unit 2: abraham ot2.4 god's promise to abraham lesson€¦ · your parents' hand and...

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OT2.4 God's Promise to Abraham ©Beverly Wilson 2016

Unit 2: Abraham OT2.4 God's Promise to Abraham Lesson

Scripture: Genesis 15

Lesson Goal: Abram is called "father Abraham" because he was the forefather of both the Jews

and the Arabs. He was also the father of the family in whom Jesus the Savior of the world would be born. In this lesson we learn how God made a big promise to Abraham.

Introduction: This is the fourth lesson in Unit 2: Abraham. In this lesson we learn how God made a big promise to Abraham. The lesson is found in the first book of the Bible called Genesis. The word "Genesis" means beginning. Genesis is the first book of Law. The books of the Law are the first five books in the Old Testament. Let's say the books of Law together. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Attention Getter: This lesson is about learning to trust God and his wisdom. What does it mean to trust? It means that we believe something or somebody so much that we are willing to follow them. It is like holding on to your parents' hand and knowing they will take care of you! When you were little, did your father ever throw you up in the air and catch you? You trusted him to catch you so you were not afraid. You were sure that he would not let anything hurt you! That is faith! Trust is our being so sure something is going to happen that we are happy about it! Did you know that is what God wants us to do? We can trust Him because He loves us and promises to care for us. In this lesson we are going to look at how God made a big promise to Abraham about his descendants and the land they would inherit. Abraham learned to have faith in God. Alternative: Bring strings of twinkle lights and hang them from the ceiling of the classroom so students can experience what it feels like to be outside on a starry night. Turn the classroom overhead lights off during your class discussion. Ask students to share experiences they have had of seeing stars at night especially on camping trips. Ask if they ever tried to count the stars.

Opening Prayer: "Dear Father in heaven, Thank you for the example of Abraham who believed your promises even when seemed impossible. You loved us and sent your Son Jesus to be our Savior. We believe that He died on the cross for our sins and that He wants to be our Savior. Help us Lord to trust in you like Abraham did. We want your righteousness to be counted for us. In your name we pray. Amen.

Memory Verse: Our memory verse is Genesis 15:8 "Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness."

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/KNXRRqERXHQ God had chosen Abraham to become the father of a strong nation of people who would teach people everywhere about God. God called Abram while he was living in the land of Ur and told him that if he would leave his homeland and his family that God would bless him by making his children into a great nation. Abraham obeyed by taking his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and making the long journey to a land that he did not know. When they finally arrived in the Promised Land they lived for many years in the land of Canaan. They made their home in tents near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron. God blessed Abram and he was a

https://youtu.be/KNXRRqERXHQ

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very rich man. He had many servants, many flocks and herds, and much silver and gold. His nephew, Lot, also owned many servants, sheep, and cattle. Soon they separated in order to find enough grassland for their flocks and herds to eat. When Lot was taken captive by some enemy kings, Abraham and his trained men went to rescue them. After this victory in battle Abram became very afraid. He may have thought that the kings he had just defeated would come back and take revenge on him and his family. So God spoke to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." God was promising to defend Abram and give him many blessings. But Abram still complained, "Sovereign Lord, You have not given me any children and the person who will inherit all I have is my servant, Eliezer of Damascus." Abraham really wanted children and he and Sarai still did not have even one child! He was afraid that if he died everything would go to his trusted servant Eliezer. God told Abram, "No it will not be through your servant Eliezer. A son will be born to you through your own body." God then took Abram out to look at the night sky. "Look up at the sky and count the stars--indeed if you can count them. Your offspring will be as numerous as the stars. You will have so many children that they cannot be counted! Abram believed what God told him and God counted his faith in him as righteousness or salvation. God declared, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land. "Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain this land?" Abram asked. To reassure Abram God told him to bring a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. All these animals were to show that Abraham believed God and that someday through his family would come the birth of the son of God who would make the perfect sacrifice for all the sins of the world. Abram obeyed and sacrificed the animals cutting all but the birds in half. He laid their carcasses arranged in the halves opposite each other. During the sacrifice some birds of prey swept down and tried to eat the sacrifices. Abram had to drive them away. God used these birds to help Abram understand an important event that would happen to his family. God caused Abram to fall into a deep sleep and a thick darkness came over him. God warned that Abram's descendants would be mistreated as slaves in a strange country for 400 years. His family would be in danger but they would be protected. God told him how his future children would then come out of the land with great possessions. Imagine that! God was telling Abram about the future time when Israel would be in slavery in Egypt and then be led out by Moses. How could God tell Abram about something that Moses would do several hundred years later? He could because He knows all things! God promised Abram he would live in peace to an old age. To give Abraham further proof that He would keep His promise God gave him another sign. When the sun had set a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the carcasses Abram had laid on the ground. God used this revelation to Abram to reassure him that He would keep His promise. God then promised Abram again to give his descendants the land from the Wadi of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Someday Abram's family would be a great nation. This must have been hard for Abram to completely understand because he and Sarai still did not even have one child. And both of them were getting old.

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When Abram told Sarai about the dream and the promise that God had given to him that he would have a son through his own body, she must have been very confused. Sarai was now so old that she could not have children. Would God really keep His promise? How would Abram have descendants? Our memory verse is Genesis 15:8 "Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness." Abraham had great faith. He trusted God. Real faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see. Let's say our verse again together. Genesis 15:8 "Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness." What an amazing thing! Abraham believed God even when it meant that God's promise was doing the impossible for man! Because Abraham believed God he became the father of many nations! Abram knew that he was a hundred years old and too old to have children but he believed God anyway! He was convinced that God had the power to do what he had promised and so he gave glory to God. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness." That is the same kind of faith that we are to have in Jesus. He died on the cross to pay for our sins. He wants to forgive us our sins and to give us a new life in heaven. Eternal life is not something we can ever do ourselves. It is a gift that God wants to give to those who have faith in Him! Just like Abraham we must believe in God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. God raised him from the dead to give us eternal life. Like Abraham we are justified or made right through faith! Faith is trusting in what God says. Would you like to receive that promise of eternal life? You can do that right now. Remember have faith in God like Abraham!

Review Questions: Star Gazing Draw a series of numbered stars on whiteboard to form the Little Dipper, the Big Dipper, or Orion. Use the "Star Gazing" printout below as a guide. As students answer correctly the following questions, connect the stars to identify the star constellations. 1. Why was Abraham afraid? (He thought that the kings he had just defeated in rescuing Lot would

come back and take revenge on him and his family.) 2. What did God say to Abraham to take away his fears? (I am your shield and I will reward you.) 3. Why was Abraham discouraged? (He and his wife Sarai had not yet had any children and he was

afraid that all his possessions would go to his servant Eliezer.) 4. What did God promise to Abraham about his children? (He promised that his descendants would

be as numerous as the stars in the sky.) 5. Because Abraham believed God, what did God say He would count his faith as? (God would

count his faith as righteousness or as salvation.) 6. What animals did God tell Abraham to sacrifice? (God told him to sacrifice a heifer, a goat, and a

ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.) 7. Why were these animals sacrificed? (They showed Abraham that God would send a Savior in his

family who would provide salvation for all men.) 8. What happen while Abraham was sacrificing the animals? (Birds of prey swooped down and tried

to eat the sacrifices and Abraham had to chase them away.) 9. What meaning did God say that the birds of prey had? (God told Abraham that his family would

be taken into captivity as slaves by a land for 400 years but they would be protected.) 10. When did the event of Abraham's family being in slavery occur? (Several hundred years later

than Abraham Israel would be enslaved by the Egyptians and Moses would lead the people out of bondage back into the Promised Land.)

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11. What land area did God promise to give to the nation of Israel? (God promised Abram to give his descendants the land from the Wadi of Egypt to the river Euphrates.)

12. Why was God's promise to give Abraham more children than he could count a miracle? (He was old and Sarai was past the age of bearing children. It would take a miracle for them to have a child.)

13. What response did Abraham have to God's promise (He believed God despite the circumstances!)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: "Erase a Word" Our memory verse is Genesis 15:8 "Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness." Have students look up the verse in scripture and read it aloud together. Say: "Abraham had great faith. He trusted God. Real faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see. Let's say our verse together again." Repeat the verse until children are familiar with the words.

Write the verse on a white board. Read the verse pointing to each word as the class repeats the verse. Erase one word. Repeat saying the verse aloud pointing to the blank space when the missing word is said. Erase a second word. Repeat saying the verse aloud pointing to the two missing spaces. Continue erasing one word each time the verse is repeated. Students should be saying the whole verse aloud from memory by the time that all the words are erased.

Group Learning Activity: "Hidden Treasures" (Grades K-3) Materials Needed: newspaper, dish pan; several treasures like small rubber balls, small eraser, stickers, pencils, etc. Procedure: Spread newspaper on a table or the floor. Fill a dishpan with sand and hide several little treasures like small rubber balls, small erasers, stickers, etc. Let the children take turns digging for treasure. Say: "Just like the buried treasure, sometimes God’s promises are hard to see; but, we can trust Him because He always keeps His promises. God wants us to trust Him. Abram was obedient in preparing the sacrifices God asked him to prepare. He was given a prophecy that his descendents would leave the land and go into captivity for 400 years and afterwards return with great substance. Abram would pass in peace to his fathers before these things would happen. This prophecy is actually talking about a time in the future when the nation of Israel would be enslaved in Egypt and then delivered by God

through Moses."

Group Learning Activity: Promised Surprise (Grades 2-5) Materials Needed: Cardboard, scissors; crayons; an envelope for each student Preparation: Enclose cardboard shaped stars in as many envelopes as the number of children in your class. Pass out the envelopes one to each student. Say: "In each of these envelope is something special. You are to find out what the surprise is in each envelope. Use the crayons to gently run them over the hidden shape. See if you can figure out what the shape of your surprise is." Procedure: The shape should appear where the crayon is rubbed. Show your class how to shake the envelope and move the star around, allowing for additional star shapes to be drawn with different colors. Ask your class if they could see what was in the envelope before coloring over it. They could not, but because you told them they believed you. Explain that God makes promises, too. We cannot always see them, but we can trust Him to be true. God wants us to trust Him.

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Group Learning Activity: "Making a Covenant" (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To help students understand the meaning of a covenant. Procedure: Read Genesis 15:7-20. God is making a COVENANT with Abram (Write the word “covenant” on the board.) Covenant making usually involved these three things: (Write them on the board using a concept map.)

1. Promises or vows that the two people or two tribes made to each other. What did God promise Abram? (land and many descendants) What was Abram’s part of the promise? (He believed and obeyed God.) Write VOW on the board

2. Shedding blood. God taught His people that they could kill an animal and use the animal’s blood as a sign of the covenant. Sometimes people would cut the animals apart from head to tail and lay the two pieces on the ground. Then both people would walk between the animals. In Abram’s covenant with God, God went between the animals in the form of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch. Abram was asleep and he saw this in a dream. Write BLOOD on the board.

3. Exchanging gifts or signs of the covenant – Did Abram and God exchange a sign or gift? (Not now, but later God told Abram that he and all of his sons should be circumcised as a sign of the covenant.) Write “Gifts or Sign” on the board.

Sometimes the people making a covenant would also sit down and eat a meal together. This was a sign of peace since you would not eat a meal with your enemies. Write EAT TOGETHER on the board. We do many of these things at weddings. (Compare wedding traditions to covenant making in Bible times. [Optional: You may want to do the role-playing activity now to demonstrate how they made covenant together.]

Covenant Group Learning Activity: "Waiting" (Grades K-5) Purpose: To teach students that sometimes we have to learn to wait before something can happen Materials Needed: stop watch or timer; basket; slips of paper with different actions printed on them such as "stand up"; "sit down," "hop on one foot," "raise your right hand," "wave with your left hand," "put your hand on your head," etc. Be sure to have enough slips of paper so that all your students get an opportunity to learn to "wait." Procedure: Have students form a circle to begin the game. Give the basket with the slips of paper to the first player in the circle. After each student draws a direction, they must wait until the stop watch or timer goes off to perform the action. Vary the amount of time that each student has to wait from 5 seconds, 10 seconds, to one or two minutes. Encourage the children to express how they feel about

Definition: a solemn promise

made between two people or two groups.

Characteristics 1. Vows or promises 2. Blood 3. Gifts or sign 4. Eat together

Examples 1. God and Abraham 2. Marriage

Non-Examples 1. I'll come if I can. 2. When you have supper

with a friend.

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waiting until the buzzer sounds in order to perform their action. Students should experience some frustration in learning to wait. Say: "In our lesson we learned about a man named Abraham who had to wait for many years for something to happen. He was waiting for God’s Big promise to come true. In this game we are going to learn the importance of waiting. Waiting is sometimes very hard but waiting does not mean that it will not come true. God sometimes uses waiting to help us have faith in His Word."

Craft Learning Activity: Abraham Star Gazing Tube (Grades K-2) Materials Needed: toilet paper or paper towel tube; aluminum foil; thumbtack; glue; blue construction paper; star stickers or glitter Procedure: Cover the top of the toilet paper or paper towel tube with aluminum foil. Prick the foil with a thumb tack to make "stars." Cover a sheet of blue construction paper with glue. Roll the tube in the construction paper to cover the tube. Decorate the outside of the tube with stars or glitter. Write the Bible verse Genesis 15:5 "Look up at the heavens and count the stars if indeed you can count them...so shall your offspring be." on the outside. Allow to dry. Look inside the tube to see a night sky scene with stars. Say: "God made a promise to Abraham. He said that his children would be like the stars in the sky. There would be so many that they could not be counted. Abraham believed God's promise. We are going to make a gazing tube to see stars. Every time we use this tube it will remind us of God's promise!"

Craft Learning Activity: Star Windsock (Grades K-3) Materials Needed: black construction paper; foam stars or stickers; white copy paper, black permanent markers; glue stick or tape; scissors, stapler, and black yarn Procedure: Write Genesis 15:5 "Look up at the heavens and count the stars if indeed you can count them...so shall your offspring be" on a piece of white copy paper with a black marker. You can print it on the paper with a computer for younger children.) Cut the verse out and glue or tape it onto the middle of a piece of black construction paper (the windsock body). Fill in the body of the windsock with stars. Cut out 4 or 5 streamers for each windsock out of black construction paper. Glue or tape stars to end of each streamer. Staple the streamer to the bottom of the windsock body. Staple the windsock body into a cylinder. Cut and staple a piece of black yarn to the top of the windsock to hang it from.

Craft Learning Activity: God's Promise Banner (Grades K-4) Materials Needed: Sequin Stars; Blue Construction Paper (cut in half); 2 Craft Sticks; Yarn; 4 Large Star Cut-Outs (pre-cut our stars using a cookie cutter) Procedure: Glue your sequin stars all over your blue construction piece (banner). Punch two holes on the top of banner. Now, thread your yard into the holes provided. Thread it from the back of you banner to the front. Write “God Keeps His Promises” one your stars. One word per star & glue to banner. Next glue your craft sticks to your banner. Glue 1 stick to the bottom of banner & the other stick directly on top of pre-punched holes at the top of your banner. This should help secure your yarn to your banner.

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Craft Learning Activity: Popsicle Stars (Grades K-5) Purpose: To decorate the classroom ceiling with glow-in-the-dark stars Materials: popsicle sticks (colored or plain), hot glue gun (teacher use only) or ordinary glue; lengths of fishing line to hang each star; paint or felt tip pens; glitter Preparation: Draw up a template of a star using craft sticks. Print copies of the template with at least one copy per student. Procedure: Place one stick inside one line then add some glue to the top. Position second stick on this. Continue positioning sticks according to the template until all 10 sticks are in place. Glue sticks securely at connecting points. Attach some fishing line to one point for hanging. Decorate as desired. Using the colors yellow and blue. Try different colors for theme parties, or use glow-in-the-dark paint for a magical bedroom at night. While students work, review God's promise to Abraham that his children would number as many as the stars in the sky

Snack Learning Activity: Star Cookies Materials: sugar cookies cut into a star shape; icing in various colors; plastic knives; napkins Procedure: Give each student a star shaped sugar cookie and a plastic knife. Put various colors of icing (blue and yellow make nice stars) in small containers on work area. Allow students to ice their cookies. While students work, review God's promise to Abraham that his children would number as many as the stars in the sky.

Life Application Challenge: "Joy of Knowing God's Promises" Help the children in your class explore the joy of knowing God ALWAYS keeps His promises. Give your children some blank paper and ask them to draw a picture of a time that God has kept His promise to them. (Helping them to get well after being sick; giving them safe travel to school and home; giving them food and clothing and a safe home; giving them parents to care for them; helping them to not be afraid at night; etc.) Ask your child to write a list of five reasons that they are thankful for God's faithfulness in keeping His promises. (We can always count of Him to help us; we do not have to be afraid; we can know that we are going to heaven; we can trust Him to help us with big problems; He is always with us; etc.) You can use a blank journal to begin your thankfulness journal. If your younger children are not yet writing, you can write their answers down for them and then let them color or decorate their page.

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God's Promise to Abraham

Genesis 15:8

"Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness."

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strangers Sarai Lord Canaan father stars son sacrifice Abraham believed in the word of _________________ and prayed to Him.

Because of this God promised to make Abraham the

____________________of a great people. He told him and his wife

_______________ to leave his country and go to a land that God would

show them. They did exactly as God told them to do. God promised to

give the land called ____________________to him and his descendants.

He also promised Abraham a

_________________ who would

inherit everything he owned and he

would have as many descendants as

there are ________________ in the

sky. God told Abraham to offer some

animals. They should be killed and

he should ________________ them.

But Abraham did not divide all the

animals. Then God said that

Abraham's descendants would be

_________________ in a foreign land

before they could return.

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unit 2: abraham ot2.4 god's promise to abraham lesson€¦ · your parents' hand and...

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