Title: The First Nine Plagues
Scripture: Exodus 7-11
Target Age Group: 3rd-5th grade
Main Point: There is only one true God
Supplies: None
Lesson Opening: One True God
Ask: Have you ever seen God’s power on display? Maybe through a thunderstorm or the crashing waves of the ocean? (Allow time for responses.)
Ask: Do you think God wants to share glory with false Gods? (Not a chance.)
Say: In our story today we’ll hear about many ways that God put His own power on display to show that He is the one true God, and He alone is in control!
Pray that the kids’ hearts would be open to God’s Word and that their eyes would be opened to the majesty and power of our Great God!
Tell the Story
Say: Moses and Aaron had confronted Pharaoh, asking him to let the Israelite slaves go. (Have the kids shout “Let my people go!”) But Pharaoh said “no!” (Have the kids shout “No!”) Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he didn’t believe in the one true God, but God was about to put His mighty power on display for all of Egypt to see.
Say: God was about to send 10 plagues upon Egypt. Today we’ll hear about the first nine. Moses went down to the Nile River to meet Pharaoh. There Moses placed his staff in the water and suddenly the water turned to blood!
Ask: Can you imagine if you turned on your water faucet at home and blood came out? Gross! Do you think Pharaoh was willing to let the Israelites go? No!
Say: Moses and Aaron went back to Pharaoh to ask him….(have kids shout “Let my people go!”) But Pharaoh said… (have kids shout “No!”)
Say: So God put His power on display again for all of Egypt to see. This time He sent the plague of frogs. There were frogs everywhere! They were in the Egyptian’s pots and pans, in their ovens, in their beds, even on the people themselves!
Say: Moses and Aaron went back to Pharaoh to ask him….(have kids shout “Let my people go!”) But Pharaoh said… (have kids shout “No!”)
Say: Yet again God sent another plague upon Egypt. This time gnats swarmed throughout Egypt.
Say: Again and again Moses and Aaron went back to Pharaoh to ask him….(have kids shout “Let my people go!”) And again and again Pharaoh said… (have kids shout “No!”)
Say: God send more plagues on the Egyptians: flies swarmed throughout the land, the Egyptian’s livestock died, the people were covered with painful sores on their bodies, hail and fire rained from the sky, locusts ate up all the crops, and finally the land was covered by darkness.
Ask: Which of the plagues do you think would be the worst? (Allow time for kids to respond.)
Ask: How do you think Pharaoh responded after the ninth plague? (Allow time for kids to respond.)
Say: Let’s read from God’s Word to find out what Pharaoh said.
Read Exodus 10:27: “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again!
Say: You see Pharaoh’s heart was hard towards God. He didn’t believe that He was the one true God and he refused to obey what God commanded, even though God had put his mighty power on display! Sometimes our hearts are hard just like Pharaoh’s and sometimes we might find it hard to obey God too. But God shows us incredible grace by sending Jesus to obey perfectly when we could not. Now, when we put our faith in Christ, God see’s Jesus’ perfect obedience instead of our hard hearts and we can be forgiven!
Review Questions
- How did God display His power to Pharaoh and all of Egypt? (He sent plagues that Pharaoh couldn’t stop.)
- Which plague do you think would have been the worst to experience? (Accept any answer)
- How did Pharaoh respond? (He hardened his heart and refused to let God’s people go.)
- How do you know that God cares for His people in this story? (He displayed His power to Pharaoh, and punished Egypt for enslaving the Israelites.)
Learning Activity 1: Acting out the Plagues
Supplies: None
- Choose kids to play the parts of Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh. The rest of the class will be the Egyptians. Briefly re-tell the story or read it from your Bible and have the kids act out the parts as they are read. Help the kids think about how they would react to each of the different plagues and come up with creative ways to act them out.
- Ask the class which of the plagues they think would have been the worst for the Egyptians.
- Ask: Why do you think God allowed the Egyptians to suffer so much? (God wanted to show them that He is the one true God. He wanted them to know His power and might!)