MEMORY VERSE: Joshua 8:1 "And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be dismayed: take all the people of war with thee and arise, go up to Ai..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: 1 Timothy. Write '1 Timothy' on small slips of paper and pass out to students at the end of class. Interesting to note that all the books that begin with "T" are all together on the list of New Testament books!
PRAYER: Thank God for protecting His children and knowing what is best for them.
SPECIAL SONG: The B-I-B-L-E (see February - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #2 on this blog). On Jordan's Stormy Banks (see June - Songs We Sing in Bible Class #6 on this blog).
VISUAL AID: Large Activity (see below)
- The LORD had said many times to Abraham (Genesis 12:7), Moses (Deuteronomy 11:9), and Joshua (Joshua 1:11) that the land of Canaan was the Promised Land and He had given it to His people. Joshua and all the people were now in the land of milk and honey, but they had to conquer the land before it was truly theirs. After the battle of Jericho, God told Joshua to not be afraid and to not be dismayed or distressed. God had a plan. On God's command, Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor or mighty soldiers and sent them out at night. He told them to go behind the city of Ai, to wait there, and be ready and they did what Joshua told them to do. While the 30,000 soldiers were waiting behind the city, Joshua and 5,000 different soldiers went towards the front of the city and camped in a little valley. When the soldiers of Ai saw Joshua and his men outside the front of their city, they went out to fight them, but the Israelites pretended to be afraid of the soldiers of Ai and ran away from them, drawing them away from their city.
- This all went according to God's plan and there was not one man left in the city to defend it. That's when the LORD told Joshua to stretch out his spear toward Ai. The mighty men of valor went into the city at that very moment and set it on fire. When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw the smoke and didn't know where to go! Finally, they turned back to chase the Israelites into the wilderness, but the Israelites came alive, turning to fight with the men of Ai, not pretending anymore. The Israelites killed all of the men of Ai, even the king.
- Afterwards, Joshua built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings to Him. The altar was made of whole stones and Joshua wrote upon the stones the law of Moses. Then he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings that were in the law of Moses to the people. The people listened.
- Talk about God's concern for Joshua, telling him not to be afraid (Joshua 8:1). God cared for the leader of His people.
- Discuss how there is much strategy in war in order to succeed. God was the leader of this war strategy and it succeeded.
ACTIVITY: The Battle of Ai
Materials needed: 9" x 12" yellow construction paper, 4 1/2" x 12" strip of green construction paper, 3" x 4 1/2" scrap of construction paper, glue, crayons and markers.
- Pass out yellow paper to students. This is the background.
- Pass out green paper.
- Tear top edge of green paper.
- Glue the "not torn" paper to the bottom edge of the green paper.
- Pass out tan paper.
- Tear top of tan paper. This is the city of Ai.
- Draw windows and a gate on the 'city.'
- Glue the city in the middle of the paper.
- Draw many soldiers in back of the city.
- Draw the soldiers of Ai running after the Israelite soldiers in front of the city where the gate is drawn.
- Draw smoke coming from the city. (This is the fun part!)
- Write "The Battle Of Ai" and "Joshua 8:1-35" at the top of the yellow paper.