Old Testament Overview
Life Skills Outcomes
Values and Attitudes / Knowledge / Skills
Explain the importance of belonging to a group / List some key people and describe their events from the Old Testament / Describe the characteristics of a great leader from the Old Testament
Belonging to a Group
Complete the table below with words or pictures to show which communities you belong to.
1. What is the same in all your communities?
2. What differences are there between your communities?
3. Which communities do you belong to from birth?
4. Which communities do you choose to belong to?
Choose one group that you belong to.
Answer these questions:
What is the name of your group?
What type of group are you in?
Is this a group you have to join or could you be born into it?
What do you have in common with other people in your group?
Would you join a group like this? If so, why?
What are the good things about being in a group like this?
What does this group do?
Is there a leader for this group? Who sets the rules?
Rules or Promises we make when we join a group
When we join a group we need to follow rules, such a family rules at home or school rules.
Write down one rule that your family has at home.
Write down one rule that we need to follow at school.
Sometimes when we join a group, we make a promise such as a promise when we join Scouts or Guides.
Can you think of two promises that you have made to a group.
1.
2.
Discussion:
What is a promise?
How important are promises that we make?
What happens if we break a promise?
Whom does it effect?
God’s Covenant with Noah.
Do you remember the story of Noah’s Ark?
WHAT would you think of a man who built a great big boat right in the middle of a field where there was no water? I guess you'd say, "My, that would be a very strange man."
He wasn't strange, either! He did it because God asked him to; and God asked him because he knew that some day there would be water in that field, and the man would need a boat to keep from being drowned. And who was that man? His name was Noah!
Noah was a very good man. He loved God, and wanted to do everything he could to please God. And God loved Noah, too. He didn't want Noah to be drowned in the water that was coming upon the earth, so he told him to build a great big boat.
God made a promise to Noah that if he listened to Him and built the Ark, Noah, his family and the animals would be safe. It would have been hard for Noah to trust God and do as He asked. But Noah had faith and loved God.
Well, I guess you wonder how Noah could build a boat if he had never seen a boat! But he could, because God told him how to do it. God told him how long the boat should be, and how high and how wide it should be, and how many decks it should have. It was large enough for Noah and his family, besides many, many animals—some of every kind. It was called an ark.
The rain came and raining for forty days and forty nights – a very long time. Everything on the earth was washed away. Noah and everyone in the Ark was safe.
When Noah was very sure that the ground was dry enough, he opened up the big door in the side of the ark and they all came out—his family and all the animals and birds. It must have seemed good to get out of that big boat after all that time!
Noah was very happy that God had been so good to his family, so he built an altar of stones, and he made an offering to God. God was very much pleased with this. He told Noah that never, never again would he let it rain on the earth so much.
God wanted Noah really to believe this, so what do you suppose God did? He placed a beautiful rainbow in the sky, and he told Noah that this rainbow was a sign that never again would he let it rain and rain until all the land was covered with water. Now, isn't that wonderful?
God kept His promise and Noah was safe in the Ark. A sign of God’s promise was the Rainbow.
God’s Covenant with Abraham.
ISN'T it a wonderful thing to have friends? Did you know that God himself has friends? Yes, that's right. All the people here on earth who do the things that please him are God's friends. Of course we are all trying to do the things which please God, so we can be his friends.Abraham was a man who loved God and was a special friend to God. He and his family lived in the town of Haran. Back then, people lived with their families. Everyone lived close together and cared for each other.
One day, God told Abraham to do an unusual thing. God asked Abraham to leave his family and friends to travel to a new place. God told Abraham that He would make his people a great nation. God told Abraham that He would bless him and he would have many children. This was a special promise between Abraham and God.
Abraham listened to God and obeyed Him. Abraham was 75 years old when God told him to move. Abraham took his wife, Sarah, his nephew named Lot, and all his possessions and traveled where God led them.
Abraham was not even sure where God was leading him, but he followed and obeyed God. Abraham knew that God would protect them and bless them. He knew that God would keep His promises.
Abraham traveled through the land to a place where some of their enemies lived. God spoke to him and told him, “I will give you and your children this land.” The new land was called Canaan.
One day three men came to see Abraham and promised him that he and Sarah would soon have a son, even though he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old.
Isaac was born just as they had promised. One day God commanded Abraham to offer
Isaac as a sacrifice. God did not want Isaac to die, but he was testing Abraham. An angel saved the life of Isaac.
God’s Covenant with Moses.
Moses was the little baby that was found floating down the river in a basket.
The Pharoah (a king) at the time was afraid that all the boys would become soldiers and fight against him. He ordered that all the boy babies be killed.
When Moses was born, his mother hid him for 3 months. Then she made a basket ofgrassesand tar to make a small boat and put him in the Nile River. Pharaoh's daughter found him. His sister ran toget their mother to be a nurse for the child. The daughter of Pharaohadopted him.
When he was grown, he had to leave Egypt and went to the land of Midian. One day whilecaring for sheep, he saw a strange sight. A bush was on fire, but it didn't burn up. God spoke to him from the burning bush and told him to go to Egypt and free the people of Israel from slavery. Moses was afraid and didn't want to go, but he went. His brother Aaron went with him.
Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him that God wanted the children of Israel to leave Egypt, but Pharaoh said he didn't know the Lord and would not let the people leave.
God had given Moses and Aaron the power to work miracles. Aaron threw his rod down
and it became a snake. Pharaoh's magicians threw their rods down and they became snakes, but Aaron's snake ate their snakes. God was showing his power.
Ten plagues came upon the Egyptians because Pharaoh would not let the people leave.
A plagueis something really bad that happens and causes a lot of suffering and death.
Finally after thetenth plague, when his son died, Pharaoh let them go.
As God directed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, He guided them by a cloud during the day and by a pillar of fire at night.
The pharaoh changed his mind about letting his slaves go, so he sent an army to capture the Israelites. He caught up with them at the Red Sea shore. But God pushed back the waters and made a path on dry land. The Israelites passed through the walls of water to the other side, but when the Egyptians tried to come through, God caused the walls of sea water to fall on them. The Egyptians drowned, but God's people were saved.
As the Israelites traveled through the desert, they began to complain about their food. So God sent food from heaven. In the morning he sent sweet flakes of bread. Each day the people gathered onlyenough food for that one day. God sent new food every day. When they asked for meat, quail covered their camp and they were able to catch the birds for food.
The Israelites once camped at a place where there was no water. They complained to Moses.
The people and the cattle were very thirsty. Moses asked God what to do, and God told him to take his walking stick and hit the rock. When Moses did this, lots of cool water poured from the rock! The people had all they wanted.
The 10 Plagues of Egypt:
BloodFrogs
Gnat
Flies
Disease in Livestock / Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Death of Firstborn
Let my people go!
God turned the rivers to ______.But Pharaoh said, ‘______’. / God sent a plague of ______.
But Pharaoh said, ‘______’.
God sent a plague of ______.
But Pharaoh said, ‘______’. / God sent a plague of ______.
But Pharaoh said, ‘______’.
God sent sickness to the ______.
But still Pharaoh said, ‘______’. / God sent a plague of ______.
But Pharaoh said, ‘______’.
God sent a plague of ______.
But Pharaoh said, ‘______’. / God sent a plague of ______.
But Pharaoh said, ‘______’.
God covered the land in ______
But still Pharaoh said, ‘______’. / God sent an angel to kill the eldest ______
Finally, Pharaoh said, ‘______’.
And at last Moses could do as God asked and lead the Israelites out of Eygpt.
Optional Activity: Student can view the Film, Prince of Egypt
Leadership.
Your friend's definition of leadership______
Your teacher's definition of leadership:______
Your Principal's definition of leadership: ______
Your Year Coordinator’s definition of leadership:______
Your definition of leadership:______
What Makes A Leader?
There are lots of words we could use to describe a person that is a good leader.
Here are some:
Honest
Courageous
Helpful
Listens
Thinks carefully
Problem solver
Motivates other people
Other ______
Leaders In the Old Testament.
Noah was a leader
Moses was a leader
Abraham was a leader
Look at the stories of Noah, Moses and Abraham again.
Tick the box if you can see any of the Leadership qualities in them:
Leadership qualities / Noah / Moses / AbrahamOld Testament Leaders
Noah was a leader
Moses was a leader
Abraham was a leader
Design a poster that helps your class understand the special qualities of being a leader and why God chose Noah or Moses or Abraham as a leader for the people in the Old Testament.
Moses became leader because God asked him to.
God saw that he had the strength and wisdom to be a great leader.