Week 183 · about 45 minutes
Numbers 24
Numbers 24 · Memory verse Numbers 24:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Numbers 24), the matching word search and answer key (Numbers 24 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Numbers 24 in about four minutes, stopping at Numbers 24:2: “Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Numbers 24?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Numbers 24 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.” 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, “‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond Yahweh’s word, to do either good or bad from my own mind. I will say what Yahweh says’?” Numbers 24 opens with these words: “When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his…” The line to keep is Numbers 24:2: “Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.” Carry the word “balaam” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Numbers 24:2: “Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Numbers 24? Then try this: Read “Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came…” 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 Numbers 24. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Numbers 24:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Numbers 24 and write Numbers 24:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Numbers 24:2
“Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Numbers 24. Help us remember Numbers 24:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.