Week 110 · about 45 minutes
Exodus 17
Exodus 17 · Memory verse Exodus 17:7
Get the free weekly Sunday school and bedtime printable pack
For a parent or teacher. Children do not make accounts here. The pack is a week of printables, not a child profile.
Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Exodus 17), the matching word search and answer key (Exodus 17 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a ribbon
Hold a ribbon. Read Exodus 17 in about four minutes, stopping at Exodus 17:7: “He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Exodus 17?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Exodus 17 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.”” Exodus 17 opens with these words: “All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment,…” The line to keep is Exodus 17:7: “He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or…” Carry the word “called” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Exodus 17:7: “He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Exodus 17? Then try this: Read “He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Exodus 17. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Exodus 17:7. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Exodus 17 and write Exodus 17:7 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Exodus 17:7
“He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Exodus 17. Help us remember Exodus 17:7 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.