God Is the One True God (October 16 in FirstLook)

God does nothing by accident! If you don't believe me check out what your FirstLook student will be learning this Sunday about the 10 plagues over Egypt.

Undoubtedly the mighty hand of the one true God was demonstrated in contrast to the powerlessness of the Egyptian false gods. Prior to the Passover, God declared, “I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord” (Exodus 12:12b). Many scholars believe the plagues were directly attacking the ancient Egyptian gods. The table below demonstrates the correlation between the plagues and the Egyptian gods.

In the Bible, even the number of plagues was significant. To the Israelites, the number 10 represented wholeness and completion. For instance, the Ten Commandments are the complete, divine perfection of the Law. By sending 10 plagues, God was stating they were completely plagued and completely judged. He was demonstrating His total power as the one true God.

PLAGUE	EGYPTIAN GOD
Moses lifts his staff over the Nile and God turns all the water in Egypt into blood (Exodus 7:14–24).	Hapi: The Egyptian god of the Nile.
God sends swarms of frogs out of the water to cover the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:1–15).	Heket: The Egyptian goddess of fertility, water, and renewal. She is depicted as having the head of a frog.
Moses strikes the ground with his staff, and God turns the dust into gnats which cover men and animals. This is the first plague that the Egyptian magicians could not replicate (Exodus 8:16–19).	Geb: The Egyptian god who ruled over the dust of the earth.
God sends dense swarms of flies which plague only the Egyptians. The Israelites are not affected by this wonder (Exodus 8:20–32).	Khepri: The god of creation. He is depicted with the head of a fly.
God sends a plague over all of the Egyptians’ livestock. Not a single animal belonging to the Israelites is affected (Exodus 9:1–7).	Hathor: The goddess of love and protection; depicted with the head of a cow.
God instructs Moses to throw a handful of ashes in the presence of Pharaoh. Doing so unleashes sores on all the Egyptians and their animals (Exodus 9:8–12). Cleanliness was of utmost importance to the Egyptians. Historically, this would have made them ceremonially unclean and therefore unable to worship their gods. They weren’t even allowed in the presence of Pharaoh. Therefore, only Moses and Aaron could now be in contact with him.	Isis: The goddess of medicine and peace.
God sends the worst hail and lightning storm the Egyptians had ever experienced. Israelites are, once again, unharmed (Exodus 9:13–35).	Nut: The goddess of the sky.
Moses lifted his staff against Egypt, and God sent a massive storm of locusts—so many that the ground was entirely black. They devoured every crop and every last piece of fruit growing on the trees (Exodus 10:1–20).	Seth: The god of storms and disorder.
God instructs Moses to lift his hand to the sky. In doing so, total darkness blankets Egypt for three full days. No Egyptian could see anyone else or leave his house. Only the Israelites have light where they live (Exodus 10:21–29). Scholars believe that, in Egyptian culture, darkness represented death, judgment, and hopelessness.	Ra: The sun god.
The final plague: The firstborn of each Egyptian household would die. The Israelites were instructed in the Passover rituals and no Israelite child was harmed (Exodus 11—12).	Pharaoh: The ultimate power of Egypt; considered the greatest god of all. He was believed to be the son of Ra, manifest in the flesh.

Passover (October 9 in KidQuest and FirstLook)

Every 6th and 13th lesson, we pause to remember and celebrate, just as God instructed His people to do. Here is some info that will help you talk about the feast of Passover at home.  If you go to our Parent Resource page on the WCC website and find the HomeFront Weekly section, you will find a great activity to do at home to help introduce Passover with your kids.

Feast of Passover
During the Feast of Passover, the Israelites celebrated their deliverance from the Egyptians, as well as God as the Deliverer. The Passover meal is symbolic in form and also in the food choices. Each food represents a different part of the story of their escape from Egypt. The meal includes lamb to symbolize the slain lambs whose blood marked the Hebrews’ doorposts on the night of the 10th plague, on which the angel of death “passed over” their homes. In the New Testament, Jesus became the sacrificial Passover Lamb to offer deliverance from sin to all people for all time, for those who receive it.

Old Testament Significance
Several times a year the Israelites gathered together for a feast or festival. In Leviticus 23, “the Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts … which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.’” These seven feasts and festivals are: Feast of Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Festival of First Fruits, Feast of Harvest, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths). In addition, the Israelites would gather weekly to celebrate the Sabbath. These were times to remember what God had done for His people and to celebrate His goodness. They were a time for the entire faith community to gather together without the burden of work to simply worship and celebrate. During the feasts, the Israelites ate, danced, sang, played instruments, prayed, and offered sacrifices to God.

New Testament Significance
The Feast of Passover was fulfilled by the death of the Messiah, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was fulfilled by His sinless sacrifice, and the Festival of First Fruits was fulfilled by the resurrection of the Messiah. The Feast of Harvest began with a great harvest of three-thousand souls by the coming of the promised Holy Spirit, who continues to harvest souls today. The Feast of Trumpets will announce Christ’s return, the Day of Atonement anticipated the Messiah’s perfect sacrifice, and, finally, the Feast of Tabernacles begins the journey to our new home in a new heaven and new earth.

God Leads to New Life (KidQuest -- October 2)

Passover is one of the most significant parts of The Big God Story, ushering in a new way of life for the Israelites. Without a doubt, many of the images of the Passover feast point to Jesus. In fact, Philip, Paul, Peter, and John all affirmed the Passover Lamb is a picture of Jesus in Acts 8:32; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:19; and Revelation 5:6, 13:8. Here are some of the comparisons found in Exodus 12:

“Tell the whole community of Israel that … each man is to take a lamb for his family … year-old males without defect …” (vv. 3, 5). The Israelites were instructed to kill and eat a perfect lamb. Similarly, it was only through Christ’s perfect life and His death that His people can be saved.

“All the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight” (v. 6). Many translations render the words “at twilight” to mean, “between the evenings,” the Jewish ninth hour. Accordingly, Christ died at the hands of the people during the ninth hour of the day.

“Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs” (v. 7). By doing this, the Israelites affirmed their belief that God would save them by the blood of the lamb. In the same way, we actively submit to Christ in order to be saved.

“That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast” (v. 8). The bitter herbs reminded the Israelites of their sojourn in Egypt and, eventually, stood for the sin Christ accepted on our behalf. The bread without yeast was both practical (because fermentation takes time) and symbolic of a life without sin.

“The blood will be a sign for you … when I see the blood, I will pass over you …” (v. 13). The “Passover” is an allusion to the fact that God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites covered by the blood. When Christ shared communion with the apostles during Passover, He showed that His blood was not only sufficient to cover their sins, but also to obliterate them.

When God liberated His people from bondage, He brought them into new life; He bound them together as a nation of His own people. To commemorate this moment, God instituted Passover—a meal not only to remind the Israelites of their liberation, but one which also pointed toward Christ, the Lamb of God, whose blood covers the sins of the world (John 1:29).