"No other gods" is the first lesson from a series of lessons entitled, God's Top Ten - Understanding
God's Love In The Ten
Commandments. Each lesson in the series is reinforced with a craft, game,
and enrichment ideas.
Commandments #1-4: Teach us how to show love towards God.
Commandments #5-10: Teach us how to show love towards others.
The Bible tells us that God gave us the Ten Commandments as a sort of guardian, or baby-sitter, to teach us right from wrong. When we disobey a command of God it is called sin. The Bible tells us that ALL people sin. Without the commands we wouldn't know how to behave. But we also wouldn't understand how much we fall short in being like God. He is perfect and without sin---he is holy. What if we were never told it is wrong to steal, or to lie, or to murder? Just think how much worse this world would be! It is important to understand that the commandments are more than just a list of "DON'TS." The commands show us how much God loves us. Why do you think your parents do not want you playing in the street when there is oncoming traffic? (Allow for discussion) Yes, you could get hit by a car. Do they say, "Don't play in traffic" because they hate you? No, because they love you and want to protect you. Our Father God has given us the Ten Commandments for the same reason: he loves us and wants to protect us.
This is how God gave us the Ten Commandments:
Thousands and thousands of years ago God's people, the Israelites, were slaves in Egypt. Their slave masters were cruel and worked them very hard. They even killed their children. The Israelites cried out to God for help and God sent Moses to save them and to lead them out of Egypt. Three months after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they camped at the bottom of Mount Sinai. It was there that God spoke to Moses and told him to tell the House of Jacob, the Israelites, "to get ready," because he was going to do something very special for them. He was going to give them the Ten Commandments.
Read Exodus 19:16-25, and 20:1-3.
If possible, read from a child-friendly Bible with lots of pictures, or while you read, have the children pantomime the story. Choose one child to be Moses and another to be Aaron. (Sample our Ten Commandments skit that coordinates with this lesson.)
The first commandment is: Have no other gods. Exodus 20:3.
In this commandment, we learn of God's love by knowing that God is the only true God. He is the one who created us, loves us, and is powerful enough to help us. He is the only God we will ever need. Therefore, why would we want any other gods?
Practice memorizing today's commandment.
Check out the Look n' Learn Ten Commandments Flash Cards that help children memorize the commandments in minutes. The cards are included when you purchase the e-book or you can purchase them separately.
Craft: Moses Mask (Included with purchase)
Enrichment Idea: Have students act out the Ten Commandments skit using their masks.
Bible Game: Climb Up Mount Sinai (Included with purchase)
Copyright 2002 / 2013 Sarah A. Keith