Lesson 2: Moses and the burning bush.
Passage: Exodus 2:11-4:17 - Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh, and one day he went out and saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite, one of his own people. When he thought no one was looking, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. But word got out about what he’d done, and Pharaoh became angry and wanted to kill him. So Moses ran away to a place called Midian, where he met seven daughters of a priest named Jethro. He helped them draw water from a well for their flocks and was invited to their home. Moses married one of the daughters, whose name was Zipporah, and lived with them for many years. One day, when Moses was tending to the flocks in the wilderness, he saw a bush that was caught on fire but didn’t burn up. When he came closer, he heard God speaking to him from the bush. God told Moses that God had not forgotten about the Israelites’ misery and was now sending Moses to go back and rescue them. Moses was afraid and reluctant to go, but God gave him two signs so that the people would listen to him - a staff that turned into a snake and back again, and his hand becoming leprous when placed in his cloak and then healing again.
Big Idea: God calls us to seek justice.
For Teachers:
Lesson plan.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Have the children sit in a circle on the circle time rug. Welcome them to class.
Warm Up Activity: — Activity Leader
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today is our second lesson all about Moses and the Exodus. Last week we learned all about baby Moses’ birth.
Does anyone remember where Moses was born and grew up?
When Moses was a baby, the Pharaoh or king of Egypt wanted to get rid of all the Israelite baby boys. Do you remember how baby Moses was saved from the Pharaoh?
So what we learned from that story was that God is always taking care of us, just like God took care of baby Moses. Today we’ll be learning about what happened when Moses grew up and became an adult. The story goes like this…
Moses grew up in the Pharaoh’s palace but he always knew that the Israelites were his people. So when he saw an Israelite being treated badly by an Egyptian, he got really angry and when he thought that no one was looking he attacked the Egyptian. When the Pharaoh found out, he was angry and wanted to get rid of Moses, so Moses ran away to a place called Midian. There, he got married and began taking care of sheep. Moses forgot all about his problems in Egypt, but God never forgot about the Israelites and still wanted to save them.
So, one day, when Moses was taking care of the sheep, he saw an amazing thing - a bush that was caught on fire, but it’s leaves never burned up. When Moses came near the bush, he heard the voice of God speaking to him and saying that God had seen how badly the people were being treated in Egypt and Got hadn’t forgotten about them. So God was going to send Moses back to Egypt to go and save his people!
Now let’s watch our video for today…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Do you remember where Moses ran away to when the Pharaoh was angry at him?
And after he was there for many years, and he was taking care of the sheep out in the wilderness, what was the amazing thing that he saw?
What happened when Moses came closer to the burning bush? And what was it that God told Moses?
Have you ever seen someone being mean to someone else? What did you do? Is it sometimes scary to stand up to a bully?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned about today about how you spoke to Moses through the burning bush and told him to go back to Egypt and save your people, the Israelites from those who were treating them so badly. Thank you that you are a God who cares about us and sees everything that happens. Please help us to be brave enough to stand up for what is right, and to say something when we see something bad happening to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Tissue Paper Painting — Activity Leader
Using a printable bush outline, the kids will apply colored tissue paper onto the bush and use water and paintbrushes to “paint” the issue onto the paper. When the paper is dry, they can remove the tissue and the paint will have bled through onto the paper. If there is time, kids can use crayons to draw a design and repeat the tissue paper painting process.
If a child is not interested in the craft, allow them to move into free play.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Have the children sit in a circle on the circle time rug. Welcome them to class.
Warm Up Activity: — Activity Leader
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today is our second lesson all about Moses and the Exodus. Last week we learned all about baby Moses’ birth.
Does anyone remember where Moses was born and grew up?
When Moses was a baby, the Pharaoh or king of Egypt wanted to get rid of all the Israelite baby boys. Do you remember how baby Moses was saved from the Pharaoh?
So what we learned from that story was that God is always taking care of us, just like God took care of baby Moses. Today we’ll be learning about what happened when Moses grew up and became an adult. The story goes like this…
Moses grew up in the Pharaoh’s palace but he always knew that the Israelites were his people. So when he saw an Israelite being treated badly by an Egyptian, he got really angry and when he thought that no one was looking he attacked the Egyptian. When the Pharaoh found out, he was angry and wanted to get rid of Moses, so Moses ran away to a place called Midian. There, he got married and began taking care of sheep. Moses forgot all about his problems in Egypt, but God never forgot about the Israelites and still wanted to save them.
So, one day, when Moses was taking care of the sheep, he saw an amazing thing - a bush that was caught on fire, but it’s leaves never burned up. When Moses came near the bush, he heard the voice of God speaking to him and saying that God had seen how badly the people were being treated in Egypt and Got hadn’t forgotten about them. So God was going to send Moses back to Egypt to go and save his people!
Now let’s watch our video for today…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Do you remember where Moses ran away to when the Pharaoh was angry at him?
And after he was there for many years, and he was taking care of the sheep out in the wilderness, what was the amazing thing that he saw?
What happened when Moses came closer to the burning bush? And what was it that God told Moses?
Have you ever seen someone being mean to someone else? What did you do? Is it sometimes scary to stand up to a bully?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned about today about how you spoke to Moses through the burning bush and told him to go back to Egypt and save your people, the Israelites from those who were treating them so badly. Thank you that you are a God who cares about us and sees everything that happens. Please help us to be brave enough to stand up for what is right, and to say something when we see something bad happening to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Tissue Paper Painting — Activity Leader
Using a printable bush outline, the kids will apply colored tissue paper onto the bush and use water and paintbrushes to “paint” the issue onto the paper. When the paper is dry, they can remove the tissue and the paint will have bled through onto the paper. If there is time, kids can use crayons to draw a design and repeat the tissue paper painting process.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Welcome the kids to class, ask how their week was and one interesting thing that happened.
Warm Up Activity: — Activity Leader
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today is part two of our new series on Moses and the Exodus. Last week we talked about the birth of Moses.
Does anyone remember where Moses was born and grew up?
And what was happening to the Israelites at that time that Moses was born?
How did Moses end up being saved from Pharoah?
Today we’re going to be learning about the next part of the story which was when Moses had already grown up. It goes like this…
Moses grew up in the Pharaoh’s palace but he always knew that the Israelites were his people. So when he saw an Israelite being badly beaten by an Egyptian, he got really angry and when he thought that no one was looking he attacked the Egyptian. When the Pharaoh found out, he was angry and wanted to get rid of Moses, so Moses ran away to a place called Midian. There he God married and became a shepherd. Moses forgot all about his problems in Egypt, but God never forgot about the Israelites and still wanted to save them.
So one day, when Moses was in the wilderness taking care of the sheep, he saw an amazing thing - a bush that was caught on fire, but it’s leaves never burned up. When Moses came near the bush, he heard the voice of God coming from it. God said, “I have seen how badly my people are being treated in Egypt and I have not forgotten about them. Now I am sending you to go back to Egypt to rescue them.” When Moses heard this, he was really scared and he didn’t want to do what God was telling him, but God gave him two signs to show the Israelites so they would believe in him.
Now let’s watch our video for today…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
From the story, do you remember what Moses did that made Pharaoh so angry at him?
What was it that caused Moses to do that?
Do you think Moses was right to be angry at what was happening to his people? Do you think he reacted in the best way? What do you think would have been a better response?
Then, after many years, when Moses was living in Midian and God spoke to him through the burning bush, what did God say to him?
What was Moses’ response? Why do you think Moses was so afraid and reluctant to go back and rescue his people when he was obviously angry about the injustice towards them?
What do you think is something we can learn from all this about God’s way of fighting injustice versus our human instincts?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story of Moses and the burning bush, and how you called him to go back to Egypt to rescue the Israelites from slavery. Thank you that you are a God who sees us and cares about us and knows about everything that we’re going through. You never forget about us, just like you never forgot about the Israelites and sent Moses to rescue them. Please help us to not be afraid to stand up for what is right when we see injustice happening around us. Please help us to use our voices to speak up for others who are in need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Tissue Paper Painting — Activity Leader
Using a printable bush outline, the kids will apply colored tissue paper onto the bush using glue to create the “fire”. They can also continue decorating their pictures using pencil crayon / markers.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
For Parents:
Follow-up questions.
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
How do you think Moses felt when he saw one of his own people being treated badly? Do you think he was right to be angry?
What do you think is the best thing to do when you see someone being bullied or treated badly?
How did God end up speaking to Moses? What did God tell him to do?
Why do you think Moses was so scared to go and help the Israelites? Is it sometimes hard to stand up for what is right?
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
How did Moses feel when he saw one of his people being treated badly? Do you think he was right to be angry?
What did he do then? Do you think he did the right thing? What would have been a better thing to do?
How did God end up speaking to Moses later on? What did he say to him?
Why do you think Moses was scared to go back to Egypt and help the Israelites? Why do you think it’s sometimes hard to stand up for what’s right?
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
Do you think it was fair for Moses to be so angry at the injustice against his people? Do you think he could have handled the situation better? How?
Do you think Moses was actually in a pretty good position to help them as the adopted grandson of the Pharaoh? Why?
Has anything unjust ever happened to you or someone you know? How did or would you react to that situation?
Why do you think Moses was so reluctant when God called him to go back to Egypt and rescue the people? What was God’s response?
