under construction

VBS-“Under Construction”

Lesson 2- A Ziggurat!?

“Under Construction”

“A Ziggurat?!”

Lesson 2: Teacher Preparation: Genesis 11:1-9

Memory Verse: Deuteronomy 5:7 “Thou shalt have none other gods

before me.”

Theme of Lesson: Putting God first in your life.

INTRODUCTION: Have you ever wondered where all the different languages in the world came from? From creation until after the flood the whole earth spoke the same language. The construction of one tower and the pride of a people caused the world to be split into all kinds of languages.

I. ONE LANGUAGE vs. 1

A. From the beginning God created one language, therefore everyone could understand each other.

B. No matter what part of the world you lived in, or what color you were, all people could speak to one another.

II. A PEOPLE IN SHINAR vs. 2

A. The people of Shinar were followers of a wicked man named Nimrod.

B. They wanted a one world religion and government. This put themselves in rebellion against God. They wanted to put other things before the Almighty God!

C. Nimrod and his followers located themselves in a city called Babel in the land of Shinar.

*Babel- referred to as “Satan’s seat”; also means- “confusion”

Note- Anything that does not have God in it will only cause confusion in your life.

III. THE TOWER OF BABEL vs. 3-4

A. The people of Babel gathered together and decided that they wanted to construct a tower that would reach the heaven. This type of tower is called a “ziggurat”

*Ziggurat- an ancient temple tower with a pyramidal structure built in stages with staircases and with a shrine at the top.

1. Materials needed:

a) brick- made from stones and baked

b) slime- a cement made from lime and sand which is also called mortar. This was used to keep the bricks together.

2. This tower would allow them to climb to the top an d worship the stars.

IV. THE LORD PUNISHES BABEL vs. 5-9

A. The Lord came down to see the tower and the city that this rebellious people constructed.

*Note- Do you think this made the Lord happy to see a tower created to worship something other than Him?

B. God punished them with confounding their language.

1. The Lord caused all the people to speak in different languages therefore noone could understand each other anymore.

2. This caused the people to go to different parts of the earth because they could no longer communicate.

*Note- Could you imagine talking to someone and suddenly have no idea what they are saying? Maybe you would be trying to tell someone a story and they look at you funny because they do not understand you. You could no longer talk to each other.

*Teacher’s note- If you know a foreign language this would be a good time to talk to the students in short sentences to see if they can understand what you are saying.

C. The people were scattered upon all the earth.

TEACHER’S NOTE- Our God is a just God. The Bible commands us to only obey Him and to have no other gods before Him. The people of Babel followed a man instead of the Lord, therefore were rebellious against God, Anything that we put before the Lord is wrong! You can spend too much time watching the wrong television programs, listening to th e wrong music, or hanging out with the wrong friends. Are you guilty of putting things before God? Today can be the day you ask for forgiveness and decide to put your “all” in Jesus Christ.