Unit 5: Life of Moses OT5.16 Balaam and His Donkey Lesson · Many animals can do tricks. This dog...

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OT5.16 Balaam and His Donkey ©Beverly Wilson 2017

Unit 5: Life of Moses OT5.16 Balaam and His Donkey Lesson

Scripture: Numbers 22-24

Lesson Goal: Balaam was a sorcerer or false prophet who recognized the power of God and

wanted to make a profit from it. He said he was a follower of God but in his heart he loved riches more. In this lesson we will learn how God used a donkey to teach him an important lesson.

Introduction: This is the sixteenth lesson in Unit 5: Life of Moses. Balaam was a sorcerer or false prophet who recognized the power of God and wanted to make a profit from it. He said he was a follower of God but in his heart he loved riches more. In this lesson we will learn how God used a donkey to teach him an important lesson. This lesson is found in the book of Numbers. Numbers was written by Moses and tells the story of how Israel was prepared by God to enter the Promised Land. It is fourth book of Law. The books of Law are the first five books in the Old Testament. Let’s say the first five books of Law together: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Attention Getter: “Animal Tricks” Many animals can do tricks. This dog is walking a tight rope. Here is a puppy jumping over a fence. How about this bull dog who can skateboard? Now that would be some trick. This picture shows a dog driving a car. But I don’t think a dog is smart enough to do that! This is a donkey. Generally donkeys do not do tricks. They are thought to be pretty dumb. Say: “Do you have a pet? Can your pet do tricks? Tell us about those tricks.” (Have students share stories of the tricks their pets can do.) In this lesson we are going to learn how God used a donkey to teach a man named Balaam a very important lesson. The donkey did do something very unexpected but it was not a trick! Optional Activity: Bring several things to display on the table in your class area. For example, a Band-Aid, an umbrella, a hat, a bottle of sunscreen, a vitamin, a flashlight, a toothbrush, a plastic sandwich bag, etc. Ask the children to tell you what all the things have in common. Explain to the children that all of these items protect something. Discuss how each item might protect something. Explain that God always protects His children as Balaam finds out in today’s lesson. (Continue with the lesson.)

Opening Prayer: “Father, we want to be true followers of You. Help us to have right attitudes and to live what we say we believe. Give us a desire in our hearts to want to be more like Jesus in every way. We want to be sure that we really know You—not just about You. Give us a heart to be faithful and true to You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”

Memory Verse: The memory verse is John 14:23 ”Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.”

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/9jbv0o5vHeY Moses had led the children of Israel for forty years while they wandered in the wilderness. A new generation of people had grown up and now they were heading for the Promised Land. God had assured Moses that He would give them victory over their enemies. As the children of Israel moved toward the Promised Land they camped in the plains of Moab along the eastern side of the Jordan River which was the country of the Amorites, an idol-worshipping people. Moses asked Sihon the King of the Amorites for permission to pass through his country. Even though Moses promised that the Israelites would not bother his fields or wells and would stay on

https://youtu.be/9jbv0o5vHeY

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the “king’s highway” Sihon refused them permission to pass through his country. He actually sent his soldiers to attack Israel. God gave them a great victory in this battle and they took the Amorites’ cities and villages. As they moved north they entered the land of Basham. The king of Basham was Og who was a giant of a man. He and his people lived in a rocky mountain fortress. God told Moses to not be afraid and that He would give the people his land just like he had done to the Amorites. So Israel defeated King Og of Basham and his whole army. All the people in the surrounding area were terrified of the Israelites. They had heard about all the amazing things that the God of Israel had done for them. They heard how God had opened the Red Sea so they could escape from the Egyptians on dry land. The people heard how He had provided Manna from heaven for them every day for 40 years, and many other amazing things. They knew that these strange people from Egypt could not be defeated by any ordinary means. Balak, the king of Moab, had heard how the Israelites were marching through the country conquering the land. When he heard of their arrival in Moab he was terrified. When Balak the King of Moab saw all the Israelites camped east of the Jordan River, opposite Jericho, his people were terrified. “This mob will eat us like an ox eats grass,” they exclaimed. As King Balak stood on a high hill and looked down on the Israelite camp, an evil idea came to him. In those days people believed in magic and evil spirits and curses. Perhaps he and his friends the Midianites could get some false prophet to come and put a curse on Israel so that they would become weak and he could defeat them. Living in Moab near the Euphrates River was a sorcerer named Balaam. He said he was a prophet of God and many important people came to him for help. But he was really a false prophet who didn’t know God in his heart. He was greedy and made people pay him for helping them. So Balak sent messengers to Balaam. Balak’s messengers offered Balaam money to come and curse the Israelites. “We believe those you bless are blessed and those you curse are doomed,” they said. They really thought that they could somehow get God to curse His own chosen people! Since Balaam was used to talking to spirits he asked God what to do. But if he really knew God he would have known that God would NOT let him curse His people. Balaam must have been surprised when the Lord really did answer him. That night God spoke to Balaam in a dream. “Don’t do it!” God told him. “You are not to curse the Israelites, for I have blessed them!” At first Balaam did what was right. He obeyed God and sent the messengers home. He said, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.” When the king of Moab heard Balaam’s answer, he was upset. So he sent some more distinguished princes to ask Balaam to help him. They offered Balaam more money and great honors. King Balak wanted Balaam to know that he would be rich if he just cursed the children of Israel. Again Balaam asked God if he could go. He really wanted all this wealth and honor. Later that night God spoke to Balaam and said, “You may get up and go with these men, but be sure to say only what I tell you.” The next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and set off towards Moab. But God was angry with Balaam’s eager attitude. He knew the greed that was in Balaam’s heart and that he had other plans. As Balaam and two servants were riding along, Balaam’s donkey suddenly saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword. She bolted off the road and ran into a field;

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Balaam could not see the Angel and he could not believe what his donkey was doing. So Balaam beat her back onto the road. The Angel then stood where the road went between two vineyard walls. The donkey squirmed past the angel by pressing against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot in the process. So he beat the donkey again. Then the angel blocked the path and the donkey lay down. In a fit of temper Balaam beat the donkey a third time. Suddenly the Lord caused the donkey to start talking! “What have I done that deserves your beating me these three times?” she asked. “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “I wish I had a sword with me to kill you.” Then the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No” Balaam answered. Then God opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. The Angel explained that the donkey had saved his life three times by blocking him from going to Moab. Balaam knew that only God could make a donkey talk and an angel appear! He knew that God saw his greedy heart and the sin that was inside. So he bowed low and fell face down. Balaam said to the angel, “I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. If you wish, I will go back.” Now he would do exactly what the Lord said to do! Then the Angel told him, “Go with the men, but say only what I tell you to say.” God knew that Balaam was determined to go to Balak so he let him go even if he did wrong. Balaam went to see King Balak and was taken to Mount Bamoth-baal overlooking the Israelite army. Balaam told the king to build seven altars and prepare seven bulls and seven rams as sacrifices. Balaam offered sacrifices then spoke what God told him. Instead of cursing Israelites he blessed them. “What have you done to me?” demanded King Balak. Balaam told the king that the Lord had put the words in his mouth! Next King Balak marched Balaam to Mount Pisgah to make more sacrifices. Balaam told the king to build seven altars and offer an ox and a sheep on each altar. So Balak followed his instructions. Again Balaam spoke what God told him and he blessed the Israelites. The Lord put the words in Balaam’s mouth and caused him to bless Israel instead of curse them. A furious Balak then took Balaam to a third place called Mount Peor to offer more sacrifices. But the Spirit of God came on Balaam and he spoke only good things about the Israelites. God used Balaam to tell King Balak that Israel would have the strength of an ox and defeat all their enemies even him! King Balak was livid with rage and he shouted, “I called you to curse my enemies and instead you have blessed them three times. Get out of here! Go back home!” King Balak was so angry with Balaam that he did not give him the rewards that he had promised. Before leaving Balaam turned to King Balak and prophesized again that the Israelites will crush their enemies and even the kings who were there would die. Balaam had tried hard to gain his own riches by cursing Israel, but God would not allow anyone to curse His people. God even used a sorcerer like Balaam to accomplish His will. God is sovereign over both good and evil!

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Balaam may have looked like a follower of God on the outside, but inside he really was doing whatever he could to get money and worldly possessions. Balaam might have fooled many people but he did not fool God. God wants us to be true believers in Jesus. He will do anything He can to get our attention. He really wanted Balaam to be a true believer and in order to get his attention he used a donkey to do it! We may fool others and they may think that we believe in Jesus and know Him. But, God knows our hearts. He knows if we really trust Him or just say we do in front of others. God sees us wherever we are and knows if we act one way in church and another way at home or at school. It’s one thing to come to church on Sunday and sing praise songs and pray; but what really counts is how we act when we’re not at church. Do people know that you are a follower of Jesus by the way you act at home or at school or in your neighborhood? God wants you and me to be His messengers to all the people that we come in contact with all week long. Remember Worship God by Obeying Him.

Review Questions: Spinner Game (Grades K-5) Materials Needed: a spinner with numbers 1-6 on it (can use commercial spinner from a game board or make your own.) (Or you can use a dice.) Procedure: Divide the class into two groups. Each team takes turns spinning the spinner. Whatever value (1-6) that the spinner lands on is the number of points they will receive if they can correctly answer the following questions. Allow all students on both teams to have an opportunity to spin the spinner for their team.

1. What nations had the Israelites conquered before they headed toward the land of Moab? (They had fought the Amorites and the people of Basham and had won the battles.)

2. Why was the king of Moab afraid of the children of Israel? (Because there were thousands of people coming into his country and he was afraid they would try to conquer his land and take it away from him.)

3. Why did King Balak want to have someone curse the people of Israel? (He wanted them to be weak so he could defeat them in battle.)

4. Why did many important people come to Balaam for help? (He said he was a prophet of God. He was a sorcerer and he used spirit power to curse and bless people.)

5. What was wrong with Balaam? (He was greedy for money; he charged people to help them.) 6. What did the king of Moab ask Balaam to do? (King Balak wanted him to curse the children of

Israel.) 7. When Balaam wouldn’t come to Moab to curse the people, what did the king of Moab do?

(He was mad and offered him more money and more honor.) 8. How did Balaam disobey God’s instructions? (He kept asking God if he could go to King

Balak because he wanted the money and honor.) 9. At first God told Balaam not to go to Moab; then he changed mind. What did God tell Balaam

to do the second time? (Go, but only say what He told him to say.) 10. What did Balaam’s donkey see that Balaam didn’t see on their way to Moab? (The donkey

saw the Angel of the Lord.) 11. How many times did Balaam’s donkey see the Angel before Balaam saw it? (The donkey saw

the angel three times.) 12. What did Balaam do when his donkey seemed to be misbehaving? (He beat it.) 13. Then, suddenly, what amazing thing did the donkey do? (He started speaking to Balaam.) 14. What did the donkey say to Balaam? (“What have I done to you that you have struck me

these three times?”) 15. Why did Balaam say he beat his donkey? (Because she had made a fool out of him.) 16. What did the Angel tell Balaam about his donkey? (She had saved his life three times.)

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17. What did Balaam tell King Balak to build on the mountain? (He told him to build seven altars and sacrifice bulls and rams on each one.)

18. After the sacrifice what words came out of Balaam’s mouth? (The Lord put words of blessing for Israel instead of the words of a curse on Israel.)

19. What did King Balak keep trying to get Balaam to curse Israel? (King Balak took him to three different mountains to offer sacrifices in an attempt to get Balaam to curse Israel.)

20. What did Balaam tell the king of Moab when he got there? (The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak.”)

21. What was Balaam’s real problem? (He was not a believer in God. He was a false prophet and a sorcerer who just wanted to use spirit power to gain wealth and riches.)

22. How does God say that we should worship Him? (We are to worship Him by obeying His words.)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: “The Wave” Our memory verse is John 14:23 ”Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” Have students locate the verse in scripture and read together in unison. Repeat several times. Say:”Worship is more than going to church. It is following the Lord’s instructions in every aspect of life. Worship is obeying God, listening to His voice, and saying what He would have us to say. We need to not only know God with our mind we should know God personally in our heart.” One of the ways to worship God is to raise our arms or hands in praise to Him. We are going to do an activity that will help us to remember to worship God by obeying Him. We will divide our memory verse into the following phrases: (1) Jesus replied, (2) If anyone (3) loves me, (4) he will (5) obey (6) my teaching. Assign each of these phrases to a child or group. As the teach directs, each child or group stands, says the assigned phrase while raising both hands to the sky and back down to their thighs, and sits down. Repeat three times moving faster each time! (This is a fun activity for Bible memorization.)

Group Learning Activity: “How Much is It?” (Grades K-5) Purpose: The goal of this activity is have students know the difference between knowing God in your head and knowing God in your heart Share examples of how money can cause people to sin and do wrong things. Think about our motives and actions Preparation: Create an “old general store” by taping some items on the wall or dry erase board that will be the “for sale” items. Be sure to include a chair. Cut some pictures out of magazines of nice things that the kids in your class would be interested in (really interested in, like the latest toys, bikes or maybe a pony). Procedure: In class choose a volunteer to be the storekeeper, give him a calculator and a “cash box.” The rest of the class may watch and listen. Tell the storekeeper that he may sell any of the items in his store except the chair. It is grandma’s favorite chair when she comes to visit and she asked that family to never sell it. The teacher is the customer who asks how much the individual items are, and then the teacher asks how much the chair is. The storekeeper will then say “not for sale!!” Then you should try to entice the storekeeper by saying “not even if I give you this nice new toy?” “or this?” (Show another picture). Then point out the compromise of Balaam who wanted to do right but loved riches more than he loved God. Say “Balaam loved money. God knew that his heart was not clean. Balaam was always thinking of ways to get more money and be greedy instead of helping the people know God. The Bible tells us that we cannot love money and God. Share how God will provide for all our needs if we trust in Him.

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Have students look up Luke 12:15 “Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Jesus is saying that the good life has nothing to do with being wealthy. The good life is about learning to live in a right relationship to God and doing His work. What are some ways that the love of money can cause people to do wrong? (People will cheat others or steal things in order to get what they want. People sometimes even kill others!) .

Group Learning Activity: “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” (Grades K-2) Purpose: To help students understand that God used an animal to talk to Balaam to tell him to obey Him. Preparation: Draw a very simple donkey outline on large paper (or chalk/white board). Provide “tails” and a piece of blue tac for each child. You can make a tail out of strands of gray yarn by tapping or gluing one end together. Procedure: Blindfold the children one at a time and have them try to pin the tail on the back of the donkey. See who gets the closest. Say: “In this lesson we learned about a man who had a donkey. Who knows what sound a donkey makes? (Let the children answer) The donkey was able to do something no other donkey has ever done.” God used a donkey to communicate with Balaam. He wanted Balaam to understand that God was not pleased with Balaam’s greedy desire to please King Balak so he could get rich. Miraculously God made the donkey to talk.”

Group Learning Activity: Bible Study “Animals” (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To understand that God expects both animals and people to obey Him. He sometimes uses animals to teach us important lessons about Him. Preparation: You will need Bibles, paper, and pens. Write the following scriptures on separate pieces of paper. 1 Kings 17:1-6; Daniel 6:16-23; Jonah 1:17; John 21:1-6; and Matthew 17:24-27 Procedure: Say: “In this lesson we learned that God used a donkey to communicate with Balaam. He wanted Balaam to understand that God was not pleased with Balaam’s greedy desire to please King Balak so he could get rich. Miraculously God made the donkey to talk. We are going to look at some other Bible passages where God used animals to accomplish His will and purpose. Let’s begin by thinking of another story in the Bible that includes a donkey. Do you know what it is? (Have students read Matthew 21:1-3; 7-11). God provided a donkey colt that had never been ridden so Jesus could ride it as he entered into Jerusalem. This was the Triumphal entry of Christ when everyone waved palm branches and sang “Hosannas to the King!” Form six groups and give each group a paper. Have them read their text and be prepared to report what they learned about a Bible animal to the class.

1 Kings 17:1-6 God had caused a famine in the land and there was no water or food. God provided for his servant Elijah. He was fed by ravens. They miraculously brought him bread and meat every morning and evening.

Daniel 6:16-23 Daniel continued to pray to God three times a day even though the king had issued a decree against praying to anyone other than him. Daniel was cast into the den of lions. God shut the lions’ mouth so they could not harm him.

Jonah 1:17 God had commanded Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh. He ran away and was thrown into the sea during a storm. God prepared a large fish to save Jonah by

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swallowing him alive. After three days Jonah repented and the fish spewed him out on the seashore. Jonah obeyed God by preaching in Nineveh.

John 21:1-6 Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection. They had gone fishing and Jesus called to them from the sea shore and told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. God caused a huge number of fish to go into their nets. One of the disciples named Peter knew that the man on the shore was Jesus and he jumped into the water and swam ashore. Jesus used the fish to prepare a breakfast for them and to teach them about their new jobs in teaching his sheep.

Matthew 17:24-27 The tax collectors came to Peter and wanted Jesus to pay his temple tax. Jesus told them that believers should not offend government officials by not paying taxes. He told Peter to go fishing and the first fish he caught would have a coin in its mouth and he was to use that coin to pay the tax.

Say: “What do these stories tell us about obeying God? (Even animals obey God. God used animals to teach us important lessons on how to live a life pleasing to Him.) What is the result of obeying God? (When we obey God we are blessed with a character that is more like Jesus.) What do we do when we obey God? (We worship Him.)

Group Learning Activity: “Hidden Sins” Object Lesson (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To help students see that God can reveal hidden sins. Nothing is hidden from God. Preparation: You will need salt, a glass of water, grape, and a spoon or another stirring utensil. Mix 1/2 cup salt with 3/4 cup hot water in a glass. Drop a grape into the mixture. It should float. (if it doesn’t, add more salt and mix.) Take the grape out and let the water cool and bring to class. Before you share the object lesson, add 1/2 cup water to the glass. Very carefully pour it into the glass so that you do NOT mix the salt water and the fresh water. Procedure: Say: “In this lesson we learned that Balaam tried to hide his true motives from God. God knows our heart and can see our real attitudes. Nothing can be hidden from Him.” Let’s look at this glass of water. I am going to drop a grape into the water. Do you notice how it stays in the middle of the glass? (The grape stays where the salt water is). “The grape in the middle of the glass is like hidden sins in our heart. Some people try to hide their sins from God. Other people may not see them, but God can.” (Now stir up the mixture with a spoon. Suddenly the grape will float to the surface.} “Watch what happens when I stir up this mixture. What happened to the grape? (It floated to the surface.) That is how God reveals the hidden sins in our heart. God knows our hearts and brings our sins to the surface. When God reveals our sins to us we can tell Him that we are sorry for our wrongs and ask for forgiveness.” Have students look up Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Read verse aloud and ask students what they think this verse means. Say: “Nothing can be hidden from God. He knows everything about everyone everywhere all the time! God sees all we do and knows all we think. Even when we are unaware of His presence, he is there. When we try to hide from him, he sees us. We can have no secrets from God! It is comforting to know that even though He knows all about us, he still loves us and wants to have a relationship with us.”

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Scientific explanation of this experiment: Adding salt to the water makes it denser than the grape. Even if you can’t see the salt, it is still in there, and it has weight. When the weight of the salt is added to the water, the water becomes denser. When an object is less dense than water, it will float. This is why it’s easier for us to float in the salty ocean than it is in a pool. Grapes are mostly water, but they have sugar in them too. So they sink in regular water, because they are heavier than the exact amount of water that they move out of the way (or displace) as they sink. Then as you add salt to the water, the water becomes denser than the grape, so the grape floats.

Group Learning Activity: “Donkey Tag” (Grades K-5) Purpose: To play a large motor movement activity that depicts the account of Balaam and His Donkey Preparation: You will need small pretzel rods for each player. This game is best played outside or in a larger room. Procedure: Read Numbers 22:27 “The donkey saw the angel of the Lord. So it lay down under Balaam. That made him angry. He hit the donkey with his walking stick.” The class will play freeze tag with the following adaptations: The person who is “it” is called the angel. All the other students are donkeys. When someone is tagged by the angel, they become frozen and must lay down (because the donkey laid down when it ran out of options trying to get away from the angel. The other donkeys (those who have not been frozen) can unfreeze donkeys by touching them with the pretzel stick (to represent the stick Balaam used to hit the donkey.)

Group Learning Activity: “Left, Right, Lay” (Grades K-3) Purpose: To play a large motor movement activity that depicts the account of Balaam and His Donkey Preparation: No supplies Procedure: Read Numbers 22:26-27 “Then the angel of the Lord moved ahead. He stood in a narrow place. There was no room to turn, either right or left. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord. So it lay down under Balaam. That made him angry. He hit the donkey with his walking stick.” Say: “We are going to play a game that will help us understand how the donkey tried to escape from the angel. I will call out actions and you are to complete them as quickly as possible. The last person to follow the directions is out.” The teacher calls out an order for the students to complete the actions such as move right, move left, lay down, raise right arm, raise left arm, shake right foot, shake left foot, raise chin up, turn around, etc.) Students must complete action as quickly as possible. Student to complete actions last is out. Keep changing the order for the students to do the actions. Winner is the student left when all the other students have sat down.

Group Learning Activity: “Sour Treats” Object Lesson (Grades K-3) Preparation: Before class, make a cake or cookies, but do not add the sugar to the recipe. The cake or cookies will look good on the outside, but taste bad on the inside. Procedure: Pass out the cookies to the class. Ask the kids to eat (and probably spit out) the treats. Say: “These cookies have an important lesson for us. They show us how sometimes people look good on the outside, but inside their hearts are dirty. God knows our hearts and wants us to have clean hearts. “Remember that Balaam was not a believer. He knew who God was in his head, but he never trusted in Him in his heart. When a person becomes a Christian, he trusts in God and believes in Jesus

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because he knows that Jesus died for all the wrong things that he has done. He tells God that he is truly sorry for all the wrong things he has done and asks God to clean out all the bad stuff in his heart. Then he asks Jesus to come into his heart and live there forever. God hears a prayer that is true and real.” “Sometimes people may think they are a Christian if they believe and know God in their head. They know who He is, but they have never believed in their heart. God cannot be a friend if you have never met him or asked Him into your heart. What about you? Is God your friend or someone you hear about every Sunday? Think about it. (Teachers, this may be a great opportunity to see some children really think about their relationship and where they stand. Be sensitive to needs, making sure that no one makes a decision just because others did.)” Conclude by serving cookies or cake with real sugar in them!

Group Learning Activity: “Animal Antics” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need a pet or a picture of a pet. Procedure: Say:” What’s the best animal trick you’ve ever seen? If you have an animal that does a trick and is safe around children, bring it in to show the children, or bring in a picture. Who has a pet? Can your pet do any tricks? Invite the children to share stories about their pets and show you the kind of tricks their pets. Say: “Is it important to care for the animals around us? Why? Yes, God gave us pets to be our friends. Some people use animals to help them work. God expects us to treat all our animals kindly. What do you think your pet or other animal would say to you if it could talk? In this lesson we learned about an animal that actually did talk! And what it said showed it wasn’t too happy with its master. Our memory verse is about obeying God. “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” (John 14:23). Let’s say that together. In today’s story the animal’s master wasn’t obeying God’s instructions. So he wasn’t showing God that he loved Him. We worship God when we follow His instructions.”

Craft Learning Activity: “Donkey” Sack Puppet (Grades K-3) Purpose: To provide a puppet to retell the story of Balaam and His Donkey Preparation: You will need a brown paper lunch bag, printer, crayons, scissors, glue, big squiggly eyes and paper for printer. Option: You can use brown foam and then trace the template pieces onto the foam and assemble according to directions. Print template page—one for each child. Have students color the templates and cut out the template pieces. Procedure: Give each child a brown paper lunch bag. One side is smooth and is the back. The other side has a tab or folded flap for the bottom of the bag. The bottom flap is the head. Have students put hand in the sack and lift the bottom flap up a little. This will be the mouth of the donkey and the children can move it to make the donkey talk. Glue the lower part of the sack with the tail and arms (second template.) On the front side of the sack (flap side) glue the nose onto the head (overlapping the body a little.) Glue the squiggly eyes onto the head above the nose. Glue the ears onto the head and the hair tuff onto the head. Glue the arms to the flap and glue the tail to the back.

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Say: “Does God often make animals talk? No. Have you ever heard an animal talk? No. This is the only time in the Bible that God allowed an animal to talk and give a message to a person. God wants us to do his will and will use whatever means necessary to make sure that we are listening to him.” Have students use the puppet to retell the story of “Balaam and His Donkey.”

Life Application Challenge: “Paper Tearing” Say: “In this lesson we learned that we worship God by obeying Him. Balaam did not have a heart that was fully committed to God. Have you ask Jesus to be your Savior? Has he cleaned your heart from hidden sins? Once we have a heart that is pure and clean we can worship Him by our obedience. Procedure: Pass out a piece of colored construction paper to each child. Say: “You are to think of one way that you can honor God by being obedient. Showing honor to our parents or our brothers and sisters is a way that we can show our love for God. Once you have thought of a way to obey God, think of a shape that you can tear out and then explain to the group what it means.” Give some of the following examples to help students get started:

A bed—to promise that the child will make their bed when their parents ask

A shovel—to say that the children clean up the yard after their pet

A set of lips—to say that they will speak nicely to each other and say thank you more often.

After a few minutes, invite the children to share their torn paper with each other and to explain what it means. Invite the children to pray together and ask God to help them be obedient to Him and to love each other/

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Balaam and His Donkey Numbers 22-24

John 14:23

”Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.”

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Balaam and His Donkey Numbers 22-24

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Donkey Templates

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Unit 5: Life of Moses OT5.16 Balaam and His Donkey Lesson · Many animals can do tricks. This dog...

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Transcript of Unit 5: Life of Moses OT5.16 Balaam and His Donkey Lesson · Many animals can do tricks. This dog...