What did the people see and hear?

Thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, smoke and a trumpet.

Free Bible lesson for kids · The Exodus

The Ten Commandments

At Mount Sinai there was thunder, lightning, a thick cloud and the sound of a trumpet. God came down on the mountain and spoke the Ten Commandments, and later wrote them on two tables of stone.

Teach this lesson: film, sheets and guide Print the coloring page

Bible passage: Exodus 19:1–20:21 · Deuteronomy 5
Big idea: God gives us His law because He loves us.
Memory verse: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 (KJV)
Ages: Preschool to preteen (3 to 12), with tips for each age
Time: About 45 minutes
Included, free: Animated story film, coloring page, class sheet, teacher guide, questions and answers, a game

The story

In the third month after leaving Egypt, Israel camped before Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1–2). God reminded them, “I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself” (Exodus 19:4). On the third day there were thunders and lightnings, a thick cloud, and a very loud trumpet. The mountain smoked and quaked, for the LORD came down upon it in fire, and all the people trembled (Exodus 19:16–18).

Then God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD thy God” (Exodus 20:1–2). He told them to have no other gods, make no idols, use His name with respect, keep the sabbath holy, and honor father and mother. They must not kill, be unfaithful in marriage, steal, lie or covet (Exodus 20:3–17). The frightened people stood afar off, but Moses drew near to God (Exodus 20:18–21). God wrote His words on two tables of stone (Deuteronomy 5:22).

Read it in the Bible: Exodus 19:1–20:21 (KJV)

¹In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. ²For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. ³And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; ⁴Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. ⁵Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. ⁷And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. ⁸And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. ⁹And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. ¹⁰And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, ¹¹And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. ¹²And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: ¹³There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. ¹⁴And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. ¹⁶And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. ¹⁷And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. ¹⁸And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. ¹⁹And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. ²⁰And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. ²¹And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. ²²And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. ²³And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. ²⁴And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. ²⁵So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them. ¹And God spake all these words, saying, ²I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ⁴Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ⁵Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; ⁶And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. ⁷Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. ⁸Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁰But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: ¹¹For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. ¹²Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. ¹³Thou shalt not kill. ¹⁴Thou shalt not commit adultery. ¹⁵Thou shalt not steal. ¹⁶Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. ¹⁷Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. ¹⁸And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. ¹⁹And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. ²⁰And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. ²¹And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

Read it in the Bible: Deuteronomy 5 (KJV)

¹And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. ²The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ³The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. ⁴The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, ⁵(I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying, ⁶I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. ⁷Thou shalt have none other gods before me. ⁸Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: ⁹Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, ¹⁰And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. ¹¹Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. ¹²Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. ¹³Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁴But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. ¹⁵And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. ¹⁶Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. ¹⁷Thou shalt not kill. ¹⁸Neither shalt thou commit adultery. ¹⁹Neither shalt thou steal. ²⁰Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. ²¹Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s. ²²These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. ²³And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; ²⁴And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. ²⁵Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. ²⁶For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? ²⁷Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. ²⁸And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. ²⁹O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! ³⁰Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. ³¹But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. ³²Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ³³Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

Questions to ask

Where did God give the Ten Commandments?
On Mount Sinai.
What did the people see and hear?
Thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, smoke and a trumpet.
What is the first commandment?
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

What this story teaches

God is so holy that the whole mountain shook (Exodus 19:18).
God rescued His people before He gave them His law (Exodus 20:2).
God wants to be first in our hearts (Exodus 20:3).
God shows mercy to those who love Him (Exodus 20:6).
God’s law shows us how to treat other people (Exodus 20:12–17).

Jesus Makes Us Right

God’s law shows us how to live, and it leads us to Christ, so that we are made right with God by faith.

Galatians 3:24

A 45-minute lesson plan

5 min	Welcome and pray. Greet each child by name and pray: Ask God to help us love Him first.
10 min	The story. Play the story film: each verse appears on screen in the King James Version while the scene plays. Pause to ask what happens next.
10 min	Talk about it. Ask the three questions below. Then ask: “God gives us His law because He loves us.” What does that mean for us?
5 min	Memory verse. Say Exodus 20:3 together, covering one word at a time until the children can say it alone.
10 min	Activity. Younger children color the coloring page while you retell the story; older children do the class sheet (memory-verse fill-in, word search and questions).
5 min	Pray and send home. Pray together and send the sheet home so families can talk about the first question this week.

Preschool: keep it short and physical. Act out the story, use a simple prop, and repeat the big idea in one sentence.
Elementary: let children find the passage in their own Bibles. Ask “who, what, where” questions first, then “why.”
Preteens: read the verses before and after the passage, and ask how this story fits the whole story of the Bible.

Game time

For kids · game · indoors · about 10 minutes

Two Tablets Toss

You need: Two “tablets” taped on the floor, divided into squares numbered 1 to 10; bean bags

Kids take turns tossing a bean bag onto the tablets.
Whatever number it lands on, the child says that commandment in kid words, with help from the group.
Keep going until all ten have been said.

God gave His people the Ten Commandments to show them how to love Him and love each other.

For youth group · game · indoors · about 15 minutes

Commandment Charades

You need: Cards with the ten commandments

Teams act out a commandment, showing what keeping it looks like today.
The other teams guess which commandment it is.
Talk: Jesus summed them up in two (Matthew 22:37–40). How do they fit?

The law shows us God’s holiness and our need for a Saviour, and the Spirit helps us obey.

Pray

Ask God to help us love Him first.