YEA Lesson Library

Objectives

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

1. Retell the story of the fall of Jericho.

2. State the importance of following God's way exactly.

3. State that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.

Topics & Themes

God’s Laws
Jericho
Jesus, the Way
Joshua
Obedience
Salvation

Materials Needed

Bibles, YEA Students' and Teacher's books, pencils and pens, attendance and memory verse charts, stars, songbook, music player, CD or cassette, chalkboard and chalk, poster board jigsaw puzzles, markers and crayons, ziplock bags with the students' jigsaw puzzle pieces, treasure hunt clues, toaster oven, cookie dough, cookie pan, spatula

Preparation

Hands-on activities are fundamental in impacting our children long-term. The more you can involve all of their senses, the longer the lesson will remain in their memories. Try to prepare for each week's lesson early in the week to make the most of your teaching opportunity. Try to visualize how the lesson will progress. Incorporate visual (sight), auditory (hearing), tactile (touching), kinesthetic (movements) and olfactory (smell) stimuli, if possible.

Since the student lesson talks about baking cookies, plan to serve chocolate chip cookies during Sabbath class. If possible, teach your lesson, incorporating baking cookies. This does not have to be a big deal. Use prepared cookie dough. Bring a small toaster oven or convection oven to class. The effort you put into this will be well-rewarded. You will not believe how long the students will talk about you making cookies in class!

Tie the cookie baking with a treasure hunt. Before the students arrive, hide clues around the room. Each clue lead should to the next. The last clue should lead to the treasure. In this case, the cookies would be a great treasure. This will take some time and fore-thought. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time before the students arrive to hide the clues. Add a note on the Reminder page to create a Heroes Board Game for their ten-week challenge.

How to Teach This Lesson

Baking cookies - When students walk in, have treasure hunt clues hidden. Greet students with the smell of baking cookies. Open the class with prayer.

Following the recipe - Ask: What would happen if I didn't follow the recipe to make cookies? What would happen if I have the oven too hot? What would happen if I leave the cookies in the oven longer than the recipe calls for? Stress the importance of following the recipe.

The Fall of Jericho - Have students help you retell the story of Jericho, beginning with Joshua 5:13 and continuing through the end of Joshua 6. Talk about the commander of the army of the Lord. It is significant that he was neither for Joshua nor for their enemies. He was there to give Joshua directions. God was giving Jericho into Joshua's hands, but Joshua had to do it God's way.

Marching orders - Discuss who led the procession, what the seven priests were doing, where the Ark was, what the people did. Discuss what happened on days one through six. Talk about what the people might have felt like after six days. Remind the students that Israel had just come through the Jordan River, miraculously, and they'd set up the stones of remembrance in the plains of Jericho, at Gilgal. Ask the students if they think the experience of crossing the Jordan made the Israelites more likely or less likely to be willing to follow God's directions - and why.

Day seven - Discuss what happened on day seven. What were the Israelites supposed to do with the people of Jericho? What were they supposed to do with the precious metals?

Rahab - Although Jericho's inhabitants and animals were completely destroyed, Rahab and everyone in her house was saved. There is a powerful symbolism here with the scarlet cord in the window and the directions that only the people in the house would be saved. Ask: What other event in Israel's history does that make you think of? (Passover.)

Recipe for success - Joshua gives us a memorable example of obedience to God's directions. That's why he's our hero this week. Whether you are making cookies, Joshua is conquering Jericho, Rahab is being saved, or you are being saved, you have to follow the directions. If you don't follow the directions exactly, you will fail.

Ultimate recipe for success - Making cookies doesn't matter in the long run. It doesn't matter if you burn a few or if they crumble. But being in God's kingdom does matter. Joshua shows us that God cares that we follow His directions exactly. And God's directions say that Jesus Christ is the only way into God's Kingdom. He is the ultimate recipe for success.

Review Questions

1. Who did Joshua see near Jericho?

2. What directions did God give Joshua for conquering Jericho? Why?

3. What was different on the seventh day than on days one through six?

4. What did the Israelites do to the people and animals?

5. Who was the exception in the destruction of Jericho?

6. Why is it important to follow God's directions exactly?

7. How do we gain salvation?

Teacher-Directed Activity

Jigsaw Puzzle
Continue working on your jigsaw puzzle, using the piece for Lesson Seven. On one side, write "Joshua." On the other, write "obedient." Give the students their ziplock bags so they can continue with their jigsaw puzzle pieces too.

REACH Activity

Back to the Bible: Theophany
A theophany is an instance where we see God in physical form. It’s a God-sighting. By the time we come to Joshua 5, we’ve already seen God in physical form a few times. Read the following passages and look for clues that this is a God-sighting. I will do the first one for you.

Melchizedek - Genesis 14:17-24 - He was the king of Salem (Jerusalem), which means “peace.” Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Abraham gave him a tithe; when we give a tithe, we are giving it to God. Melchizedek brought out bread and wine - which are symbols of redemption. Additionally, Hebrews 7:1-3 indicates that Melchizedek had neither beginning nor end - that sounds like our Eternal God.

Jacob wrestles - Genesis 32:22-32

The Burning Bush - Exodus 3:1-6

Commander of the Lord’s Armies - Joshua 5:13-15

There are others: The thundering at the top of Mt. Sinai, the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire, 1 Corinthians 10:3 says that the Rock from which the water flowed was Christ. The ones above stand out because we connect them with the form of a person (except the burning bush). The others are still theophanies because they are the appearance of God’s presence.

Write a summary of each in your Bible notebook.

Journal Jot: Following Orders
What’s the big deal with following God’s orders precisely as He gives them? Why couldn’t they at least talk as they marched around Jericho? Why did they have to march seven times? Wouldn’t three times around have done it? You know, we may never know all of the reasons why God tells us to do something a certain way. But it doesn’t really matter. He’s in charge. He’s sovereign. He gets to decide how things should be done. He has a plan and He is not obligated to tell us why things work the way they do. Our job is simply to trust and obey! Write about this in your Bible notebook.

Word Study: commands - entolas
The word in 2 John 1:6 which is translated “commands” is the Greek word which means “an injunction, order, or command; properly, focusing on the end result or objective of a command.” (Source: https://biblehub.com/greek/1785.htm) This is interesting! In other words, God gives us commandments because of what will result from our obedience. It’s not just obedience for the sake of doing the thing; it’s obedience for the sake of the benefit from doing the thing. Keeping God’s commandments is for our good.

Write this word, is definition, and the scripture reference in your Bible notebook.

Just Toolin’ Around: Jericho
Using a Bible reference tool, encyclopedia, or book on Bible lands, do some research on Jericho. When was it founded? Who inhabited it? Where was it? How big was it when Joshua marched the Israelites around it? How many people are estimated to have lived in Jericho at that time? Find a map which shows the distance from Jerusalem and the Jordan River. Write down what you discover in your Bible notebook. Share your findings with your family.

Did you Know? The Curse of Jericho
Did you know that after Jericho fell, Joshua cursed the city? Joshua 6:26 records this curse. The curse was fulfilled centuries later as related in 1 Kings 16:34. Look up the curse and the fulfillment. Write a short paragraph describing it. File it in your Bible notebook.

Stretch It Out: Jericho and Trumpets
There are some interesting parallels between the fall of Jericho and the Feast of Trumpets. What do we know about the Feast of Trumpets? It was the first holy day in the seventh month. It was a day of shouting and trumpet blasts. Hmmm. What happened on the seventh day that the people walked around Jericho. They shouted and there were long trumpet blasts. What do we believe will happen on the Feast of Trumpets? Jesus will return, leading an angelic army, to set up His kingdom. Joshua (the Hebrew form of Jesus) led the army of Israelites as they began to conquer the land - the Promised Land. Jericho was well-fortified; it had water; it was just after the spring harvest. It would have been able to withstand any human army for a long time. But it was not able to withstand God’s will. Similarly, there will not be any who are able to stand in opposition to Jesus Christ - every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord! Then there are those in Rahab’s house who were saved by her faith in God. We are only saved from destruction by our faith in Jesus Christ. The red cord points to the blood of Jesus Christ, which marks every believer as protected from destruction. One other interesting point: Jericho was burned with fire. 2 Peter 3:7 says that the earth will be destroyed by fire. Chart out all of these parallels. File it in your Bible notebook. Add any other parallels that you see.

Music Notes: Battle Hymn of the Republic
This hymn is on page 12 of the CEM Hymnal.

The text for this hymn was written by Julia Ward Howe after she, her husband, and their pastor stood listening to the soldiers singing as they marched down the street. The melody was wonderful. The words to the song were terrible: “John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave.” Her pastor, James Clarke, suggested that she write some decent words for it. She said she would try. Later, she wrote in her journal, “I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, ‘I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!’ So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen. . . I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.” The words spread quickly upon being published for the popular tune and it was sung at a political rally. Abraham Lincoln was so overjoyed when he heard the inspiring words, he shouted out, “Sing it again!” The choir did. (Source: 52 Hymn Story Devotions, Lucy Neeley Adams, 2000, pgs. 13-14).

Imagine you are among the Israelites marching around Jericho or among those who are still alive when Jesus returns. Can you imagine the crowd of people singing, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”? What are the most powerful lines in Julia Howe’s poem, in your opinion? Write them down. Sing the hymn. Praise God that He will come again and the evils of this world will be defeated!

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

Song

"Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho" is on page 7 of Kids Classics Collection.

Closing Prayer

Ask for a volunteer to lead in prayer asking for God's help in being obedient and truly knowing that their salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.