Israel Enters the Promised Land

n the last Lesson, we learned aboutIsrael rebelling against God. The

people groaned and complained overand over again. They did not like theliving conditions or the food in thewilderness. They also did not like hav-ing Moses rule over them.

Do you remember what happenedwhen Korah led a rebellion againstMoses? In the end, 14,700 people diedfor their sin of rebellion.

Fiery Serpents

Soon after Korah’s rebellion,Israel began their march into thePromised Land. Along the way,they encountered many inhabi-tants who wanted to fight. Theirfirst battle was with theCanaanites. God did as He saidHe would. He helped theIsraelites utterly destroy the

Canaanites and their cities. But Israelbecame discouraged and spokeagainst God and Moses, just like theydid many times in the last Lesson.

“Why have you brought us out ofEgypt to die in the wilderness?” theysaid. “There is no bread or water!”

God again punished the Israelitesfor rebellion by sending fiery serpentsamong them. Many people died.

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Israel Enters thePromised Land

1 CHILDREN’S BIBLE LESSONIllustrations by The Restored Church of God

The Israelites soon realized whatthey had done—they had sinnedagainst God once again! They askedMoses to pray that God take away theserpents. Moses did so. God told himto build a brass serpent and have thepeople look upon it when they are bit-ten. If they did, they would live.

Balak Sends Messengers

After winning several more battles,the children of Israel pitched theirtents in the plains of Moab, nearJericho. The Moabites were afraid.They had heard about the battles thatIsrael won. Balak, king of theMoabites, called for the elders of hispeople. He told them to take money tothe prophet Balaam, and tell him, “Astrong people have come from theland of Egypt. They are a strong andmighty people. Please come and helpme by cursing them. I know thatwhomever you bless is blessed, andwhomever you curse is cursed.”

The messengers told the king’swords to Balaam. The false prophettold the messengers to lodge with himfor the night. Turn to Numbers 22:12and write down what God said toBalaam.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Balaam told theelders of Moab that God refused toallow him to curse Israel. So the eldersreturned home and told Balak thenews. The king was upset. He decidedto send people who were of higherrank to tempt Balaam with evengreater riches.

The new messengers said toBalaam, “Please come with us. Theking will honor you greatly and willdo whatever you say. Please come andcurse Israel for us.” The thought ofgreat wealth caused Balaam to inquireof God on the matter once again. SoBalaam told the men to stayovernight.

That night, God said to Balaam, “Ifthe men come to you in the morning,go with them. But you must onlyspeak the words that I tell you.”

A Donkey Speaks!

The next morning, Balaam saddled hisdonkey and went with the men ofMoab. While Balaam’s donkey waswalking on the path toward Moab, itsuddenly turned off into a field.Balaam became so angry, he hit thedonkey. He could not see what hisdonkey had seen—an angel of Godstanding in the path holding a sword!

The path then wandered betweentwo vineyard walls. Again, the donkey

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saw an angel standing in the way. Thedonkey pushed itself up against the walland crushed Balaam’s foot. So Balaamstruck the donkey in anger again.

Farther down the trail, the donkeyencountered the angel standing in atight space. This time, there was noplace for it to go. It became so scaredthat it fell to the ground. Balaam wasfurious! He hit the donkey for a thirdtime.

All of a sudden, God performed amiracle: The donkey was able tospeak! It said to Balaam, “Why haveyou hit me three times? What have Idone to you?”

Can you imagine a donkey talking?Balaam replied, “I hit you because

you abused me. And you made melook like a fool in front of my servantsand the other men. If I had a swordright now, I would kill you!”

Balaam was so filled with rage thathe did not stop and consider that amiracle was taking place.

“Am I not your favorite donkey—the only one you have ridden since Ibecame yours? I have been faithful toyou all this time. I have never treatedyou as harshly as you have just treatedme.” Balaam agreed with the donkeyand was sorry.

Then God caused Balaam to seethe angel with the sword in his hand.Balaam bowed his head and fell tothe ground in front of this powerfulbeing. The angel said, “Why haveyou struck your donkey three times?Your donkey moved out of the way toavoid me. If he had not done so, Iwould have killed you with mysword. Your way is perverse beforeGod.”

“I have sinned,” admitted Balaam.“I will return home.”

“No. You must continue on yourjourney. But you will speak to KingBalak only what I tell you to speak.”

When Balaam finally arrived, hetold the king that he could speak thewords that God put into his mouth.

Balaam desperately wantedto curse Israel to receive agreat reward from the king,but he was unable to do so.God actually forced Balaamto bless Israel four differenttimes! Balak was greatly dis-pleased. He told Balaam thathe missed an opportunity toreceive large amounts of sil-ver and gold.

Test Your Memory:

1) With whom did Israelfight first?_______________

2) Why did God send fiery serpentsamong the Israelites?_________________________________________________________________________3) What did King Balak tell theMoabite elders to do?_________________________________________________________________________4) Why did Balaam’s donkey wanderoff into a field?______________________________________________________________________________5) How many times did Balaam hit hisdonkey?_______________________

Balaam Devises a Plan

Balaam really wanted to receive thegreat riches that were promised to him

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if he cursed Israel. This desire led himto plot an evil scheme.

Balaam knew that as long as Israelobeyed God, they would be blessed byHim. But if Israel sinned, they wouldbe cursed by God. So Balaam deviseda plan to cause the Israelite men tocommit fornication with the paganwomen of Moab and Midian. “Thiswill surely cause God to curse Israel,”he said. “Then I will be rich.”

Soon, the children of Israel werecommitting fornication with and evenmarrying the Moabite women. Thissin led to further sins, such as wor-shipping idols and eating meat sacri-ficed to false gods.

God became furious with Israel. Hesent a plague to destroy those who wereguilty of sinning with the Moabites.

Just like Balaam, many peopletoday are led into doing evil—andharming others—due to the desire toobtain money. Lusting after materialpossessions and wealth can result inmuch trouble. Turn to I Timothy 6:10and write down what the apostle Paulwrote about money.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dividing the Land

Before the children of Israel couldenter the Promised Land, another cen-sus of the people had to be taken. Thelast one had occurred more than 38years earlier. This census found that601,730 Israelite men were able to goto war. Turn to Lesson Seven and see ifthis is more or less than the last census.

God informed the Israelites of theboundaries that the tribes wouldreceive once they got to the PromisedLand. Most of the tribes were to settleon the western side of the JordanRiver. But the tribes of Reuben, Gadand one-half of Manasseh were to set-tle on the eastern side. If you remem-ber from a previous Lesson, the tribeof Levi would not receive an inheri-tance in the land since their inheri-tance is the priesthood. God told theother tribes to set aside cities for theLevites to dwell in.

Through Moses, God commandedthe Israelites to drive out all the inhab-itants of the land, else they wouldbecome a snare to the Israelites andlead them into idolatry. The peoplewere to destroy all the molded imagesand all the places of false-god wor-ship.

God reminded Israel to continueobserving the weekly and annual

Sabbaths. These days of rest weresigns that the Israelites were God’schosen people. Such days point to thetrue God. God knew that if they forgotabout His Sabbaths, the children ofIsrael would begin to commit idolatryand worship false gods.

Moses announced in great detailwhat would happen if Israel obeyedGod—and what would happen if theydisobeyed Him. (Ask your parents tohelp you write down some of the vari-ous blessing and cursings.) Moses alsosaid to the people, “I call heaven andearth as witnesses today against you,that I have set before you life anddeath, blessing and cursing; thereforechoose life, that both you and yourdescendants may live” (Deuteronomy30:19).

Always remember, obedienceto God results in blessings. Anddisobedience automatically resultsin cursings.

Joshua Becomes Leader

“Bring Joshua near to you and layyour hands upon him,” said Godto Moses. “He is to be the leaderof Israel once you die. Give yourauthority to him, and tell the chil-dren of Israel that they are to beobedient to him.”

God reminded Moses that hewould not be able to enter thePromised Land due to his disobedi-ence at Kadesh. Moses was onlygoing to view it from atop Mt. Nebo.So Moses climbed the mountain andsaw the beautiful green valleys androlling hills all around him. Then hedied, just as God had said. All ofIsrael mourned for him 30 days. Theymissed him dearly. Moses was a greatleader.

So Joshua took command of thecongregation of Israel. God comfortedhim, saying, “Be strong and of goodcourage, for I am with you. All thepeople of the land shall be deliveredinto your hand. I will never leave youor forsake you. Be sure to always obeyMy laws, and you will enjoy great suc-cess.”

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The same is true for you. As long asyou obey Him, God will never leaveor forsake you.

Crossing the Jordan River

The time had arrived for Israel to crossover the Jordan and take possession ofthe Promised Land. Turn to Joshua1:11 and write down what Joshua saidto the officers of the people.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

News of this reached the city ofJericho. The people were exceedinglyfearful of the Israelites. They knewthat God was with them. There wasnothing the people of Jericho could doto stop Israel from advancing.

Joshua sent two men to spy out thecity. They entered the gate of Jerichoand lodged at a woman’s house. Hername was Rahab.

The king of Jericho learned that thetwo spies were staying at Rahab’shome. But she hid the men on herroof, so they were not discovered.

Rahab did this because she knewthat God had given the land to the

Israelites. Just before the two men fellasleep, she came to them and asked ifshe and her family could be sparedfrom being killed when the city isdestroyed. The two men told her that,if she told no one of what they weredoing, she and her family would bespared. Rahab then helped the menescape the city.

Three days later, the spies returnedto Joshua. They told him all that hadhappened. “Surely, God has deliveredall the land into our hands!” Joshuasaid.

The next morning, the priests car-ried the Ark of the Covenant to theedge of the Jordan River. In order toget to Jericho, the children of Israelhad to cross this mighty river. Assoon as the priests entered the water,

it drained away to their left. And thewater stopped flowing fromupstream. The priests remained at theedge of the water until all theIsraelites passed through. Once thepriests reached the other side of theriver, a loud sound of rushing waterwas heard. The river began to flowonce again.

What an inspiring event!

The Fall of Jericho

As Joshua viewed the city of Jerichofrom a distance, God appeared as aman in front of him, carrying a sword.This was the Being who would laterbecome Jesus Christ. He explained toJoshua exactly how the city of Jerichowould be defeated.

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The army of Israel assembled toreceive instructions from Joshua.They then proceeded to Jericho.Behind the army were the priests, eachcarrying a ram’s horn. Behind thepriests were the Levites, who carriedthe Ark of the Covenant.

The army marched around the cityonce a day for six days straight. Whilemarching, the priests blew the hornscontinuously. The inhabitants of

Jericho were puzzled by these actions.They had no idea what was going on.

On the seventh day, the army ofIsrael was instructed to circle the cityseven times. After the seventh time,everyone stopped where they were.Then the priests blew their trumpets,and the people shouted at the top oftheir lungs. Turn to Joshua 6:20 andwrite down what happened.______________________________________

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What an incredible sight this musthave been! The gigantic city wallscame crashing down, and the Israelitescaptured Jericho. They killed all thepeople and livestock, just as God hadcommanded. However, they sparedRahab and her family.

Joshua continued to lead Israel inmany battles throughout the PromisedLand. God caused Israel to defeat theirenemies and settle in the land. All ofIsrael was happy.

A Reminder to the People

Before Joshua died at the age of 110,he called the children of Israel togeth-er. He reminded them of all the greatthings that God had done for them. Hesaid, “If you continue to obey God, Hewill continue to fight your battles foryou and will bless you with wonderfulthings. Do not befriend any of the peo-ple of the land. If you do, they willlead you into idolatry and disobedi-

ence.” Turn to Joshua 23:13 and writedown what would happen to Israel ifthey did not obey God.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After Joshua died, Israel obeyedGod for a little while. But they beganto do what was right in their own eyes.They started to mix with the people ofthe land and worship false gods, eventhough God said not to do this. As aresult, God punished Israel numeroustimes by allowing other nations toattack them.

Test Your Memory:

1) Why did Balaam plot an evilscheme?_____________________________________________________2) Who became the leader of Israelafter Moses died?_______________3) How many spies did Joshua send toJericho?________________________4) Who appeared with a sword in frontof Joshua?_____________________5) Who carried the Ark of theCovenant across the Jordan River?_________________________________

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BIBLE MEMORY: Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Published by The Restored Church of God.Printed in the USA; All Rights ReservedCopyright © 2006

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LETTER CODE

Use the code below to learn what God said to Joshua after Moses died.