God is with Joshua

1. Story (based on Numbers 13:1-30)

• God’s special people, the Israelites, were slaves in Egypt for 400 years.
• One day, God saved them and brought them out of Egypt. He was going to bring them into the Promised Land, the special place that He had reserved for them.
• But first, they had to cross a desert. So for many months they walked, until one day, they were near the Promised Land.
• Then God told Moses, “Send spies into Canaan, the country I am giving you. Tell them to see what sort of land it is. Find out what the people are like who live there.”
• Moses did as God asked. He choice one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Moses raised his hand and blessed the 12 men as they left camp.
• After 40 days the men returned. One was Caleb and another was Joshua, the general. Caleb and Joshua told Moses, “Oh yes! You should see the land. It’s so beautiful, with strong trees, and gentle hills. Flowers bloom everywhere and the crops are rich and plentiful. It really is as God promised, a land of milk and honey.”
• The other spies disagreed with Joshua and Caleb, though. The people who lived on the land were all very good fighters.
• Instead of seeing how BIG their God was, they saw how BIG the problem was.
• “We can’t attack these people; they are stronger than we are. All the people are giants and huge. They will eat us up. We are like grasshoppers to them.”
• They did not trust God to help them win their battles. They thought the tribes in Canaan were too dangerous to fight.
• The Israelites believed these other men instead of believing God’s promises. “Oh Moses!” they cried.”What have you done?”
• The people were complaining again! “Moses, we want to go back to Egypt! Moses, it was your idea to leave Egypt in the first place. We should never have listened to you. Look, now we will die and for what?”
• But Joshua and Caleb knew that their God was bigger. With God’s help, they could drive those people out of the land. With God on their side, the giants would be like grasshoppers to them.
• Joshua and Caleb tried to remind the people of all that God had done for them and all His promises. But the people would not listen. They were very stubborn. They liked feeling sorry for themselves.
• Because of their unbelief, God said they would never reach the promised land.
• “These people must wander in the wilderness,” He said. “They will all spend the rest of their lives in the desert, all of them except Caleb and Joshua, who believed Me. I could have brought them to the promised land within a year. Instead, the people will wander in the desert for 40 years. They will die in the desert. Their children will be the ones to finally settle in the land of milk and honey.”
• God says that Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit. Because they believed in God’s promises —that He was always with them and would never leave them — they were able to enter the Promised Land 40 years later.
• Lesson:
• God’s promises are real.  We just have to trust in Him.
• When faced with a problem, focus on God. He is bigger than our problems.

2. Suggested Activities

• Song: “My God is so BIG!” 
• Craft: Picture of grasshopper with words “My God is so BIG!”