Week 185 · about 45 minutes
Numbers 26
Numbers 26 · Memory verse Numbers 26:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Numbers 26), the matching word search and answer key (Numbers 26 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a piece of bread
Hold a piece of bread. Read Numbers 26 in about four minutes, stopping at Numbers 26:2: ““Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to war in Israel.”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Numbers 26?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Numbers 26 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “After the plague, Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,” 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, “Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.” Numbers 26 opens with these words: “After the plague, Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,” The line to keep is Numbers 26:2: ““Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to…” Carry the word “take” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Numbers 26:2: ““Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to war in Israel.”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Numbers 26? Then try this: Read ““Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their…” 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 26. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Numbers 26:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Numbers 26 and write Numbers 26:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Numbers 26:2
““Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to war in Israel.””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Numbers 26. Help us remember Numbers 26:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.