The Ten Commandments

We opened our lesson on the Ten Commandments by sticking sticker hearts onto paper "Law" tablets. The idea was to reinforce that God gives us His Law out of love, and that the Law is good and perfect, just like God, and meant to protect us.
God gives this gift of the Law to the Israelites after an awesome display of His power at Mount Sinai. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Then He tells his people that all this power is FOR them. "I am the Lord, YOUR God who brought you out of Egypt..."
He gives the Israelites 10 special rules, the 10 commandments, rules that tell them what God cares about, what He is like and what He expects of Man. But because Man is sinful, He cannot keep the Law perfectly. The Law is meant to show us how very much we are in need of a Savior.
This story led to a lot of discussion during the question time. In this passage, God tells the Israelites that they can't even touch the foot of Mount Sinai. To clarify why He did this and what it means to reverence a holy God, I used the example of Mommy having a vase or a painting or a beautiful white dress that was so special and beautiful that you couldn't touch it, only look at it -- because your hands would get it dirty. God is perfect, and we are sinful. Only through Jesus are we made clean.
The story also contains the frightening display of God's power that has the Israelites cowering from Him. We talked about what it means to "fear God", saying that it comes from understanding His mighty strength and that we are all sinners. If you looked at a grizzly bear, with big teeth and claws, you would be very afraid. But if you were the baby bear cub of that grizzly, then you would understand that all the fierceness of that Mama Bear is working FOR her cubs, to protect them. When you are sorry for your sins (repent) and trust that Jesus took the punishment for them, YOU become like that bear cub. Instead of Mama Bear's enemy, you are her beloved child. As God's "cubs," we are still full of awe at His power, but we know that all that power is FOR us, working on our behalf, and will never be turned against us.
This curriculum is so good about giving a complete biblical picture of God. Understanding God's holiness and power helps us understand that God has the right to make the rules and that He alone is strong enough to help us. Understanding His rightful wrath against sin, which is what had the Israelites trembling from head to foot, is so important in helping us understand why we need a Savior so desperately. This is what Jesus saves us from -- God's judgment against sin. And the children are slowly and gently learning how to create a category in their minds to reverence and fear, in the correct sense, this Holy God who is Love and who Loves them.
I also really emphasized that even though we can't keep the Law all of the time, God is pleased by and blesses even the slightest bit of obedience to His Law and He loves to help you obey even more whenever you ask Him.
To review our verse, I gave the children clues and they located hidden words to Exodus 20:2-3, then we sang the verse jingle, emphasizing the last part, which is the First Commandment. This led us into a review of our Ten Commandments fingerplay.
We hold up a Number One, meaning God is the only One, as we sing "You shall have no other gods before me." (The children add, "No Way!") The entire "Ten Commandments" fingerplay can be found by clicking the link on the right of your screen.
In the upcoming weeks, we will go over and memorize all of the commandments as we continue working through the Book of Exodus. This week was an important foundation for this study, and I will be praying that these ideas will take root and that the Lord will give the children a deep desire to please Him by obeying Him. Thank you for bringing them each week and for training them diligently. The Lord is faithful and He loves to build the faith of little children.