Week 215 · about 45 minutes
Deuteronomy 20
Deuteronomy 20 · Memory verse Deuteronomy 20:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Deuteronomy 20), the matching word search and answer key (Deuteronomy 20 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 Deuteronomy 20 in about four minutes, stopping at Deuteronomy 20:4: “for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Deuteronomy 20?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Deuteronomy 20 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 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, “It shall be, if it makes you answer of peace, and opens to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found therein shall become forced laborers to you, and shall serve you.” Deuteronomy 20 opens with these words: “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for…” The line to keep is Deuteronomy 20:4: “for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”” Carry the word “fight” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Deuteronomy 20:4: “for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Deuteronomy 20? Then try this: Read “for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”” 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 Deuteronomy 20. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Deuteronomy 20:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Deuteronomy 20 and write Deuteronomy 20:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Deuteronomy 20:4
“for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Deuteronomy 20. Help us remember Deuteronomy 20:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.