Scripture: Exodus 35-40
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn that God wanted the Israelites to have a place to come and worship Him.
- Students will learn the various parts of the Tabernacle and how they were used in worship.
- Students will learn how to budget their money.
Guiding Question: How can we use our money to serve God?
Materials: Paper, pencil, example budgets (appropriate for your class and students)
Procedure: Review the story of the building of the Tabernacle. (note: it isn’t necessary to go into a ton of details.) Explain that the Tabernacle was basically a large tent that could be moved as the Israelites traveled through the wilderness. After entering the promised land the Tabernacle continued to be used until King Solomon built the Temple hundreds of years later. Many aspects of the Tabernacle were repeated in the Temple.
Introduce the activity. Remind the students that people gave of their possessions and time to help build the Tabernacle. Teach students how to budget their allowance or other money to make sure they have some to give to God. Older students may actually be able to handle working on the same type of budget sheets as adults with pretend salaries and expenses. Younger children may be able to better understand the four bank method – one for spending, one for saving, one for God and one for gifts. Depending upon student circumstances your class may decide to save money students donate over a period of time to help a ministry of their choice. Encourage parents to have their kids earn the money or use part of their allowance rather than just handing them money to donate.
Additional Questions: How can students work with real-world budgets to learn how to be financially successful and serve God?
Supplemental Activity: Have students work in pairs or groups of three. Give each group a certain amount of money that is their “income” for a month. With the income, the students have to work together to plan how to pay bills and have enough money to offer to God.