SPLINK!

The 10 Plagues

Items Needed: white board/marker (chalkboard/chalk or poster board/marker)
Slips of paper

Review the ten plagues God brought on Egypt. Write each one on a slip of paper and toss them into a bag or hat. Take turns picking a slip and drawing it on a board while the others guess.

1. Water, which turned to blood and killed all fish and other aquatic life ( Exodus 7:14–25)
2. Frogs ( Exodus 8:1–8:15)
3. Lice ( Exodus 8:16–19)
4. Flies ( Exodus 8:20–30)
5. Disease on livestock ( Exodus 9:1–7)
6. Boils ( Exodus 9:8–12)
7. Hail and thunder ( Exodus 9:13–35)
8. Locusts ( Exodus 10:1–20)
9. Darkness ( Exodus 10:21–29)
10. Death of the first-born of all Egyptian humans and animals ( Exodus 11 and 12)

Pharaoh refused to obey God's command to free the people from slavery, so He and the people suffered the consequences. Pharaoh may have thought he was in charge, but God had a plan to deliver His people all along.


Unleavened Bread


Make unleavened bread similar to what the Jews might have eaten during Passover.
Ingredients:
1 c. flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1/3 tsp. salt
1/3 c. shortening
2 - 2 1/2 tbsp. milk

Combine the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in shortening. Add a little bit of milk at a time, and only enough to form in dough. Roll dough (using floured rolling pin) to 1/4" thick. Cut in 1/2" squares. Pierce it with a fork in long rows from top to bottom of each piece. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until done. (There are many recipes online; this recipe was found at: http://www.haydid.org/unleaven.htm)
Ask:
How did God save His people from death during the last plague - the death of the first born in each family? (Moses told all the people to kill a lamb and put its blood on the top and the sides of the doorposts of their homes. When the angel came through that night, he would “pass over” the homes of the ones who had the blood on their doorposts.)

God saved His people from death that night and freed them from slavery. God told them to celebrate the Passover every year and REMEMBER His power and love.

Why did God's people, the Jews, eat only unleavened bread during the Passover? (The Jews did not have time to let their bread rise when they left Egypt, but leaven is also symbolic of sin. They had to rid their houses of all leaven (any kind of yeast) and eat only unleavened bread for seven days during the Passover celebration. )

*They ate other special foods -each full of meaning - during the Passover celebration.




Communion


Items Needed: grape juice and bread (unleavened, if possible - many stores sell matzah/unleavened bread)

Explain communion to your kids, so they will understand its meaning when you feel it is time for them to participate. Explain that the bread represents Jesus' broken body and the juice represents the blood He shed for our sin.

God saw His people suffering, so He delivered them.

Ask:
Why were the Jews to celebrate Passover? (They were to REMEMBER God's power and love when He delivered them from slavery.)
Why are we to celebrate communion? (We are to REMEMBER Jesus' death - His great love and sacrifice for us.)

God has freed us from a different kind of slavery - the slavery to sin. Jesus, the "Passover Lamb" took our sin, so we could be free. We REMEMBER His sacrifice every time we take communion. We are thankful that He gave up His life, so we can have eternal life.

(If you have older kids, read the story of Jesus instituting the "Lord's Supper" in Matthew 26:26-29.)