YEA Lesson Library

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Recite the Seventh Commandment.

2. Give a negative and positive biblical example of the Seventh Commandment.

3. State the importance of not letting anything evil or vile in your life.

4. State that Jesus is the Light and we should live as children of light.

Topics & Themes

Adultery
Light
Potiphar’s Wife
Temptation
Ten Commandments
Adultery

Materials Needed

Bible, YEA Students' and Teacher's books, pencils, pens, attendance and memory verse charts, stars, songbook, cassette or CD, music player, chalkboard, chalk, song “Shut De Door,” bowling ball, Ix8x8 or longer table, labels

Preparation

Adultery is a topic that will be very sensitive for parents. Please take time to let each parent individually know that you are not planning to teach sex ed or go into details about what constitutes adultery. Also inform them that you will direct the students' questions to their respective parents for further clarification. You may wish to ask about the students' awareness level of the definition of adultery so that you are not going into this lesson without any idea of the prior knowledge base of the students. Emphasize that you are planning to focus on staying away from evil and looking to Jesus Christ.

Also, as you talk about the Words to Know, plan to spend some time explaining how Webster's definition of "tolerance" differs from the definition from some quarters in our society. Webster says that tolerance is showing appropriate respect to others who have different beliefs than your own. There is a trend towards the idea that if you pass judgment on whether those beliefs are right or wrong, then you are intolerant, and in some cases, guilty of hate crimes and bigotry. Make sure the students know that it is right to respectfully tolerate another's opinion, but it doesn't mean you have to accept it as a good idea if it is wrong or just plain stupid.

How to Teach This Lesson

After opening the class with prayer, play the song, "Shut De Door," or sing it. (It is in The Group Songbook and is available from CEM). Then talk about what it means: "Shut de Door; keep out the devil. Shut de Door; keep the devil in the night. Shut de door; keep out the devil. Light a candle; everything's all right."

Debrief - Ask students to come up with examples of how you might shut the door on the devil. Write their thoughts on the board. Read Genesis 39:7-12. Ask: How did Joseph shut the door on sin? (By running from Potiphar's wife.)

Read 2 Samuel 11:2-5. Ask: What should David have done to shut the door on sin? (Stop looking at Bathsheba and not invite her over to his house.) What consequences did David experience because of this sin? (His son from that sinful act died.) Emphasize that it is a common human temptation to think that you'll be able to stop your behavior before it gets too bad. It usually doesn't work that way.

Snowball analogy - Ask: Who can tell us what happens when you keep rolling a ball in the snow? (Once that snowball starts rolling, it goes faster and faster. It gets bigger and bigger. Pretty soon, that tiny snowball that was formed in your hands is so big that it could easily crush you if you got in its way.) How is this snowball analogy like what happens to our behavior, thoughts, and actions? Has there ever been a time when things got out of control for you? Would anyone like to tell us about it?

Read Psalm 101:3 - Ask the students to list the kinds of things they should stay away from. List these on the chalkboard as they give them. (They should include things like TV programs that glorify wrong behaviors, R-rated movies, some songs, unchaperoned parties, pressure from peers to do the wrong thing, books which are not wholesome, etc.).

Read Ephesians 5:11, 15 - Ask: How does this relate to the list of things we just wrote on the board?

Read Ephesians 5:8 - Ask: It should always be our goal to emulate who? (Our elder Brother, Jesus Christ.) Why? (He is the Light of the world. We need to live as children of light. And we want nothing to do with darkness.)

Review Questions

What is the Seventh Commandment? What is one example in the Bible of someone who broke the Seventh Commandment? What is one example in the Bible of someone who avoided breaking the Seventh Commandment? How did Joseph keep from breaking the Seventh Commandment? Why should we not let anything evil or vile into our lives? What does it mean not to let anything evil or vile into your life? Who is the Light of the world? We should try to live as children of what?

Teacher-Directed Activity

Take the list of thoughts and behaviors the students have listed ( How to Teach This Lesson, paragraph "Read Psalm 101:3"). Have the students rank them in order of least vile to most vile. Write them on labels and stick them on the board or long table. Slant the table or board. Place a bowling ball at the top of the board. The bowling ball represents the student. Ask for a volunteer to stop the ball at the first label. Direct them to stop it with the least force necessary, i.e. one finger. (Take precautions so no one gets hurt.) Continue down the board, each time stopping the ball a little farther down the slope. Let each student try to stop the ball and experience the increased difficulty in stopping the ball the further it progresses down the slope. Reemphasize the importance of staying away from wrong thoughts and wrong behavior.

REACH Activity

Back to the Bible: Ephesians 5:8,11,15
These three verses in Ephesians 5 provide a contrast. Walk as children of light; stay away from evil; carefully think about how you live your life. Think about a Bible character who did this! Who walked in a way to bring God honor? Who stayed away from doing the wrong thing? Who carefully considered how he (or she) was living her life? Find their story in the Bible. Read it. Then write down some of the highlights in your Bible notebook. Be sure to write down the Bible references. Share your thoughts with your family.

Journal Jot: Before My Eyes
Psalm 101:3 says, “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. . . .” Can you think of anything worthless (defined as worthless, evil, or wicked) that you see in your daily life? Can you take steps to get away from that thing? (Homework and chores are not worthless or evil!! Nice try, though.) Make a list of things that you know would not be pleasing to God. My list has movies that take God’s name in vain, some tv commercials, some popular songs . . . What can you add? What would be better things to set before your eyes? My list includes time with my family, the Bible, helping others . . . What can you add? Write about this in your Bible notebook.

Word Study: belîyaal
This word is found in Psalm 101:3. It is translated as “worthless” in the NAS, “vile” in the NIV, and “wicked” in the KJV.

This noun means worthlessness, good-for-nothingness, wickedness, perdition, a wicked man, a destroyer. In 2 Corinthians 6:15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3 it refers to Satan. (Source: Zodhiates’ NAS Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, 1990.)

Write this word, its definition, and where it is found in your Bible notebook. Then find three other places where it is used in the Old Testament.

Just Toolin’ Around: Walk Worthy
We have a calling from God to be lights to the people around us. Using a Bible resource (Bible app, concordance, lexicon, study Bible, center reference Bible, etc.), look up “light” and “walk worthy.” Find scriptures which talk about the conduct which glorifies God. Write down five that really stand out to you. Make road sign posters: stop signs for behaviors you shouldn’t do; one way signs for directions you want to go, etc. Write the verses you found on the appropriate signs. Display in your sabbath school room at church, with permission from your pastor and/or teacher.

Did you Know? Don’t Even Start
We found a black snake on our front porch, above the porch swing, trying to get to a nest of baby birds. We captured him in a trash can and took him a half mile away. He was back the next morning. He knew those baby birds were there and he wanted them.

We had a black lab who followed us to the blackberry patch one year. Christopher fed her a blackberry because she wanted to know what we were doing. She found out that she liked blackberries and would go help herself.

My aunt taught her horse to jump over the cattle guard (autogate). Once Joker knew that he could do that, she could never again put him in a pasture that had an autogate because he wouldn’t stay there.

Here’s the point: once you start a behavior, it is very difficult to stop. Don’t even start. Don’t get involved with anything that is worthless or displeasing to God. It is so very hard to get untangled from it, even when you think you can.

Talk about this with your parents. They will likely have real-life examples to share with you to help encourage you to carefully consider the choices you make.

Stretch It Out: Accountability Partner
Sometimes it helps to have someone working with you to stay away from a thing - especially when most of the people around you want to do the thing. Find a friend who feels like you do. Talk about helping each other stay away from something that you know wouldn’t be pleasing to God. Talk about concrete ways to help each other stay away from worthless things. Set a goal of substituting good things and encouraging each other. Keep track of your progress. Celebrate your successes. For instance, if one friend wants to watch a tv show that is full of taking God’s name in vain or violence or promiscuity, you and your friend should have already decided you would be vocal about watching something else or doing something else, like playing a board game or an activity outside.

Music Notes: Send the Light
This hymn is on page 157 of the CEM Hymnal.

The words and music for this hymn were written by Charles H. Gabriel, a young man from Iowa who loved music. He taught himself to play a small reed organ and was leading singing schools by the time he was 16. He was asked to write a missionary hymn. “Send the Light” grew in popularity overnight. Soon Charles was writing music full time. He is best known for his seven thousand hymns. He wrote the music for “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” “Higher Ground,” “Brighten the Corner Where You Are,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart.” He wrote the words and music for these hymns “I Stand Amazed in the Presence,” “What a Savior,” “That Will Be Glory for Me,” and “Send the Light.” (Source: Then Sings My Soul, Robert Morgan, 2004, p. 2123.)

As you sing this hymn, pay close attention to the words. Are there any which really speak to you? Remember, we are called to be a light to the people around us. Write your favorite lines in your Bible notebook.

Questions?
Write down any questions you have in your Bible notebook so that you can remember to ask your parents or your pastor.

Song

"Jesus Bids Us Shine" is on page 37 of the Kids Classics Collection.

Closing Prayer

Ask a volunteer to lead in prayer asking God to keep them from everything evil and vile and to help them always choose to live as children of light.