Joshua
JOSHUA
Objectives:
- Students should be able to identify Joshua as Moses’s successor.
- Students should be able to tell the story of the battle of Jericho.
- Students should identify Joshua as the person who said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Possible Lesson Plan:
- Open with prayer.
- Scripture Reference: Joshua 2, 4, 6, 24:15; We have already met Joshua. Where? He was one of the spies sent by Moses to report about the Promised Land. Of the twelve spies, only Joshua and Caleb believed God could give the Israelites this land; the rest were afraid and wanted to turn back to Egypt!
- Learning Game: Relay Race. There are several events that occur in this chapter that can be re-enacted – the escape from Rahab’s roof, the crossing of the Jordan, and the defeat of Jericho. Line the class up in 2 teams. Place a chair about 1/3 of the way to the other side of the room in front of each team. Put a pile of 12 stones at the starting line and a trumpet or noisemaker at the end. Each contestant in turn must grab a stone, climb over Rahab’s wall (the chair), put his stone in the river (next to the trumpet), blow the horn, and run back to tag the next player. The game is over when one team deposits all its stones in the Jordan and the last player returns home.
- Discussion: Canaan contained many city-states, each with its own king. They were not about to let the Hebrews take their land without a fight! Why did Joshua feel he had to take the land? Do you think he got tired? How do we decide what’s worth fighting for? Do we ever get tired of fighting battles? What kind of battles do we fight?
A well-known verse from the book of Joshua is Joshua 24:15. Here Joshua is speaking for his entire household. If you were speaking for your household, whom would you serve? How can you tell whom Joshua served? How about you?
- Make a “Joshua Trumpet”: Take a trumpet-shaped plastic horn. Cover with gold paper and attach a string hanger. This one’s really easy, but pretty on the gold tree.
- Close with prayer. If any student mentioned something worth fighting for earlier, pray for that issue or need now.
