Passage to Study: Numbers 21:4-9; Num. 20:14-21;Deut. 2:1-8.
Read with the class: Numbers 21:4-9.
Memorization Text: Younger children - John 3:14.
Older children - John 3:14.
OBJECTIVES: To teach that:
1 God's patience has its limits.
2.When God speaks by way of judgment, He ensures that His voice is clearly heard.
3. Sin, when committed, must be punished.
4. The serpent lifted up on a pole speaks of Christ, lifted up on the cross.
5. The essence of faith is 1) Hearing; 2) Believing, and 3) Acting upon what was heard.
SCENE No. 1. VISUAL AIDS: A desert scene in which the Israelites are being attacked by
poisonous serpents.
DEVELOPMENT:
- It is 40 years since the Israelites left Egypt and 38 years have been spent wandering in
the desert
- The children of Israel have come back to Kadesh, the place from which they had sent out
spies to inspect the Promised Land many years before.
- Moses now sends messengers to ask permission of the Edomites to pass through their
land by the most direct route, the "king's high way". (Num. 20:14-21).
- Permission is denied and Israel has to go around the land of Edom. From Kadesh they head
south, reaching Elath and Ezion-gaber on the eastern arm of the Red Sea before turning
North. (Deut.2:8).
- To the east of Edom, on the route they take, lies the desolate valley of Acaba
that extends from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. (See Bible map).
- The route is long, indirect and dangerous.
- This trip is described in Deut. 1 and 2, where it refers to "all that great and
terrible wilderness."
- They are obliged to go this way because God has forbidden them to fight against the
Edomites.
- This difficult trip produces impatience amongst the Israelites.
Apl. There are events in the lives of children and young people, which cause
discouragement. Ask the students to relate events in their lives when they have felt
frustrated and needed to be patient.
Lxn. Instead of complaining, we should ask the Lord to give us understanding about why He
has permitted these difficulties in our lives, what His solution is and what we can learn
from the experience.
- When they complain, the people speak against God and against Moses, blaming Moses for
having taken them out of Egypt.
Cns. Those who now murmur were children of the Israelites who came out of Egypt.
Apl. The human heart does not change. Successive generations commit the same sin as their
forefathers.
- They complain yet again of the lack of water and the bread with which God has fed them
freely throughout all these years.
Cmt. They are ungrateful and do not appreciate that which has its source in heaven.
- They despise the bread from heaven calling it "light bread".
Cns. One who does not appreciate the manna will not know how to value that which is
heavenly.
- Punished by the fiery serpents, the people realize they have sinned.
SCENE No. 2. VISUAL AID: In their camp, the Israelites look towards the
serpent of brass, raised high on a pole.
DEVELOPMENT:
- With the serpent of brass lifted up as God commanded, the Israelite that believes His
word looks toward it. The result is that they no longer face immediate death. To look is
to
live.
Apl. Stress that the message of God transmitted by Moses was:
1) SIMPLE;
2) EXPLICIT;
3) OF DIVINE ORIGIN; and
4) COMMUNICATED.
- In order to have an effect upon the people, their response required a:
A) RECOGNITION of their NEED;
B) ACCEPTANCE of the REMEDY; and
C) EXERCISE OF FAITH to CARRY OUT THE REQUIRED ACTION.
Sug. After you have broken down each part of the message given the Israelites, show that
the gospel given to us requires the same elements be present.
Both are:
1. SIMPLE. Look and live.
2. EXPLICIT. COME, is a word simple and easy to understand. Even the smallest child can
take it in.
3. OF DIVINE ORIGIN. It was not a "solution" suggested by Moses but was an
explicit instruction given by God Himself.
4. COMMUNICATED. It would have been of no use had it been kept secret.
Cmt. The message was probably passed along from one to another.
Cns. Those who had proved its worth would be the most enthusiastic in proclaiming it.
The Three "R"s:
A. RECOGNITION. It is useless for the needy person to deny his urgent need.
B. REMEDY. To doubt the efficacy of the remedy would result in not making use of it.
C. REACTION. It was not enough to recognize the need and to have a remedy in existence if
the affected person did not exercise faith and look at the serpent.
Cmt. The teacher should have no problem in presenting the gospel, pointing to Christ as
the Object of faith.
SCENE No. 3. VISUAL AID: Arrange individual figures around the serpent on the pole and
other figures around a cross. The figures of this scene represent different reactions of
the people to what God has said and to the salvation He offers.
APPLICATION:
GROUP around the serpent on a pole:
1. One who wants to do a service to receive salvation/healing.
Cmt. Stress that the gift of life cannot be merited.
2. Another offers something he/she produced for salvation or healing.
Cmt. Mention that God offers nothing in exchange for something.
3. One wants to use some snakebite oil he knows about instead of the remedy God has given.
4. Someone else believes some special diet will help.
Cmt. Home remedies and products do not take God into account.
Cmt. Any human attempt to find a solution is the product of misplaced faith. The person
puts faith in him or herself, and not in God Himself.
GROUP arranged around a cross:
5. One studies in order to learn the Ten Commandments and keep them.
Cmt. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God", not by learning or
knowing the content of some teaching.
6. Another believes that baptism, either as a child or adult, will save.
7. Another (figure of a person asleep) seeks a revelation in a dream.
8 .Some believe that caring for the environment is a way of salvation.
DEVELOPMENT:
- The only thing that can heal the sick from the bite of a serpent or save a person from
sin is a recognition of one's need and obedience to the Word of God.
- Upon looking at the remedy provided, the sick one finds what is needed and finds it
IMMEDIATELY.
- This ends the effect of the poison in that person.
SCENE No.4. Text John 3:14 and 15. VISUAL AID:
Figures of the serpent on a pole and several children of Bible times looking at it. On the
other half of the board, place a cross and children of today looking at it. Add a
group of people of different races and nations, representing "whosoever".
DEVELOPMENT:
Cmt. The important part of this lesson is that sin has its consequences. The Bible says:
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die".
- Death is a punishment.
Cns. John 3:14. The comments made by the Lord Jesus to Nicodemus give clear teaching as to
the meaning of this historical event of the serpent lifted up among the Israelites.
- Christ was lifted up on the cross, bearing the punishment that the sinner deserves.
- Those who recognize their need and accept by faith the Lord Jesus Christ, the provided
remedy, are freed from eternal condemnation.
- Eternal death is the condemnation decreed by God.
- Christ is the Only Remedy.
Note: If convenient, mention Nicodemus as one who heard the reference to the historical
event and, as a teacher in Israel, would know it. He saw the Lord Jesus raised up, and
proof that he believed is that he helped Joseph of Arimathea place the Lord's body in the
tomb. |
