Christian Churches of God

No. CB79

 

 

 

Lesson:

Tenth Commandment

 

(Edition 2.0 20050729-20050729-20070517)

 

The Tenth Commandment says: You shall not covet. In this paper we hope to help children understand what it means to covet and how to avoid it.

 

 

 

 

 

Christian Churches of God

PO Box 369,  WODEN  ACT 2606,  AUSTRALIA

 

E-mail: secretary@ccg.org

 

 

 

(Copyright ã 2005, 2007 Dale Nelson, ed.  Wade Cox)

 

 

This paper may be freely copied and distributed provided it is copied in total with no alterations or deletions. The publisher’s name and address and the copyright notice must be included.  No charge may be levied on recipients of distributed copies.  Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles and reviews without breaching copyright.

 

This paper is available from the World Wide Web page:
http://www.logon.org and http://www.ccg.org

 

 

Lesson:

Tenth Commandment

 

Children’s Bible Study

 

 

Goal:

To have the children understand what it means to covet and how to avoid doing it.

 

Objects:

Show an example of someone coveting in the Bible; show them how it applies in their own life.

 

Resources:

Five copies of the play.

Four chairs labelled – two labelled T and two labelled F.

The same present i.e. a small bottle of bubbles all wrapped differently; some extravagantly and some very simply. One should look even quite ugly. One for each child, all numbered consecutively.

One copy of the puzzle each with blank sheet on back.

One copy of colouring-in each with blank sheet on other side.

Colouring pencils

 

Relevant Scriptures:

 

Memory Scripture:

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21)

 

Format:

Open with prayer

Ask the children what is the Tenth Commandment. Place the commandment on the poster board, which tracks their progress through the commandments.

 

Have the children each pick a number from a hat – make sure there are enough numbers so that each child gets one.  Each one takes a present corresponding to that number.

 

Lesson on coveting

Play on biblical example

Discussion on modern-day examples

Present opening ceremony

Activities (time permitting)

Close with prayer

 

Lesson:

 

We are going to discuss the Tenth Commandment which says:

You shall not covet.

 

What does it mean to covet?

A. Not wanting something that is owned by someone else.

 

Another way of looking at it is, how do we not covet? We need to know what the opposite of coveting is and focus on that.

 

How do we keep this as the focus and apply it to our everyday lives so that we do not covet? 

A. Be appreciative and count our blessings. Don’t focus on what we don’t have but what we do and be content.

 

Biblical Example

In 1Kings 21 there is a story about coveting.  Ahab, the king of Samaria, looks out of his window and instead of being thankful for everything he owns he can’t see any of that and just sees the vineyard he doesn’t own that would be great for a garden.  He had lots of land that he could use but he had decided that this land he did not own would be better.  This would have been fine if the man who did own it was willing to sell; but he wasn’t.  When he won’t part from it, as it has been in his family for generations, Ahab is unhappy and despondent or lifeless, and his wife acts out a plan for how he will obtain it anyway. 

 

The older children can read the play of Naboth and Ahab while standing in front of the younger children.

 

1Kings 21:  Play

Narrator: Near King Ahab's palace in Jezreel there was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth.  The King had much land but wanted the land owned by Naboth.

Ahab:  Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use the land for a vegetable garden.  I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price.

Naboth:   No, King Ahab, I inherited this vineyard from my father’s ancestors. The LORD forbid that I should let you have it!

Narrator:   Ahab went home; down in the dumps, sad, and angry over what Naboth had said to him.  He lay down on his bed, facing the wall, and would not eat.  His wife Jezebel went to him.

Jezebel: Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?

Ahab: Because of what Naboth said to me.  I offered to buy his vineyard or, if he preferred, to give him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn't have it!

Jezebel:  Well, are you the king or aren't you? Get out of bed, cheer up, and eat.  I will get you Naboth's vineyard!

Narrator:   Jezebel wrote some letters, signed Ahab's name to them, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel. The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honour.  Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king.  Then take him out of the city and stone him to death."    Jezebel received a message that the job was done.

Jezebel: Naboth is dead.  Now go and take possession of the vineyard that he refused to sell to you. 

Narrator: Then the LORD said to Elijah, the prophet, "Go to King Ahab of Samaria.  You will find him in Naboth's vineyard, about to take possession of it.  Tell him that I, the LORD, ask him, 'After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?'  Tell him that this is what I say: 'In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' He goes to find Ahab in the vineyard.

Ahab: Have you caught up with me, my enemy?

Elijah:  Yes, I have.  You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the LORD's sight.  So the LORD says to you, 'I will bring disaster on you and Jezebel, because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin.'

Narrator:  When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth.  He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed.
The LORD said to the prophet Elijah, "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family."

 

This play was adapted from a story as written in:

 http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/lessons/OT/dividedkingdom/ahab.pdf

 

Now under the first covenant Ahab breaks the commandment: “you shall not covet”, because he wants something so much he and his wife had to be sneaky to obtain it.  We are under the second covenant now because we have the Holy Spirit to help us understand, and we need to understand that we should not even think about wanting something so much we would like to take it from someone. Ahab really broke the commandment while he was standing at the window wanting or lusting after another man’s field.  We all need to realize sin begins in the mind and that is where we need to stop it and attempt to control it.

 

Talk about Satan wanting to be equal with God and thus coveting a position.  Talk about how Christ was like Naboth, holding on to what he had and appreciating his position as Son of God yet not wanting to be God. 

 

Games

Place the children in two teams with even numbers if possible.  Have the four chairs placed back-to-back in pairs.  Name one pair “true” and “false” and the other pair “true” and “false”.  Have each team sit some distance away from the other group’s pair of true/false chairs. Drawing a line may help them keep their distance; just far enough way so that it is a fun race to the chair.

 

An adult asks a true/false statement such as those below and the team determines the answer (i.e. T or F). The adult nominates the children who will run to the chairs and tries to match the agility of the children. One nominated child races against the child from the other team to sit on the right chair (T or F).  The children then sit back down with their own team and help answer the next question.  The team with most children on correct chairs wins. Each child has a turn at being the team’s runner.

 

True or false statements?  

           

 Players in the Bible story

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lessons learnt

1.   Not to covet means to be content with what we have. T

2. To covet means we want to take someone else’s things for our self.   T         

3. God wants us never to want anything that way we will never covet. F (goals are fine as long as they don’t involve hurting other people)

Applications

4. Tim is playing with a car in the sandpit. Jody decides her car is not as good and takes Tim’s.  Jody coveted and stole. T

 

5. John is always good and his teacher is always praising his behaviour. Peter makes up a story about John to get him in trouble so the teacher does not think he is so special.  Peter did this because he was coveting the teacher’s high opinion of John.  T

 

6. Damien and Penelope are friends.  Penelope’s parents bought her tickets to a movie that Damien wanted to see. Damien did odd jobs about the house until he had earned enough money to buy tickets for the movie too. Damien coveted Penelope’s tickets. F (he wanted his own tickets).  

 

Real Life Example

Let us think about why we do the things we do.

 

What are some examples of coveting?  Kids put up their hands and one by one we talk about what they come up with.

 

How many of us have ever wanted to play with a toy owned by someone else so much that we thought about borrowing it without asking just in case they would say no if we asked or even of stealing it?

 

Why do children tell tales on their brothers and sisters? 

A. Generally it is just because they want them to get into trouble, so the parent's love them less and the taleteller more. In this case it is the parent’s love that is being coveted.  Now parents should be like God and love all their children the same. There is no need to compete with siblings for love.

 

These feelings are the same sort of feelings that Ahab had about the field.  We need to look at life like a glass that is half full not half empty.  Be thankful for the half glass of milk you have and don’t worry about the half you don’t have. Have a glass in your hand and talk about it.

 

Is it wrong to have wants? 

A. No. If you are prepared to work for them and they don’t hurt other people.  Is it wrong to want the empty half of your glass filled?  No, as long as you don’t stop appreciating the fact that you have half a glass already and you are not taking someone else’s milk to fill yours up.  If you can go to the shop and buy more with money you have earned then you should do that instead.

 

Open Presents

Present opening ceremony with discussion on what we think is inside and how we feel before opening based on size and wrapping and then after based on what we got.  To the ones with the fancy wrapping: do they feel happier that they got the fancier present?  Do they think it is going to be a better present?  To the ones in the sad and small wrapping: do they think the others did better? Are they sad?  Are they jealous? Would they rather have had a different present?  Open them.  They all get the same thing.  Can they see that they were coveting the fancy presents but that there was no point as they all got the same thing?  Our prize in life is the same: it is to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  The journey there is like the wrapping.

 

Other activities (time permitting):

Each child can draw a picture illustrating the concept of coveting.

Draw a picture of what they are grateful for.

Watch the veggie tales story of King George and the ducky.

You shall not covet – Word Search

 

H R B T W K E P W A 
G O D O S V P Z F X 
Q U N I O A O S A Y 
Y U K L C T E W M E 
H O N O U R H F I B 
X A V M L R D S L O 
D E A W B Y X O Y L 
T S C P N F Q E M M 
H T N E T S S Y F L 
W S O T X U A O G S

 

 
BOOTHS
COVET
FAMILY
FEAST
GOD
HONOUR
LOVE
OBEY
TENTH

 

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COMMANDMENT

CONTENTMENT

COVET

FAMILY

FEAST

GOD

HOLY

HONOUR

LOVE

OBEDIENCE

SPIRIT

TABERNACLES

TENTH

THANKFULNESS

 

 

 

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