven by God, He restores us to right standing before Him and we are back in fellowship with Him—no more separation from God. Remember-- Respect God’s Authority and Obey Him!

Review Questions: “Run from the Rebellion” Purpose: Run from the Rebellion is a running game with the purpose that we are not to run from God but obey Him. Preparation: Write the following review questions—one question of each index card. Divide the cards of questions into two sets. Place the two lots of questions opposite the area where the 2 teams are sitting. Procedure: Divide the children into two teams. Have a team member from each group race to get a question and return to the team with the question. The child reads the question to his/her team and the team decides on the correct answer and shares their answer with the group when called upon. Keep score of the correct responses, 1. Why couldn’t the people go into the Promised Land? (They did not have enough faith in God.) 2. Who was Korah? (Korah who was a Levite priest thought he was as great a leader as Moses,) 3. What complaint did Korah and his followers have against Moses? (They blamed Moses for their

troubles and questioned his authority over them.) 4. What did Korah do to stir up more trouble in the Israelite camp? (He started a rebellion. He talked

to two other men of Israel--Dathan and Abiram who were also jealous and resentful. Together these three men stirred up two hundred fifty other leaders and together they all went to see Moses and Aaron.)

5. Where did Moses tell Korah to meet with him? (At the gate of the Tabernacle.)

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6. Who refused to come to the Tabernacle to determine who was the leader of Israel? (Dathan and Abiram refused to come but were still causing problems by complaining about Moses’ leadership.)

7. When everyone met at the gate of the Tabernacle, what did God tell Moses and Aaron to do? (Get away from the tents of Korah.)

8. Where did God lead Moses and Aaron to go? (They went through the crowd of dissenters and went to the tents of Dathan and Abiram and Korah.)

9. What happened to Korah and Dathan and Abriam and their families? (The ground opened up and swallowed them!)

10. What happened to the 250 men who came to the tabernacle to offer incense? (God sent a fire down from heaven and destroyed them.)

11. What did some of the Israelites do the morning after all these people were killed? (They complained to Moses and Aaron and said that they had killed God’s people!)

12. How did God punish these men who were complaining? (God sent a plague among them and over 15,000 people died.)

13. What did God tell Moses to do with the rods from each of the tribes of Israel? (God told him to write the name of the leaders of each of the tribes on the twelve rods.)

14. Whose rod did Moses write Aaron’s name on? (He wrote it on the rod of the Levites.) 15. Where did God tell Moses to put the rods? (God said to put them in the Holy Place of the

tabernacle and wait until morning.) 16. What happened when Moses went into get the rod the next morning? (Aaron’s rod had come to

life! It had budded and had blossoms and even had almonds on it.) 17. What did the budding of Aaron’s rod show? (God proved once and for all that He had chosen

Aaron and his sons to be high priest over the people). 18. Where did God tell Moses to put Aaron’s rod for safe keeping? (In the Ark of the Covenant.) 19. What else was in the Ark of the Covenant? (The Ten Commandments and the jar of manna.) 20. What lesson did God want us to learn from the story of the Rebellion of Korah? ( We should

respect and appreciate the authority that God has placed over us.) 21. Why has God given us leaders? (Leaders are to protect, guide, and help us to grow up to be

followers of Jesus.) 22. Why did God have to kill Korah? (Korah didn’t repent. He didn’t respect Moses’ authority over

him. All sin deserves death; God has to punish sin.) 23. How can you be sure that you are not eternally separated from God? (Believe that Jesus died on

the cross to take the punishment you deserve.) 24. How can you show your parents that you appreciate their leadership over you? (Listen to them

and obey them!) 25. What happened to the nation of Israel later after the Rebellion of Korah and the death of all those

people? (They ran out of water and began to complain again to Moses and Aaron.) 26. What did God tell Moses to do? (Take Aaron’s rod and gather the people together. Speak to the

rock before their eyes, and you shall bring water for them out of the rock. Give the water to the people so they and their animals can drink.”)

27. What did Moses do? (He got angry at the people and in his anger he disobeyed God by striking the rock two times.)

28. Why did God have to punish Moses? (Moses had sinned and all sin must be punished.) 29. What was Moses’ punishment? (Moses and Aaron would not be allowed to enter the Promised

Land). 30. When we sin what should we do? (We should repent and ask for God’s forgiveness for sin.) 31. What do we sometimes have to experience when we sin even though we have asked for

forgiveness? (God will forgive our sins but we sometimes have to experience the consequences of our sin.)

32. What is the memory verse? (Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”).

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Bible Memory Verse Activity: “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down!” Say: “Our memory verse is Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Have students locate the verse in scripture and read aloud several times. Repeat together several times until they can recite from memory. Say: “Spiritual death is eternal separation from God. That’s why Jesus came to die on the cross; He took the punishment for our sins. Let’s say our verse again together. Jesus died in our place so that we don’t have to. If we believe that, our sins will be forgiven. When we are forgiven by God, He restores us to right standing before Him and we are back in fellowship with Him—no more separation from God.” Say the following true or false statements below. Children are to identify the true statements by showing thumbs up and false statements by showing thumbs down. When a statement is false invite a volunteer to correct it.

1. A wage is what you earn from a job. T 2. The payment of doing wrong is going to heaven. F 3. Death is going to be with God. F 4. Jesus died on the cross. T 5. Jesus’ death paid the payment for our sin. T 6. Salvation or eternal life is a gift. T 7. We receive God’s gift of salvation by believing in Jesus. T

Group Learning Activity: “Drink Demo” (Grades K-3) Preparation: Bring a pitcher, a package or two of unsweetened Kool-aid, and some sugar. Procedure: Tell the children to watch closely and have one of the children (if they read) read the instructions on the package step by step as you make the Kool-Aid. When it comes to the sugar, just say you don't think it needs sugar, so you will just leave it out. If the kids don’t break into an uproar of laughter right then, ask them if they think that’s alright. Measuring carefully, try talking them into just settling for less than the recipe calls for. Ask them why it is important to follow directions. Say: “The directions on the package of Koolaid are very important. If we do not follow them exactly we will not have a delicious drink. The same principle applies to our lives. God has given us very specific directions as to what we should do to live a happy and purposeful life. If we do not follow His plan exactly we will not enjoy all the benefits He has planned for us. That is being disobedient just like Moses was when he did not follow God’s instruction for bringing water out of the rock. “Just like God had to punish Moses by not allowing Him to enter the Promised Land, we will experience some difficult times in our lives for not obeying God completely. The same thing was true of the Israelites. As a result of their failure to believe and obey God, the children of Israel did not get enter into the land God promised them.”

Group Learning Activity: “Keep in Step” (Grades K-3) Purpose: To help students recognize who God has placed in leadership over their lives. Preparation: You will need a large covered basket or box filled with a variety of shoes. Procedure: Pull out the different pairs of shoes, and ask the students whether they think they are the shoes of a leader. Ask the students whom God sent to be their leaders (parents, grandparents, teachers, pastor, etc.).

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Say: “In this lesson God chose Moses and Aaron to be the leaders of the nation of Israel. They were to follow the God’s instructions about leading the people. Korah and his men rebelled against Moses and Aaron but they were really rebelling against God. We are to follow the leadership of those God has placed in our life. These would be parents, grandparents, teachers, pastor, etc. Group Learning Activity: “Earthquake Table” Object Lesson (Grades K-3) Purpose: To reenact the events in the Bible story of Korah’s Rebellion Preparation: You will need Bibles, two tables and half sheets of cardstock. Procedure: Review the Bible story of Korah’s Rebellion from Numbers 16:15–40. Push two tables together and set “tents” (halfsheets of cardstock folded down the center) all over the two tables. Be sure to put some tents on the line between the two tables. As you read the passage, have two helpers shake the tables and then spread them apart so that some of the tents fall into the crack. Then have them push the tables back together. Say: “Korah and the men who followed him wanted to take the leadership of Israel away from Moses and Aaron. They complained loudly and blamed Moses for bringing them into the desert to die. We should not be like these men who did not respect the authority that God had established. God had to punish these men because of their rebellion.”

Group Learning Activity: “Solving a Puzzle” Leaders (Grades 3-5) Preparation: A box puzzle. If you don’t have a puzzle, any other kind of problem solving game (like a Rubik’s cube) will work Say: “I have a puzzle here for us. Our mission is to work together to build the puzzle. However, even though we are on the same team we need a leader. Who wants to be the leader of our puzzle building team? Choose one person to be the leader. Say: “OK, I have used my authority as the teacher to select ______ to be the leader of our puzzle team. He/she is in charge and will help direct the process. Are we ready to start? I now turn things over to our team leader. Procedure: Allow the leader to organize the puzzle building process. If you have a large, demanding puzzle, you will not be able to complete it in this short amount of time. Get some of it done, and set it aside for the group to complete another time. The focus of the activity is not the puzzle, but on whether or not the other family members will respond and submit to the leadership of the one who was chosen. If class members start to argue and disagree with how the leader wants to work on the puzzle do not redirect them or correct them. If conflicts arises, let it happen. After you have worked on the puzzle for 10 minutes or so, let the group know that they can finish the puzzle another time, but now is the time to continue with the class. Say: “This activity was really not about building a puzzle. It was about leadership. I wanted to see how we would do at following our leader. Would we show respect? Would we let them lead? Would the leader lead well? In your opinion, how did we do?” Allow people to freely share their thoughts. “In our lesson today we learned about a sad event in the history of Israel. God had chosen Moses and Aaron to lead the people, but a few of the other leaders wanted to do things their own way. God had to punish them for their rebellion. This lesson teaches us that we are to respect the authorities and leaders that God has placed in our lives.”

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Group Learning Activity: “Journey to the Promised Land” Game (Grades K-5) Purpose: To help students understand how difficult it was for the Israelites to leave all that they had known and travel with very little food and water and understand that believing in god means making the right choices when faced with difficulty. Preparation: You will need: 6 different colored construction papers with 8 sheets of each color. 66 index cards. (The construction paper is used to make a path around the room. Each index card will have a task to complete to move a player to the next space, or it may be something that will make them go backwards; as in the board game Candyland). Optional: You can use a generic game board or the printed template for a table version of this activity (below). Some card examples: Make 6 cards for special locations. Name one of the Ten Commandments, Recite the Lord's Prayer, or ask questions that are relevant to your lesson plan. If it's a particularly hard task you may reward the player by allowing s/he to go to the next square of a certain color. An example of a backwards movement: the card informs the student that their camel died on the journey and s/he loses a turn, or must go back to a square of a certain color. Each child picks cards and goes along the path until someone reaches the end of the journey, The Promised Land. (All my students get prizes. The player that won picks first.) Some of the problems players faced resulted in a backward movement: Your wagon loses a wheel--Player may choose to lose time fixing it, thereby losing one turn, OR abandon their wagon and carry their belongings by staying put. You don't trust in God, results in taking a BIG hop backwards. You have blisters on your feet, results in player resting one turn. (Any of these and many others can be used). Procedure: Shuffle the cards and stack them together in a pile. Make sure that all of the cards are facing down so no player can see what they will pick up off the top of the deck. Place the cards somewhere central so that all players will be able to reach them. Each player is to choose a pawn or game marker and place it on the start square of the game board. Choose a player to go first (youngest player by birthdate) and then play passes to the next youngest. Keep taking turns until everyone has had an opportunity to take a turn. At the start of your turn, draw a card and check to see what is on it. Each card will have a question or direction as to which square they may move their pawn. Goal is to see who gets to the Promised Land first!

Group Learning Game: “D + Anger = Danger” Bible Study (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To help students understand why Moses sinned when he struck the rock twice and why anger can cause us to sin. Preparation: Bibles, white board, and markers Procedure: Have students locate Numbers 20: 1-12 in scripture and read passage aloud. Say: “Once again the people came to where there was no water. Once again God told Moses how to provide it. Only this time, Moses changed what God said to do, and he personally rebuked the Israelites for their murmuring. Water came from the rock, but God was upset. He said, "Because you did not honor me as holy, you will not bring this people into the land."

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What two things did Moses do wrong? (Moses presumed that hitting the rock was ok (it wasn't), and he claimed to Israel that he was providing the water.) Did Moses make the water come from the rock? (No, God did.) If Moses did not set God apart as the sole provider for Israel, would the people? (No.) Say: “Leaders have a very difficult job because they must always point toward God as the ultimate authority. Teachers, parents, elders and even politicians need to recognize and demonstrate that any authority they have comes from God, not themselves. The Israelites were already rebellious enough. They often contested Moses' position. If Moses claimed to be more than he was, they would have reason to rebel. Who were the Israelites really rebelling against? (They were rebelling against God.) Why do you think Moses said what he did? (After so many years of patiently caring for the Israelites, it sounds like he finally let his anger get the best of him.)

Psalm 106:32-33 “They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.”

Why is this an important warning for us? (It tells us that anger makes us weak against temptation, it has lasting consequences, it can affect even the humblest and strongest of people, and it never accomplishes God's will.) Write the following formula on the whiteboard. Ask students to tell what they think it means. D+Anger=Danger! We must be careful when we are angry not to sin against God! Have students look up the following verses about anger and summarize what God is teaching us about anger:

Psalms 103:8 “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” We should pattern our life after God. He is slow to anger and abounds in love. When we love others we will be patient with them and not get angry.

Proverbs 30:33 “For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.” The result of anger is to make trouble and discord and hurts others as well as yourself!

Ephesians 4:31 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Anger uncontrolled and unchecked and directed at individuals is a sin.

James 1:20 “because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Anger is not part of a godly life and does not please God

Say: Why did God say to Moses to “speak” to the Rock? (Have students look up 1 Corinthians 10:4-5 and read aloud.) In these verses we see that Paul says that the water from the rock is a picture of the Spirit that we receive from Jesus the Rock of our salvation. Jesus died once for the sins of the entire world. He did not have to die repeatedly (striking the rock multiple times) in order to pay the price for our sins.”

Craft Learning Activity: “Aaron’s Rod—Stick Test” (Grades K-3) Purpose: Students will make a model of Aaron’s rod to remind them that Aaron’s rod began to bud—a sign that Aaron was chosen as the priest by the Lord. Preparation: You will need box of large craft sticks, small flowers, florist tape or a hot glue gun; permanent markers, shoebox Procedure: Distribute 13 craft sticks to each child. Using markers have the students write the name of a tribe on each wooden craft stick. (Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin)

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On the thirteenth craft stick, write Levi or Aaron's name on one side. Glue small flowers on the other side. OR you can use floral tape to group small blossoms together onto a stem and then tape the blossoms to the stick to represent Aaron’s rod. OR the teacher can use a hot glue gun to attach some plastic or silk flowers to the stick. Use to demonstrate the miracle God used to prove Aaron's position as High Priest. Stick Test: Place “Aaron’s Rod” stick at the bottom of the shoebox before placing the lid on the box. Tape the lid closed so students cannot look inside. During class, designate a table for students to complete the stick test at the beginning of class. Direct students to write their name on a craft stick with the permanent marker and place it inside the shoebox through the slit. Retell the events in the story. At the appropriate time during the lesson (Num. 17:8), pull Aaron’s rod out of the shoebox. Say: “God wanted to show Israel that He had chosen Aaron and his sons to be the High Priests. Aaron's rod, from the tribe of Levi, budded and blossomed with flowers and even had ripe almonds on it. This was indeed a miracle of God! The other rods remained the same dead sticks as before!’

Craft Learning Activity: “Korah’s Rebellion” (Grades K-3) Purpose: To make a paper visual of Korah and his men falling into the pit and to help students understand the events in the story of Korah’s Rebellion. This paper craft will be a reminder to always trust God. Preparation: You will need: 12" x 18" brown construction paper, three 2" x 4" different colored scraps of paper, three 5" x 1" strips of white paper, tape, scissors, crayons, marker. Procedure: Hand out brown paper to students. Fold paper in half, length-side. Fold paper in half again, so there are four panels when unfolded. Re-fold Panel One and Panel 4, so they both meet in the middle. This creates the "pit." Crease all folds well. Unfold paper. Place on table, landscape-style. Between first and second panels and third and fourth panels, cut 1 1/2" slits on top and bottom. (Total four slits) Fold inward point of slit to inside middle half of entire paper. Hold up brown paper, so that inward triangles met. Tape on each side. (See third picture.) Fold any-color strips of paper in half, and in half again. This is a tent. Unfold small strips of paper, fold like a 'tent' and tape. Make three tents. On white paper, write "Korah", draw his family; leave an extra inch of blank, white paper on one side to fold so the triangle will stand up. Tape to secure. On white paper, write "Abiram", draw his family; leave an extra inch of blank, white paper on one side to fold so the triangle will stand up. Tape to secure. On white paper, write "Dathan", draw his family; leave an extra inch of blank, white paper on one side to fold so the triangle will stand up. Tape to secure. Write "Korah's Rebellion" and "Numbers 16" on the edge of the brown paper. Place tents and families on top of flat 'ground.'

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Craft Learning Activity: "Paint a Rock" Art (Grades K-5) Purpose: To remind students that Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation and the foundation upon which we are to build our lives. Materials: 3-4" diameter smooth rocks (If you don't have any smooth rocks in your area, you can buy them at craft stores or at your local landscaping store.) Permanent markers; Acrylic paint; Paint Brushes; Pipe cleaners Procedure: Wash the rock and let it dry. Paint the rock (except for the bottom!) and let it dry. Decorate with stickers, if desired. Write "Jesus" on the rock, or use stick-on letters. Using the pipe cleaner have the children shape it into the form of a stick figure. Set the stick figure on the rock. Say: "In this lesson Moses did not obey God. He struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock. God was merciful to Israel by bringing forth water from the rock. The rock was a picture of the Spirit that we receive from Jesus the Rock of our salvation. Jesus died once for the sins of the entire world. He did not have to die repeatedly (striking the rock multiple times) in order to pay the price for our sins.” Show your students the stick figure that is on the rock. Tell them that this figure represents someone who trusts in God. Say: What things could a person who is not trusting in God put their faith in? (parents, friends, and good works) When Jesus is our foundation we do not have to fear the difficulties of life.

Life Application Challenge: “Good Leaders” Say: “In your opinion, who are some good leaders? What makes them good? (Share examples of good leaders that you have seen in your life. These might be parents, pastors, coaches, or government leaders.) “Can you think of some people who have been poor leaders? Can you think of specific things they did that made them bad leaders? (Share examples of bad leaders that you have seen in your life.) Can you think of a time when you had a hard time following an instruction that someone in authority gave to you? (This is an opportunity to talk with your child about the principle that we do not learn submission and humility from leaders who think like us. It is when authorities in our lives call us to do things we do not want to do that our character is tested. You may also talk about how no earthly authority has the right to tell you to do something against God’s Word. So if a parent tells a child to steal the neighbor’s TV, the child should disobey the parent in order to obey God who is their higher authority. Help your students practice obedience. Explain to your students that God has chosen to give you the responsibility of being a mom/dad, and that God has given your son/daughter the responsibility of being a child. Being obedient and respectful is hard work. It takes practice. Explain to your child that this week is an opportunity for them to practice cheerful obedience.

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Wandering in the Wilderness Numbers 20

Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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unit 5: life of moses ot5.14 wandering in the wilderness ... · you have brought us out of egypt...

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