Week 245 · about 45 minutes
Joshua 17
Joshua 17 · Memory verse Joshua 17:8
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Joshua 17), the matching word search and answer key (Joshua 17 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 17 in about four minutes, stopping at Joshua 17:8: “The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Joshua 17?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Joshua 17 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.” 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, “Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was his border. They reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east.” Joshua 17 opens with these words: “This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of…” The line to keep is Joshua 17:8: “The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.” Carry the word “land” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Joshua 17:8: “The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Joshua 17? Then try this: Read “The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of…” 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 17. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Joshua 17:8. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Joshua 17 and write Joshua 17:8 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Joshua 17:8
“The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Joshua 17. Help us remember Joshua 17:8 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.