Go forward with God’s power
key words
biblical reference
Joshua 6
lesson objective
To help students understand that the walls of Jericho fell because God did what he had promised; and that in the same way today, we can trust God fully and obey him because he knows what is best for us.
memory verse
“The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9b, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
Learning to trust in God is closely linked to trusting others. Many times adults ask children to do things that they do not understand. If they ask why, the person in authority should help them understand. This procedure works most of the time. However, there are times when children must trust their elders’ decisions and obey them, even if they do not understand them. When a relationship of trust develops with the children, it is easy for them to do what they are asked to do, even if they do not understand it.
When God shows us what he wants us to do, he does not always reveal to us why. Obedience at such times may be more difficult, but we still must comply. Help the children understand that they must obey God without fear, because they can trust that he knows and will do what’s best for them. Our Bible story is an excellent illustration of this truth. The instructions that God gave to Joshua may seem strange. But, because of their trust and obedience, the walls of Jericho fell!
biblical commentary
Read Joshua 6. When the 12 spies returned from Canaan, they agreed on at least one thing: the cities had big walls that made them safe for the inhabitants. Archaeological excavations have shown that, in fact, some of the cities built in that place had double walls. It is possible that one of them was the place where our story takes place.
In Joshua 6:1, it says: “Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred”. The inhabitants feared the Israelites. No one could enter or leave the city. The citizens of Jericho felt that they were safe from the invaders, but they did not know that such a strong defense could not stop the God of the Israelites. The destruction of Jericho was important for both religious and military reasons. It was the epicenter of the worship of the moon god. (Probably “Jericho” meant “the city of the moon.”) One of God’s constant concerns was that his people would adopt the religions of the Canaanites.
The instructions that God had given to Joshua to conquer Jericho must have been quite strange to the seasoned warriors, but they had begun with his promise: “I have delivered Jericho into your hands” (Joshua 6:2). Armed men went ahead of the seven priests who carried the trumpets of ram’s horn. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant followed those who played the trumpets. The rear guard was lined up after them, and then the people were still behind. The ram’s horn emitted a strong and penetrating sound that caught the attention of the people. So the sound of seven of these horns surely alerted the people of Jericho that something was about to happen.
The first day, the people marched around the city without making any sound with their voices. Only the priests blew the horns. This procedure was repeated from the second to the sixth day. On the seventh day, the people marched around the city seven times. Following the instructions God had given them, on the seventh time, the priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted, and ... “the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city” (Joshua 6:20).
Strange way to tear down a walled city, right? But it worked because Joshua and the people trusted God. Although they did not understand how he was going to act, they obeyed his instructions. And because of their obedience, he fulfilled what he had promised.
introduce the lesson
Children’s “trumpet”
Give each child a cardboard tube (this can be from toilet paper or a roll of paper towels). Tell them to decorate it with markers or crayons and write their names on it. Then give each one a square of 10 cm. x 10 cm waxed paper. Help them wrap one end of the tube with that paper, so that it is covered, holding it with an elastic band or adhesive tape. Using a punch, or scissors tip, make four or five small holes in the waxed paper at the end. Then have the children blow through the open end of the tube so it makes a sound. Let the children march around the room playing their instruments while they sing a song. Then save the tubes for later use.
Tell them: “Our instruments make a noise similar to that of a musical instrument that had an important place in our biblical story today. What instrument do you think it will be? Let’s find out what happened.”
teach the lesson
Strong horn sounds and broken walls
Read Joshua 6. How exciting those days were for the Israelites! They were already in their new homeland: Canaan. They had waited so long, but God had fulfilled his promise to bring them into that land. He had brought Joshua and the Israelites safely across the Jordan River. And now they were ready to conquer the cities.
Not far from there was the great city of Jericho. It had high and strong walls with large gates. But inside the city, the people were frightened. They had heard many stories about the Israelites and their God. “I heard that many years ago their God destroyed Pharaoh’s army and freed them from Egypt,” said a man in Jericho. “I heard that their God was with them and kept them safe,” added a woman. “And I heard that their God fights for them!” said another man. The people of Jericho were so frightened that they kept the city gates tightly closed and acted with caution. No one could enter or leave it.
God spoke to Joshua and gave him a plan to conquer the city. “Do what I tell you and the city will be yours.” Joshua carefully listened to every one of God’s instructions. “First, march around Jericho once a day for six days. Seven priests shall carry seven ram’s horns before the ark.” Surely, Joshua was surprised when he heard what God told him to do. That was not the usual way to fight a battle. But Joshua believed and trusted God. And God gave him more instructions. “On the seventh day, you will go around the city seven times, and the priests will blow the horns.” And he continued, “When the priests blow their horns for a long time, the people of Israel will shout loudly! Then the walls of Jericho will collapse, and your army will be able to go straight ahead and destroy the city.”
“We’ll do what you’ve told us, Lord,” Joshua said. Then he gathered the people and told them God’s plan. “What will we do?” the priests asked. “Take the ark of the covenant and march around the city carrying the ark.” “What about us?” asked the seven other priests. “You will march in front of the ark of the covenant and play your trumpets.” “Tell us what we can do,” the soldiers replied. “Some of you will march in front of the priests. Others will march behind the ark.” “While doing all this, do not shout or say anything. Wait until I let you know. When I give you the order, shout!” All the Israelites trusted God. They were ready to obey. “Let’s go!” they said to each other. On the first day, the Israelites marched around the city once and then returned to the camp. The following days they continued marching.
On the seventh day they got up very early. And they marched around the city again. But that day they did not stop after going around once. They marched around twice, then three times. Their footsteps grew louder and louder. Then they marched around four, five and six times! Their feet sounded like thunder that shook the ground. Finally, the Israelites marched around Jericho for the seventh and last time. The priests played their trumpets loud and long.
Suddenly, Joshua said, “Shout, because the Lord has given you the city!” At that moment all the people shouted! And, boom, crash, boom, crash, boom! The walls began to tremble, crack, crash, smash! The earth was trembling! The walls of Jericho collapsed and fell to the ground! The Israeli soldiers attacked the city. Quickly they completely defeated their enemies.
That night there was great rejoicing in the camp! God can do impossible things when we trust him and obey him. The people had trusted and obeyed God. Therefore, he used his power to do the impossible. The walls and the city of Jericho had disappeared!
After the story, perform a review game, using questions previously prepared by you, for example:
How many times did the Israelites march around the city of Jericho on the first day? (Just one.)
Did the soldiers carry the ark? (No, the priests.)
On the journey, was the ark behind the people? (No, it was in front of the people and at a distance.)
After the game, give the children the instruments they made earlier. If you wish, you can have them build “walls” by stacking small boxes that can be “knocked down”. Then, have them dramatize the story by marching seven times around the room or the boxes stacked while playing their instruments.
(It will be wise to warn the teachers in nearby rooms in advance about this part of your lesson.) Give them the command to: “Shout!” And have them say, shouting, “Praise the Lord!” Guide them to yell and clap because the walls fell. When the story is over, tell the children that they can take their instruments home. Remind the children that God can do impossible things when we trust and obey him.
connect the lesson
Craaaash ...! Walls demolished!
As soon as the Bible story is over, give the children Student Activity Sheet #235-A and #235-B. Ask them to cut out the figures, build the wall and color the scenes, the soldiers and the people. Use this moment to ask review questions about the story you just told.
Bricks of faith
Give each child a piece of molding clay or dough (you can use the recipe in the helps for teachers). Tell them: “In our Bible story today the power of God destroyed the great city with immense walls. Those walls must have been made with very strong bricks. Today we are going to build a brick that will help us remember this story.” Let the children mold the clay into the shape of a thick rectangular brick. Have them engrave the letter “J” on the brick with a pencil or pointed object.
Tell them: “The ‘J’ in the brick will remind you of ‘Joshua’ and ‘Jericho’. God did something that was impossible for Joshua and the Israelites. And he can also do impossible things when we trust him and obey him. Whenever you face a very difficult situation, remember how God helped Joshua and his people. Trust that God will help you, and obey him because he knows what is best for you.
Have the children place their bricks on a piece of aluminum foil or wax paper to dry. Then tell them to attach their name to the foil or waxed paper with tape. The children will take the bricks home later when they are dry.
practice the memory verse
“Say the verse!”
Before the session, place the footprints with the memory verse in a bag or box. In the group, let the children choose a partner. Tell them: “Let’s play a memory game!” Each child will try to say the verse with as few word clues (footprints that contain a word of the verse) as possible. Our verse has 11 words. Each child decides how many words they need to see in order to “recite the verse”.
Choose a couple of children to start the game. Have them stand or sit facing each other. One of the children will say: “I can say the verse by seeing (5) words.” The other child will challenge him saying: “I can say it by seeing only (3) words.” If the first child thinks he can say the verse with a smaller number of words present, he will continue the challenge by reducing the number. If he sees that he cannot achieve it, he should tell his opponent: Say the verse! The challenged child should take out of the box the number of fingerprints she said and try to recite it using only those words. If the child recites the text correctly, give her a small prize, such as a pencil. Then have a second couple of children play the game. For those who know the whole verse by memory and did not do it the previous session, they can add the candy picture to their candy jar.
Tell them: “This verse tells us that God is with us wherever we are. God wants us to trust him and obey him. As we saw in our Bible story today, the people of Israel trusted God to perform a totally unusual event. And how beautiful it is to see how the Lord helped them defeat the enemy!”
wrap-up
Pray
Have the children tell their prayer requests and reasons for thanks. Tell them: “We can trust and obey God because he knows what is best for us. Thank him for his wisdom and power. Pray for the requests and praises of the children. Thank the Lord for helping them trust him and obey him.
Encourage
Encourage the children to look for ways to trust and obey God this week.
Invite
Before departing be sure to say something interesting about the next session. Be sure to encourage the students to attend and to come with friends.
* 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.™