Scripture: Exodus 18
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn God provides godly people to help give us godly advice.
- Students will learn God expects us to follow godly advice.
- Students will learn God wants us to divide the work He gives us amongst several people and to not try and do everything ourselves.
- Students will learn about important Biblical locations and significant events that occurred.
Guiding Question: How can students learn about significant Biblical places around the world?
Materials: Marked or unmarked maps
Procedure: Teach the story of Jethro’s counsel to Moses focusing on how he gave clear instructions on how to follow through with the advice. Explain that there is a difference between regular advice and godly advice. God wants us to follow godly advice because it comes from His Word and will help us lead a godly lifestyle. God will put people in our life to give us that kind of advice and we need to be open to listening to them. Talk with students about examples of people in their life they could look to for godly advice. Explain that we can use the Bible to determine if the advice is godly.
Introduce the activity. Introduce the students to important Bible places on a map, especially those they have encountered so far in your lessons. (Examples: Bethlehem, Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Euphrates River, etc). Point out things like countries, cities, rivers, etc. (Note: in some cases, we still aren’t 100% sure of the exact location, but maps show the most common site historians mention. Older students may also cover place names for those same places today if they have changed (Like Persia is now Iran). After students are comfortable, bring out marked or unmarked maps, divide students into teams and have them compete to find the places you call out on the map.
Additional Questions: How can students find patterns in events throughout Biblical history?
Supplemental Activity: Have the students create a list of important events throughout Bible History. Students will list the event and the location it occurred. Have the students reflect on important places where the events occurred and any trends they notice.