Scripture: Leviticus 1-27
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn that God gave the Israelites many laws.
- Students will learn that the law God gave Moses contain laws not just for religion but laws that would be the rules for their society as well.
- Students will learn it was impossible for the people to keep all of these laws, so God already had a plan for Jesus to come to earth and die for our sins.
- Students will interact with a service dog to learn rules can protect and help us be more effective.
Guiding Question: Why does God give us laws?
Materials: service dog
Procedure: Review Moses receiving the laws from God on Sinai. Obviously, it is impractical to share all of the laws given, but it is important to reach students a few things about the laws listed:
• Laws were given to people by God not to keep them from having fun, but to protect them and direct them towards living a fulfilling godly life.
• Point out the Ten Commandments, but also show students the pages and pages of the laws.
• Explain to the students that some of these laws are repeated in the New Testament and we are to keep those laws even today.
• For older students, begin introducing the concept that Jesus did not replace the law but fulfilled it.
• You may choose to read a few of the more interesting laws, dietary laws, laws about worship, laws repeated in the New Testament, etc. Please avoid sharing laws not appropriate for your age group (generally laws dealing with violence and sexual sins).
Ask students to share some of the reasons God may have given people these laws (avoid negative consequences associated with those practices, separate them clearly from the idol worshippers around them, keep them healthy, etc). If time allows extend the discussion to God’s laws and parents’ rules that would impact children (do not lie, bed times, eating healthy foods, etc.)
Have a presentation from a therapy or service dog and it’s trainer or owner. The presenter may or may not be a Christian, but will be sharing all of the special rules and training a service dog must have. This training is necessary to keep the dog and people safe and to allow the dog to be able to effectively help the person/people he is serving. Depending on the physical set-up of the presentation, a Bible teacher/teachers should make sure the connection between the presentation and principles in the Bible lesson are strongly tied back together. (You can also point our to the students that when they are adults, they can help train service dogs, which is a great way to serve others.)
Additional Questions:
- What laws from the Old Testament were specifically restated in the New Testament?
Supplemental Activity: Have students research to see how many of the laws given in the Old Testament were restated in the New Testament.