Entering the Promised Land

Greetings, teachers and parents! And welcome to the end of our series on Moses and the Exodus. The series began with Preparing for the Exodus , The Exodus Children's Sunday School Lessons , 40 Years in the Desert , and Building the Nation . I also have a separate series on Ten Commandments Children's Sunday School Lessons and a collection of children's sermons about the Exodus that you might want to scan through for ideas.

But, we're finally here. The Israelites are about to step into the Promised Land! Unfortunately, we have to deal with a troublesome king, a horde of snakes, and the death of our beloved leader first. So, in this collection of 4 lessons, you'll find:

• Balaam and the Talking Donkey – listening to God before other people
• Moses and the Bronze Snake – thanking God for His blessings
• The Death of Moses – the hope we have in the resurrection
• Joshua and the Walls of Jericho – looking forward to our Promised Land of Heaven

Recommended Extras

All you need to make these Sunday School lessons successful learning experiences is provided below. I do, however, like to mention some other teaching tools I've used. They're inexpensive or free and can be a great help in providing a clearer picture of the Biblical setting.

Paid Resources

These inexpensive products aren't necessary to use the lessons below, but they can add a great deal to kids' understanding.

Videos:

I enjoy showing videos for their visual and engaging nature. Kids get a picture of the Biblical setting and are entertained enough to follow the plot of the story. I usually show one video the week before my lesson on a certain topic and another video the week after. That way, they're exposed to the same story in three different ways.

The Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho – It's getting harder to find this on DVD because it is an older series. But if you can find it or you have an internet connection in your classroom, it's worth the watch for the realistic animation style.

Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho – This is the series hosted by Charlton Heston, the actor who played Moses in the Ten Commandments movie. There's no time-traveling fictional characters in this one, and the art style finds the middle ground between too being cartoony and being realistic.

Storybooks

If you don't want to show a video, you can help kids see the story with the help of a short storybook. Here's my list of recommendations for this batch of lessons.

• When God Made Balaam's Donkey Talk

• Moses and the Bronze Snake

• Jericho's Tumbling Walls

Lesson Resources

Here are some alternative lessons and teaching aids that I've found helpful.

Bible Fun Factory: Joshua – Mary Kate Warner continues her series with 5 lessons on Joshua. You'll find games and activities to complement my lesson on Joshua and the Walls of Jericho as well as material for two subjects that I didn't include.

Maps – You might also like a physical world map , a globe , and a set of Bible maps for your classroom. There's nothing like pointing out where events actually happened to help kids understand the historical nature of our faith. Not only will you use these for the lesson on Joshua and the Walls of Jericho, but you can bring kids back to them for nearly every lesson.

For the Classroom

Keep these around for kids to look at before or after class, or borrow.

Manga Comic Book – I just discovered this line of Manga (Japanese style) comic books. The third and fourth volumes, Mutiny and Melech , tell the story of Exodus through Joshua.

Free Resources

For coloring and activity pages , check out Free Sunday School Curriculum's packet on Water from the Rock , The Brass Serpent , Rahab and the Spies , and The Walls of Jericho Fall .

Balaam and the Talking Donkey Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson about Balaam and the talking donkey to teach kids to listen to God before other people.

Needed: soft play balls or paper wads

Intro Game: Simon Says – Students follow your commands and motion when you say, "Simon says" first. If you don't say, "Simon says" before the command, and they do it anyway, they're out. If they follow a motion that doesn't match the "Simon says" verbal command, they're out. The winner is the last one in the game.

Play a few rounds with the winner becoming the new Simon

Lesson: (Note: Always students enough time to think about and answer the questions before clarifying the teaching.)

Ask students, What should you do if someone tells you to do something, but you know that thing is wrong?

What if it's your parent or a teacher telling you to do the wrong thing? Should you do it then?

What if the President of the United States told you to do something bad? Would you do it?

Well, today we're going to learn about a man whose king wanted him to do something God said was wrong.

(Summarize Numbers 22-24 , asking the included questions as you read).

One day, when Moses and the Israelites were walking in the desert…

Why are Moses and the Israelites walking in the desert? Can anyone tell me?

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but God used Moses to rescue the Israelites from slavery. They were walking through the desert to their new home in Canaan, but when the people got to Canaan, they were afraid to go attack the people living there and take over, even though God had told the people that He would help them.

So, to punish the people for not trusting Him to help them, God told them that they could not go live in Canaan. They had to wait until every adult at that time had died and then God would take their children into Canaan to live there. So, now in our story, the Israelites still have to live in the desert until all those adults who didn't trust God to help them are dead.

So, one day, when Moses and the Israelites were walking in the desert, they came close to the country of Moab. Balak, the King of Moab, saw the Israelites passing by and was afraid. "These people are going to take over my country!" he said.

Do you think King Balak was right? Were Moses and the Israelites going to take over his country?

Moses and the Israelites were eventually going to take over Canaan, but they were just passing by Moab. They didn't want to attack King Balak or his country.

But King Balak was afraid and he sent his advisers to the prophet Balaam. "Balaam," they said, "please come and curse the Israelites for us since they are our enemies and have come to attack us."

Do you think Balaam should put a curse on the Israelites?

Balaam answered the advisers, "Stay the night with me and I will tell you what God says in the morning."

That night, God told Balaam, "Do not curse the Israelites. They are My people and I have blessed them."

So, Balaam woke up the next morning and told the advisers that he would not go with them to curse the Israelites.

When King Balak heard what Balaam said, he sent more advisers to him and offered to give Balaam money and treasures if he would come curse the Israelites for him. But Balaam wouldn't go curse the Israelites. "Even if King Balak gave me all the money in his palace," he said, "I would not disobey God. But stay the night with me and I will see if God tells me anything else."

That night, God told Balaam, "Go with the advisers, Balaam, but be careful to do only what I tell you to do."

So, Balaam woke up the next morning, got on his donkey, and went with the advisers to meet King Balak. As the donkey was walking, an angel came and stood in front of the donkey with a sword in his hand. Balaam couldn't see the angel, but his donkey could. The donkey turned off the road and started walking through a field.

Why do you think the donkey did that? Why did he just turn off the road and start walking through the field? (Because the donkey saw the angel standing in his way with a sword in his hand.)

Then, Balaam beat his donkey and made him get back on the road. A little while later, the donkey was walking through an alley with buildings on both sides of him. The angel came and stood in front of him again, and the donkey had to smoosh himself against one of the walls to avoid the angel. Balaam's foot got smashed against the wall and he beat his donkey again.

Do you think Balaam should be beating his donkey like that?

Finally, the angel came and stood in front of the donkey one more time.

What do you think the donkey's going to do?

This time, the donkey just stopped. He refused to go even one step further and just lied down on the ground. Balaam was so angry that he took a stick and started beating the donkey. Then, God made it so that the donkey could talk, and the donkey said, "Why have you beaten me these three times? Aren't I always such a good donkey for you?"

Then, God made it so that Balaam could see the angel with his sword in his hand. "Do not beat your donkey," the angel said. "And remember, only do what God tells you to do when you meet King Balak."

When King Balak saw Balaam coming, he said, "Finally! Why didn't you come the first time I sent for you, Balaam?"

"I'm here now," Balaam answered. "But I can only say what God tells me to."

Then King Balak said, "Put a curse on these Israelites for me."

But instead of cursing the Israelites, Balaam blessed them! King Balak was angry and said, "Balaam, I said for you to curse the Israelites, not bless them. Now, I'm not going to give you any of the money I promised you."

But Balaam answered, "I told you, I can only say what God tells me to." Then, Balaam went home and so did King Balak.

Did Balaam do the right thing? (Yes.)

Balaam did what he knew God wanted him to do, even though the king wanted him to do something different. For us, we have to listen to our parents and our teachers and the government, but we always have to remember to listen to God first. Even if everyone else tells us to do something, we have to listen to what God tells us to do first.

Game: Balak Says – Tell students that you want them to practice not listening when someone tells them to do the wrong thing. You're going to play Simon Says, but, now, they should only listen to you when you don't say "Balak says" first. If anyone does do what you tell them when you say, "Balak says…," they're out.

Game: Despite All Obstacles – Set up an obstacle course with two mirror paths. Divide the students into two teams. One student from each team runs the obstacle course at a time while the other team members line up along the length of the obstacle course. When they're not running, the members of the opposite team throw soft balls or paper wads at the runner from the sidelines.

If a student makes it through the obstacle course without being hit, they score a point for their team and return to the sidelines. If they are hit, they go to the sidelines to throw but not run again. After each pair runs the course, gather the balls or paper wads again for the next two to run.

The game ends when all the students have run the course. The team with the most points wins.

Afterward, explain that we have to do the right things in life even when it seems difficult. There might be things that get in the way of us doing the right thing. There might be people who try to keep us from doing the right thing, like King Balak tried to keep Balaam from doing the right thing. But we have to keep doing what we know is right.

Game: Alex and Alicia - Help students apply the lesson by giving advice to two fictitious students.

Story #1: Alex's Test. Alex's teacher at school has been telling the class that God didn't Adam and Eve. He's been saying that humans evolved from a kind of ape millions of years ago. Alex doesn't believe that because he believes what God said in the Bible. But now, it's time to take the test. And the question reads, "Where did humans come from?"

What should Alex do in this situation?

(Alex should write that some people believe humans evolved from a kind of ape millions of years ago, but that he believes what the Bible says. He should do what God wants him to do instead of doing what his teacher wants.)

Story #2: Alicia's Bad Babysitter. Alicia's parents were going out on a date by themselves one night, so they asked their teenage neighbor girl, Nicole, to come stay with Alicia for the evening. After they ordered pizza, Nicole and Alicia wanted to watch TV. Nicole turned the TV to a show Alicia wasn't allowed to watch. When Alicia told Nicole that her parents didn't let her watch this show, Nicole laughed and said, "It's okay. You can watch it. Just don't tell your parents."

What should Alicia do in this situation?

(She should tell Nicole that she doesn't want to watch the show. If Nicole doesn't change the channel, Alicia should leave the room. She should do what God wants her to do instead of what her babysitter wants her to do.)

Closing Prayer: Lord, we thank You that You always tell us the right thing to do. Make us brave so that we'll never be tempted to listen to someone else instead of You. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Moses and the Bronze Snake Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson about Moses and the bronze snake to teach children both how we are saved and to be grateful for the blessings God gives us.

Needed: drawing paper, crayons or colored pencils, soft play pall

Intro Game: Thanks Toss – Students stand in a circle and randomly toss a ball back and forth. Whenever someone catches the ball, they have to name one thing they're thankful for, but it can't be anything anyone else has said.

Lesson: Ask students, Have you ever just had a bad day, when it seemed like nothing was going right for you?

What should you do on a day like that? Should you complain about things and get all grumpy? What should you do?

One thing you can do when you're having a bad day is to think about all the good things you have in your life and thank God for those good things. Then, maybe that will help you to stop thinking about the couple of bad things that are happening that day.

Today, we're going to learn about a group of people who just liked to complain.

(Summarize Numbers 21 , asking the included questions as you read.)

One day, when Moses and the Israelites were walking in the desert…

Why are Moses and the Israelites walking in the desert? Can anyone tell me?

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but God used Moses to rescue the Israelites from slavery. They were walking through the desert to their new home in Canaan, but when the people got to Canaan, they were afraid to go attack the people living there and take over, even though God had told the people that He would help them. So, to punish the people for not trusting Him to help them, God told them that they could not go live in Canaan. They had to wait until every adult at that time had died and then God would take their children into Canaan to live there. So, now in our story, the Israelites still have to live in the desert until all those adults who didn't trust God to help them are dead.

So one day, when Moses and the Israelites were walking in the desert, the people started to complain. "Why did you bring us out of slavery in Egypt just to make us walk around in the desert?" they said. "There's no food here, there's no water, and we're sick and tired of this manna bread that God keeps giving us to eat!"

Do you think the people should be complaining about things like that?

Which do you think would be better, to have to work all day as a slave or to live in the desert? Living in the desert would be much better than being a slave, but the people are complaining that they're not still slaves in Egypt!

What would have happened if the people had trusted God and gone in to attack the Canaanites and taken over their land? The people would be living in their new homes by now instead of living in the desert. So, the people created their own problems by not trusting in God.

But did you notice what God was still doing for the Israelites? (He was still giving them manna bread to eat every day.)

Did God have to give them food? (No, He could have let them starve and die in the desert, but instead, God loved the people and took care of them by giving them the manna bread.)

So, because the Israelites were complaining and not being grateful to God for rescuing them from slavery in Egypt or for giving them the manna bread every day, God decided to punish them. He sent poisonous snakes to slither in among the complaining Israelites and bite them. Many of the people died from the snake bites. Then, the people and said to Moses, "We're sorry for complaining against God. Please pray for us so that God will take the snakes away."

Do you think it was good for the people to say they were sorry for complaining? (Yes, they did the right thing by saying they were sorry. God always wants us to admit what wrong things we did and say that we're sorry for them.)

Then, Moses prayed and God told him, "Make a snake out of metal and put it high up on a pole. Then, when a snake bites someone, that person can look up at the snake, and I will heal them from their snakebite so that they won't die."

Do you think it's nice that God said He would heal the people from their snakebites?

The people said they were sorry for complaining, so God forgave them and gave them a way to be saved from the snakes.

God gives us a way to be saved, too, doesn't He? How can we be saved when we do wrong things?

God says that if we believe in Jesus and ask God to forgive us for the wrong things that we've done, then He will forgive us and save us from going to Hell when we die. All we have to do is look up to Jesus, who died on the cross for us.

Game: Complaining Communication – The leader starts off telling a fictitious story about something bad that happened. The students' goal is to then think about all the good things that might have happened afterward.

An example might be, "I went to the fair the other day and dropped my ice cream cone."

The students could then add, "But the ice cream vendor saw what happened and gave me a new ice cream cone for free. Then, someone stole a lady's purse, but the thief slipped on my spilled ice cream, and the police caught him. One of the people who saw it was an old friend of one of the police officers. They hadn't seen each other in years, but when the person saw the police officer arresting the thief, they gave each other their phone numbers. Another person…"

Let kids be imaginative as possible and ask them questions to prompt their creativity. The only point of the game is to think of how good things outweigh the negative in most situations.

Craft: Thank You Letter to God – Ask kids to write or draw a thank you letter to God for all the blessings He's given them. Direct them to remember to include Jesus dying on the cross for us.

Closing Prayer: Father, we thank You for all the good things You've given us in our life. Help us to be grateful and not complain. We especially thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross for us so that we could be forgiven for our sins. Amen.

The Death of Moses Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson on the death of Moses to teach kids about the importance of obeying God and the hope we have in the resurrection of the dead.

Needed: a balloon, a box large enough to put the balloon in

Intro Game: Don't Let it Fall! – Gather students in a circle. As you toss a balloon up into the air in the middle of the circle, call one of the student's names. That student must run to hit the balloon back into the air before it touches the ground. The student next to them then runs to hit the balloon. The round continues until the balloon hits the floor.

Play as many rounds as you like. The last time the balloon drops (or if it ever pops), announce, "I'm sorry, kids. The balloon has dropped for the last time and now, it's dead. Let's have a funeral for our dear balloon."

Gather the balloon and place it in the box. Say a few words over it and invite others to do the same.

Lesson: Say, it wasn't too sad when our balloon "died," but it can be very sad when a person dies. Today, we're going to learn about when Moses died.

(Summarize Numbers 20 , Deuteronomy 34 , and Jude 9 , asking questions as you go.)

One day, when Moses and the Israelites were walking in the desert…

Why are Moses and the Israelites walking in the desert? Can anyone tell me?

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but God used Moses to rescue the Israelites from slavery. They were walking through the desert to their new home in Canaan, but when the people got to Canaan, they were afraid to go attack the people living there and take over, even though God had told the people that He would help them. So, to punish the people for not trusting Him to help them, God told them that they could not go live in Canaan. They had to wait until every adult at that time had died and then God would take their children into Canaan to live there. So, now in our story, the Israelites still have to live in the desert until all those adults who didn't trust God to help them are dead.

So, one day, when Moses and the Israelites were walking in the desert, they ran out of water.

Is it a problem for people to run out of water? (It's a big problem. People need water to live.)

So the people came to Moses and started fighting with him about it. "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt?" they said. "We should have stayed slaves in Egypt. Then we would at least have water to drink!"

Moses went out to the Tabernacle church and bowed face down on the ground to pray. Then, God said, "Moses, take your staff and go to the large rock that is in front of all the people. Tell the rock to make water and water will come out of it. Then, you and the Israelites and all the animals can drink."

What is Moses supposed to do to make water come out of the rock? (He's supposed to tell the rock to make water.)

But Moses was so mad at the people for fighting with him, that he took his staff and hit the rock! "Do I even have to make water come out of this rock for you to listen me?" he yelled. Then, water did come out of the rock, and the people and the animals drank. But God was not happy with Moses.

Why do you think God was not happy with Moses? Did Moses do anything wrong in this story?

Moses hit the rock when God told him to talk to the rock and he made it sound like he was the one making the water come out of the rock instead of God.

So, God said to Moses, "Moses, you will not lead the Israelites into the country of Canaan. You will die in the desert."

That was the punishment God gave Moses for not obeying His command. God gives us commands, too, doesn't He? How does God give us His commands?

God gives us His commands in the Bible. We want to make sure we're always following God's commands so that He won't have to punish us. God doesn't want to punish us. He would much rather we listen to His commands and do what He says.

A few years later, God told Moses to pick the next leader for the people, and Moses picked a man named Joshua. Then, God told Moses to climb up a high mountain. From on top of that mountain, God showed Moses the whole country of Canaan. "This is the country I promised to give to Abraham and his children and his grandchildren forever. This is the country your follower, Joshua, will take the people into and give them to be their own country. I have let you see it, but you will not go there, Moses, because you disobeyed Me at the rock." Then, Moses died and God buried him up on top of the mountain.

Do you think it's sad that Moses died?

I'm sure all of the Israelites were sad because Moses was a good leader for them. He was their teacher and their pastor and kind of like their king. He was the one who brought them up out of slavery in Egypt and took care of them in the desert. He was the one who gave them all of God's rules and told them everything God wanted them to do. So, it was very sad when he died.

One interesting part of the story, though, is that nobody could ever find where God buried Moses. They looked, but no one could ever find Moses' body up on that mountain. Do you know why?

It's because the devil wanted Moses to stay dead and buried up there on that mountain, but an angel came and took Moses' body to Heaven, and God brought Moses back to life in Heaven.

( Teacher's Note: We know that God raised Moses because he appeared with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. Elijah was the prophet who didn't die but was taken to Heaven in a chariot of fire.)

And we know that God will do that for all of us one day, too, don't we? When Jesus comes back, He will bring us all back to life, even the people who have already died and gone to Heaven. He will bring our bodies back to life and we will all live with Him forever and ever.

Bible Activity: Finding God's Commands - Have students randomly open to a page in the Bible and find a command of God. Help those who can't find one that's obvious and let everyone share what they found.

Game: Don't Let it Fall! (Take 2) – Play the intro game again, taking the balloon back out of the box or blowing up a new one. Explain that even though your balloon was dead, it came back to life just like Jesus will bring all of us back to life when He comes again.

Game: Resurrection Tag! – Divide students into two teams and play a game of freeze tag. When students get tagged, they freeze in place. They are Dead. Every few seconds, the leader runs through the playing field, pretending to be Jesus. When Jesus runs through, the Dead are unfrozen.

Perform this action a few times and then switch which team is chasing the other.

Closing Prayer: Lord, we thank You for the hope we have in Jesus that even if we die, we will live again with You. Help us to listen to and obey Your commands our whole lives so that we'll be ready for Jesus to come back. Amen.

Joshua and the Walls of Jericho Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson about Joshua and the battle of Jericho to teach kids about the Promised Land of Heaven.

Needed: two ropes or jump-ropes, an illustration of the Ark of the Covenant , a world map or globe, a map of the Exodus journey

Intro Game: Crossing the Jordan – Place two ropes parallel to each other on the floor. Explain to the students that the space between the ropes is a raging river. If they touch it, they'll be swept away and drowned. Now, have students jump across the "river" one at a time or in a group. Continue to widen the area between the ropes until it is impossible to cross. Ask, How are we going to get across the river if we can't jump over it? I guess we'll have to find out in our Bible story how the Israelites crossed a big river like this.

Lesson: Summarize Joshua 1-6 , asking the included questions as you read.

The Israelites had been living in the desert for a long time, ever since Moses freed them from slavery in Egypt. But now, Moses was dead and the time had come for the Israelites to go into their new home, the country of Canaan that God had promised to give them. Their new leader, the man whom Moses had picked to be the next leader, was named Joshua.

"Joshua," God said to him, "I will be with you and will help you just like I was with Moses and helped him. Now, be strong and brave because you are the leader who will bring the Israelites into their new home."

What do you think Joshua will have to do to bring the Israelites into their new home?

He will have to fight the people who are already living in Canaan and make them move out so that the Israelites can have their country.

Why do you think God would let Joshua and the Israelites take over someone else's country?

The people who were living in Canaan were bad and didn't believe in God, so God was punishing them and giving their country to the Israelites instead.

So, Joshua told the Israelites, "Get ready and get all your stuff packed up. In three days, we will cross the Jordan River and start taking over the land of Canaan."

That night, Joshua sent two men to go spy on the city of Jericho in the country of Canaan. They found a prostitute named Rahab in Jericho and went to sleep in her house for the night.

But someone went and told the king of Jericho, "Two men from the Israelites came into the city tonight to spy on us."

So, the king of Jericho sent his soldiers to Rahab's house. The soldiers said, "Rahab, send those two spies out to us so that we can kill them."

But Rahab helped the two Israelite spies hide under a pile of hay she had and she told the soldiers, "Those two men came here, but they left. They're not here anymore." Then, when the soldiers left, Rahab went and told the two Israelite spies, "I know God is going to give you our country. We've heard about how God brought you out of slavery in Egypt and made the water of the Red Sea divide in two so that you could walk across on dry ground. Now, look, I have been nice to you and didn't tell the soldiers you were here. So, please be nice to me and do not kill me or my family when you come in to take over our country."

"We won't kill you or your family," the two spies answered, "just as long as you don't tell anyone that we're here." Then, Rahab helped the two men escape the city, and they returned to Joshua.

A couple of days later, Joshua led the people out of their camp and up to the Jordan River. The Jordan River was a big river and it was flooding over the sides when the Israelites got there. The people all wondered, "How are we going to get across such a big river?"

How do you think the people will get across the river?

God told Joshua, "Tell the priests to walk into the river first, carrying the Ark of the Covenant with them."

Does anyone know what the Ark of the Covenant was?

(Show your picture of the Ark of the Covenant.)

The Ark of the Covenant was a special chest inside the Tabernacle church. It held the two stone tablets that God wrote the Ten Commandments on, a piece of the manna bread that God gave the Israelites the whole time they were in the desert, and Aaron's staff with flowers growing out of it to show he was the one God chose to be the first priest. God's Spirit sat on top of the Ark of the Covenant in between two statues of angels.

So, Joshua told the priests to take the Ark of the Covenant and to walk into the river. As soon as the toes of the priests' feet touched the water, the water of the river stopped flowing! The people could still see the water a few miles away, but it wasn't moving toward them anymore. It was just standing still! So, all the Israelites walked on the bottom of the dry river and crossed into the country of Canaan. As soon as all the Israelites were across, God made the water of the river start flowing again.

Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and marched toward the city of Jericho. When they got close to the city, a man came and suddenly stood in front of Joshua. The man had his sword out, so Joshua asked him, "Whose side are you on? Are you on our side or are you on our enemy's side?"

Whose side do you think the man is on?

"I'm on no one's side," the man said. "I am an angel, the commander of the Lord's army, so I have come to you."

"Does God have a message for me?" Joshua asked.

"Take off your sandals," the man said, "because you are standing on holy ground." So, Joshua took off his sandals.

Then, God said to Joshua, "Joshua, I will help you defeat Jericho and its king and its army. Here's what you have to do: Take your whole army and do a full march around the city for six days. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times and then, have seven priests blow on their trumpets. When the seven priests blow on their trumpets, all of the soldiers in your army should yell as loud as they can, and then, I will make the walls of Jericho fall down so that your army can run in and attack the city."

So, that's what Joshua and the Israelites did. They marched around the city one time for six days, and then, on the seventh day, they marched around it seven times. Then, the priests blew their trumpets, the army yelled as loud as it could, and God made the walls of Jericho fall down! The whole Israelite army ran in and attacked the city, but they did not hurt Rahab or her family because she was the one who had helped the spies get away when they came to spend the night in her house.

This is the first battle that the Israelites fought to take over their new home. God helped them to defeat the people of Jericho and God helped them to defeat their other enemies as well. Eventually, the Israelites conquered the whole country of Canaan and they renamed it the country of Israel.

Map Activity: Making it Real! - Show your map or globe and have students search for the country of Israel. Then, show your map of the Exodus journey. Point out Egypt, where the Israelites were slaves, the Red Sea where they crossed out of Egypt on dry ground and God drowned the Egyptian army, the area west of the Jordan where the Israelites wandered in the desert, and the Jordan River where they crossed into the largest portion of Canaan.

Game: Holy Ground – Divide students into two or more teams for a relay race. Remind students of how the angel told Joshua to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Dim the lights. Tell students that when you shine your flashlight on them and call their name, they have to stop whatever they're doing and take off their shoes before they continue. You can even shine your light on kids who are still standing in line for their turn. The first team to have all of their runners complete the race wins.

Afterward, say, I had you take off your shoes just like the angel told Joshua to take off his shoes. Does anyone know why the angel would tell Joshua to take off his shoes?

We have to remember how special God is and we need to show Him respect. In those days, they took off their shoes to show respect. Today, we can show respect to God by stopping what we're doing and listening to God when He wants to talk to us. We can show respect by paying attention in church. We can show respect by listening when someone is praying or reading the Bible or teaching us about God. Those are all ways that we can show God that we understand how special He is.

Play the game again if time allows.

Closing Prayer: Father, we thank You for the lessons You teach us through Moses and Joshua. We see how You led the Israelites out of Egypt into the land You promised to give them. And we're know that You're leading us too. You're leading us to Heaven. We pray that we'll always listen to You so that You'll be with us our whole lives and that we'll be with You when we die. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Thank you so much for reading. I hope these lessons have helped you this week. You can find your next series or standalone lesson on my Children's Ministry Resource page .

If having these lessons in an easily printable format would help, please visit my Patreon page. Your $1 per month partnership affords me the time to create more lessons. You can find these lessons in Slaves to Conquerors: Children's Sunday School Lessons for Exodus – Joshua .

Thank you again, and may God's Spirit be with your spirit as you teach His children this week! - Steve