God provides for his people
key words
biblical reference
Exodus 16:1 – 17:7
lesson objective
To help the students learn that God supplies the needs of his children
memory verse
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
It is important for your students to hear about the wonderful ways God has cared for his children over time. The children will find something magical in today’s session by listening to the way God fed the Hebrew people. Without harming their childlike faith, explain that not all prayers are answered through a miracle, but that does not mean that God has forgotten them.
God provides for our needs in different ways and helps us trust him more. Teach the children why it is important to present our requests and needs to God in prayer. He’s careful of all aspects of our lives. As students tell their prayer requests, encourage them to be grateful to receive the Lord’s answers. Children must not only know God as the only miracle worker, but they also need to remember that he is always with them, taking care of them and helping them through all the situations they go through. And although they often feel alone, they can trust that the Lord is always by their side.
biblical commentary
Read Exodus 16:1 – 17:7. The people of God had left behind the land of Egypt, and along the desert road, complained and longed for what they had left. They wanted the fresh water and the warm bread they enjoyed in their homes in Egypt. When they reached Mara, they found a source of bitter water. After the people complained and argued against Moses, God directed him to hit the rock with his staff and the water became sweet.
After being in Mara, the Israelites were led to Elim (Exodus 16:1). In that place there were twelve water sources and seventy palm trees that gave good shade, so they decided to camp there. A month had passed since the miracle of the Red Sea. God had provided their needs with fresh water and a comfortable place to rest before guiding them into the desert of Sin. However, it was not long before they began to complain again against Moses for having led them away from Egypt.
God wanted his people to trust and depend solely on him. He responded to their complaints with great love and provided the manna, which would be the source of food for the Israelites for forty years. Every morning they would find manna on the ground and they would gather enough for that day. If they kept a larger supply than they needed, the next day it would be rotten and covered with worms. The only day they could gather a double portion of manna would be the morning before the Sabbath. God once again demonstrated his power by caring for his people and sending food from heaven to them.
introduce the lesson
No more than one
Get a bag of wrapped candy for this session. During the session, ask the children to sit in a circle on the floor. Tell them: “Close your eyes while I count to three, then I’ll drop candies around the room. Then, you can open your eyes and get one. If you take more than one, you’ll lose them.”
After the children have picked up their treat, ask them: “Do any of you have more than one candy?” If anyone has two or more, ask that child to give you all the candy he/ she has. Ask the children: “Was it difficult to take only one?” Listen to their answers and tell them: “It is very important to follow instructions, otherwise we may have problems. Today we’ll learn what happened to the Israelites when they did not follow God’s instructions.”
What happened to the bread?
You need a piece of old or spoiled bread. Gather your students and tell them: “Sometimes when we go to the store, we buy more bread than we can eat. Do you know what happens when the bread gets old? (Mold form on it and it smells bad.) Show the old bread to the group and ask them: “Would you like your mother to use this bread to prepare dinner?” Let them respond and tell them: “In today’s story we’ll hear about some people who made a wrong decision and something bad happened to their food.
teach the lesson
Gather your students to hear the Bible story. If possible, ask a young man in your congregation to wear a robe and disguise himself as Moses to tell this story.
A miracle from the sky
“The exodus from Egypt and the escape through the Red Sea were just the beginning of a long journey for all of us. God led us from one place to another through the desert. Sometimes there was not enough water to drink. When that happened, the Israelites complained to me and began to complain about leaving Egypt. I wish they would trust God instead of complaining all the time.”
“The Lord took us to Elim, an oasis in the desert with palm trees and water fountains. After that, we traveled to the Sin desert, where we ran out of food and the hungry people started to complain to me once again.” “Why did not God let us stay in Egypt? There we had a lot of food and here we will die soon,” they told me.
“I spoke with God to find a way to solve this problem.” He said, “I will send to the people a special bread that will descend from the sky every morning. I will also send quail in the afternoon to give them meat to eat.”
“In addition, he gave us special instructions about the manna and told us, ‘Go out every morning and collect enough food for each person in your house, but take only what you will need for that day. Do not pick up anything extra. On the sixth day of the week, pick up a double portion so that you have food on the Sabbath.’ The next morning after the dew evaporated, there were pieces of manna throughout the desert. Its flavor was sweet like honey.”
“However, the Israelites did not follow the instructions God gave us and took more manna than they needed for that day. The next morning there was a terrible smell in their tents, and they found many worms in the bread they had collected.”
“However, this did not cause them to precisely follow God’s instructions. On the sixth day, when they were supposed to collect enough manna for two days, many did not. And then on the Sabbath, they went to collect their portion of bread, but there was not any. God had said that he would only provide manna on six days.”
“We received the manna from heaven six days a week for the forty years we lived in the desert. God commanded us to put a portion of manna in a container and save it so that new generations would know the miraculous way in which God fed his children.”
“The day came when we had to go somewhere else. We traveled for a while and finally we camped in Rephidim, a place where there was no water. The people began to complain to me again and they asked me why I had taken them to the desert to die.”
“Again I approached God to ask for his help and he told me to take the leaders of Israel and go to a rock on Mount Horeb and hit the rock with my staff. I obeyed and crystal clear water came out of the rock. Another miracle of our great God to show the people that he had control over everything.”
connect the lesson
God provides
Hand out Student Activity Sheet #255-A and #255-B. Then, ask the children to sit down to do the activity. Read the instructions aloud so the students can hear them clearly and then complete their project. Explain what they must do to finish the activity, and as they work, review what they learned in today’s Bible lesson.
Encourage the children to take home the activity to share the lesson with their families and friends.
practice the memory verse
Ask the children to walk backwards. For each step they take, they must say a word of the memory verse. Repeat the text until they have gone around the room. Then review it with them individually and encourage those who have difficulties learning it.
wrap-up
Pray
As students tell their prayer requests, encourage them to be grateful to receive the Lord’s answers. Pray with the group giving thanks to God for his provision and care. Also intercede for all the people around the world who need food.
Encourage
Remind the children that they must not only know God as the only miracle worker, but they also need to remember that he is always with them, taking care of them and helping them through all the situations they go through. Although they may often feel alone, they can trust that the Lord is always by their side.
Invite
Give the children the work they did, and invite them to the next session. Tell them that their friends are also welcome.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™