Lesson 1: The Books of Law/Moses (Pentateuch)
Lesson 1: The Books of Law/Moses (Pentateuch)
Books : Genesis to Deuteronomy
Specific Objective
By the end of this session, the student will be able to:
- Know the first section of the bible (Old Testament)
- Know the first division of the bible (Book of Law)
- Tell how many books the first division consists of
- Tell the first five books of the Bible
- Name the author of the books of law
- Recite the memory verse
Bible Reference
2 Timothy 3:16
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
Joshua 1:8
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Words to Remember
- Pentateuch – comes from a Greek term meaning “the five (penta) books”
- Law – a rule or order that it is advisable or obligatory to observe
- Testament – covenant or agreement
- Genesis – Book of Beginning
- Exodus – Book of Deliverance
- Leviticus – Book of Worship
- Numbers – Book of Wandering
- Deuteronomy – Book of Preparation
Pre-Session Activity
Greet the children as they arrive. Make certain that you know their names. As they arrive, have each child joins in a circle or around a table. Play a game, sing a song or give them activity to introduce the new lesson. Tell the children that you are going to introduce them to the different books of the bible.
- Beginners : Review of the “Origin of the Bible”
- Primary : Word Search / Puzzle / Maze
- Intermediate: Memory Test – The children should list down all the stories on the First
Five Books of the Bible that they remember without opening the bible.
Lesson Proper
A. PREPARATION and MOTIVATION
Review the students about last week’s lesson – The Origin of the Bible.
As you introduce the new lesson, hold the Bible in your hand with the Old and New Testament section separated. Show the children the two sections, beginning with the Old Testament.
Teacher: Today we will be talking about the first section of the Bible – The Old Testament. This section consists of 39 books in it and each book has stories about God’s people.
ASK: How many books did I say are in the Old Testament? (39)
B. INTRODUCTION
The Bible has stories about God and God’s people. As a book, the Bible has many writers. It is divided into two sections: The Old Testament and the New Testament. Each section has a number of books in it. There are 66 books in the Bible.
C. LESSON
NAMES FOR THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS
There are a number of different names that are commonly used to designate the first five books of the Old Testament. They are sometimes called the Pentateuch. This name comes from two Greek words that mean the “five volumes” or “five scrolls.” These five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are also called the Law. The Hebrew name for them is the Torah, the Hebrew word for “law.” They are also called The Law of Moses or The Five Books of Moses.
WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH?
The human author of the Pentateuch was Moses.
THE CONTENTS OF THE PENTATEUCH
The Pentateuch covers the period of time from creation of the world to the death of Moses just before the conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua in BC 1406. That means that in the Pentateuch Moses writes about events covering thousands of years.
THE NAMES FOR EACH OF THE FIVE BOOKS
GENESIS (beginning)
Genesis is the first book of the Bible, and it’s considered a book of law. The theme of Genesis is “beginnings.” That is what the word “genesis” means. It records the beginning of the world (Genesis 1) and the beginning of God’s covenant people, Israel (Genesis 12), with the story of Abraham. The book of Genesis is one of the most important books in the Bible. It gives us the foundation for almost everything else that happens or is taught in Scripture.
STORIES:
Creation (Gen 1-2:2)
In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth, and while the earth was still unformed. First there was darkness and light. Then there was water and sky. Then there were plants and trees. Then there were was the sun and the moon. Then God made fish and birds. Then God made the animals of the ground. Then last of all, best of all, God created man. And the heavens and the earth were finished and all that there was in them. And on the seventh day when God had finished the work which he had done, he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, for in it he rested from all the work which he had done.
Noah’s Ark – The Great Flood (Gen 6-9)
At the beginning of time, when God first created the world and all that was in it, everything was perfect. God looked at His work and called it all very good. All that changed when Adam and Eve sinned. The people have become very bad. God was very sad. God told Noah to build a big ark. Noah obeyed God. God told Noah to bring the animals on the ark. Noah obeyed God. God sealed up the ark door. Rain came down, floods came up. Noah sent out a dove. The dove came back with a leaf. The flood was over. God put a rainbow in the sky and promised to never flood the whole earth again.
Twelve (12) Tribes of Israel (Gen 30-32)
Abraham” begins God’s chosen family of people. Abraham is the root! God promises him that his family will become a great nation. (Genesis 17: 5 God renames Abram to Abraham; Genesis 17: 6, 7, 8 God promises Abraham that his family will be a great nation – even though he and his wife have no children yet. The family grows and moves on through Abraham’s son Isaac and then to Jacob who becomes named Israel. He has 12 sons. Each son becomes the head of a tribe of Israel named aft them.
Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors (Gen 37)
Jacob’s family lived in the land of Canaan. It was the Promised Land. Joseph was one of Jacob’s sons. He was 17 years old. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved his other sons. This made the other sons angry. Jacob made a beautiful coat for Joseph. It had many colors. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph had two dreams. He told his dreams to his brothers. His dreams meant that he would be their leader. Joseph’s brothers did not want him to be their leader. They hated him. They were so mad they throw him into the pit and told their father that a wild animal had killed him.
EXODUS (going out)
It is the second book of the Bible, and coincidentally, it is also a book of Law and written by Moses, at approximately the same time as Genesis. The theme of the book of Exodus is, as its name implies, the exit of a large group of people. In this case, it is the mass exit of Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
The Birth of Moses (Exodus 2)
When Moses was born, the Israelites were slaves of the Pharaoh in Egypt. Any boys that were born were being killed to prevent any opposition to the Pharaoh. Because of this, his mother hid him for 3 months, and then put him in an ark made of bulrushes and set him in the river. The Pharaoh’s daughter found him, gave him to his mother for nursing, and then took him back to raise him. She raised him at the Pharaoh’s house.
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 19-20)
It had been three months since the Israelites left Egypt, and they set up camp at the foot of Mt. Sinai. God called to Moses from the mountain, and Moses went up to Him. God reminded Moses of how He freed the Israelites from Pharaoh, and how the devastation in Egypt demonstrated His power and might. Then God told Moses that if the people obey His covenants, their nation would be great and holy in His sight. Then He told Moses to have the people cleanse themselves and be ready, because in three days the Lord will come down on the mountain. The people should not attempt to go up or even touch the mountain. So on the third day, there was thunder and lightning with a loud trumpet blast. The mountain was covered with a thick cloud of smoke, because the Lord came onto it with fire. The whole mountain trembled and all the people were afraid. No one was allowed to go to the mountain except Moses. This was the time that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The giving of the Ten Commandments was accompanied by thundering, lightning flashes and loud noises. And He wrote them on the stone tablets Himself (Exodus 31:18).
LEVITICUS (religious ceremonies)
It is the third book of the Bible. While the themes of Genesis and Exodus were embedded in their title, this book of law’s theme is not as easy to discern. Exodus, and later Deuteronomy, gives laws to the people of Israel in general; whereas, Leviticus instructs priests specifically. The Levites were the priestly tribe of Israel who served the community. Leviticus outlines the guidelines by which the priests were supposed to serve in a holy way. Leviticus was written by Moses at about the same time as Genesis and Exodus.
NUMBERS (story of the wilderness journey)
The next book of law is Numbers. While it doesn’t contain a lot of laws, it is grouped with the others because it was also written by Moses during about the same period.
It’s about a census, actually 2 of them, taken by Moses as Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land. Because it’s about Numbers, people think it’s pretty boring. But in it we have a rebellious group of people getting swallowed up by the earth (Numbers 16), a talking donkey (Numbers 22), and a war (Numbers 31).
DEUTERONOMY (book of preparation)
Deuteronomy is the final book of the law. Its name literally means second law, and that’s the major theme of the book: second law. It was written by Moses (except for the last few verses which record Moses’ death), a little later than the other four, towards the end of the first decade of 1400 BC (1407 or 1406).
Memory Verse
2 Tim 3:16
- Beginners : “All Scripture is breathed out by God,”
- Primary : “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
- Intermediate : “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
Questions to Ponder
- What is the first division of the Old Testament? (Books of Law)
- What is the collective name for the first five books of the Bible? (Pentateuch)
- What are the first five books of the bible? (G-E-Le-N-D)
- Which book of the Bible contains the Ten Commandments? (Exodus)
- Who wrote the first five books of the Bible? (Moses)
- Give the meaning of each of the first five books.
Life Application
The Bible is how God speaks to us today. The recorded examples are preserved to teach, admonish and encourage us. The Bible is important because God wrote it for us, He tells us He loves us, and there are rules for us to follow so we can get to know Him better.
Encourage the students (primary and intermediate) to read the Bible and if they don’t understand something, ask questions.
(the teacher may add/share their experiences/inputs)
Activity
- Beginners : (Craft) – to create the first five books of the Bible
- Materials –printed cut-out letters, pictures, coloring
- Primary : (Craft) – to create the first five books of the Bible
- Materials –printed cut-out letters, pictures, coloring
- Intermediate : (Craft) – to create a picture Bible “pop-up”
Close in Prayer
Dear God, Thank you for the Holy Bible. We learn so much from the stories about people who loved you and followed your direction. We thank you for the people who wrote this Book so that we might know about you and how you want us to live. Help us always to think about how you would want us to behave. Help us to listen to you and to do what you want us to do. AMEN.
