Lesson 19: God Watches Over Us
Aims
*To be familiar with main points of the story
*To learn that God watches over us
Materials
Exodus 1-2:10
The Beginner’s Bible
Visual aids – pictures from the story
Craft materials – Blue and green card, printed pattern for baby and basket, scissors, glue
Baby moses maze
Key words: Egypt, Israelites, Jochebed, Miriam
Lesson Outline
1. Review last week’s story
2. Story
3. Discussion
4. Activities – retell the story, Moses baby craft, Moses maze
5. Review the aims
6. Prayer
1) Review last week’s story
Joseph was sold as a slave by his jealous brothers and put in prison in Egypt. Because he could explain Pharaoh’s dream, he was made ruler over Egypt. When Joseph’s bothers came to Egypt to buy food, they met Joseph. He told them who he was and forgave them for selling him as a slave. Then the whole family moved to Egypt and lived there.
2) Story
This story takes place many years after Joseph and his family moved to Egypt.The people from the family of Joseph were called Israelites. The Israelites had children, and their children had children and soon there was too many to count. Most of the Israelites lived in Egypt where there were also a lot of people called Egyptians.
A new king who was called Pharaoh came into power in Egypt. He didn’t like that there were so many Israelites and he thought they would one day take over the land. So he decided to make all the Israelites into slaves. He made them work from early in the morning till late at night doing very hard work. Pharaoh did all this and he still wasn’t happy. The Israelites were still growing in number so he decided to make a law. If any boys were born to the Israelites he would have them killed.
At this time there was an Israelite woman, called Jochebed, who had a baby boy and hid him for three months. When she could no longer hide him, she made a strong basket and put blankets around the baby and placed the basket in some tall grass in the Nile river.
The baby had a sister named Miriam, and she watched from a distance to see what would happen to her brother. While she was watching she saw somebody coming. It was Pharaoh’s daughter and her servants. She had come for a swim. While she was swimming she noticed a basket floating in the tall grass. So she asked one of her servants to go see what it was. The girl brought the basket over to her, and when Pharaoh’s daughter opened it, the light startled Moses so he woke up and started to cry. “What a sweet, beautiful little baby. It must be one of the Israelite’s,” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her servants.
Miriam had seen what had happened, and she hurried over and asked, “Would you like me to go find an Israelite woman to feed the baby for you?” “Yes, go and find someone who can nurse the baby.” she answered. Miriam ran as fast as she could and told her mother that Pharaoh’s daughter had found him and wanted someone to come nurse him.
They went and found the with Pharaoh’s daughter, and she asked them, “Please help me and nurse this baby, and I will pay you for helping me.” She didn’t realize that this was actually Moses’ mother. Later he became the son to Pharaoh’s daughter, and that’s when she named him Moses, which means she got him out of the water.
3) Discussion
Questions about the story
Why didn’t Pharaoh like the Israelites?
What did he make them do?
What did he decide to do so the Israelites would not grow in number?
What did Jochebed do to save her baby?
Who was Miriam?
Who found the baby?
How did Miriam help?
God watches over us
* Some times we wonder where God is when things go wrong. Is God sleeping? we wonder? But God is not sleeping. He is watching over you. He cares about every little thing that happens to us. He doesn’t miss a thing. Even when you are busy playing or working, God is watching over you.
*In the story, Moses’ mother had to hide him from the king’s men. If the king found him, he would’ve been thrown into the river! But, God didn’t let that happen because God had a plan for moses. Even while he was in his baby basket all by himself, God was watching over him.
*Sometimes for us, scary things happen too. Sometimes, bad things happen that we don’t like. But, God loves you so much that he cares about everything that happens to you. He will be with you no matter what happens.
* God loves to hear your prayers. He wants you tell him what you are afraid of, and if you are happy or sad. He wants to know what you like and what you don’t like. He wants to know when you are scared and when you need his help. So, the next time you are scared, just ask him to help you. He is always ready to help you. He loves to help us. Each one of you is special to God. He has a plan for you life too, just like he had for baby Moses. It’s up to us to listen to God and obey Him. We must do what He says. Then God can help us very much.
*He has also given us special things that we can do well—like draw, sing, listen, teach, etc. What things are you good at?
4) Activities
*Retell the story – Put the pictures in the correct order and retell the story in your own words
* Moses baby craft – Print and make copies of baby and basket. Cut them out. Children colour baby and basket. Help them cut out baby Moses and cut out bottom half of oval of the basket. Insert Baby Moses first, then glue edges only of basket (so baby can be taken out), onto sheet of blue construction paper. Glue on green strips of construction paper for grass or draw with crayons
* Bible maze – find baby Moses and bring him to safety.
5) Review the lesson aims
* To be familiar with main points of the story
* To learn that God watches over us
6) Prayer
