The Fall of Jericho

HOOK:Use the blocks to build a wall around each child (one at a time).  Tell them not to bust out of the wall until you give them a special command that you will whisper in their ear and only he/she will know it.  It could be words like “ice cream”, “doggie”, “amen”, or a color or a food item.  Tell them that you are going to shout out a bunch of different words, but they are only allowed to break down the walls when you shout out the special word you whispered in their ear.  Do it once with a helper as an example so they understand what the rules are.  If there are a lot of children and enough blocks, do two at a time in different sections of the nursery.

BOOK: Joshua 5:13-6:23

Tell the Bible story from a Toddler’s Bible and use the flannelgraph to illustrate the story.

LOOK:Remember the game we played with the blocks at the beginning of the class?The rule was that you were only supposed to break out of the wall only when you heard me shout the correct word.  That’s just how it was with the Israelites.  They had to obey God and march around the city every day for 6 days without doing anything else.  Then on the day they were going to do something more than march, they had to keep marching and marching, seven times around, before they could let out a shout.  Wasn’t it hard to stand inside the block of walls and to wait so long to bust them down?  Didn’t you just want to do it right away, and not wait for someone to tell you?  The Israelites probably felt that way, too.  They probably thought it was silly for their strong army to do nothing but march around the city that they wanted to knock down.  But God had a plan, and he wanted the people to follow it exactly.  God wants His people to obey Him and listen to all His commands (the things He wants us to do, the rules He gave us, the commandments).  It’s important to listen to what our parents and teachers tell us to do, because this helps us obey the things God tells us to do.

TOOK:The next time your Mom or Dad ask you to do something, say “Yes Mommy (or Daddy)!” and do it right away with a cheerful attitude.  You are a soldier in the army of the Lord, and soldiers never argue or fight with the person in charge of them.  God doesn’t want you to fight with your Mom and Dad and He doesn’t want you to fight with Him.  Remember to obey right away, with a happy heart!  When the Israelites listened to God, and did everything He said, no matter how silly it seemed, the walls of the city of Jericho fell down with a simple SHOUT!!

MEMORY VERSE:“The seventh time around . . . Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!”    Joshua 6:16

 

CLOSING PRAYER:Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me and giving me commands to obey.  Help me to listen to my parents and my teachers so that I can learn to obey you like God’s people did when they marched around Jericho.  In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!