RULES... RULES... RULES
The PDF of this Lesson...
With a Game (in Various PDFs), the Quiz, and Verses to Memorize
There sure are a lot of rules. We have them in school, at home, when we play a sport, and even when we travel. Why do we have rules? Are they there just to make life harder? Most laws and rules are for our good. To keep us from getting hurt and to make things fair.
When people disobey the rules, they either get hurt or they hurt others. For example:
– Someone is in a hurry or they are not paying attention and they drive through a stop sign or red light. Often this leads to an accident where people get hurt or die.
- One team cheated and went to the Little League World Series. How did the other team feel?
- Someone steals your bike. How do you feel?
God had promised His people, the Jews, that He would give them a land that flowed with milk and honey. How excited they must have been when they finally arrived there after wandering in the desert for 40 years. They would have to fight for the land, but God promised to help them win, if only they followed and obeyed His instructions.
God told Joshua, their leader, how they were to win against the walled city of Jericho. Its walls were so thick that people had their houses in them. God told them to march around the city one time each day for six days. On the seventh day they were to march around it seven times. The priests were to blow their trumpets and the people were to shout. When they did God would knock the walls down and they could easily go in and conquer the city. It all happened just as God said.
Before they marched on the seventh day, Joshua told the people that when they went into Jericho, they were not to keep any of the gold, silver, or any valuable metal. They were to bring it to God as an offering. One man, Achan, (it rhymes with bacon) decided to disobey. He took a fancy coat, a block of gold and some silver coins and buried them under his tent. He didn’t think that it would matter and that anyone would ever know. But God knew.
The people celebrated their great victory and began planning on how to conquer the next town, a small city called Ai. Joshua’s army scouts came back with the report that they would only need about 2000 men to easily defeat Ai. Just to make sure Joshua sent 3000 soldiers to fight. Not much later his men came back in defeat and reported that the small army of Ai had killed 36 Jewish soldiers. Everyone was sad and scared at the same time. Why did they lose?
Joshua tore his clothes and cried out to God. God told him that someone had disobeyed and had stolen things from Jericho. God would not help the Jews if they wouldn’t obey Him. Joshua didn’t know what God knew, and he made the mistake of not asking God before going to battle. God said, “Joshua, tomorrow I will show you the guilty man.”
Joshua came out to the people and told them why they had lost. He told them that one of them had stolen from Jericho, and because of that, they had lost God’s blessing and the battle at Ai. He also told them that God was going to reveal who the guilty man was. Achan was in the crowd that day, and he could have confessed, but he kept quiet and so did his family. They must have thought that they wouldn’t get caught because there were close to 2 million other Jews.
The next day Joshua had each innocent tribe sit down one by one until only one tribe, Judah, was standing. Achan was in that tribe. Then Joshua went family by family until only Achan and his family were left. Achan’s sin was revealed, and he and his family were stoned to death to remove the sin from Israel. The army went back to Ai and easily won with God’s help.
Achan’s sin hurt lots of people. Thirty-six men died. Women lost their husbands, kids lost their dad all because one man disobeyed.
Another man disobeyed God and he brought death on every person, including you and me. His name was Adam. He was the very first man. He enjoyed great love and fellowship with God, our Creator, but one day he chose to disobey the only rule God had given him. He ate from a tree in the garden where he lived, and when he did, he became a sinner and brought death and suffering into the world. Because he became a sinner every person born after him, except for Jesus, was born a sinner, with a “want to” to disobey God.
Sin is anything that you think, say or do that displeases God. Some examples of sin would be lying, cheating, stealing, swearing, disobeying your parents, hurting others, and thinking bad thoughts. God hates sin because He knows that it hurts us and others. He lives in a perfect place called Heaven and he wants all of us to live there with Him when we die, but He will not let sin in because it would ruin Heaven. So, we have a problem. If we don’t get rid of our sin, we can’t live in Heaven when we die.
God loves us, however, and He has a wonderful plan to pay for our sins and to save us. He showed His great love by sending Jesus, His only Son, to take the punishment for our sin. Jesus willingly let men nail Him to a cross where God punished Him for all the wrong things we’ve done.
To get rid of your sin you must A – Admit you are a sinner (see list above); B – Believe that Jesus died for your sins and that God will only accept what Jesus did as payment for your sin; C – Commit your life to Jesus. Ask Him to forgive and save you. He promises He will.
Curriculum by: Mark Redka (CBM)