YEA Lesson Library
It’s a Joyful Feast
About This Lesson
This lesson teaches the historical foundation for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles as well as the temporary nature of this life.
Scriptures
Leviticus 23:33-44
Leviticus 23:42
Numbers 29:12
Deuteronomy 14:22-27
Deuteronomy 16:13-16
Zechariah 14:16
John 1:14
Hebrews 11:8-16
Words to Know
TABERNACLE - dwelling place; tent; booth; temporary dwelling.
PROMISED LAND - the land that God gave to the Israelites
BOOTH - tent; hut; tabernacle
The Lesson
Pack your clothes and get ready. We’re going to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles!” Mom says. Hurray! Aren’t those words the best you hear every year? Maybe your family goes to the beach to celebrate the Feast. Or maybe you go with your family to the mountains. You’ll get to see a lot of friends. Some of these will be old friends. And others will be people you have not seen before.
Maybe you get some very special gifts at the Feast. You and your family get to eat out at McDonald’s or the Pizza Hut. You can go to the most fun Sabbath Schools classes of the year. And maybe you can go to a picnic where a clown will make animals out of balloons. He may give one to you. The Feast is such a special time.
But it only lasts for eight days and then you have to go back home to school. Did you know that nothing in this life last forever. God wants us to think about that while we are at the Feast of Tabernacles.
A long, long time ago, the children of Israel left Egypt. They had been slaves. The Egyptians made the Israelites work very hard. They were mean to them. God didn’t like it and He brought them out of Egypt. God wanted the Israelites to have a better life. But the Israelites didn’t obey God.
Because they didn’t obey God, they had to wander around in the desert for forty long years. They never had a house to live in like you do. They lived in tents. The Israelites were kind of like the turtle. The turtle carries its house with him wherever he goes. So did the Israelites. One night they camped out in one place and put up their tents. The next night they were somewhere else. They moved around all the time and took their tents with them.
God didn’t want them to forget the lessons they learned from wandering in the desert. And He wants us to remember those lessons too. So He gave us the Feast of Tabernacles to help us remember them.
The Israelites moved around a lot. They lived in tents while they made their way to the Promised Land. God says we must not live in our nice homes during the Feast. We must live somewhere else. Why do you think He said that? Because we must learn that nothing on this earth lasts forever. Tents wear out and don’t last forever. Everything wears out. Even our bodies. They get old and wear out too.
But Jesus said that He was going away to make a place for us. He said that the home He is making for us will last forever. If we believe in Him and do what He says, then He will come back for us. We will live with Jesus in His Kingdom. All Christians will also live with Him. Then we will be a part of God’s very family. Jesus will be King. We will be a part of His Kingdom and live in it with Him forever. This will be a time that is even more fun than the Feast of Tabernacles. We should pray that Jesus will hurry up and bring His Kingdom to this earth. We should not waste our time. We must always do what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to not work on the Sabbath. He wants us to always obey our Mom and Dad. He wants us to always be honest. He wants us to read our Sabbath School lesson each week and pray every day. He wants us to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and have fun! And that’s not hard! The Feast of Tabernacles is a joyful Feast!
It’s the best time of the year.
Student Prayer
Thank you Father for giving us the Feast of Tabernacles. Thank you that Jesus is making a place for me that will last forever. I want to be with you. Hurry up and bring your Kingdom to this earth. Help me everyday to do everything that you tell me to do in the Bible. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday - Leviticus 23:34-36
Monday - Deuteronomy 14:22-27
Tuesday - Deuteronomy 16:13-16
Wednesday - Numbers 29:12
Thursday - Zechariah 14:16
Friday - John 1:14
Saturday - Hebrews 11:8-16
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Make a connection between the Israelites dwelling in booths and everything on this earth being temporary.
2. Explain what a tabernacle is.
3. Tell why we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
4. Repeat that Jesus is preparing a place for us.
Topics & Themes
Egypt
Eternal Life
Feast of Tabernacles
God’s Kingdom
Israelites
Obedience
Sin
Tabernacling
Temporary
Tents
Wandering
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA students and teacher’s books, enough paper lunch bags for each student to have one, crayons, glue, glitter, crayons, songbook, CD/cassette tape and music player, attendance and memory verse charts, stars
Preparation
God’s festivals offer our children so much more than the holidays the world keeps. We just need to do a better job of selling the benefits to our children and presenting them as wonderful celebrations. Some thought and prayer should be given to the benefits. The joy, celebrations, fun things the students can participate in at the Feast, the hope it shows and the blessings they will receive should be stressed. “Gather the grain from your threshing floors. Take the fresh wine from your winepresses. Then celebrate the Feast of Booths for seven days. Be filled with joy at your Feast. You, your children, and your male and female servants should be joyful. So should the Levites, the outsiders, and the widows who are living in your towns. And so should the children whose fathers have died. For seven days celebrate the Feast in honor of the Lord your God. Do it at the place he will choose. The Lord will bless you when you gather all of your crops. He’ll bless you in every thing you do. And you will be full of joy” (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).
How to Teach This Lesson
The trip - Begin the class by encouraging every student to tell where they will be going to the Feast and what they look forward to doing.
The Israelites live in tents - Tell the story of the children of Israel leaving Egypt and how they did not believe God and disobeyed Him. Because of that, they were not allowed to go directly into the Promised Land. God made them wander in the desert for forty long years. They camped out all of this time and lived in tents. They never had a nice home like the students live in. They had to put up a tent every time they moved. This was a lot of trouble.
Tents wear out - Ask: What is the last word in the name of this Feast? Explain that “tabernacle” means that it doesn’t last forever. A tabernacle is like a tent. It gets old and wears out.
Tabernacle or booth - Explain how a tabernacle or booth was constructed. It was made of tree branches, leaves and sticks. We rake up sticks and leaves every autumn and burn them. They are not made to last forever. Our bodies don’t last forever either. Talk about physical things that go wrong with our bodies as we get older. They may be able to tell you what their parents or grandparents complain about all of the time. Explain that God doesn’t intend that anything on this earth will last forever. Everything wears out. Like the turtle, we have a temporary house.
God’s making us a place that won’t wear out - Jesus went to heaven to make us a home that won’t wear out. If we believe in Him and do what He says, then we can live in that home forever. That home is His Kingdom. We will be a part of His family. Jesus will be King. This time will be even more fun than the Feast of Tabernacles.
Why we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles - Explain that this Feast is to help us remember that our home and our bodies will wear out, but Jesus will bring us a home and body that will never wear out. Ask them what they should do to make this wonderful home come sooner? (Pray “Thy kingdom come.”) Ask: What should you do to be ready when God’s Kingdom comes?
Review Questions
1. What did the Israelites do that was like a turtle?
2. What did the Israelites live in for forty years?
3. What is a tabernacle?
4. Why should we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles?
5. Who is preparing a place for us to live?
6. Will that place last forever?
7. How do we get to live in the place that Jesus is preparing for us?
Teacher-Directed Activity
Give each student a paper lunch bag and have them glue the bottom down and make that the top back of the tent (#1). Cut along the dotted line in the front center and turn back each side to make the entry flaps of the tent (#2). Then make a 1 inch cut on each corner fold of the bottom of the bag (#3) and turn that up to make a small base so the tent will stand up when opened (#4) . Have the students write “Thy Kingdom Come” across the top of their tent. Let them draw their picture inside the tent. They can add members of their family or other furnishings in the inside of their tent. To finish, let them decorate it with glitter.
REACH Activity
1. In your Bible notebook, add to your list of God’s Holy Days (chart or paragraph) begun during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
2. Find the Concentration game (Holy Days, Passover, and Sabbath) you made during the spring holy days. Play it with a younger sibling or friend.
3. Do a sword drill with the Daily Devotional Scriptures. Read the Scripture reference to the child. Then start the timer. When the child has found the verse, stop the timer. Read the verse and talk about how it relates to the lesson. Challenge the child to see how quickly he/she can find each of the verses in the Bible.
4. Read Leviticus 23:40 and Nehemiah 8:13-15. What do these verses say the sukkah (booth or tabernacle) was made of?
5. What reason does God give in Leviticus 23:43 for why the Israelites were supposed to live in temporary dwellings (booths or sukkahs) during the Feast of Tabernacles?
6. Build a miniature booth/sukkah/tabernacle using twigs. Spend some time looking up on the internet what a sukkah would look like. After you finish constructing it, you can mount it on a 12-inch piece of a 1 x 4 using a hot glue gun. (Get some help from a parent to complete this project.) Once the glue is dry, you can spray the whole thing with a clear gloss sealer. After that dries, you can drape a piece of white, gauzy, see-through material around the supports. Display the sukkah as a table centerpiece.
7. Make a list of everything you’ll need to take with you to the Feast of Tabernacles this year.
8. In your Bible notebook, write at least three reasons why you celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles because someone is likely to ask you, and it’s good to be prepared.
9. Find a map which shows your starting location (home) and your destination (the Feast site). Make a copy or print it on a piece of paper. Then use a highlighter to trace the route you will take to go to the Feast of Tabernacles. Use the scale to estimate how many miles it is. Check your answer using google maps. Then figure out how long it will take you to get to the Feast. Remember to plan for stops for meals and gas. Knowing this information will help you plan what you want to take to help keep you occupied while you’re traveling. Put this map and your plans into your Bible notebook.
10. Draw a picture of your family going to the Feast. Use your favorite coloring tools to add color. Label the picture with a caption like “Going to the Feast of Tabernacles!” You may also choose to use your memory verse as a caption.
11. Make a list of what you would like to do at the Feast. Be sure to share this with your parents before you leave for the Feast. The Feast goes by so quickly that if you don’t make plans ahead of time, your ideas may not fit into the schedule.
12. Find 17 index cards. Write one word of your memory verse on each card. “Leviticus 23:42” will fit on one card. Then mix up the cards. Arrange the cards in the proper order to correctly make your memory verse. For more fun, find a timer. Time yourself. How long does it take you to put your verse in order? For even more fun, challenge a friend or sibling to see who can put the words in order the most quickly.
13. Sing:
A. From the CEM Hymnal: “A Child of the King” on pg. 137, “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” on pg. 183, “Come to the Feast” on pg. 143, “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" on pg. 139, and “Joy to the World!” on pg. 40.
B. From The Group Songbook: “As the Deer” on pg. 34, “Give Thanks” on pg. 78, “How Majestic is Your Name” on pg. 71, “I Will Celebrate” on pg. 49, “I Will Enter His Gates” on pg. 87, “In Moments Like These” on pg. 2, and “We Will Glorify” on pg. 1.
C. From Kids Classics Collection: “Do Lord” on pg. 72, “Come and Go With Me” on pg. 83, “God is So Good” on pg. 87, “Go Tell It On the Mountain” on pg. 61, and “Down in My Heart” on pg. 69.
14. Some people will ask you why you celebrate Jewish holy days. What scripture can you think of that will give them an answer? (Hint: Leviticus 23:2 tells you whose Holy Days they are!)
15. Using a Bible site like Bible Hub or Biblegateway.com, look up Leviticus 23:41 in various translations. You’ll see that we are commanded to keep the Feast of Tabernacles for a certain number of years. In your Bible notebook, write down the translation from several different translations for how long this commandment was to be observed.
16. In Leviticus 23:40, God commands us to rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles. This is the first time this word “rejoice” is used in the Bible. Make a list of the things that will make you rejoice as you celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Write these in your Bible notebook.
17. Remember to thank God for giving us His holy days.
Song
“Do Lord”is on page 72 of the Kids Classics Collection.
Closing Prayer
Allow the children to praise God for giving them such a wonderful Feast to remind them of what He is doing for us. Lead them to tell God that they want to live in such a way that they can live with God in His Kingdom.
Printable Pages
