cbl-3-fall

1 CHILDREN’S BIBLE LESSONIllustrations by Paula Rondeau

he little girl and her brotherglanced out the window from the

living room. “Do you see that treeacross the street?” asked Sue. “Itsleaves are beginning to change col-ors.”

“Fall is finally here,” said Chris.“You know what that means? Itmeans the Feast of Tabernacles is justaround the corner. Don’t you remem-ber how exciting it was last year?”

“Of course, how could I forget?”Sue said. “Let’s go check with Dadabout our plans for this year!”

The children found their father inthe backyard mowing the lawn. Heturned the lawnmower off whileChris excitedly said, “Dad, we werejust talking about last year’s Feast ofTabernacles.”

“It’s getting to be that time of theyear. I can hardly wait!” said Suehappily.

Their father replied, “Alright,alright. Settle down. I know you’re

2LEVEL 3 / FALL LESSON

What YourFuture Holds

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3 CHILDREN’S BIBLE LESSON

excited about the Feast ofTabernacles, but don’t forget aboutthe Holy Days that come before theFeast. These days are just as impor-tant. They teach us a lot about God’sPlan, and if it were not for thesedays, we wouldn’t be able to look

ahead to the Feast of Tabernaclesand the Millennium.”

A puzzled look came across Sue’sface as she said, “Dad, I don’tunderstand.”

Her father answered her, “Look, Iam almost finished mowing the

lawn, and your mother will havedinner ready soon. Let’s talkabout this at the dinner table.”

The children went inside, andthey were all soon sitting downfor dinner. After their fatherasked the blessing on the meal,Chris said, “Remember, Dad, youwere going to tell us about theHoly Days before the Feast ofTabernacles.”

“Yes I was,” Dad said. “Doyou both remember the feasts thatalready came this year?”

“I think so,” Sue answered.“Wasn’t the first one calledPassover, and then there were theDays of Unleavened Bread? Whatcomes after that?”

“Pentecost! Right?” Chrischimed in.

“Good job!” Dad said. “Thoseare the spring festivals. Let’s quick-ly go over those before we talkabout the ones that come in thefall. If we learn God’s Holy Daysin the right order it helps us tounderstand the meaning of God’sgreat Plan for mankind.”

Their father continued as thechildren listened closely.“Passover is a very importantreminder of the death of Christ.He died so that our sins could beforgiven. His sacrifice also made



it possible for us to receive the giftof eternal life.”

“What about the Days ofUnleavened Bread?” Sue asked.

“The Days of Unleavened Breadpicture the Christian’s job of puttingsin out of his life. Leaven is a typeof sin in the Bible,” replied Dad.

He then explained thatPentecost was when God’sHoly Spirit was poured out onthe Church of God for the firsttime. “It also pictures thosewhom God calls out of thisworld into His Church. Godgives them some of His Spiritto help them build godly char-acter. They can then rule withJesus Christ in theMillennium after His Return.Your mother and I will be partof this group of people.

“Now we come to the fallHoly Days. These festivalspicture events that have notyet happened,” said Dad.

“Isn’t the Feast ofTrumpets the first fall feast?”asked Sue.

“You’re right. In the OldTestament, Israel wouldobserve this special day byblowing a shofar,” said Dad.

“What’s a shofar, Dad?”Chris asked.

“Well, just wait, son. I’ll tellyou,” Dad answered. “A shofar is ahorn made from a ram’s horn. It wassometimes used as an alarm of war.It was very loud.”

Dad then explained to the chil-dren that, when what the Feast ofTrumpets pictures is fulfilled, seven


trumpets will be blown. “At the lasttrumpet, Jesus Christ will return.But before this happens, there willbe a time of terrible worldwide sor-row. Millions of people will bekilled in world war and plagues.”

“What about us, Dad? Will we bekilled?” asked Sue worriedly.

“Absolutely not. God has prom-ised us protection from this horri-ble time. God will protect thosewho are in His Church and obeyHim. He will put us in a place ofsafety, right before this terribletime comes upon the entire world.But if Jesus Christ did not returnwhen the seventh trumpet sounded,everyone on earth would die. Also,everyone in the world will be ableto hear the trumpet when it blasts!”said Dad.

“Wow! I did notknow how important theFeast of Trumpets reallywas!” exclaimed Chris.

“But that’s not all tothe story, Chris,” saidDad. “This is also thetime when all thosewho obeyed God andwere given His HolySpirit are resurrectedfrom the dead to rule onearth with Christ. Evenpeople we read about in

the Old Testament, such asAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, David andothers who had God’s Spirit, willbe raised from the dead. Then, justas fast as lightning strikes, we willbecome Spirit beings—just likeChrist!”

“Then the Feast of Tabernaclescomes?” asked Sue.

“Not quite,” answered Dad.“Once Jesus Christ comes back toearth, He will set up God’s govern-ment over the entire world. Butthere is one thing that still needs tohappen in order for the wonderfulMillennium to arrive, which theFeast of Tabernacles pictures. Inorder for people not to want to hurtand kill each other, Satan must beput away. So the next step in God’sPlan is to get Satan out of the pic-

ture. The Day of Atonement sym-bolizes this event.”

“Is that the day when we fast?”asked Sue.

“You’re right, Sue. Do you knowwhy we fast?” her Dad asked.

“No. I just remember I always feelhungry and tired,” said Sue.

“The reason we fast on the Day ofAtonement is to remind ourselvesthat we couldn’t live for very longwithout food. Fasting teaches thosein God’s Church an important lesson,that we cannot live without God.Once Satan is put away, everyonewill have the chance to receive God’sHoly Spirit and to know and obeyHis laws,” Dad replied.

Chris’s eyes opened wide as hebegan to understand. “I get it now,”he said. “When Satan is no longeraround, we can rebuild the earth thecorrect way, according to God’sLaw.”

You’re right, Chris,” Dad replied.“Now we can talk about the Feast ofTabernacles. What this festival pic-tures is often called the Millennium,because it will last for 1,000 years.”

The two children became moreexcited as they listened to theirfather describe the wonderful timeto come. They had not fully realizedjust how exciting the Millenniumwould be. They realized now that

they would be physical leadersunder their Spirit-born parents, rul-ing with Christ. Just like Sue andChris, you have been given theopportunity to be a human leaderduring Jesus Christ’s 1,000-yearreign.

Sue and Chris started thinkingabout all of the ways that theMillennium would be different fromthe world today. One aspect that isdifferent is found in Isaiah 11.

Suddenly their Mother chimed in,“Imagine how excited a blind orlame person would be after beinghealed. The Feast of Tabernacles pic-tures such a wonderful time.

“People will not have to locktheir doors, or worry about walkingoutside at night. They will not kill orsteal. Everyone will consider waysto make their fellow man happy, andwill be practicing the ‘GIVE’ way oflife. We can even begin practicingdoing this at this year’s Feast ofTabernacles. We can take a widow



God wants us to be in His Family.

Being part of a family is special. All of themembers help each other. Imagine how itwould feel to have no family. You might feelforgotten and alone.

Think of others in the Church who mustfeel that way at times. Plan to include themin your activites at the Feast of Tabernaclesthis year. To the right are a few lines whereyou may write the names of people you wantto have join you at a meal or activity at theFeast. (Be sure to ask your parents first.) Ifyou cannot ask all of them, think of otherways you might make them feel welcome.Perhaps you might make a corsage for awidow or ask your parents to give a ride tosomeone who does not have a car.

Name _______________________________________Name _______________________________________Name _______________________________________Name _______________________________________Name _______________________________________Name _______________________________________Name _______________________________________Name _______________________________________


out to dinner, or baby-sit for parentswith little children so they can havespecial time alone. We can work onserving others now.”

On the following lines, list someof the ways you can make someoneelse’s Feast better. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I really look forward to travelingand meeting all the younger peoplein the Church at the Feast,” saidChris. “I’m glad you taught us tosave second tithe, Dad.”

“You’re right,” said Dad. “Godtold us to observe the Feast ofTabernacles every year. But Heknew we would need money to beable to keep the Feast. So He com-manded us to set aside 10% of ourincome so we will be able to make itto the Feast and enjoy it.”

Then a worried look came acrossSue’s face as she asked, “Dad, if Ihave ten pennies, it is easy for me totake out 10%. But Mrs. Smith paidme $5 the other day for watering hergarden while she was on vacation.

How do I divide this up? Can youshow me?”

Her father nodded, and Sue wentto get her piggy bank out of herroom. She emptied all of its contentsonto the table in front of Dad.

“Here’s one way to do it,” saidDad. “We already know that onedollar has 10 dimes in it. Now, putall those dimes in a row.”

Sue did as her father told her. “Isee. Each stack has the same amountof dimes. So each stack of dimes isone tenth of the dollar.”

“The first stack goes towardGod’s Church to help do His Work,”

said Dad. “Now put the secondstack in your special second tithebox you keep in your dresser. It is assimple as that!

“We have talked about all butone of God’s Holy Days. The Feastof Tabernacles pictures the sixthstep in God’s great plan, but Godtells us to keep seven festivalsevery year. Do either of youremember what the final one iscalled?” asked Dad.

“Isn’t it called the Last GreatDay?” asked Chris.

“You got it,” replied Dad.“Now consider all that takesplace during the Millennium.Billions of people who havechosen to obey God will receiveHis Spirit and eventually bechanged into Spirit beings, alongwith those already resurrected atChrist’s coming. But what doyou think happens to all the peo-ple who lived before Christ’s1,000-year reign? What do youthink happens to all those whohad never heard of God’s plan?”

“The Last Great Day picturesthe time when all those peoplewill be raised from the dead tophysical life. This is called theGreat White Throne Judgment,and it will last exactly 100 years.Once resurrected, they will be

taught God’s Way for the first time.They will learn the way that leads tohappiness and joy. God wants togive this opportunity to everyone—and He will! They will have thechance to receive eternal life alongwith everyone else.”

“Wow! Now that I know aboutGod’s Holy Days, and the eventsthey picture,” Chris said, “I canhardly wait for them to arrive!”

“Me, too,” exclaimed Sue. “Let’sgo check the calendar to see whenthe Feast of Trumpets is this year!”

<#>LEVEL 3 / FALL LESSON 10

Leviticus 23:24, 27, 34, 36

070131/CBL3Fall

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS:1 - Loud, metal musical instruments.7 - When all who have never beencalled will awake to live again andlearn to choose God’s way of give.8 - When something is made withoutyeast or a rising ingredient.9 - When Satan will be bound and webecome one with God.

DOWN:1 - Temporary dwellings.2 - What the death angel did to theIsraelites’ homes.3 - Days in which God has put Himselfare called ________.4 - Count fifty.5 - A baked food made of grain.6 - When something belongs to God, itis __________.

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