⛺tents at Sinai⛈️thunder🎺a loud trumpet🪨stone tablets📖a book
The mountain story.
The big ideaThe Bible tells of ten rules God gave: ways to love God and to love people.
How it works
The Bible tells how the people of Israel left Egypt, where they had been slaves, and walked through the wilderness to a huge mountain called Sinai.
On the third morning there was thunder, lightning, a thick cloud and a loud trumpet. Moses went up into the cloud, and the people heard ten rules.
The first four rules are about loving God, and the last six are about loving people. Moses told the people all the words and wrote them in a book.
Moses went up the mountain again and stayed for forty days and forty nights. At the end he was given two stone tablets with the ten rules on them.
The ten rules in order. The first four are about loving God, the rest about loving people.The story in order.
Example 1: Count the rules
The first four rules are about loving God.
The last six rules are about loving people.
4 + 6 = 10
So there are ten rules in all.
Example 2: The day of rest
The fourth rule says to work for six days and rest on the seventh.
That day is called the Sabbath, and everyone rests, even the workers and the animals.
In the story, the seventh day is the one kept for rest.
Example 3: Put the story in order
First the people camped at the foot of the mountain.
On the third morning came thunder, lightning, a thick cloud and a loud trumpet.
Then the rules were given, and Moses wrote the words in a book.
Last, Moses stayed on the mountain forty days and was given two stone tablets.
Example 4: Match a rule to its group
Respect your father and your mother is the fifth rule, so it is about loving people.
Put God first in your heart is the first rule, so it is about loving God.
Do not tell lies about other people is the ninth rule, about loving people.
Words to know
wilderness
A wide, dry land where few people live.
covenant
A promise between two sides, like God and a people.
altar
A heap of stones, a place to give thanks and pray.
Sabbath
The seventh day, a day to stop work and rest.
Watch out
The first four rules are about loving God. The last six are about loving people.
The story numbers the rules first to tenth. Nothing here adds a rule the story does not tell.
Moses went up the mountain two times in the story. The second time he stayed forty days and forty nights.
A wilderness is a wide, dry land where few people live. It is not a city or a sea.
Try it
How many rules did the story tell?
Which day was kept for rest?
How long did Moses stay on the mountain the second time?
What is a wilderness?
Which group is the rule about respecting your father and mother in?
Answers: 1. Ten · 2. The seventh · 3. Forty days and forty nights · 4. A wide, dry land where few people live · 5. Loving people
Try at homeWith a grown-up, pick one of the ten rules. Talk about one way to keep it today.
For grown-upsPick one of the rules the story tells and talk about one way to keep it today. If your child asks a big question about faith, it is fine to say you will think about it together.
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