Week 235 · about 45 minutes
Joshua 7
Joshua 7 · Memory verse Joshua 7:8
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Joshua 7), the matching word search and answer key (Joshua 7 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 Joshua 7 in about four minutes, stopping at Joshua 7:8: “Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Joshua 7?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Joshua 7 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against the children of Israel.” 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, ““‘In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. It shall be that the tribe which Yahweh selects shall come near by families. The family which Yahweh selects shall come near by households. The household which Yahweh selects shall come near man by man.” Joshua 7 opens with these words: “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of…” The line to keep is Joshua 7:8: “Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!” Carry the word “israel” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Joshua 7:8: “Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Joshua 7? Then try this: Read “Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!” 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 Joshua 7. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Joshua 7:8. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Joshua 7 and write Joshua 7:8 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Joshua 7:8
“Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Joshua 7. Help us remember Joshua 7:8 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.