The Law is Given- Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 4:5-6)
While Moses was on Mount Sinai, God gave him laws and decrees for the people. This included the Ten Commandments. These laws were meant to prepare God’s people for life in the land they were entering, the land promised to Abraham. By observing them, it would show their wisdom and understanding to the nations. As the people in the land observed the close relationship between God and His people, they would be drawn to Him. Bible: Read Deuteronomy 4:5-8 and 30:15-20 with your family.
Family Activity 1:
God’s ways are life and He knows best.
Teaching Time: 12 minutes
Materials: items to make two paths (coins, string, cones, paper arrows, chalk, etc.); items to represent life (treats, healthy plant, fresh fruit, jewels, shiny coins); items to represent death (garbage, dead plant/branch, rotten fruit, broken toy, rusted metal)
Create two paths. At the end of one path, place items that represent joy and life. At the end of the other, place items that represent destruction and death. Invite your children to walk along both paths. Afterwards, compare what they found at the end of each. When God gave Israel His laws and commands, He put two choices before them – the path of obedience and the path of disobedience. God knows what is best for His people and He was clear about what was at then end of each path. Obedience leads to life. Disobedience leads to death. God’s people had to make a choice.
Discuss:
1. Tell about a choice you made that had bad consequences. Read Proverbs 14:12. Why is it sometimes difficult to choose the right path?
2. Read John 14:6. How does this truth encourage followers of Jesus? What other resources has God given our family to help us stay on God’s pathway that leads to life?
Family Activity 2:
God Desires to use His set-apart people to draw the nations to Himself.
Teaching Time: 12 minutes
Materials: small jar with lid, water, cooking oil, and dishwashing liquid/liquid detergent
Hold up the empty jar. The land that God’s people would enter was not empty. Fill the jar half way with water. It was already occupied by other nations who did not know and follow God. If Israel began to follow the rules and customs of the people living there, they would become just like everyone else. Pour more water until the jar is full. There would be no distinction between God’s people and the people in the land. God gave Israel laws and commands to help them know how to live out God’s truth in a land full of sin. Pour 2 tablespoons of cooking oil into the jar, screw on the lid, and shake. Observe how the oil floats to the top as a separate layer. If Israel followed God’s commands, they would be able to maintain their relationship with God and live as His set-apart people. God’s desire wasn’t for Israel to isolate themselves from the other nations. Instead God wanted Israel to live out God’s commands before the nations, demonstrating how great God is. Remove the jar lid and add a few squirts of dishwashing liquid or detergent. Screw on the lid and shake. Observe how the oil becomes distributed in the water. When these nations saw how great Israel’s God was, some would desire to become part of God’s people. God’s truth was for both the Israelites and the Gentile nations living in the land. His ways would draw all the people together.
Discuss:
1. Who are God’s set-apart people today? Read Matthew 22:35-40. What commands does God desire that we live out?
2. Why do believers sometimes isolate themselves from nonbelievers? What is the danger in doing this? How might we include nonbelievers in our family activities?
Pray:
Ask God to give your family creative ways to demonstrate your faith to nonbelievers.
