Forty Years in the Desert and a New Covenant

Review with them the Exodus:

What were the ten plagues?

Blood

Frogs

Gnats

Flies

Disease

Boils

Hail

Locusts

Darkness

Death

(Ask each of them separately. If they get it right (maybe with just a little help) let them pick a prize, or write their names down and I’ll do it next week.)

What was the tenth plague? (Death of the First-born)

How did the Israelites (Hebrews) protect themselves from the angel of death? (They killed an unblemished lamb and smeared the doorposts with its blood. They also ate the lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Mention that this is the Passover, and what Jesus was celebrating the night he was betrayed. Ask if any of them know what the Last Supper was- The Mass- maybe mention to them that there is one Mass, and that all Masses are joined together in one Mass. If they don’t understand, it’s okay. You can even tell them that it’s what we call a mystery. Nobody understands it completely. If you can get Brissa to help you with any of this, it would be great.)

After Pharaoh freed them, where did they go? (to the Red Sea. They may say the desert. If they do, ask them what they had to cross first.)

Did Pharaoh keep his promise? What happened to his army? (No, and they all drowned in the sea.)

After they were safe in the desert, were the Israelites happy? (No, they complained that they didn’t have enough food in the dessert.)

What did God do for them? (He made manna rain down for them to collect on all days but Saturday. On Friday, they were to collect twice as much as usual. If they tried to keep it for more than a day (except for the Saturday), it would go bad. This was to teach them to trust God to provide for them. He also sent them quail to eat in the evening.)

You may want to tell them that they kept a little bit of the manna that never went bad to show their descendants and remind them of what God had done for them. Relate this to the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the practice of keeping the Eucharist in the Tabernacle. You may need to remind them what the tabernacle is and explain to them what the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is.

Tell them about how God told them not to work on the Sabbath. Relate this to how we go to Mass on Sunday and spend time having fun with our families. Make sure you say Mass and not church.

What did the people complain about next? (not having water)

What did God tell Moses to do about this? (Hit a rock with his stick)

What mistake did Moses make? (he hit the rock twice, because he did not trust God.)

What did this mean for Moses? (that he would only see the promised land, and not get to go there.)

Where did the Israelites finally go? (Mount Sinai)

What did God give to Moses at Mount Sinai? (The Ten Commandments. You can tell them that there were a lot of laws, too.)

What are the Ten Commandments?

I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall have no other gods besides me.

You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.

Keep holy the sabbath day.

Honor your father and mother.

You shall not kill.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (You shall not lie.)

You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s spouse.

What did the Israelites do while Moses was on the mountain? (They were impatient and afraid that God had deserted them, so they made a golden calf (explain why this is a problem - it was part of the Egyptian religion to have many gods – they were trying to replace God with a fake god.))

What did Moses do when he came down and saw what they had done? (He broke the stone tablets. Point out that the people had broken God’s covenant (promise) like Moses broke the tablets.)

Some of the people died because of what they had done, and Moses had to get a new set of stone tablets. What did they make for the stones to be kept in? (An ark. Tell them that this is a little like the tabernacle. Here is where you want to make sure that you connect the Gospel, or New Covenant, to the Old Testament and the Old Covenant. Jesus is the new Lamb who died for us so we could be saved from sin, just like the Passover lamb was killed so the Israelites could be saved from slavery. And the Eucharist is the embodiment of the New Covenant in Jesus, a little like the Ten Commandments were the sign of God’s covenant with the Israelite people. Word this however you like, but make sure you get the basic idea across.)