YEA Lesson Library
Made Right
About This Lesson
This lesson teaches about the Day of Atonement: the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies, the two goats, and God forgiving the community of sin.
Scriptures
Leviticus 16:21-22
Leviticus 23:26-32
Psalm 103:10-12
Romans 4:7
2 Corinthians 5:21
Hebrews 9:7-12
Hebrews 9:28
Words to Know
ATONEMENT - to make right
The Lesson
In Bible times people did bad things, too. And these bad things always made God sad. So, God set a special time when His people could make things right with Him. We call this the Day of Atonement.
God gave the High Priest some very special things to do in the Temple on the Day of Atonement. God told him to take a bath and put on a white linen robe before he could go in a special room that was called the Holy of Holies. The High Priest was to take a bullock and make an atonement for his sins and his families’ sins – for all the bad things they had done. Next God told the High Priest to take a goat and make an atonement for all the people’s sins, for their neighbors, their families, and everyone who lived in their country.
Then the High Priest came out into the courtyard where there was another goat. God said, “Lay your hands on this goat’s head.” The high priest told God all the bad things the people had done. Then another man took this goat far, far away into the wilderness and let it go. This was like taking all the bad things we’ve done so far away that God can’t see them. God said this service was to be done in the Temple every year.
How is this day different from the Passover? Jesus died for your sins on the Passover. We keep the Day of Atonement because we want God to forgive our bothers, our sisters, our friends and our nation of all the bad things they have done. If we want God to forgive us, we must tell Him that we’ve done bad things, and ask Him to forgive us.
On the Day of Atonement we are not to do any work. We go to church and thank God for forgiving our sins.
Daily Devotions
Sunday - Leviticus 23:27-28
Monday - Hebrews 9:7
Tuesday - Hebrews 9:11-12
Wednesday - Hebrews 9:28
Thursday - Leviticus 16:21-22
Friday - 2 Corinthians 5:21
Saturday - Psalm 103:10-12
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, children will be able to:
1. Define atonement as making things right with God.
2. Explain that on the Day of Atonement the High Priest made an atonement for all the people in their country.
3. State that the second goat was taken far, far away like our sins are.
Topics & Themes
Atonement
Atonement, Day of
Fasting
Forgiveness
Goats
High Priest
Holy Days
Holy of Holies
Jesus, Death of
Priestly Garments
Reconciliation
Sin
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA students’ and teacher’s books, music player and CD or tapes, white shirt, construction paper, paper fasteners, scissors, crayons, Ken doll, white fabric, boxes, gold foil, lampstand, 2 small toy goats, and a small toy bull, 12 tiny unleavened bread cakes, paper brads
Preparation
“Moral educators without the Bible have a constant dilemma. There is no ultimate standard. . . But the Christian teacher. . . can teach what God says. . . From the Bible stories, children can learn to see the right things and the wrong things people do. They can begin to learn the word sin. Sin is doing the things God does not want you to do, or it is not doing the things God wants you to do” (Teaching Kindergartners, by Ruth Beechick).
It is important that even the young child learns how their sins can be forgiven and their relationship be Made Right with the Creator of the universe. Hebrews chapter 9 tells us that Christ, our high priest, entered the presence of the Father, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own precious blood. He presented His sacrifice as the price to set us free from sin forever. We no longer offer an animal sacrifice yearly as atonement for our sins. Jesus died once for all! One difference in Passover and Atonement is Passover represents Christ dying as a sacrifice for our individual sins and Atonement is communal forgiveness.
A visual representation will make it easier and improve understanding of this ceremony. Before class, make a simple Temple model out of a cardboard box, cover the inside with gold foil paper, divide off the Holy of Holies with a curtain, add the lampstand, make the altar, altar of incense, and table from small boxes covered with gold foil (see the diagram in the NIV Study Bible, pages 124, 125.). Dress a Ken doll completely in white for him to represent the High Priest.
Before you come to class, make enough copies of the animal circle and the question circle (See the pattern page) for each student to have one. You will need to cut the opening for the students, and have a brad for each child.
Review Questions
1. Why do we celebrate the Day of Atonement?
2. What color clothes did the High Priest wear on the Day of Atonement?
3. How many goats were used on the Day of Atonement?
4. Why was one goat taken far, far away into the wilderness?
Pattern Page
need pattern page
REACH Activity
Letter: H
Words: high, holy, holies, his, he, hands, head, happy
Sentence:
ON ATONEMENT, THE HIGH PRIEST ENTERED THE HOLY OF HOLIES. HE ALSO LAID HIS HANDS ON THE HEAD OF THE SECOND GOAT. WE ARE HAPPY THAT JESUS IS OUR HIGH PRIEST.
Song
“Happy All The Time” is on page 40 of Kids Classics Collection.
Closing Prayer
Form a circle and have the children hold hands while you say a prayer of thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins.
Printable Pages
