Archive for month: July, 2020

Read Together: God designed a plan whereby He would have a family with whom He would share eternity. So He planned to create mankind in His image, place them in a beautiful environment, and create circumstances in which they would have to choose to do right or wrong. God knew that giving mankind free moral agency was the only way they could develop the godly character needed to live in peace and harmony forever. He also knew that it could result in sometimes choosing the wrong way, which would cause misery and lead to death. God did not want a family who was in turmoil and misery for all eternity, so before He created mankind He also designed a plan to save them from eternal death and bring them into His family. He gave us His Holy Days to teach us about His plan of salvation. God designed the Holy Days around the harvest seasons in Palestine, which include the spring, early summer, and fall. In the next few lessons, we will discuss the spring Holy Days, Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, and what they picture in God’s plan of salvation. We have the privilege to understand and be a part of this truly awesome plan.

Read Together: 1 Peter 1:19–20; Genesis 2:7–9, 15–17; Deuteronomy 16:16; Leviticus 23:1–4.

Discuss:

• Discuss with your child what it means to have free moral agency. Mankind has not been given the right to determine what is right and wrong. We choose whether or not we will do what is right as God defines it.
• Explain to your child that God made humans physical and not with spirit as He did the angels, so that if they refused to learn to obey Him, they would not have to live in unhappiness for all eternity. They would simply die a physical death like all humans do.  (Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:8).
• Help your child understand that their ultimate destiny is to be born into the family of God as one of His children(Romans 8:14–16; Hebrews 2:6–8; Psalm 82:6).
• Ask your child what they would like to do when they become a spirit being in God’s family. Share what you look forward to doing.

Review Memorization:

Romans 5:10  “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

Includes the lessons:

• Lesson 17 “Families Grew into Nations”
• Lesson 18 “Nimrod”
• Lesson 19 “The Tower of Babel”
• Lesson 20 “God Confuses the Language”

Read Together: The descendants of Abraham, now called the children of Israel, were living as slaves in the land of Egypt just as God had foretold. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, commanded that all infant boys be killed, but Amram and Jochebed wanted to save their newborn son. Jochebed placed her son in a basket of reeds and put him in the river to be protected from the Pharaoh’s order. The Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket among the reeds in the river and was moved to rescue the baby inside. The thought came to her to raise him as her own son! She named him Moses, and brought him into Pharaoh’s palace. The name “Moses” was perfect since it means “to draw or bring out of the water”. He grew up in the palace, as if he were a prince of Egypt, but he knew that he was really an Israelite. Then one day, Moses went out to see how his brethren were doing. When he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite, he lost his temper and killed the Egyptian. When the Pharaoh found out he was very angry, so Moses decided to run away. He escaped to the land of Midian, and eventually married a woman named Zipporah. Meanwhile, the children of Israel continued to suffer in slavery. Little did they know that God was planning to use Moses, the prince of Egypt, to free them from the Pharaoh.

Read Together: Genesis 15:13–14; Exodus 1:8–17; 2:1–25

Discuss:

• Explain to your child in a way they can understand that Pharaoh had absolute power over life and death of everyone under his authority.
• Help your child to see the bravery that the midwives, and Moses’ mother, father, and sister showed in hiding Moses from Pharaoh.
• Ask your child what they think it might have been like to grow up in Pharaoh’s palace with servants and riches.
• Help your child to understand that the Israelites were powerless to free themselves from Egypt. Only God could set them free!

Review Memorization:

The Ten Plagues: (1) Waters turned to blood, (2) Frogs, (3) Lice, (4) Flies, (5) Animals die, (6) Boils, (7) Hail, (8) Locusts, (9) Darkness , (10) Death of the Firstborn

Read Together: God gave ancient Israel instructions concerning Passover observance. On the tenth day in the first month of the year, each family was told to select a special, Passover lamb. This lamb was to be perfect, without any blemishes at all. Four days later, as the 14th day of the first month was just beginning at sunset, they were required to kill the lamb, cook it, and eat it as part of a special Passover meal, putting some of the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Those who did this would be protected from the death angel, who would kill all the firstborn in the land, except those in houses with the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Every year after that, the Israelites were commanded to eat a Passover meal on this same night and remember how God had spared them from the death of the firstborn in their home.  

But this Passover lamb also symbolized something more. All humans are under the threat of death because we all have sinned, and death is the penalty for sinning against God. We may not have the death angel passing over us, but we still are subject to death for our sins. Instead of a Passover lamb, however, we have Jesus Christ. Christ was the perfect sacrifice who was willing to become a human being and then die for our sins, protecting us from death, just as the blood of the lamb on the doorway protected the Israelites.

Read Together:  Exodus 12:3–8, 43–47; Leviticus 23:4–5; Romans 3:23; 6:23; Hebrews 10:4; John 1:1–3; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:23; Philippians 2:5–8; John 10:17–18; 3:16; 1:29.

Discuss:

• Ask your child why they think the lamb selected for Passover had to be without any blemishes. How does this relate to Jesus Christ?
• People often question why Christ had to die. Discuss this with your child. Be sure to relate that God will not compromise with sin and that there could be no pardon of sins without shedding blood (Hebrews 9:22). Christ had to die to atone for mankind’s sins, giving you, your child, and every human being who has ever lived a chance for salvation and eternal life in God’s family.
• Discuss with your child how awful sin is and why God hates it. Choose one of the Ten Commandments and talk about how breaking it causes misery, pain, and suffering. How different would the world be if that commandment was kept? Remind your student that it is because of sin that Christ had to die.

Review Memorization:

1 Corinthians 5:7  “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Read Together: The Days of Unleavened Bread begin immediately after the Passover, on the fifteenth day of the first month. For seven days, all of Israel was to have no leaven in their homes and to eat unleavened bread. The first and last Days of Unleavened Bread are Holy Days to the Eternal. During the Days of Unleavened Bread, leavening agents picture sin which causes people to be puffed up with pride and vanity. Putting leavening out of our homes reminds us that we are to put sin out of our lives. When Peter told the Jews that they had crucified the Son of God, they asked what they should do. Because every person has sinned, each of us is responsible for the death of Christ. He had to die to pay the penalty for our sins. When we acknowledge this fact, we face the same question of what to do. Peter’s replied that they must “repent”. We repent of sinning, which is the transgression of God’s law. Repentance means to turn from the way of life that leads to death and to follow God’s way leading to eternal life. Eating unleavened bread for seven days pictures feeding on Christ, the true unleavened bread, in whom dwelt no sin. We feed on Christ by studying His word which transforms our minds. As we do, we begin to be more like Christ. As Dr. Roderick C. Meredith often said, we will begin to think like God thinks, want what God wants, and do what God would do. If we feed on Christ, God will give us eternal life, because He is the “bread of life.”

Read Together:  Exodus 23:14–17; Leviticus 23:4, 6–8; Acts 2:36–38; I John 3:4; 1 Corinthians 15:3; John 6:35, 47–51; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:11–16; John 6:57–58.

Discuss:

• Talk with your child about sin. Explain that the Ten Commandments are the foundation for all of God’s laws. We are to obey all of the Commandments, even those we may feel are the least important (Matthew 5:19).
• Talk with your child about repentance. Explain that repentance is more than being sorry. It means that with God’s help, we stop committing the offense.
• Ask your student what is his/her favorite thing about the Days of Unleavened Bread. Is it getting together with friends on the Holy Days or perhaps a special treat that is only baked at that time? Share what you enjoy about that time.

Review Memorization:

Romans 5:10 “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”