Joshua and Caleb
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this module is to reflect on faith and in our trust in God. Over these four lessons, we will be looking at different wilderness experiences and see how they require complete dependence on God. Wilderness experiences strip away confidence in the self and replace it with confidence in God. Faith is understanding that God knows everything we need and that He will provide it in His perfect way and in His perfect timing. In this third lesson, we will see how God wanted to give the Israelites the promised land, but because they did not have faith in Him, they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.
INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 5 Minutes
Play the game "I Spy" and have each child choose an object and share the color of the object by saying "I spy with my little eye something that is fill in the color." For each turn, the other children try to guess which object was selected. Whoever guesses the correct object gets the next turn. Let the children know that in the story we will be learning today, we will be looking at how the Israelites played a real game of "I Spy."
HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes
Memory Verse
"If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us" (Numbers 14:8)
CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 20 Minutes
God had promised Abraham that he would give him and his descendents the land of Canaan, or the Promised Land. Although the Israelites had been in Egypt since the time Joseph brought his family to Egypt, the Israelites knew that God would deliver them and take them to the Promised Land.
God started this deliverance with the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea, but God's miracle was not only in taking the Israelites out of Egypt, but also in taking them to the land He had promised to give them.
Last week, we talked about how the Israelites complained all the time because they did not have strong faith. Today, we are going to look at two people who had amazing faith. Those people are Joshua and Caleb.
When the Israelites left Egypt, God brought the people to the land He had promised them hundreds of years earlier, and He told Moses to send twelve spies to look at the land. God instructed Moses to send out one leader from each family tribe. Joshua and Caleb were among these twelve spies. When Moses sent the men to scout out the land of Canaan, he told them to see whether the people who live there are good or bad, weak or strong, few or many whether they lived in cities or in camps, whether the land was fertile or dry. The spies spent 40 days looking. They cut down a cluster of grapes, which was so big two men had to carry it on a pole. Can you imagine how big those grapes were?
When the twelve spies came back, they told Moses and the people that it was a land flowing with milk and honey, but that the people were strong and that the cities were walled and large. The Israelites could see how wonderful the land was just from the big cluster of grapes that the men brought back, but they were scared when they heard how strong the men were who already lived there.
Caleb, one of the spies, told the people that they should go and take possession of the land because he knew they could conquer the land with God's help. But the other men were too scared and they scared the rest of the people. They looked at how big and strong the men who lived in Canaan and they felt like grasshoppers next to the big, giant men they had seen.
The Israelites started crying and complaining that God had brought them out of Egypt in order to kill them in battle. In fact, the Israelites even wanted to choose a new leader and head back to Egypt Why were the Israelites reacting like this? Because they only considered their own strength as humans and they ignored God's strength and His ability to help them win. They didn't trust that God would give them the land like He had promised. The Israelites sinned when they believed God was not in control. But Joshua and Caleb realized that this was a big mistake and they defended God. They told the people that the land was good and reminded them that God would be with them and give them the land. They encouraged the Israelites to enter the land God had promised them and to be faithful in God's promise and protection. When the people refused, God was sad that the Israelite people, who had seen the miracles in Egypt and had seen His glory, continued to rebel against Him.
Out of all the spies who went to scout out the land, all of them died except for Joshua and Caleb. God told Moses that the Israelites would wander in the wilderness for 40 years, one year for each day they spent searching out the land of Canaan. God said that the people who had rebelled against him would wonder in the wilderness and would not enter the promised land. None of the Israelites who had rebelled against God were allowed to enter into the promised land except for Joshua and Caleb. Since Caleb and Joshua had followed God completely, God decided to let them enter the promised land.
Joshua and Caleb knew that, with God's help, they could do anything. Joshua and Caleb understood the might and power of God. They knew that, when God promises to do something, He will do it.
DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 5 Minutes
- How many spies did God tell Moses to send into the land? (12)
- What did they say about the land? (It was good land with lots of food but strong people living there)
- Who said they should take the land? (Joshua and Caleb)
- What was the punishment for the sin of those who did not trust God to give them the land? (They would never live in the land they were promised)
- Are we trying to get to a Promised Land? What is our promised land? (heaven)
- Who leads us into the promised land of eternity when we put our trust in Him? (Jesus)
- Joshua and Caleb received blessings and were the only Israelites from those who left Egypt who entered into the promised land. They received these blessings because they stood up for God when no one else would. What are some ways we can stand up for God in our lives?
LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes
Joshua and Caleb and the 10 spies saw the same evidence, but had very different reactions. Because Joshua and Caleb were full of faith in God and full of God's spirit, they knew God would give them what He had promised. Because the other ten spies did not have faith and relied only on their own strength, they were full of fear and rejected God. They had to suffer the consequences of not getting into the promised land - they never received rest because they did not trust God.
What can we learn from the twelve spies? We need to be like Joshua and Caleb who were ready to obey God even if the fight was going to be hard. We do not want to be like the other ten spies who rebelled and encouraged others to disobey God as well.
ACTIVITY - 5 Minutes
Make a copy of the Number Key below for each child.
The children can find a message using the below key. The message is the meaning of the name Joshua: "The Lord is my salvation."
KEY: A = 1 B = CH 2 C = 3 = 4 = D = E 5 6 7 F = G = H = 8 9 10 I = J = 11 K = 12 L = 13 LL = 14 M = 15 N = 16 N = 17 O = 18 P = 19 Q = 20 R = 21 RR = 22 S = 23 T = 24 U = 25 V = 26 W = 27 X = 28 Y = 29 Z = 30
MESSAGE: 11 18 23 25 6 = 6 13 23 6 17 18 21 6 23 15 10 23 1 13 26 1 3 10 18 16
Additional activities:
- Coloring page (attached below)
- Word Search (attached below)
- Bible Blanks
SERVANT RESOURCES
- Additional visual aids and story illustrations
- YouTube video: Joshua & Caleb
- Old Testament Books Song - Missing Deuterocanonical books (Tobit and Judith from history books, Wisdom and Sirach from poetic books, Baruch, 1&2 Maccabees from prophetic books, and the Prayer of Manasseh)
Refer to the Old Testament Timeline attached for major events and chronological order through the Bible.
PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK
As we see in the story of Joshua and Caleb, the Israelites had forgotten all of the miraculous things God had done right before their eyes. We are all prone to forgetfulness. We need to intentionally keep track of what God is doing around us and constantly remind ourselves of what God has done in the past. To help your child keep track of all the miraculous things God does for them, think of buying a special journal this week and having your child document all the miraculous things God has done for them.
Another option is to look at the meaning of Joshua's name and talk to your child about how Joshua lived up to the meaning of his name. You can also look up the meaning of your child's name and talk to them about how the meaning of their name can inspire them to glorify God in their life.