Goal:
The goal of the lesson is to teach the 4th Commandment and its relationship to the Sabbaths, Holy Days, Feasts and New Moons.
Objectives:
1. To show the children that God ordained the Sabbath.
2. To make sure the children understand that the Sabbath was made for us as a gift (Mark 2:27).
3. To show the children that the Sabbath commandment is linked with the Holy Days, Feasts, New Moons, Sabbatical Years and the Jubilee.
Relevant Scriptures:
Matthew 22:37-40
Exodus 20:8-11
Exodus 31:15-18
Mark 2:27
Isaiah 58:13-14
Leviticus 23:3-4
Reference Material:
The Ten
Commandments (No. CB17)
The New Moon Sacrifices
(No. CB134)
The Sabbath Days of the One True God (No. CB133)
Lesson: The Sabbath Days of the One True God (No.
CB133_2)
Memory Scripture:
Exodus 20:8: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Format:
Open with prayer.
Poster Board Activity (Optional). If using the poster board from the previous lesson add the fourth commandment to the poster board.
Lesson on The Fourth Commandment.
Activity associated with the lesson
Close with prayer
Lesson:
1. Read through the paper The Fourth Commandment (No. CB73) unless it is read as a sermonette with the children present.
2. Children’s questions are in bold. This is a general review of the material covered in the lesson.
Q1. How many commandments are there?
A. There are ten commandments.
Q2. The Ten Commandments fall under two “Great”
commandments. What are they?
A. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.
Q3. Which of the ten commandments make up the
First Great? Second Great?
A. The first four commandments make up the First Great and teach us how to love God and the next six commandments make up the Second Great and teach us how to love our neighbor.
Q4. What is the Fourth Commandment?
A. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.
Q5. The Sabbath is called a sign between God and
his people. Why is that?
A. In six days God created heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested. God set apart the seventh day of the week and it is a marker for God’s people.
Q6. Did physical Israel keep the Sabbath before
the Ten Commandments were given at Mt. Sinai?
A. Yes! God’s Laws have always existed.
Q7. How was physical Israel reminded of God’s
Sabbath day in the wilderness after the exodus?
A. Through the miracle of the manna. The Sabbath was a test to see if they would keep God’s laws and gather what they needed on the preparation day so they could rest on the Sabbath.
Q8. What does holy mean?
A. Holy means to set apart, sanctify, hallow, dedicate or keep sacred. The Sabbath is a time to draw closer to God.
Q9. Is keeping the Sabbath and following God’s
way of life always easy?
A. Sometimes keeping the Sabbath day holy can seem hard, but when we look forward to the Sabbath as a delight we learn that it no longer becomes an obligation, but rather a gift from God that we can enjoy.
Q10. Does the Fourth Commandment only cover the
weekly Sabbath, or does it pertain to other days too?
A. The Fourth commandment also includes the Holy Days, Annual Feasts and New Moons. It includes any day or time that God has set apart as holy which can also include Sabbath Years during the Jubilee.
Q11. Which years during the Jubilee are considered
Sabbath years of rest?
A. Every seven years plus the 50th. (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, 35th, 42nd, 49th, and 50th). The most recent Jubilee year was 1977 and the next one will be in 2027.
Q12. What are some things we do during the Sabbath
years of rest?
A. We give our land rest, property is returned to families, we forgive debt, we read the law of God at Tabernacles and we give offerings instead of tithes.
Q13. Did Jesus Christ keep the Fourth Commandment?
A. Of course! Jesus Christ kept all of God’s commandments. In John 10:15 Jesus Christ said “I have kept my Father’s commandments.”
Q14.
What are some of the things we do on the Sabbath Day?
A. We rest from our work (Deut. 5:14), study God’s word, pray to Him, go to services, enjoy our families and church friends, and think about all the things He is doing for us. It is a day of rest from work.
Note: The Sabbath Days of the One True God (No. CB133) contains much more detail about how we keep the Sabbath, when the Sabbath begins, things to do and not do, and the expanded meaning of the Sabbath Day.
Activity
Options:
Visual Jubilee/Penecost Counter.
Supplies:
1. Elastic beading cord
2. 42 white beads per child (non Sabbath years)
3. 7 blue beads per child (Sabbath years)
4. 1 purple bead per child. (Jubilee year)
5. If no beads are available, you can also make a paper chain using white, blue and purple strips of paper.
Each child will make a Jubilee bead counter. They will string together 50 beads, one for each year in the Jubilee. The white beads represent the six non Sabbath years, the blue beads represent the seven Sabbath years, and the purple bead will be for the 50th or Jubilee year. (Note: This counter is similar to the ‘Count to Pentecost’ counter, which counts the seven perfect Sabbaths and the 50 days to Pentecost. The only difference is now we are counting by years instead of days as we did on the Pentecost bead count.)
This is an example of what the finished counter will look like.
–OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—
Point out to the children which bead they are
on depending on the current year. The
first bead is 1977 and the last purple bead is 2027. Have the children find the bead which shows
the year they were born!
