Israelites Journey to the Promised Land | Twelve Spies Bible Lesson | Numbers 13 | Grades 4-8
Save time and shop with confidence! Watch the lesson preview video here.
Your students will be thoroughly engaged throughout this four to five hour lesson unit on the Israelites journey to the Promised Land. This curriculum, written for older students in grades 4–8, is centered on Numbers 9 through 14 and provides activity based lessons about the dramatic story of the Israelites as they follow God to the edge of the Land of Promise - only to hesitate in fear and long for the familiarity of slavery in Egypt.
Along with some tasty food testing, students will compare the "food of slavery" in Egypt to the abundant blessings of Canaan using a color-coded worksheet that points to God’s faithful provision.
Your classroom then transforms into a fast-paced team game show format featuring seven colorful "Foods of the Promised Land" signs (for the food pep rally!) and a “Yes/No Can” using the colorful labels provided. Teams collaborate to answer questions while other students hold secret messages that reveal the correct answers—allowing for a bit of friendly group competition.
The unit wraps up with an exciting spy-themed challenge. Students become Israelite scouts, rotating through eleven puzzles scattered throughout the classroom. Students will hold mirrors (for mirror image messages), use sliding decoders to discover secret messages, learn pigpen cypher as well as unscramble letters to complete a message. As they fill out the three page scouting report that has outlined for them the specific items Moses asked his scouts to discover, students uncover the promises and the challenges that were laid before the Israelites as God asked them to step out in faith to take the Promised Land.
✝️ What Have I Learned about Jesus Today?
At the end of this lesson (and every lesson in this series), we invite students to ponder the thought-provoking question: "What have you learned about JESUS today?" In this lesson, students learn that just like the twelve spies who scouted out the Promised Land, Jesus is the Preparer of the Way as He leads us to our Promised Land: Heaven!
Included in this 59 page lesson:
◾️19 page lesson plan with DO/SAY/READ wording
◾️Journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai Map Worksheet and Answer Key
◾️Color Coding the Food of the Israelites Worksheet and Answer Key
◾️Scouting Report Packet and Answer Key
◾️Food Signs
◾️Yes/No Can Sign
◾️Messages 1-7
◾️Scouting Reports 1-11
◾️Sliding Decoder Strips
◾️Scrambled Letter Squares
◾️Preparer of the Way Stepping Stone
⏰️Flexible Scheduling: This 4-5 hour lesson can be spread over multiple days with clearly labeled stopping points.
✝️ Perfect for Sunday school, homeschool or Christian school classrooms! Each lesson unit in our Walking Alongside Jesus series is divided into five sections, each section takes between 30 minutes to an hour. This allows homeschool and Christian school teachers to use it daily in the classroom (thereby completing an entire unit in aweek) OR in a Sunday School classroom or youth group once a week (thereby completing an entire unit in a month).
✔️Our goal with each lesson is to combine scholarly study in a fun, interactive way so that students not only experience the rich Biblical narrative but also to whet their appetite for more by learning how to study the Scriptures for themselves.
Save time and shop with confidence! Watch the lesson preview video here.
Your students will be thoroughly engaged throughout this four to five hour lesson unit on the Israelites journey to the Promised Land. This curriculum, written for older students in grades 4–8, is centered on Numbers 9 through 14 and provides activity based lessons about the dramatic story of the Israelites as they follow God to the edge of the Land of Promise - only to hesitate in fear and long for the familiarity of slavery in Egypt.
Along with some tasty food testing, students will compare the "food of slavery" in Egypt to the abundant blessings of Canaan using a color-coded worksheet that points to God’s faithful provision.
Your classroom then transforms into a fast-paced team game show format featuring seven colorful "Foods of the Promised Land" signs (for the food pep rally!) and a “Yes/No Can” using the colorful labels provided. Teams collaborate to answer questions while other students hold secret messages that reveal the correct answers—allowing for a bit of friendly group competition.
The unit wraps up with an exciting spy-themed challenge. Students become Israelite scouts, rotating through eleven puzzles scattered throughout the classroom. Students will hold mirrors (for mirror image messages), use sliding decoders to discover secret messages, learn pigpen cypher as well as unscramble letters to complete a message. As they fill out the three page scouting report that has outlined for them the specific items Moses asked his scouts to discover, students uncover the promises and the challenges that were laid before the Israelites as God asked them to step out in faith to take the Promised Land.
✝️ What Have I Learned about Jesus Today?
At the end of this lesson (and every lesson in this series), we invite students to ponder the thought-provoking question: "What have you learned about JESUS today?" In this lesson, students learn that just like the twelve spies who scouted out the Promised Land, Jesus is the Preparer of the Way as He leads us to our Promised Land: Heaven!
Included in this 59 page lesson:
◾️19 page lesson plan with DO/SAY/READ wording
◾️Journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai Map Worksheet and Answer Key
◾️Color Coding the Food of the Israelites Worksheet and Answer Key
◾️Scouting Report Packet and Answer Key
◾️Food Signs
◾️Yes/No Can Sign
◾️Messages 1-7
◾️Scouting Reports 1-11
◾️Sliding Decoder Strips
◾️Scrambled Letter Squares
◾️Preparer of the Way Stepping Stone
⏰️Flexible Scheduling: This 4-5 hour lesson can be spread over multiple days with clearly labeled stopping points.
✝️ Perfect for Sunday school, homeschool or Christian school classrooms! Each lesson unit in our Walking Alongside Jesus series is divided into five sections, each section takes between 30 minutes to an hour. This allows homeschool and Christian school teachers to use it daily in the classroom (thereby completing an entire unit in aweek) OR in a Sunday School classroom or youth group once a week (thereby completing an entire unit in a month).
✔️Our goal with each lesson is to combine scholarly study in a fun, interactive way so that students not only experience the rich Biblical narrative but also to whet their appetite for more by learning how to study the Scriptures for themselves.
Save time and shop with confidence! Watch the lesson preview video here.
Your students will be thoroughly engaged throughout this four to five hour lesson unit on the Israelites journey to the Promised Land. This curriculum, written for older students in grades 4–8, is centered on Numbers 9 through 14 and provides activity based lessons about the dramatic story of the Israelites as they follow God to the edge of the Land of Promise - only to hesitate in fear and long for the familiarity of slavery in Egypt.
Along with some tasty food testing, students will compare the "food of slavery" in Egypt to the abundant blessings of Canaan using a color-coded worksheet that points to God’s faithful provision.
Your classroom then transforms into a fast-paced team game show format featuring seven colorful "Foods of the Promised Land" signs (for the food pep rally!) and a “Yes/No Can” using the colorful labels provided. Teams collaborate to answer questions while other students hold secret messages that reveal the correct answers—allowing for a bit of friendly group competition.
The unit wraps up with an exciting spy-themed challenge. Students become Israelite scouts, rotating through eleven puzzles scattered throughout the classroom. Students will hold mirrors (for mirror image messages), use sliding decoders to discover secret messages, learn pigpen cypher as well as unscramble letters to complete a message. As they fill out the three page scouting report that has outlined for them the specific items Moses asked his scouts to discover, students uncover the promises and the challenges that were laid before the Israelites as God asked them to step out in faith to take the Promised Land.
✝️ What Have I Learned about Jesus Today?
At the end of this lesson (and every lesson in this series), we invite students to ponder the thought-provoking question: "What have you learned about JESUS today?" In this lesson, students learn that just like the twelve spies who scouted out the Promised Land, Jesus is the Preparer of the Way as He leads us to our Promised Land: Heaven!
Included in this 59 page lesson:
◾️19 page lesson plan with DO/SAY/READ wording
◾️Journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai Map Worksheet and Answer Key
◾️Color Coding the Food of the Israelites Worksheet and Answer Key
◾️Scouting Report Packet and Answer Key
◾️Food Signs
◾️Yes/No Can Sign
◾️Messages 1-7
◾️Scouting Reports 1-11
◾️Sliding Decoder Strips
◾️Scrambled Letter Squares
◾️Preparer of the Way Stepping Stone
⏰️Flexible Scheduling: This 4-5 hour lesson can be spread over multiple days with clearly labeled stopping points.
✝️ Perfect for Sunday school, homeschool or Christian school classrooms! Each lesson unit in our Walking Alongside Jesus series is divided into five sections, each section takes between 30 minutes to an hour. This allows homeschool and Christian school teachers to use it daily in the classroom (thereby completing an entire unit in aweek) OR in a Sunday School classroom or youth group once a week (thereby completing an entire unit in a month).
✔️Our goal with each lesson is to combine scholarly study in a fun, interactive way so that students not only experience the rich Biblical narrative but also to whet their appetite for more by learning how to study the Scriptures for themselves.
❓️FAQS❓️
What Christian perspective is used for these Bible lessons?
I am an evangelical Christian who writes Bible curriculum for older students, and I take this tremendous responsibility seriously. Each lesson has a clear focus on what God says in His Word and the lessons are presented age appropriately, thoughtfully and biblically.
What translation of the Bible is used? 99% of the time I use the ESV although on rare occasion I might use another translation such as the NIV.
How can this Bible curriculum be used? These lessons are flexible enough to be used in the following settings:
Children's Sunday School class
Youth Group
Private Christian school Bible class
Chapel for Christian schools
Children's Church
Homeschool Bible class
Family Bible time
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