CRK PBK 2

BASIC CHRISTIAN
RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE
Hannah Ishola
Peter Oladapo
Victoria Ama
Yvonne Onah
LearnAfrica
Learn Africa Plc
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without the prior permission of Learn Africa Plc.
© Learn Africa Plc, 2010

First published 2010
UBE Edition 2010
Reprinted 2013, 2014
ISBN 978 978 026 381 2

CONTENTS
Theme 1 Talking to God through Jesus Christ 1

Unit
1 The meaning of prayer 1
2 Jesus the man of prayer 4
3 Jesus’ teaching on prayer 7
4 Types of prayer 12
5 The power of prayer 15
6 God cares for us 17
7 God announces the coming of Saviour 23
8 God gives the world a Saviour 26
Theme 2 The life of Jesus Christ 31

Unit
1 The early life of Jesus 31
2 Jesus prepares for his ministry 34
3 Jesus has power over natural forces 38
4 Jesus has power over diseases and death 42
5 Jesus’ teaching on God’s love 47
6 Jesus teaching on the kingdom of God 50
7 Jesus teaches us how to behave 54
Theme 3 God the creator and the father of all 60

Unit
1 God creates everything 60
2 God creates a nation (Abraham) 63
3 Jacob 67
4 Joseph 70
5 Moses the liberator 74
6 Judges as leaders 79
7 Saul and David as kings in Israel 86
iii
iv
Theme
1 Talking to God through Jesus Christ
Unit 1 The meaning of prayer

Objectives
At the end of this unit, pupils should be able to:
1 explain the meaning of prayer.
2 give reasons why we pray.
3 demonstrate the right attitude to prayer.
The meaning of prayer

1 Prayer means talking to God. When we need anything, we pray to
God and ask Him to meet our needs.
2 Prayer means telling God how we feel. Although He knows our thoughts
and needs, He wants us to speak to Him.
3 Prayer also means praising God.
Reasons why we pray

As humans, we are limited in power. Our needs are many. We cannot
meet them, but we have a good heavenly Father who can produce
every good thing that we need. Such needs include shelter, food and
clothing. These are three basic needs of man.
We could also pray for our friends who are sick, for protection, and
for Nigeria, so that peace will reign and we will live happily and peace-
fully.
Demonstration of right attitude to prayer

1 When we go to God in prayer, we should not be boastful.
2 We should not look down on other people like the Pharisees.
3 We should be humble. Jesus told us a parable of two people who
went to pray in the temple. They were Pharisee and a tax collector.
The Pharisee was boastful. He said, ‘I pray five times a day, I pay my
tithes, I fast twice a week, I give to the poor. I am not like this unjust

A woman praying
tax collector’. However, the tax collector simply said, ‘Oh God, I am
a sinner. Have mercy on me’. The tax collector went home blessed
because he humbled himself. So also we must humble ourselves
when we pray.
The Pharisee and the tax collector
When we humble ourselves in prayer, we will go back home

blessed.

Moral lessons
When we go to God in prayer, we must always pray for other people
such as our friends, and our country. We must also humble ourselves.
Remember
1 Prayer is talking to God. When we ask God for anything, He will give it
to us.
2 Since we are human beings, we are limited in power. We have needs
which we must ask God to meet.
Exercise
1 What is prayer?
2 Mention two reasons why we pray.
Fill in the gaps of the questions below with correct answers.

3 The Pharisee was ____________________________________________.
4 The tax collector went home with joy because he was ___________.
Choose the correct answers for the questions below.

5 We should always go to God in prayer with ____________________.
A. humility. B. pride C.a noise.
D. a quarrel.
6 Prayer is ______________________ A. communicating with God.
B. becoming afraid. C. fighting with God. D. shouting at God.
7 When we pray to God, our mind is ________________________.
A. at rest B. troubled C. full of evil
D. washed
Activity
1 Demonstrate how a proud man would pray.
2 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Humble, (b)Tax
collector, (c) Attitude

Unit 2 Jesus the man of prayer
Objectives
1 identify Jesus as a man of prayer.
2 mention instances in their lives when they ought to pray.
3 state the reasons why Jesus prayed.
Bible passages (John 11:41–42; Luke 6:12–16; John 6: 1–14; and

Mark 14:12–25)
Evidence of Jesus as a man of prayer

Jesus is the Son of God. During his life on earth as a human being, he
spent a lot of time praying to God. Whenever he prayed, he always got
whatever he asked God for, no matter how difficult the thing seemed.
Jesus prayed to God at different times and for different reasons. Ev-
ery time he had something special to do, he prayed to prepare himself
for the work. He also always prayed to God before he ate his food. Here
are instances of when Jesus prayed.
1 When his friend Lazarus died and had been buried for four days,
Jesus prayed and asked God to raise Lazarus from the dead. God
heard his prayer and Lazarus came back to life.
2 When he needed to know which men to choose as his closest
friends and disciples, Jesus went alone to the mountain and prayed
throughout the night about it. By the time it was morning, he knew
exactly which men to choose.
3 While he was preaching in a lonely place, the people listening to him
became hungry because they had been with him for many days
and there were no shops close by where they could buy food from.
Somebody in the crowd had five loaves of bread and two fish and
gave them to Jesus so that he could feed the crowd. When Jesus
prayed over it, the little food became more than enough to feed
more than five thousand people. There were even leftovers that filled
twelve baskets after everyone had eaten and was full.
4 When Jesus was about to face the most difficult trial of his life, he
took his disciples to an upper room and prayed with them before
they had the last supper. God always heard Jesus’ prayers.

Why Jesus prayed
Jesus had many reasons to pray. Some of them were as follows.
1 He knew that he needed God’s help to do everything. He prayed
because he needed God’s power to solve difficult problems every
day.
2 Jesus prayed when he needed to do special work.
3 Jesus believed that God loved him and would answer his prayer.
That is why he often prayed.
4 Jesus prayed to God to help him make the right decisions.
Why we should pray

We should behave like Jesus did and learn to pray.
1 God likes to hear our prayer. He likes it when we ask Him to bless us
and help us.
2 We should pray before we eat or drink anything.
3 We should pray when we are faced with a difficult job.
4 We should pray when we want to choose our friends.
5 We should pray when we do not know what to do.
6 We should pray for others who need help.
God enjoys listening to our prayers. He is never too busy to hear
us or talk to us. He will also answer our prayers, as He answered Jesus’
prayers.
Moral lessons
1 God likes to hear our prayer. We should be prayerful.
2 When we have a difficult task ahead of us, we should pray.
3 We can pray to God at any time and He will hear us.
4 We should remember to ask God to bless our food and drinks before
we eat and drink them.
5 We should pray to God so we can help other people.
6 We should pray when we are trying to make decisions.
Remember
1 Prayer is raising our hearts and minds to God and talking to him.
2 Jesus was a man of prayer. He always received what he asked God
for.
3 Jesus prayed for Lazarus four days after he had died and God
answered Jesus’ prayer and Lazarus came back to life.

4 After praying throughout the night, Jesus knew clearly which men to
choose as his disciples.
5 Jesus blessed five loaves of bread and two fish, and they became
more than enough to feed over five thousand people.
6 Jesus prayed before eating his meals.
Exercise
1 What is prayer?
2 Mention three reasons why Jesus prayed.
3 Give two instances when Jesus prayed.
Fill in the gaps of the questions below with correct answers.

4 Jesus is a man of _______________.
5 I know Jesus is a man of prayer because ______________________.
6 Prayer is important because __________________________________.

7 A man of prayer is someone who _____________________.
A. prays sometimes B. prays always C. never prays
D. hates to pray
8 When we pray, God ____________________. A. cries
B. sleeps C. is angry D. hears us
9 God always heard Jesus’ prayer __________. A. True B. False
10 Jesus killed a man with prayer ____________. A. True B. False
Activity
1 Stop and practise! Say a prayer to God asking him to help you to be
prayerful. Remember that Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. It is
called The Lord’s Prayer. Memorise it.
2 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Impossible,
(b) Preach, (c) Trial, (d) Supper, (e) Decision

Unit 3 Jesus’ teachings on prayer
Objectives
At the end of this unit, the pupils should be able to:
1 explain Jesus’ teachings on how to pray.
2 say the Lord’s prayer.
3 explain how Jesus encouraged us to pray.
4 explain the importance of prayer.
Bible passages (Matthew 6:9–15; Matthew 26:45; Luke 22:45–46; and

Matthew 18:1–8)
Jesus’ teaching on how to pray and the model prayer

(Matthew 6:9–15, Luke 18:1–8)
We should remember that prayer means talking with God. Jesus wants
us to pray always. Sometimes, our prayer would be to thank and praise
God. Sometimes, it would be to ask Hm for something.
When we are praying to God for what we need, we should say ex-
actly what that thing is. For example, if we want healing for somebody
who is sick, we tell God that.
A child praying

When we are praying to God for something, we should have faith.
Faith means believing that God has the power to do what we are asking
Him to do for us. We should never think or fear that he cannot or would
not do it. Nothing is too difficult for him to do.
Any time we want to pray, we should not stay in an open place for
people to see us. We should pray in secret. God will see us and hear
us.
Jesus also said that if we are praying to God for something and He
has not answered us, we should continue to pray so that one day, we
will receive our request. Jesus explained this with the parable of the un-
merciful or wicked judge (18:1-8). A parable is a godly story that explains
something.
The parable of the unmerciful judge

Jesus said that there was a judge who feared neither God nor man. He
therefore would not help anybody. One day, he helped a widow. The
The wicked judge

judge punished her enemies for her. It was because the widow contin-
ued going to him, asking him to help her.
Jesus said at the end of the story that if the unmerciful judge granted
the widow’s request because he did not want her to continue disturbing
him, our God who is good will always answer our prayers.
The Lord’s prayer

Matthew 6:9–15
Jesus has taught us to pray this way:
‘Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,
Give us this day, our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses (sins),
As we also have forgiven those that trespassed against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil’.
The explanation of the Lord’s prayer

This prayer is a model prayer. It is an example from Jesus. This shows that
anytime we pray to God, we should:
First, tell Him that we know that He is the greatest and the highest.
Second, tell Him that we want to respect His name and obey Him.
Third, then ask Him for anything we need.
Fourth, ask Him to forgive us our sins.
Fifth, promise to forgive those that have hurt us.
Sixth, ask Him to help us so that we would not listen to the Devil and obey
him.
Seventh, ask Him not to allow bad things happen to us.
Jesus encouraged us to pray

Matthew 26:45 and Luke 22:45–46
Earlier on the day Jesus was arrested to be killed, he took his disciples to
the garden of Gethsemane. In the garden, he told them to always pray
so that they would not do bad things, that is falling into temptation. After

telling them that, he moved away from them a few steps and started
praying.
Each time Jesus went back to his disciples to see if they were pray-
ing, he found them sleeping. When the people that arrested him came,
he woke up his disciples and told them again to always pray so that they
would not enter into temptation.
Jesus and his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane.
Importance of prayer
It is important that we pray for the following reasons:
1 For God to help us so that we would not obey the Devil and do bad
things.
2 So that we can keep a good relationship with God.
3 So that God can give us the things that we need.
4 For God to save us from our enemies and from danger.
5 For Him to forgive us our sins.
Moral lessons
1 We should always pray to God so that we can keep a good relationship
with him.
2 We should ask God to meet our needs because there is nothing too
difficult for Him to do.
3 When we do bad things, we should pray to Him for forgiveness.
4 When we ask God to do something for us, we should keep asking
until we receive the answer.
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5 We should not doubt when we are expecting God to do what we are
praying to Him for. We should have faith.
Remember
1 Jesus said that we should pray at all times.
2 We should pray in secret.
3 Jesus gave us an example or model prayer. It is called the Lord’s
prayer.
4 In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples to pray so that
they would not enter into temptation.
5 Any time we are praying to God to give us something, we should never
get tired. We should continue to pray until we receive our answer.
Jesus explained this with the story of an unmerciful judge.
Exercise
1 Why did Jesus tell us to pray?
2 What does it mean to pray to God in faith?
3 Who were the people Jesus told to pray when they were in the garden
of Gethsemane?
4 Why did the unmerciful judge help the widow?
Fill in the gap with the correct answer.

5 The example or model prayer Jesus gave us is called the ________.
Choose the correct answers for the questions below:

6 Jesus said that we should pray in _______________. A. the market
B. an open place C. a shop D. secret
7 On the day Jesus was arrested, who were the people with him that
were sleeping instead of praying?
A. The unbelievers B. His disciples C. Students
D. Pastors
8 Jesus used the story of the unmerciful judge to explain that when we
are praying to God for something we should __________________.
A. not eat B. not close our eyes C. never get tired
D. never greet people
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Activity
1 Memorise the Lord’s prayer.
2 Dramatise the story of the unmerciful judge.
3 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Temptation,
(b) judge, (c) Faith, (d) Doubt.
Unit 4 Types of prayer

Objectives
1 list types of prayer.
2 enumerate some of the things to pray for.
3 explain why Jesus encourages us to pray.
Bible passages (Genesis 18:20–23; Acts 7:56–59; Acts 4:23–25; Luke

18:9–14; Luke 1:46–55; 1 Samuel 1:9–18; and Kings 3:1–15)
Types of prayer
There are various types of prayer. They include intercessory prayer, prayer
of thanksgiving, confession of sins, petition, and of Praise.
Intercessory prayer
This is the type of prayer that we pray for others. For example, when God
wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sins, Abra-
ham prayed for them. Again, as Stephen was being stoned to death, he
prayed for the people saying, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this’.
Prayer of thanksgiving
This is a prayer of showing our gratitude to God for what he has done for
us. If we receive anything from Him, it is good to say, ‘Thank you’.
Prayer of confession of sins

This prayer is said when we admit that we have offended God, by doing
things like stealing, fighting or cheating. When we confess our sins, we
should make up our minds to forsake those sins. The tax collector con-
fessed his sins, asked for forgiveness and determined to forsake his sins.
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Praise
When you are happy about what God has done, you should sing praises
to Him. Hannah the mother of Samuel was without a child for many years
and suddenly God answered her prayer. She gave birth to Samuel. She
was happy and she sang praises to God because of what He did for
her.
Things to pray for

Here are some of the things we should pray for:
1 Wisdom: Solomon was a king in Israel. He needed wisdom from God
so he could rule his people. He asked God for wisdom and God
gave it to him. If you want to be wise, ask God for wisdom, He will
give it to you.
2 Forgiveness: When we do things that are wrong, we must ask God for
forgiveness.
3 Provision: We must pray for our parents and ask God to provide money
for them so that they can buy food, clothes, and shoes for us and
pay our school fees. Our brothers and sisters also need our prayers.
We can ask God to protect them from danger. We need to pray for
our teachers and friends for their good health. We also need to ask
God to make us healthy always. It is only when we are healthy that
we can do things in life.
Jesus encourages us to pray

Jesus the son of God encouraged us to pray. He started his work with
prayer and ended with prayer. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. He
encouraged us to pray for the following reasons:
1 When we pray, we are close to God.
2 When we pray, God helps us to fight Satan and those who work for
him.
3 When we pray, God does what we ask Him to do for us.
Moral lessons
1 We should pray always.
2 God answers prayer if we pray to Him.
3 God wants us to confess our sins.
4 God wants us to pray for others.
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5 God wants us to always sing praises to Him.
6 God wants us to thank Him always.
Remember
1 Prayer is talking to God.
2 Jesus taught his disciples how to pray.
3 Prayers of thanksgiving, confession of sins, petitions, intercession and
praises are important.
4 We should pray for our parents, teachers, brothers and sisters and
friends.
Exercise
1 List two different types of prayer.
2 Give an example of prayer.
3 Explain two reasons why Jesus encourages us to pray.
Fill in the gaps with correct answers.
4 Prayer is the act of talking to ___________________.
5 Abraham interceded for _________________ and _______________.
6 Prayer brings us closer to _______________.
Choose the correct answers to the following:
8 ‘Lord do not charge them with this sin’ was said by ______________.
A. Abraham B. Stephen C. Joseph
D. Daniel
9 ‘Lord be merciful to me a sinner’ was said by ___________________.
A. Peter B. Judas C. Jesus
D. Jude
Activity
1 Sing: Prayer is the key (twice)
Prayer is the master key
Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer
Prayer is the master key.
2 Pick your friend in the class and pray for him.
3 Find out the meaning of these words: (a) Praise, (b) Thanksgiving,
(c) Confession, (d) Intercession, (e) Petition
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Unit 5 The power of prayer
Objectives
1 identify incidents portraying the power of prayer.
2 mention the significance of the power of prayer.
3 identify some people who made requests and what they asked for.
4 explain how God answers our prayer.
Bible passages (Acts 16:25–33, 1 Samuel 1:19–20, 1 Kings 18: 30–39,

and John 11:41–44)
Evidence of the power of prayer
We should call on God to help us when we are in trouble. Paul and Silas
were put in jail because they were preaching the good news about Je-
sus in Jerusalem. Their enemies put them in prison. At midnight Paul and
Silas prayed and sang praises to God. Suddenly, there was an earth-
quake, the prison doors were all opened and their chains came off. This
is to show that God always responds to our needs when we cry to him.
Hannah was without a child for many years. She prayed and prom-
ised God something special. God answered her prayer and gave her a
son whom she named Samuel. Samuel later became a mighty prophet
in Israel.
At mount Carmel, Elijah was in a contest with the prophets of an idol
called Baal. He made a sacrifice and called on the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. God sent a great fire from heaven to consume his
sacrifice. Then everyone understood that God is greater and more pow-
erful than Baal.
Jesus had three close friends. They were Lazarus, Mary and Martha.
They lived in Bethany. One day Lazarus became sick and died at last.
Lazarus’ sisters sent for Jesus. At Lazarus’ grave, Jesus cried out loud,
‘Lazarus come out!’ and Lazarus came back to life.
The importance of the power of prayer

1 Prayer is so powerful that it draws us closer to God. When we pray
often, we get closer to God than we were before.
2 When we pray, God answers us and does what we ask Him to do.
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3 When God answers our prayer, we are able to trust Him to meet all
our needs.
4 Prayer draws other people to God. When God answers our prayer by
solving our problems, other people see it and get close to God also
and worship him.
How God answered those who called

1 Hannah cried to God for a son. God answered her by giving her a
son whom she named Samuel.
2 Jesus prayed for dead Lazarus. Lazarus rose up from the grave.
3 Elijah prayed to prove that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is
the true God. God sent down fire to burn the sacrifice.
God remains the same. He answered the prayer of Hannah, Elijah,
Jesus, Paul and Silas. He will answer us whenever we call on Him. We
should have faith in Him, for with God all things are possible.
Moral lessons
1 When we ask God to do something for us, He will do it if we have
faith. He is a great God who can meet our daily needs.
2 We should always pray for our friends and nation, like prophet Elijah
who delivered the nation of Israel from idolatry.
Remember
Hannah, prophet Elijah, Paul and Silas and Jesus prayed to God. God
heard and answered their prayers. If we call on God for anything, He will
hear and answer us.
Exercise
1 Mention two reasons why the power of prayer is important.
2 Mention four people who prayed and God answered them.
3 How did God answer the following people:
A. Hannah B. Jesus
Fill in the gaps below with correct answers.

4 God answered Elijah by sending down _____________ from heaven.
5 There was an earthquake so that ___________ and ___________ were
set free.
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Choose the correct answers to complete the following:
6 Lazarus was raised from the grave when _____________ prayed.
A. Daniel B. Mary C. Jesus
D. Moses
7 The name of the son born by Hannah was ______________.
A. Samuel B. David C. Elkanah
D. Jesus
Activity
1 Draw how Jesus’ raised Lazarus from the dead.
2 Sing these songs:
a) The God who answered by fire, let Him be my God (2ce).
b) Paul and Silas they prayed, they sang, the Holy Ghost came
down.
3 Find out the meaning of these words: (a) Grave, (b) Earthquake,
(c) Prison.
Unit 6 God cares for us

Objectives
1 name various ways in which God takes care of us.
2 give examples of some people that God cared for in a special
way.
Bible passages (Psalm 23; Daniel 3:1–30; Daniel 6:1–28)
Various ways God cares for his people
In Psalm 23, God is called our Shepherd. A shepherd is someone who
looks after sheep. The shepherd is responsible for feeding and caring
for the sheep. He also protects the sheep from wild animals and harm.
Whenever one of his sheep gets lost, the shepherd would search for it
and bring it back to the sheep pen to be with other sheep.
This Psalm shows us that we are like God’s sheep. It tells us the differ-
ent ways in which God cares for us:
1 God provides everything we need.
2 God helps us to do the right things.
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A shepherd surrounded by his sheep
3 God helps us to rest and regain our strength.

4 God helps us when we are afraid. He removes the fear and makes
us bold.
5 God is always with us.
6 God protects and comforts us.
7 God causes good things to happen to us.
8 God loves us.
9 God helps us to honour His name.
10 God welcomes us every time we come to him in prayer.
People who received special care from God

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
There was once a very powerful king called Nebuchadnezzar. One day,
he made a huge gold statue and gave a command that everybody
should fall down and worship the gold statue whenever they heard par-
ticular instruments playing. Anyone who refused to obey the king’s com-
mand was to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. Because people
were afraid for their lives and did not want to be thrown into fire, they
worshipped the statue.
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However, there were three Jews whose names were Shadrach, Me-
shach and Abednego. They refused to bow down and worship the statue.
When some men reported this to the king, he was very angry. He called
the three Jews to himself and gave them another chance to obey his
command. Because the three men knew that God had commanded
that no Jew should bow down to worship any statue, they still refused to
obey the king. This time, the king was very, very angry. He commanded
his soldiers to make the fire seven times hotter than it was, tie up the
three Jews and throw them into the fire to burn.
The fire was so hot that the soldiers who threw Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego into it were themselves burnt by the flames. However,
when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. were thrown into the fire,
God caused the fire not to burn them. Even their hair and clothes were
not burnt and there was no smell of fire on them. God also caused the
ropes that had been used to tie the men to loosen so that the three men
were free to walk about in the fire.
King Nebuchadnezzar saw all this as he looked into the fire and he
was very surprised and called the three men to come out of the fire.
When they came out, everyone gathered around them and saw that
they were not hurt. Even their clothes and hair had not burnt in the fire.
From that day onwards, the king commanded everyone in his kingdom
to honour the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Nobody
was allowed to say anything bad about God. And the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. God was glorified because these
three men trusted Him to care for them.
Daniel
Daniel was a friend of the three Jewish men – Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego. He was one of the three administrators who had been ap-
pointed to take charge of King Darius’ kingdom. Daniel was an honest,
faithful and responsible man. King Darius liked Daniel and wanted to
promote him and put him in charge of every other person in the king-
dom because Daniel worked better than all others.
When the other administrators heard this, they were jealous of Daniel
and decided to kill him. They watched him for a long time to see if he
would do something bad so that they could report him to the king. But
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Daniel always did the right thing. He always did his work the way it should
be done. The jealous people did not find anything bad to accuse Dan-
iel of.
Then, one day, they had an idea! They knew that Daniel always
obeyed God and prayed to God three times a day. So they formed a
plan that would trick King Darius into killing Daniel. They went to the king
and convinced him to issue a decree that for thirty-one days, no one
was to pray to any god or person except to king Darius. Anyone who
was caught disobeying the decree was to be thrown into a lions’ den
immediately. Not knowing it was a trick, King Darius agreed and signed
the decree.
When Daniel heard that the decree had been signed, he went home
opened his windows, faced Jerusalem and prayed to God like he al-
ways did. The jealous administrators were spying on him and when they
saw him praying to God, they reported him to the king. King Darius was
very unhappy when he realised that he had been tricked into signing the
decree that would cause Daniel to be killed. But because the decree
had to be obeyed, he allowed Daniel to be thrown into the lions’ den.
Daniel sitting down among lions in their den
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Throughout the night, King Darius could not sleep. He was worried about
Daniel. But because Daniel trusted God, God sent an angel to make
the lions unable to eat Daniel. When it was morning, King Darius hurried
to the lions’ den and called out to Daniel asking, ‘O Daniel, servant of
the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able
to deliver you from the lions?’ The king was very happy when he heard
Daniel’s voice answering him from the lions’ den, and he commanded
that Daniel should be taken out of the lions’ den.
When Daniel came out, everyone saw that he was not hurt, Because
he trusted God, God kept him safe. Then the king commanded all the
jealous men to be thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and
children. The lions pounced on all of them and tore them to pieces. Then
King Darius issued another decree commanding everyone in his king-
dom to honour Daniel’s God. God was glorified because Daniel trusted
God to care for him.
Moral lessons
1 God is able to care for people who trust and obey Him.
2 When we trust God and obey Him, we will find out that He cares for
us.
3 We must choose to obey God and His commandments above any
other command, even if we would be beaten, laughed at or killed.
4 We must do the right things, even if everybody else is not doing it.
5 God will keep us safe and sound when we trust Him.
Remember
1 In Psalm 23, God is called our Shepherd.
2 A shepherd cares, protects and provides for his sheep.
3 Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel were people who
received special care from God.
4 They all trusted God and obeyed him even though they had to face
death.
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Exercise
1 Which Psalm speaks of God as our Shepherd?
2 Mention three ways in which God cares for us.
3 Why did God protect Daniel and his friends?
Fill in the gaps with the correct answers.

4 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into ___________.
5 Daniel was thrown into __________________.
6 King Nebuchadnezzar made a _______________ and commanded
people to bow down and worship it.
7 King Darius issued ______________ that nobody should pray to any
other god or person for thirty-one days.
Choose the correct answers for the statements below.
8 God helps us and cares for us by ____________________.
A. protecting and comforting us B. loving us
C. helping us to honour his name D. running away from
us
9 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego showed their trust in God by
________.
A. refusing to obey the king’s command
B. bowing down to worship the statue C.choosing to be
thrown into the fire
D. honouring God and obeying his commandment even when
others were not doing so
10 When Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den _______________
A. the lions pounced on him and tore him apart.
B. God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions.
C. King Darius could not eat or sleep throughout the night.
D. God protected and saved Daniel.
Activity
1 Dramatise the story of Daniel in the lions’ den.
2 Memorise Psalm 23:1 and recite it in your next lesson.
3 Find the meaning of the following words: (a) Sheep pen, (b) Fiery,
(c) Promote, (d) Administrator.
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Unit 7 God announces the coming of a Saviour
Objectives
1 narrate the announcement of Jesus’ birth to Joseph and Mary.
2 explain the meaning of ‘Jesus’ and Emmanuel.
Bible passages (Luke 1:26–38; Matthew 1:20–21 and Isaiah 7:14)
How the birth of Jesus was announced to Mary (Luke 1:26–38)

There was a young woman who was a virgin. Her name was Mary. A
man called Joseph from the tribe of David had told her that he would
marry her.
One day, God sent Angel Gabriel to Mary. The angel greeted her,
‘Hail Mary, the Lord is with you’. After that, Angel Gabriel explained to
Mary that she had found favour with God. This was because God would
make her a special person. She would become pregnant and give birth
to a son. The child would be called Jesus. He would also be called Holy,
the Son of the Most High God, because the pregnancy would be by the
power of the Holy Spirit. He would rule forever.
Angel Gabriel and Mary

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The angel then told Mary that her relation, Elizabeth who had not
been able to have a child had become pregnant. Her pregnancy was
already six months old.
Mary answered the angel that she was ready for God to use her.
How the birth of Jesus was announced to Joseph (Matthew

1:20–21 and Isaiah 7:14)
The Holy Spirit had made Mary become pregnant. Joseph, who was
planning to marry her, found out that she was pregnant. He started plan-
ning to tell her that he would no longer marry her. He would send her
away quietly. Immediately, he saw an angel of God in a dream. The an-
gel told him not to send Mary away that it was the Holy Spirit that made
her pregnant. The angel also told Joseph that she would give birth to
a son, who would be called Jesus because he would save his people
from their sins.
What the angel told Joseph about how Mary would give birth to Je-
sus happened. It fulfilled what Prophet Isaiah predicted (prophesied).
Prophet Isaiah had said that a time would come when a young woman
would become pregnant and give birth to a son that would be called
‘Emmanuel.’
The meaning of ‘Emmanuel’ and ‘Jesus’

Jesus’ means ‘Saviour’. This is because his work was to save people in
the world from their sins. Jesus did this by: Teaching us how to obey God,
and suffering and dying for us so that our sins would be forgiven, if we
believe in him.
Emmanuel means ‘God with us’. This is because Jesus who is the Son
of God is like God. He was born as a human being into this world through
Virgin Mary. Jesus is therefore God that lived with us as a human being.
Moral lessons
1 The coming of Jesus into the world as a human being was to save us
from our sins by obeying God, so that we would not go to hell.
2 We would therefore believe in him and obey his teachings. It is only
those who believe in him and obey his teachings that he will save.
3 Jesus is the Holy Son of God. We should respect his name always.
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4 There is nothing impossible for God to do because
a) Mary became pregnant with Jesus by the power of the Holy
Spirit.
b) Elizabeth her relation who had not been able to have a child, also
became pregnant by the power of God.
Remember
1 A man called Joseph, from the tribe of David had a young woman
he was planning to marry.
2 She was a virgin and her name was Mary.
3 God sent Angel Gabriel to her to tell her that she would get pregnant
by the power of the Holy Spirit and give birth to a son.
4 The child would be called Jesus, and Jesus means Saviour.
5 The angel also told Mary that her kinswoman Elizabeth had also
become pregnant; the pregnancy was already six months old.
6 An angel of God explained to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was by
the power of the Holy Spirit. The angel explained that to him because
he did not understand how Mary became pregnant and was planning
to send her away.
7 The angel also told Joseph that he should name the child Mary would
give birth to, ‘Jesus’. This was because he would save people from
their sins.
8 Prophet Isaiah had also prophesied about the birth of the saviour by
a young woman, a virgin.
Exercise
1 What did angel Gabriel say to Mary about how she would become
pregnant?
2 When Mary became pregnant and Joseph did not understand how
it happened, what did he plan to do?
3 Who explained to him how Mary became pregnant?

4 Prophet _______________ predicted that a young woman would give
birth to a son that would be called Emmanuel.
5 ‘Jesus’ means ___________________.
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6 Emmanuel means
A. Saviour B. Messiah C. Teacher
D. God with us
7 When angel Gabriel visited Mary, her relation Elizabeth had become
pregnant and was in the _________ month.
A. 6th B. 4th C. 3rd
D. 2nd
Activity
1 Learn the song below:
‘Emmanuel
Emmanuel
Your name is God
Emmanuel’
2 Find out the meaning of these words: (a) Favour, (b) Pregnancy,
(c) Angel, (d) Prophecy
Unit 8 God gives the world a Saviour

Objectives
1 mention the town and place of Jesus’ birth.
2 discuss what the shepherds did when they visited the child Jesus.
3 explain what the wise men did when they visited the child Jesus.
4 identify the significance of Christmas.
Bible passages (Luke 2:1–7, Luke 2:8–20; and Matthew 2: 1–12)
The birth of Jesus

A decree came from Augustus Caesar, the Roman Emperor that all
Jews should be counted. Joseph who was from the city of Nazareth
went with Mary his wife who was already heavy with child to be counted
in Bethlehem.
It was when they got to Bethlehem of Judea that Mary gave birth to
Jesus in a manger.
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Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus
Shepherds visited the child Jesus

Some shepherds were keeping watch over their flock in the night Jesus
was born. An angel of the Lord appeared to them with the glory of the
Lord. They were afraid but the angel told them not to be afraid. He told
Shepherds with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus
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them the good news about the birth of Jesus. He gave them a sign that
would make them recognise Jesus when they got to Bethlehem. He said
that the baby would be wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a man-
ger.
The shepherds went to Bethlehem and saw Joseph, Mary and Jesus.
They returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen.
Wise men visited the child Jesus

Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the king. Wise men from the
East saw the star of Jesus and came to Jerusalem to worship him. They
traced the star to King Herod’s palace but did not find Jesus there. They
met Herod, and told him about a new king that was born. Herod was
not happy but he told the wise men that when they found Jesus they
should come back to him, so that he could also go and worship him.
He wanted to kill Jesus.
The wise men presenting gifts to Jesus
The wise men left the king’s palace disappointed but followed the
star. The star stopped over the place where the child was born. They
were filled with joy. Then they entered the house, saw baby Jesus, bowed
down and worshipped him. They opened their bags and gave him gifts
of gold, myrrh and frankincense. They went back to their country after
their visit.
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Christmas celebration and its significance
Christmas is the time when Christians remember the birth of Jesus. It is al-
ways celebrated on 25th December. It is the time when our parents buy
new shoes, new clothes and other good things for us. Christmas carols
are the songs we sing during the time of Christmas. During the Christmas
season, we present gifts to our friends and those we love. It is a time we
eat, drink and visit our friends and relations.
Moral lessons
1 God wants us to always rejoice at the birth of a new baby.
2 The shepherds glorified and praised God. We should always give
God glory.
3 The wise men presented gifts to Jesus. We should give gifts to other
people.
4 As we celebrate Christmas, we must not forget the reason for the
birth of Jesus.
Remember
1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.
2 Angels appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus.
3 The shepherds visited Joseph, Mary and Jesus. They went back
glorifying and praising God.
4 Wise men from the east visited Joseph, Mary and Jesus. They presented
gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense to baby Jesus.
Exercise
1 Name the town and place where Jesus was born.
2 Explain what the shepherds did when they visited the child Jesus.
3 Name the three gifts which the wise men took to Jesus.
4 Give two reasons why Christmas is important.

5 Jesus was born in ____________________.
6 The wise men gave Jesus ____________, ___________ and ________.
7 King ____________ wanted to kill baby _____________.
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Choose the correct answers to the questions below.
8 Christmas is always celebrated on 25th of _________________.
A. February B. December C. March
D. April
9 Jesus was born in a__________________.
A. house B. farm C. manger
D. room
10 Christmas carols are the songs we sing during _____________.
A. Easter B. birthdays C. Christmas
D. fasting
Activity
1 Dramatise the visit of the wise men.
2 Sing some Christmas carols.
3 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Star, (b) Celebration,
(c) Visit, (d) Shepherd, (e) Palace, and (f) Flock.
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Theme
2 The life of Jesus Christ
Unit 1 The early life of Jesus

Objectives
At the end of the unit, pupils should be able to:
1 name the people who were in the temple at the presentation of
Jesus.
2 state the message of the angel to Joseph.
3 mention one good example to follow from the life of Jesus.
Bible passages (Luke 2:21–38 and Matthew 2:13–23)
When Jesus was born, wise men came to see the parents. They present-
ed gifts to Jesus which were gold, frankincense and myrrh.
After the departure of these wise men, Angel Gabriel who is known
for delivering good news, warned Joseph and Mary to take the child to
Egypt. This was because King Herod wanted to kill Jesus. Joseph and
Mary obeyed the angel. They lived in Egypt until the wicked King Herod
died.
The presentation of Jesus in the temple
In our various churches, many people rejoice with the parents when a
child is brought for dedication. Usually, it is forty days after the birth of the
child. It however depends on how strong the mother is. The Israelites had
it as a law, to keep to forty days. So, Jesus was brought to the temple in
Jerusalem for dedication. The parents came with a pair of turtledoves or
young pigeons.
The child was presented to the priest, Simeon who spoke good things
about Jesus. Also Prophetess Anna, who was eighty-four years old, and
the parents of Jesus were present.
The flight to Egypt – An African country
The continent of Africa got connected to the founder of Christianity right
from the beginning. King Herod, a wicked king wanted to kill Jesus. At
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Simeon, an old priest, Jesus and his parents in the temple
with gifts brought for the dedication
the instruction of Angel Gabriel, Joseph and Mary had to flee to Egypt
with their baby. When Herod died, God instructed Joseph and Mary to
go back home.
As the custom of the Jews was, they went for the feast of Passover
once a year. When Jesus was twelve years old, he went with his parents
to Jerusalem for the feast. After the ceremony, Jesus did not follow his
parents back to Galilee. He was with the elders in the temple in Jerusa-
lem learning from them. He also participated in their discussion. Jesus
was wise and intelligent. This was because he got favour from God and
man. He grew physically and in God’s wisdom.
Elders with Jesus in the temple at age twelve
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Moral lessons
God can speak to us through any means. It could be through a dream,
a vision, His words, or our friends.
We must take the right step immediately so as not to regret when we
delay.
1 We must always pay attention to our elders, learning well and with full
attention.
2 Jesus obeyed his parents; we should follow Jesus’ steps.
3 Herod planned to kill Jesus but God protected him. When we believe
in God, he will protect us from danger and wicked plans of evil
people.
Exercise
Choose the correct answers to the questions below.
1 The name of the prophetess at the dedication of Jesus was ______.
A. Anna B. Simeon C. Hannah
D. Mary
2 Mary and Joseph brought these items for the dedication of their first
son:_____________. A. a pair of turtledoves
B. sheep C. chickens D. cows
3 Jesus was found in the temple discussing with elders at age ______.
A. 20 B. 11 C. 12 D. 15
4 One of the major lessons we learn from Jesus is that we must _____.
A. obey promptly B. be rude C. not be serious
D.be careless
5 Jesus increased in ____________ and in stature.
A. wisdom B. goodness C. evil deeds
D. eating fruits
Activity
1 Sing this song:
I love Jesus (2ce)
He’s my friend (2ce)
He will never fail me (2ce)
He’s my friend.
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2 Dramatise how Jesus stayed with the elders in the temple learning
and teaching.
3 Find out the meaning of these words: (a) Ceremony,
(b) Dedication, (c) Temple, and (d) Delay
Unit 2 Jesus prepares for his ministry

Objectives
1 explain Jesus’ preparation for his ministry.
2 identify the significance of the baptism of Jesus to his public
ministry.
3 discuss the temptation of Jesus.
4 name the disciples of Jesus.
Bible passages (Matthew 3:13–19, Matthew 4:13–19, and Luke 4:1–

13)
Jesus prepares for his ministry
When people wanted to repent from their sins and turn to God, they
went to meet John the Baptist at the Jordan River to confess their sins to
him and get baptised by him. After they were baptised, John the Baptist
would advise them to start doing good things from that time onwards.
One day, Jesus also went to be baptised by John the Baptist. But
when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he refused to baptise him. His reason
was that Jesus was mightier than he and should have been the one
to baptise him (John the Baptist) instead. Jesus humbly told John the
Baptist that the right thing to do was for him to be baptised by John the
Baptist. So John the Baptist agreed and baptised Jesus.
After the baptism, as Jesus was coming up out of the water, heaven
opened and Jesus saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and set-
tling on him. Then God’s voice spoke from heaven saying, ‘This is my
beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.’
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“This is my Beloved
Son, with whom I am
well pleased.”
Jesus’ baptism
The temptation of Jesus

Immediately after Jesus was baptised, the Holy Spirit led him into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In the wilderness, Jesus fasted for
forty nights and became very hungry afterwards. This was when Satan
– the devil came to tempt him. The devil said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son
of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’. But Jesus
overcame the devil’s temptation saying, ‘It is written, man shall not live
by bread alone but by every word of God.’
When the devil saw that Jesus did not fall for the first temptation, he
tried another. He took Jesus to the highest point of the temple in Jerusa-
lem, called the pinnacle of the temple, and told him, ‘If you are the son
of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, he will give his angels charge
of you, and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot
against a stone’. Jesus replied by saying. ‘Again it is written, you shall not
tempt the Lord your God.’
The devil tried a third trick to tempt Jesus. This time, he took Jesus to
a very high mountain and showed him the whole world and all its glory.
Then he said to him, ‘I will give you all these if you will fall down and wor-
ship me.’ This time, Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone Satan! For it is written, you
shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’
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After these three temptations, the Devil left Jesus alone and angels
came and took care of him.
The significance of Jesus baptism
1 It was at Jesus’ baptism that heaven opened and the Holy Spirit
descended and rested on Jesus.
2 Also, God spoke out his approval of Jesus, declaring him to be His
Son.
3 The baptism equipped Jesus with the Holy Spirit’s power to resist
the Devil’s temptations, and to choose which men to call as his
disciples.
The names of Jesus’ disciples
Here are the names of the twelve men Jesus called to be his disciples:
• Peter and Andrew his brother
• James and John his brother
• Phillip and Bartholomew
• Thomas and Matthew
• James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus
• Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot
Moral lessons
1 Baptism is important; children of God should get baptised.
2 After we have repented from our sins and turned to God, we should
seek to become baptised.
3 God is pleased with us when we get baptised.
4 He also gives us his Holy Spirit to equip us and prepare us for the work
he wants us to do.
5 Jesus overcame the Devil’s temptations because he knew what the
Bible said and he spoke it out to the Devil.
6 We should read the Bible and memorise some passages in it so that
we can also overcome the Devil’s temptation.
Remember
1 When people wanted to show that they had repented from their sins
and turned to God, they got baptised.
2 During Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove
and God’s voice spoke from heaven saying, ‘This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased.’
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3 Immediately after Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit led him to the
wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.
4 The first temptation was to turn stones to bread.
5 The second temptation was to test God by jumping down from the
pinnacle of the temple.
6 The third temptation was to bow down and worship Satan, the Devil.
7 Jesus overcame Satan because he knew what God had said, and
he repeated the word of God.
8 Jesus had twelve disciples. They were Peter, Andrew, James, John,
Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot
Exercise
1 How did people show that they had repented from their sins and
turned to God?
2 What two things happened as Jesus was coming out of the Jordan
River?
3 How did Jesus respond to the first temptation? What did he say?
4 Mention two significant (important) reasons for baptism.

5 The devil tempted Jesus __________ times.
6 Four names of Jesus’ disciples are ____________________________.
Choose the correct answer for the question below:

7 Jesus fasted for
A 7 days and 7 nights. B. 30 days and 30 nights.
C. 40 days and 40 nights. D. 40 days only.
Activity
1 Dramatise the story of Jesus’ temptation.
2 Memorise Luke 4:4 and recite it in your next lesson: And Jesus answered
him, ‘It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word of God.’
3 Find the meaning of the following words: (a) Baptism, (b) Disciples,
(c) Temptation, (d) Fasting, and (e) Righteousness.
37
Unit 3 Jesus has power over natural forces
Objectives
1 narrate the stories of calming of the sea, feeding of the five thousand,
the great catch of the fishes and turning water to wine.
2 explain why Jesus helped the people in the four stories.
3 explain the importance of obedience as the story of the great catch
of fishes/Peter’s obedience.
Bible passages (Mark 4:35–41, John 6:5–14, and John 2:1–11)
Calming of the sea

Jesus and his disciples were in a boat sailing across the Sea of Galilee.
A strong wind started blowing and it caused great waves and a storm
in the sea. Their boat was about getting inside water. Jesus’ disciples
became afraid. While that was happening, Jesus was in the inner part
of the boat sleeping. The disciples woke him up to help them. Jesus im-
mediately commanded the wind to stop by saying, ‘Peace, be still’. The
sea became calm because the wind stopped. Jesus then asked his
disciples why they were afraid instead of having faith.
Jesus and his disciples in the boat
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How Jesus controlled the wind and the sea made his disciples start
seeing him as an extraordinary person.
Feeding of the five thousand

Jesus took his disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. A large
number of people followed them there. When Jesus saw them, he asked
Philip, one of his disciples how they would be able to feed the people.
Jesus knew what to do but he just wanted to test Philip. In reply, Philip ex-
plained that it would not be possible to feed them. Peter told Jesus that
there was a young boy with two pieces of fish and five loaves of bread.
Jesus took the fish and the bread, thanked God and multiplied them.
The people were able to eat to their satisfaction and some food still
remained. The disciples gathered the remaining pieces and they filled
twelve baskets. The crowd that ate the food was made up of about
5,000 (five thousand) men. Women and children were not counted.
When the people saw what he did, they said he was really a prophet
that had come into the world.
The great catch of fishes

Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennasaret, and a lot of people
gathered around him to hear the word of God. He entered one of the
two empty boats there and preached to the people. The boat Jesus
used belonged to Simon Peter and the other belonged to his brother,
Peter and Andrew being helped to bring out the net filled with different types of fish
39
Andrew. They were washing their nets in the water. When Jesus had fin-
ished preaching, he told Peter to cast his net into the sea to catch fish.
Peter explained that they had suffered throughout the night, trying to
catch fish but got nothing. After that, Peter said to Jesus that he would
obey his command, and cast the net into the sea. Immediately Peter
did that, the net caught a large number of fishes. The net was almost
coming apart when the people around came over to help Peter and
Andrew.
When Peter saw what happened, he knew that Jesus was not an or-
dinary human being. He therefore said to Jesus, ‘Depart from me for I
am a sinner.’ Jesus told him that he would no longer be a fisherman but
would become his disciple. Immediately, Peter and his brother Andrew
left everything and followed Jesus. James and John who were with them
also followed Jesus.
Jesus turned water into wine
There was a marriage feast at Cana in Galilee. Jesus was invited with
his disciples. His mother Mary was also there. When the feast had not
ended, wine got finished. Immediately, Mary told her son Jesus about
it. After that, she told the servants there to do whatever Jesus tell them
to do. Jesus commanded the servants to fill six big stone jars there with
water. Immediately they did that, Jesus turned the water into wine. The
wine was very good, and better than the one they served before. The
bridegroom then had enough wine to continue the feast.
It was the first miracle Jesus performed. It showed his disciples the
kind of person he was and they believed in him.
Why Jesus helped people in the four stories
Jesus helped the people in the stories for the following reasons:
1 Jesus cares for those in need. In the calming of the sea, his disciples
were in need of safety.
In the feeding of the five thousand, the people were in need of
food. In the great catch of fishes, Peter and his brother were in need
of fish as fishermen but Jesus also made them his disciples.
At the marriage feast where Jesus turned water into wine, the
bridegroom was in need of wine to continue his marriage feast.
2 Jesus has power over natural forces or things. He can control or use
them to help us out of our problems.
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3 Jesus helped Peter and his brother catch a lot of fish because they
obeyed him.
The importance of obedience

Obedience attracts a reward of good things. Peter and his brother An-
drew suffered throughout the night trying to catch fish but got nothing.
They were already washing their nets to go home by the time Jesus
came to them. They later caught a large number of fishes because Pe-
ter obeyed when Jesus told him to cast their net into the sea.
Peter further showed obedience by leaving everything behind to fol-
low Jesus when he told him to become his disciple. Those with him,
Andrew his brother, James and John the sons of Zebedee also left their
things and followed Jesus.
We should obey Jesus as Peter did. We should do this by following his
teachings.
Moral lessons
1 Jesus has power to control natural things to help us. He cares for
us. He is always ready to help us when we are in need. We should
therefore call him in faith to help us any time we have problems.
2 As Jesus cares for us, we should also care for people, especially the
needy among us. Examples of such people are the beggars, the
orphans and the abandoned children. We can care for them by
making donations to them. We could give them things like clothes
and provisions.
3 We should obey Jesus as Peter did. We should obey him by following
his teachings.
Remember
1 Jesus cares for us.
2 He has the power to control natural forces in order to help us out of
our problems.
3 He saved his disciples from the danger of getting drowned when
they were troubled by a great storm.
4 He multiplied five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish with which
he fed five thousand people to their satisfaction.
5 He helped Peter and Andrew to catch a lot of fish after they had tried
all night and were not able to catch any fish.
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6 Jesus turned water into wine at Cana in Galilee during the wedding
feast because wine finished when the feast had not ended.
Exercise
1 State one thing Jesus did to show that he has power over natural
forces.
2 Give an example of how we can care for others as Jesus cares for
us.
3 How can we show obedience to Jesus?

4 Jesus asked ________ how they would be able to feed the five
thousand people, to test him.
5 ____________ said, ‘Peace, be still.’

6 Who said, ‘Depart from me for I am a sinful person’?
7 How many big stone jars filled with water did Jesus turn their content
into wine?
A. Four B. Two C. Seven D. Six
Activity
1 On your birthday, go and give things to children in the orphanage.
2 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Depart, (b) Sailing,
(c) Storm, and (d) Perish.
Unit 4 Jesus has power over diseases and death

Objectives
1 narrate the stories of the paralysed man and raising of the widow’s
son.
2 explain that Jesus has power over diseases and death.
3 name the people whom Jesus healed or raised from the dead.
4 Identify the need to heal the sick.
Bible passages (Matthew 8:14–17, Luke 5:17–26, and Luke 8:40–42,

49–56)
42
People whom Jesus healed
Peter was one of the disciples of Jesus. One day Jesus went to Peter’s
house. He met his mother-in-law sick of a fever. Jesus touched her and
the fever left her. She was healed.
Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law
One day Jesus was preaching in a place. The place was filled with
many people. A man who was paralysed was brought by his friends to
the place, but there was no way to reach Jesus. The sick man’s friends
removed part of the top of the roof. They let him down through the roof
and placed him before Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he told the
man that his sin had been forgiven. Jesus noticed that the Pharisees
were not happy with what he said. He told the man to rise up and go to
his house. The man was healed immediately.
People whom Jesus raised from the dead
Jairus’ daughter
A man called Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue had a daughter who was
about 12 years old. The girl became very sick. Jairus came to Jesus, fell
at his feet and begged him to come to his house to heal his sick daugh-
ter.
Jesus followed him, but before they could reach Jairus’ house, a
messenger came to Jairus and told him that his daughter had died.
43
Jesus heard it and told Jairus not to be afraid but only believe that his
daughter would be healed.
When Jesus got to the house, he met people weeping. He told them
that they should not weep because the girl was not dead but asleep.
The people who were weeping started laughing at Jesus. Jesus entered
the house with Peter, James and John, the father and mother of the
girl. He took the girl by the hand and said to her, ‘Little girl, arise.’ The girl
got up, and Jesus commanded that she should be given some food to
eat.
The widow’s son

One day, Jesus was going to the city of Nain with his disciples. At the
gate of the city, he saw people carrying out a dead man who was
the only son of his mother, a widow. Jesus felt sorry for the woman and
told her to stop weeping. He then touched the casket and ordered the
man to get up. The dead man came back to life, sat up and began to
speak. Jesus gave him to his mother.
Jesus healing the sick man
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Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead
A man called Lazarus from the town of Bethany was a friend of Jesus.
He had two sisters named Mary and Martha. One day, Lazarus became
sick; his sisters sent a message to Jesus asking that he should come over
and heal him. Jesus replied that the sickness was not to death but to
glorify the Lord.
Jesus stayed back for two days. He told his disciples that Lazarus
was dead, but that he would raise him from the dead. When they got
to Bethany, Lazarus was already four days in the grave. Martha went to
meet Jesus. Jesus assured her that he is the resurrection and the life.
He later went with Martha and Mary to where Lazarus was buried. When
Jesus got there, he called Lazarus. Lazarus came out with his hands and
feet tied with grave clothes and his face tied with a napkin. Jesus said,
‘Loosen him and let him go.’
The importance of Jesus healing the sick and raising the

dead
1 The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and the paralysed man shows
that Jesus has power over sickness and diseases.
2 The fact that Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter, the son of the widow of
Nain, and Lazarus back to life shows that Jesus has the power to raise
the dead back to life.
Helping the sick

Sick people cannot help themselves. It is our duty to help them. We
can help them by praying for them, fetching water for them, washing
clothes, cooking for them and visiting them.
Moral lessons
1 Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. He can heal us today.
2 Jesus pitied the widow of Nain. We must pity those who are not happy
and find ways of helping them.
3 Jesus helped the sick. We are to help the sick.
4 The paralysed man’s friends had the faith that God would heal him.
We must have faith in God.
5 Jesus told Martha to believe. If we also believe Jesus can heal us
and raise the dead back to life.
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6 The paralysed man’s friends brought him through the roof. We must
make friends with good people who can help us. We should also
help our friends.
Remember
1 Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever.
2 Jesus healed the paralysed man.
3 Jesus raised the widow of Nain’s son from the dead.
4 Jesus raised to life Lazarus who was dead for four days.
5 Jairus’ daughter died but Jesus brought her back to life.
Exercise
1 Tell the story of the healing of the paralysed man.
2 Name two people whom Jesus healed.
3 Name two people that Jesus raised from the dead.
4 Mention two ways in which we can help the sick in our community.
5 Peter’s mother-in-law was sick of ________________.
6 The friends of the paralysed man brought him to Jesus by removing
part of the ________ of the house.
7 Jarius’ ___________ was raised from the dead.
8 The widow of Nain’s _____________ was raised from the dead.
Choose the correct answers to the following questions.
9 ‘Loosen him and let him go’ was said by ______________.
A. Peter B. James C. Jesus
D. John
10 Lazarus was from the city of ______________.
A. Jerusalem B. Bethany C. Nazareth
D. Judea
Activity
1 Memorise John 11:4.
2 Pray for the sick.
3 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Widow,
(b) Paralysis, (c) Roof, (d) Synagogue, (e) Casket, (f) Grave, and
(g) Clothes.
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Unit 5 Jesus’ teaching on God’s love
Objectives
1 explain God’s love for them.
2 narrate one of the stories illustrating God’s love.
3 identify the need to forgive those who offend them.
4 identify the importance of speaking out when anyone offends
them.
Bible passages (John 3:16, Luke 15:11–32, and Luke 19:1–10)
God’s love for us
Love means to have deep affection for someone. God has demon-
strated this deep love right from the time of creation. He created us in
His image. He provided for man’s needs even in the Garden of Eden. He
provided water, trees, and food for human needs.
When man (Adam and Eve) fell and they were naked, God clothed
them, using leaves.
God sent Jesus to redeem us from the trap of the devil. Even to-
day God’s love is still there for man. He provides us with the natural gift
– herbs, fishes, and fruit for our food and good health. God gives men
His spirit to serve Him and worship Him. The lower animals do not have all
these benefits. Man is wonderfully created.
Stories from the Bible illustrating God’s love
The story of the prodigal son is a demonstration of God’s love. Jesus told
this parable to show God’s forgiveness to man. He said that there was
a man who had two sons. One day the younger son asked his father to
give him his own share of the inheritance. The father was alarmed, since
inheritance is never shared until one dies. His father tried to persuade
him to be patient but he would not listen. So he yielded. He collected his
share of his father’s wealth. Thereafter, he travelled to a far country. Not
long he squandered everything that he had.
He became very poor and sorrowful. His condition became bad that
he had to work and eat with pigs. Actually he was not allowed to share
in the swine’s food.
One day he came to his senses because the suffering was more
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A son who was bent on the share of the father’s wealth
than he could bear. He decided to find his way back home. As he got
nearer to the house, his father saw him. He ran to meet him. His father
kissed him and welcomed him back home. The son said, ‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be
called your son.’
His father was pleased to have him back. He changed his dirty clothes,
put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. A feast was arranged to
welcome him back. His elder brother came and asked what was going
on. He was angry and expressed his mind to his father. He felt that he
had been good and hardworking but his father did not reward him for
this. His father explained the need to forgive his brother and to celebrate
his return.
This shows how merciful and forgiving our heavenly father.
Zaccheus was also a chief tax collector, who had a small stature
and had cheated a lot of people in his work. One day he heard about
Jesus and determined to see him. Unfortunately, his stature was a big
problem, so he climbed a sycamore tree. He was able to see Jesus.
Jesus asked him to come down and receive salvation along with his
household. Jesus later had dinner with Zacchaeus and forgave his sin.
If we sincerely seek God, he will forgive us and accept us as his sons
and daughters.
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We should forgive those who offend us
From the stories of the prodigal son and the tax collector, we can see
that God is merciful and forgiving. We should follow the steps of our
heavenly father. When we forgive, it proves we are children of God. God
will also forgive us.
The importance of forgiveness

God will forgive us when we forgive those who offend us. When anybody
offends us, we should say the way we feel so that the matter can be
settled once and for all. The prodigal son’s brother did this and his father
settled the problem.
Moral lessons
1 God’s love is demonstrated in these stories. We must always forgive
those who offend us as demonstrated by the father of the prodigal
son.
2 Whenever we commit sin, we must be sober and take the right step.
This is what the prodigal son and Zacchaeus did.
3 God is also willing to accept anybody who confesses his sin to Him.
Remember
1 God’s love was demonstrated by forgiving both the prodigal son and
the chief tax collector.
2 Both of them repented and God accepted them.
3 It is important to forgive those who have offended us.
Exercise
1 Mention two reasons why we should forgive those who offend us.
2 Why did Zacchaeus climb the sycamore tree?
3 Explain in two sentences how God has demonstrated His love to
man.
4 The prodigal son ________ his money.
5 The prodigal son’s condition was so bad that he had to work in ____
______.
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6 Zacchaeus was _________________.
A. a chief tax collector B. a Pharisee C. a beggar
D. an Apostle
7 We must forgive those who offend us so that God _______________.
A. can give us money B. see us C. fight others
D. will forgive us
8 When we are sober about our sin, we must take a good step ______
on it.
A. immediately B. later C. by fighting
D. by going to the farm
Activity
1 Sing this song:
Behold what manner of love the Father hath given unto us (2ce)
That we should be called the sons of God
2 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Squandered,
(b) Prodigal, and (c) Swine.
Unit 6 Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God

Objectives
1 explain what the kingdom of God is.
2 narrate one of the stories illustrating the kingdom of God.
3 identify the significance of Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God.
4 identify the need to prepare for the kingdom of God.
Bible passages (Luke 8:4–15, and Matthew 25:1–13)

What is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God refers to the ways God wants us to behave and
do things. In the kingdom of God, everything happens just the way God
wants and everyone behaves the way God would like them to behave.
The Holy Spirit gives everyone in the kingdom of God peace, joy, righ-
teousness and eternal life.
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Jesus told the people many stories about the kingdom of God. These
stories are called parables. When people listened to these parables,
they could learn what they needed to do, and how to be serious about
their lives. They could also learn how to think and how to behave to be-
come part of God’s kingdom. We can also learn from the parables and
know how to be a part of God’s kingdom.
The parable of the sower

One of the parables Jesus told was the parable of the sower. Another
name for sower is farmer. In the parable, a sower went out to plant his
seeds. As he threw the seeds, some of them fell on the footpath, where
people walked on them and birds ate them up. Others fell on soil that
had lots of stones and rocks. Because the soil was not deep enough
to contain moisture, the seeds quickly grew up, but withered and died.
Other seeds fell among thorns and weeds, and as they grew, the thorns
and weeds also grew along and choked the plants. Some other seeds
fell on good soil and were able to grow well and produce a hundred
times more crop.
After Jesus had told the parable, some people did not understand it
and so his disciples came to ask him to explain the parable to them. Je-
sus explained to them that God was the sower and the seed he sowed
was his words. The places the seed fell on stand for different types of
people and how they treat God’s word.
The footpath stands for the type of person who hears God’s word but
does not believe it. Because he does not believe it, he allows the Devil
to come and steal the word away.
The rocky land stands for the kind of person who hears God’s word
and believes it for a short time only. But when temptation comes, the
person does not use the word of God, so he falls.
The thorns stand for the type of person who hears God’s word and
believes it, but is too busy to allow the word work in his life. The person
could be busy worrying about life, or busy getting rich or busy having fun
and enjoying himself.
The good soil stands for the type of person who is honest and good.
The person hears God’s word, believes it and holds on to it until he gets
the results that God’s word promises.
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This parable teaches us how important it is to take the word of God
seriously. How we treat God’s word affects how our lives will become.
When we hear the word of God, we should be attentive to it, believe it
and obey it. When we do these things, we will see good things happen
in our lives.
The parable of the ten maidens
Another parable Jesus told to describe the kingdom of God was about
ten maidens or virgins. A maiden is a young girl who is not married. He
told this parable so that people could learn to be attentive to things
happening around them and learn to be wise and not foolish. In the
parable, ten maidens took their lamps to go and meet the bridegroom.
Five of them took extra oil for their lamps and the other five did not. In
those days, there was no electricity or kerosene, so people used oil to
make their lamps burn and produce light. The five maidens who took
extra oil were wise while the five who did not take extra oil were foolish.
The ten maidens
While they were waiting for the bridegroom, they all fell asleep. Then
at midnight, they heard someone shouting to announce that the bride-
groom had arrived. The ten maidens woke up from sleep and found out
that their lamps had run out of oil. The five wise maidens quickly took out
the extra oil they had brought and refilled their lamps. The five foolish
maidens did not have any oil, so they asked the wise maidens for some
oil so that they could also refill their lamps. But the five wise maidens
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could not share their oil with them because if they did, the oil would not
be enough for them.
The five foolish maidens had to go to the shop to buy their own oil.
While they were gone, the bridegroom arrived and the wise maidens
who were ready went to the wedding feast with him. By the time the fool-
ish maidens returned, everyone had gone to the wedding feast and the
door was shut. The foolish maidens could not get in to enjoy the wed-
ding feast.
Moral lessons
1 God is the sower. When we hear his word, we must believe it and
hold on to it until we see good results.
2 We should be wise and attentive to things that are happening around
us.
Remember
1 The kingdom of God refers to the ways God wants us to behave and
do things.
2 In the parable of the sower, God is the sower, the seeds represent
the word of God and the places the seeds fell on stand for different
types of people and how they treat God’s word.
3 The parable of the sower teaches us how important it is to take the
word of God seriously, because how we treat God’s word affects
how our lives will turn out to be.
4 Jesus told the parable of the ten maidens so that people could learn
to be attentive to things happening around them, and learn to be
wise and not foolish.
5 The wise maidens took extra oil for their lamps while the foolish ones
did not. When the bridegroom arrived, only the five wise maidens
attended the wedding feast. The five foolish virgins could not.
Exercise
1 Explain the meaning of the kingdom of God.
2 In the parable of the sower, name the types of ground that the seed
fell on.
3 Why were some maidens called foolish while some were called
wise?
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4 Why could the foolish virgins not enjoy the wedding feast?
Fill in the gap with the correct answer.
5 The significance of the kingdom of God is peace, joy, righteousness
and _____________.
Activity
Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Kingdom,
(b) Parables, (c) Maiden, (d) Bridegroom, and (e) Righteousness
Unit 7 Jesus teaches us how to behave

Objectives
1 Identify the need for proper behaviour.
2 Express the need to obey their parents and teachers.
3 State the benefits of good behaviour.
Bible passages (Matthew 21:28–31, Luke 16:19–31, Luke 10:30–35

and Matthew 5:1–12)
The need for good behaviour

We are the children of God and the followers of Christ. We are therefore
to be of good behaviour always. It is our work as the followers of Christ
to be a good example to other people in whatever we do. Examples of
how we can be of good behaviour is by obeying our parents, teachers
and helping people that are in need.
The need to obey parents and teachers (Matthew 21:28–31)

When Jesus was teaching on good behaviour, he told the Chief Priests
and elders a story. He said there was a man that had two sons. The man
told the first one to go and work in his vineyard but the son replied he
would not go. Later he repented and went and worked.
He told second son to go and work in his vineyard. The son replied that
he would go but did not.
Jesus then asked which of the two sons in the story obeyed his father.
The people said it was the first one.
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The farmer sending his children to go and work in his vineyard
We should know that the two sons did not behave well. The first one
was rude to his father by saying, ‘I will not go’ but he later repented and
went. The second one was not rude but he lied. He had said that he
would go but he did not.
We should not be rude to our parents or our teachers. Any time they
tell us to do something, we should not say that we would not do it. We
have to obey them. If we have by mistake said that we would not be
obedient, we have to repent and be obedient. We also have to apolo-
gise for being rude.
Again, if we are told to do something and we would not be able to
do it, maybe because we are sick, we have to explain with respect. We
do not have to lie that we would do it. We have to be sincere.
The story of the rich man Lazarus

When Jesus was teaching people to help those in need, he told them a
story. Jesus said that there was a very rich man who had too much food
to eat every day. There was also a poor man called Lazarus, who did not
have anything, not even food to eat. He was also sick and had sores on
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his body. Lazarus was always at the gate of the rich man begging to be
given pieces of food that were falling from the rich man’s table but the
man refused to give him.
Lazarus at the rich man’s palace The rich man enjoying himself
Lazarus later died and went to heaven. He was with Abraham, com-
fortable and happy. When the rich man died, he went to hell and was
suffering there.
When the rich man from hell saw Lazarus in heaven with Abraham,
he begged Abraham to allow Lazarus to dip his finger into water and
touch his tongue because he was dying of thirst. Abraham refused and
told him that it was time for him to suffer because of the bad things he
did when he was alive. He enjoyed his wealth alone and refused to help
the poor man, Lazarus. The rich man was very wicked. Abraham also
told him that it was time for Lazarus to enjoy good things.
The rich man again begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to the
world to warn his five brothers to change and be of good behaviour.
This was for them not to join him in hell when they died, but Abraham
refused. He told the rich man that his brothers still had Moses and other
prophets in the world to warn them to change and be of good behav-
iour.
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The story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–35)
This is also one of the stories Jesus told to teach that any time we see
someone in need, we should help. In the story, Jesus said that there was
a Jewish man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. Thieves attacked him
along the road. They wounded him and took everything that he had.
The man was left almost dead by the roadside.
The badly wounded man lying by the roadside
As the man was there by the roadside, his fellow Jew who was even
a priest, saw him and did not help him. Another Jew, a Levite who was
an assistant priest saw him and also did not help him.
It was a Samaritan that helped the wounded man. The Samaritans
were hated by the Jews. The Samaritan saw the man and stopped. He
cleaned the man’s wounds and took him to a nearby clinic. He deposit-
ed money and told the worker there to treat the man well. The Samaritan
promised to come back and pay any extra money they would spend
treating the man.
Jesus teaching on good behaviour in Matthew 5:1–12

Jesus said that those God would bless are the people that have such
good behaviour as being very eager for righteousness, being humble
and not arrogant, being pure in heart and not thinking evil, being merci-
ful, and making peace. He said we should be happy when people insult
us because we are of good behaviour or believe in Christ.
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To be merciful means helping people that are in need. Jesus said
that if we are merciful God would show us mercy.
To be a peacemaker means not fighting or quarrelling. It also means
helping people that have quarrelled to settle or reconcile.
Benefits of good behaviour (Luke 16:19–31, Matthew 5:1–12; and

Luke 10:30–35)
From what Jesus said in the above passages, we find out that being of
good behaviour would:
1 Show that we are the children of God.
2 Make God bless us or be happy with us.
3 Make us go to heaven and not to hell when we die.
4 Make God be merciful to us.
5 Make us save the lives of people in danger.
6 Make us be respected.
7 Make our parents and teachers happy with us and proud of us.
8 Make our parents and teachers treat us well
Moral lessons
1 As children of God, we should always obey our parents and our
teachers. We should not be rude to them or tell lies. If we misbehave
to them, we should repent and apologise.
2 We should always be merciful to others by forgiving people and
helping those that need our help. If we are merciful to people, God
will show us mercy.
Remember
1 We have to be of good behaviour to our parents and teachers so that
they will be happy with us. We should not be rude or lie to them.
2 God punishes those that are selfish and wicked like the rich man who
refused to help poor Lazarus.
3 The good Samaritan behaved well. He helped a wounded Jew who
was attacked by robbers.
4 We save the lives of people by helping those in need.
5 God is merciful to those who show mercy to others.
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Exercise
1 In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, why did the rich man go to
hell?
2 How did the Good Samaritan show mercy or help the Jewish man
that was attacked by robbers?
3 Who hated the Samaritans?
4 State one of the requests the rich man made from hell.

5 God will show __________ to those who are merciful.
6 Poor Lazarus that suffered when he was alive went to ____________.

7 When the rich man was in hell, how many brothers of his that were still
alive, did he want to help?
A. Two B. Three C. Four
D. Five
8 Who were the two Jews who saw their fellow Jew that was wounded
by robbers and refused to help him?
A. A priest and a Levite B. A singer and a prophet
C. A teacher and a policeman D. Two Jewish women
Activity
1 Dramatise the story of the man that told his sons to go and work in his
vineyard.
2 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Vineyard, ( b ) H e l l ,
and (c) Robbers.
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Theme
3 God the creator and Father of all
Unit 1 God creates everything

Objectives
1 explain how God created things.
2 name the things God made.
3 explain how God created man.
4 state reasons why the Sabbath day (Sunday) was declared a day of
rest.
Bible passages (Genesis 1:1–31 and Genesis 2:2)
God created things out of His spoken word

In the beginning, the earth was very empty, dark and without shape. The
Spirit of God moved on the face of the water. Then God spoke and said,
‘Let there be …’ and things began to come into existence to make the
earth beautiful. He made everything by the word of His mouth.
Things God created

1 Light was the first thing God created; He separated light from
darkness.
2 On the second day, God spoke and the firmament was created
to divide the water from the earth. This was the second thing He
created.
3 On the third day God created dry land (earth), the seas and plants.
4 The fourth creation was the sun, moon and stars.
5 On the fifth day, God created the birds and all sea animals.
6 On the sixth day, He created other animals and man.
Creation of man
On the sixth day God made man in His own image. He made man from
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the dust of the earth, breathed into his nostrils and man became a living
soul. God blessed man, gave him dominion and authority over all the
things He created.
Things created by God
At the end of creation, God was very pleased with everything He cre-
ated. He asked man to look after them, and create other things from
them. Since that time man has always been making cars, shoes, bicy-
cles, computers, aeroplanes, spacecraft, toys and many other wonder-
ful things.
Reasons for resting on the seventh day

On the seventh day of creation, God rested. The seventh day which is
the Sabbath day (Sunday) is God’s special day. God rested after six days
of hard work. It is the day on which man should also rest from his work.
We are to spend that day thanking God, worshipping him and asking
him to meet our needs.
Moral lessons
1 God was pleased with all the things He created because they were
all beautiful and good. This shows that God is perfect.
2 God created man so that man could make other things from His
(God’s) creation.
3 God wants us to rest after hard work as he rested on the seventh
day.
5 God wants us to spend the Sabbath day to worship him, thank him
and pray to him.
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Remember
1 God created heaven, earth and all other things with the words He
spoke.
2 God created all things beautiful and perfect.
3 Man was created on the sixth day in God’s image.
4 God rested on the seventh day.
Exercise
1 Explain how God created things.
2 Name two of the things God made.
3 Give one reason why we must rest after work.

4 God created light on the _______ day.
5 The sun, moon and stars were created on _______ day.
6 Clothes, beds, and bicycles were made by ____________.
7 God breathed into man’s _______________.
Choose the correct answers to the following:

8 God rested on the _______________.
A. sixth day B. third day C. seventh day
D. fifth day
9 Man was created in the image of _________________.
A. dogs B. goats C. cats
D. God
10 Man was made out of the dust of the _________________.
A. heaven B. seas C. earth
D. moon
Activity
1 Take a rest for five minutes as you lay your head on the desk.
2 Draw pictures of two things God created.
3 Draw two things made from God’s creation.
4 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Firmament,
(b) Image, (c) Sabbath day, (d) Firmament, and (e) Soul.
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Unit 2 God creates a nation (Abraham)
Objectives
At the end of the unit, pupils should be able to
1 explain the call of Abraham and how he demonstrated his faith and
obedience to God.
2 enumerate the things Promised to Abraham.
3 identify the blessings of God to Abraham as a result of his
obedience.
4 explain the importance of responding to God’s call.
Bible passages (Genesis 12:1–19, Genesis 17:1–8, 15–27 and Genesis

22:1–19)
The call of Abraham, and how he demonstrated his faith

and obedience to God
Abraham was the son of Terah. He lived in the town of Haran with his wife
Sarai and nephew Lot.
One day, God told Abraham to leave his town (Haran) and his rela-
tives and to go where God would show him. Because Abraham trusted
in God and loved to obey him, he left immediately with his wife and Lot
and with all they had.
Abraham was seventy-five years old when God called him. He had
no child at that time. Moreover, his actual name then was Abram. He
did not know where God wanted him to go but he obeyed Him by leav-
ing his town and relatives.
When Abram arrived Canaan, God told him to live there. God prom-
ised Abram that the land of Canaan would belong to him and his de-
scendants.
What God promised Abraham

There is a great reward for a man who trusts and obeys God. Because
Abraham obeyed God, God changed his name and called him the
father of many nations. God promised to make Abram great. His de-
scendants would be countless as the sand of the seashore and stars of
heaven. God also promised to give him a son.
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Abraham, his wife and Lot
How God blessed Abraham for being obedient

It is good to obey God. We must also obey our parents, teachers, pas-
tors or priests, and those who are older than us.
God made Abraham great because Abraham obeyed him. Abra-
ham did not have a child for many decades but God gave him Isaac.
He also had many descendants. He became the father of many nations.
God blessed Abraham with long life. God said he would give Canaan to
Abraham and his descendants. God kept his promise. Abraham and his
descendants settled in Canaan.
God blessed Abraham with a lot of sheep, cows and goats (cattle),
silver and gold. Abraham loved God, so he erected an altar and wor-
shipped the Lord.
The importance of answering God’s call

If we answer God’s call by obeying him, the following things will hap-
pen:
1 God will reward us.
2 We will be very happy.
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3 God will keep all the promises He has made to us.
When Abraham was 99 years old, while Sarai was 90, God made
a promise of a son to them. It was at this point that God decided to
change their names. Abram was changed to Abraham, meaning father
of many nations. Sarai was changed to Sarah which means princess.
Abraham was given the child Isaac when he was one hundred years
old.
One day, God wanted to test how much Abraham loved him and
could obey him. He told Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on mount
Moriah. Abraham obeyed and took Isaac to the mountain. He was about
to slaughter Isaac as a sacrifice when he heard a voice from heaven.
God’s angel told him not to touch Isaac. God gave Abraham a ram to
sacrifice instead of Isaac. God can test our faith and obedience to him
in anyway. We must always be ready.
Moral lessons
1 We must trust God and obey him.
2 We must have faith in God; if we do, we will receive what He has
promised us.
3 God will bless us the way he blessed Abraham if we obey Him the
way Abraham did.
4 God changed the names of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and
Sarah. Sometimes, Christians need to change their names to better
names.
Remember
1 God called Abraham, who trusted God and obeyed him
immediately.
2 God fulfilled all his promises to Abraham.
Exercise
1 How did Abraham show his faith and obedience to God?
2 Mention two things that God promised to do for Abraham.
3 Abram was changed to _______________.
4 Sarai was changed to ___________________.
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5 Abram went with his ______________ and _____________.
6 The name of Abram’s father was _____________________.
7 Abram was _________ years old when God called him.
A. seventy B. seventy-five C. one hundred
D. ninety
8 The name of the land where Abraham settled down was _________.
A. Haran B. Terah C. Canaan
D. Jerusalem
9 God blessed Abraham with many ________________.
A. lions B. sheep, cows and goats
C. dogs D. goods
10 The descendants of Abraham would be like ____________________.
A. the sun B. the sand on the seashore
C. the moon D. the days
Activity
1 Sing this song:
Abraham’s blessings are mine, (2ce)
I am blessed in the morning, in the noon,
in the evening. Abraham’s blessings are mine.
2 Memory verse
Memorise Genesis 12:1: Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your
country, from your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I
will show you’.
3 Dramatise how Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac and how Isaac was
replaced by a ram.
4 Find out the meanings of the following words: (a) Descendants,
(b) Sacrifice, and (c) Kindred.
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Unit 3 Jacob
Objectives
1 discuss the birth of Jacob.
2 describe the relationship between Jacob and his twin brother Esau.
3 narrate Jacob’s dream at Bethel.
4 mention the names of Jacob’s sons.
Bible passages (Genesis 25:21–28, Genesis 27:1–38, Genesis 28:10–

21, and Genesis 29).
The birth of Jacob

Isaac, Abraham’s son was 40 years old when he married Rebecca. After
being married for twenty years, Isaac and Rebecca still had no child
because Rebecca was barren. So Isaac prayed to God for her and God
answered his prayer. Rebecca became pregnant with twins. While she
was still pregnant, God told her about the future of the children she was
carrying. He told her that the children would fight each other and one of
them would be stronger than the other. God also told her that the older
child would serve the younger one.
When Rebecca gave birth, the first baby to come out was very hairy.
He was named Esau. The second baby came out holding on tight to his
brother Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob.
Jacob cheats his brother and deceive his father

When the boys grew up, Esau was outgoing and loved outdoors He be-
came a hunter. Jacob was quiet and liked indoor life. Isaac loved Esau
because he was a skilful hunter and always brought good meat home
from his hunting trips, while Rebecca loved Jacob.
When Isaac became old, he decided to bless his older son Esau
because he was not sure of when he would die. He called Esau and
instructed him to huntdown some game and prepare a delicious meal
with the meat for him to eat so he could bless him.
Esau immediately went out to hunt, but Rebecca called Jacob to
herself because she had overheard Isaac’s instruction to Esau. She told
Jacob to go to their farm and bring two young goats so she could use
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them to prepare a delicious meal that Isaac would eat. When she had
cooked the meal, she told Jacob to wear Esau’s clothes and then she
tied the hairy goat skin around Jacob’s hands and neck so that Jacob’s
skin would feel as hairy as Esau’s. Then she sent Jacob to take the food
she had prepared to Isaac and to wait for the blessing.
Because Isaac was old, his eyes had become weak so he was blind.
He could not see that it was Jacob and not Esau who brought the food,
although the voice sounded like Jacob’s. Isaac wanted to be sure, so
he told Jacob to come closer so he could touch him. Jacob went clos-
er, stretched out his hands and his father Isaac felt the hairy goatskin.
It felt as hairy as Esau’s hands. So Isaac accepted the food and ate it
all. Then, to make sure it was Esau and nobody else, Isaac told Jacob
to come over and embrace him. When Jacob embraced him, Isaac
smelt Esau’s scent from the clothes Jacob was wearing and felt con-
vinced that it was Esau after all. Then Isaac blessed Jacob with the bless-
ing that was meant for the firstborn son – Esau.
When Esau returned and found out that he had been cheated, he
was very angry with Jacob and began to hate him. He also decided to
kill Jacob after their father’s death. Rebecca heard of Esau’s plan and
arranged for Jacob to travel away from their home in Beersheba to stay
with her brother in Haran until Esau was no longer angry.

Jacob’s dream at Bethel
As Jacob travelled, he arrived at a good spot in the evening and de-
cided to stop and camp there for the night. While he slept, he dreamt
of a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and he saw God’s an-
gels climbing up and down the ladder. At the top of the ladder, he saw
God standing there and God said to him, ‘I am the Lord, the God of
Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; I will give the land you are
lying down on to you and your descendants; your descendants will be
as numerous as the dust of the earth and they will cover the land from
the east to the west, and from the north to the south. All the families of
the earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants. I will be
with you and protect you wherever you go. And one day, I will bring you
back safely to this land. I will be with you until I give you everything I have
promised you.’
When Jacob woke up, he took the stone, which he had used as a
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pillow, poured oil on it and called the place Bethel, which means ‘the
house of God.’
Jacob’s sons
When Jacob got to his uncle Laban in Haran, he worked for him for many
years and married his two daughters, Leah and Rachael. Jacob from
the beginning, wanted to marry Rachael; but because his uncle, Laban
deceived him, he was forced to marry Leah first. Leah was Rachael’s
older sister.
Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter. The names of his twelve
sons were:
1 Reuben 2 Simeon 3 Levi 4 Judah
5 Dan 6 Naphtali 7 Gad 8 Asher
9 Issachar 10 Zebulun 11 Joseph 12 Benjamin
Moral lessons
1 We should trust God all the time.
2 God can speak to us in any place.
3 God is ready to make life better for us, like he did for Jacob in his
uncle’s house.
4 The blessing will come to the person it is meant for.
Remember
1 God always hears our prayers.
2 When God makes a promise, He keeps it.
3 God’s blessing will be with us everywhere we go.
Exercise
1 List the names of Isaac’s children.
2 What was Esau’s occupation?
3 How did Jacob get the blessing from his father?
4 How did Esau and Jacob feel towards each other?
5 What were the names of the parents of Esau and Jacob?
6 Name five of Jacob’s children.
7 Jacob had a dream of angels on the ladder in ______________.
A. Bethel B. Haran C. Canaan
D. Beersheba
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8 Rebecca had a brother called.
A. Bethuel B. Laban C. Isaac
D. Esau
9 Isaac married when he was ____________.
A. 40 years B. 60 years C. 50 years
D. 20 years
Activity
1 Do you know how your clothes smell? Sniff at somebody else’s clothes.
Do they smell the same as yours? What does that tell you?
2 Close your eyes. Ask the other pupils around you to change their
positions. Can you tell who is standing before you, sitting on your
left and on your right? You must perform this activity only when your
teacher is ready to assist you.
3 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Twins, (b) Heel,
(c) Ladder, (d) Delicious, (e) Descendants, (f) Convince, (g) Hunter,
(h) Instructions, and (i) Numerous.
Unit 4 Joseph
Objectives
1 discuss the relationship between Joseph and his brothers and his
parents.
2 discuss Joseph’s dreams.
3 discuss Joseph’s faithfulness to God’s law.
Bible passages (Genesis 37:1–11 and Genesis 39:1–23)
Joseph was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Jacob was also called
Israel. The name of Joseph’s mother was Rachael. Joseph helped his
brothers in shepherding their father’s animals.
Joseph’s parents loved him very much. His father loved him more
than his other children because he had him in his old age. He, therefore,
made a special dress for him.
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Joseph’s brothers hated him because their father loved him in a spe-
cial way. They also hated him because he would always tell their father
about the bad things they did. Their hatred for him increased when he
had dreams and told them. The dreams meant that he would rule over
his brothers in future.
Joseph’s dreams
Joseph told his brothers that he dreamt they were in a field gathering
sheaves. His own sheaf stood upright, his brothers’ sheaves gathered
around it and bowed down to it.
His brothers were not happy about the dream. They therefore asked
him whether it meant that he would rule them in future. The dream made
them hate him much more than they did before.
Joseph and his father, with the father asking him, ‘Shall I and your mother and your
brothers bow to you?’
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Joseph had another dream and also told his brothers about it. The
dream was that he saw the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowing
down to him. The sun stood for his father; the moon stood for his mother
while the eleven stars stood for his eleven brothers.
When he told his father about the dream, he rebuked him and asked
if he meant that himself, his mother and his brothers would bow down to
him.
Joseph’s brothers got more jealous of him but his father kept the
dreams in his mind.
One day Joseph’s father sent him to see how his brothers were taking
care of the animals in the field. His brothers did something very wicked—
they sold him to slave traders for twenty shekels of silver and lied to their
father that wild animals ate him up.
The slave traders that bought Joseph sold him in Egypt to Portiphar,
an army officer. Joseph was 17 years old at that time.
Joseph’s faithfulness in Portiphar’s house

God loved Joseph and was with him in Portiphar’s house. He made ev-
erything Joseph did go well. When Portiphar noticed that, he told Joseph
to be in charge of his family things. Joseph was obedient to his master
Portiphar and was hardworking.
Joseph was handsome and because of it, Portiphar’s wife started
asking him to sleep with her. Joseph refused because he feared God
and did not want to do bad things in his master’s house. He also did not
want to hurt his master.
One day Joseph was working in the house, Mrs Portiphar wanted
to force him to sleep with her but Joseph refused and ran out of the
house.
Mrs Portiphar felt ashamed and insulted. She therefore screamed
and lied to her husband that Joseph wanted to rape her. Portiphar put
Joseph in prison because of the lie his wife told him. God was with Jo-
seph in prison. God’s love for Joseph made the prison keeper put him in
charge of other prisoners.
Moral lessons
1 We should not hate people or be jealous of their talents or anything
they have.
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2 We should fear God so that we would not do evil things, even when
we are being forced to.
3 When we fear God, he will love us and make people love us.
4 When we fear God, he will make us succeed in everything we do.
Remember
1 Jacob, Joseph’s father loved him more than his other eleven sons.
2 Joseph’s eleven brothers hated him because of their father’s special
love for him and also because Joseph told their father of the bad
things they did.
3 They hated him much more and became terribly jealous when he
told them of the dreams he had, that meant he would rule over
them in future.
4 Joseph’s brothers sold him to slave traders and lied to their father that
wild animals ate him up.
5 The slave traders sold Joseph in Egypt, to Portiphar, an army officer.
6 God was with Joseph in Portiphar’s house. God’s favour made the
man put Joseph in charge of his family things.
7 As Joseph was a handsome man, Portiphar’s wife wanted him to
sleep with her but he refused. This was because he feared God and
also did not want to hurt Portiphar, his master.
8 Portiphar’s wife later lied against Joseph to her husband that he
wanted to rape her.
9 Portiphar put Joseph in prison.
10 God’s love for Joseph made the prison keeper put Joseph in charge
of other prisoners.
11 We should fear God as Joseph did.
Exercise
1 Give two reasons why Joseph’s brother hated him.
2 a) What was the first dream Joseph had?
b) Explain the meaning of the dream.
3 a) State Joseph’s second dream.
b) What was its meaning?
4 _____________ bought Joseph in Egypt from the slave traders.
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5 Joseph refused to commit adultery with the army officer’s wife
because he feared _________.
6 In Egypt, Joseph was in charge of whose family’s things? _________.
A. Pharaoh’s B. Portiphar’s C. A magician’s
D. Moses’
7 Why did the prison keeper put Joseph in charge of other prisoners? It
was because of ___________________.
A. bribery B. Jacob’s love for Joseph
C. Joseph’s brothers’ hatred
D. God’s love for Joseph
Activity
1 Draw a boy in a coloured shirt.
2 Find out the meaning of these words: (a) Rebuke, (b) Favour, and
(c) Sheaf.
Unit 5 Moses the liberator

Objectives
1 tell the story of the birth of Moses.
2 show how Moses identified himself with his people.
3 describe the experience of the burning bush.
4 state how Moses asked for the release of his people.
5 describe the events of the crossing of the Red Sea.
Bible passages (Exodus 2:1–12, Exodus 3:1–2, and Exodus 4:21–23)
The birth of Moses
A new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph arose in Egypt. When he saw
that the number of male Israelites was increasing in the land of Egypt, he
became afraid that one day they might fight a war against them and
win. He instructed the midwives to kill all baby boys immediately they
were born, but because the midwives feared God, they did not do it.
He therefore commanded all Egyptians that they should throw every son
born to the Israelites into the River Nile.
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It was at this time that Moses was born by parents who were from the
tribe of Levi. The mother tried to hide him for three months, but when she
could no longer hide him, she made a basket of bulrushes, placed the
baby in it and put it by the river bank. Moses’ sister stood far away to see
what would happen to the child. Pharaoh’s daughter went to the river
to bathe; she saw the basket among the reeds and asked her maids
to bring it to her. When she opened it, she saw a child in it. She had pity
on him because she knew that the baby must have been one of the
Hebrew children. Moses’ sister went over to her and offered to look for a
nurse for the baby.
Moses’ sister brought the mother of Moses, who nursed the child and
was paid by Pharaoh’s daughter. When the woman finished nursing the
child, she handed him to Pharaoh’s daughter who named him Moses,
for she said, ‘I drew him out of water.’
Pharaoh’s daughter by the river, with baby Moses in her hands
Moses identified himself with his people

Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house. He knew that he was a Hebrew that
had been adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. He noticed the bad treat-
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ment of his people by the Egyptians. He thought of what to do about it.
One day, when he went out he saw an Egyptian fighting with a He-
brew. When he saw that no Egyptian was around, he killed the Egyptian.
On the second day, he saw two Hebrews fighting. As he moved closer
and advised them not to fight each other, one of the Hebrews said to
him, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill
me as you killed an Egyptian?’ When Moses heard this statement, he ran
away from Egypt.
Moses and the burning bush

One day Moses was taking care of the sheep of his father-in-law, Je-
thro the priest of Midian. When he came to Mount Horeb, an angel ap-
peared to him in the flame of fire out of the bush. Moses noticed that
the fire was burning but the bush did not get burnt. As he moved closer,
God called him out of the bush, ‘Moses!, Moses do not come near. Put
off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is
a holy ground.’
God also said he had heard the cry of Israelites and so he would
send Moses to deliver them from Pharaoh. Moses made a lot of excuses
to God but God said he would be with him and help him to lead the
children of Israel out of Egypt into the promised land.
Moses asked for the release of his people

Moses took the rod of God in his hand, left Midian and went to Egypt.
He went with his brother Aaron to deliver the message from God, saying,
‘Let my people go that they may serve me.’ Moses was 80 years old
and Aaron was 83 when they went to Pharaoh.
When they got before Pharaoh Aaron threw his rod on the ground and
the rod became a snake. Pharaoh called his magicians to do the same
by their secret art. Their rods also turned to snakes. Aaron’s rod however,
swallowed their rods. The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so he refused
to release the children of Israel but instead punished them the more by
asking the taskmasters to increase their work.
God sent many plagues to Egypt before Pharaoh agreed to release
the children of Israel. These included turning their water to blood, infec-
tion by lice and boils, sending of swarms of locusts and flies, and, finally,
killing of all firstborn of both man and animals in one night.
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Moses and Aaron standing before Pharaoh
The exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea

Immediately after the death of the firstborn in Egypt, Pharaoh released
the children of Israel from bondage. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt
into the wilderness towards the Red Sea. God went with them as a pillar
of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
When Pharaoh heard that the Israelites had left Egypt, he changed
his mind. He asked his army to pursue them. Pharaoh’s army pursued
them until they got to the sea. When the children of Israel saw the Egyp-
tian army, they became afraid. They began to blame Moses for taking
them to the wilderness to die. Moses called on God. God asked him to
stretch out the rod in his hand over the sea to divide it; he did as God
told him and the sea divided immediately and the children of Israel
walked through on dry ground.
The army of Egypt went after them on dry ground to the middle of
the sea. The Lord instructed Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea,
Moses did so, and the sea returned and covered the chariots and horse-
men of Egypt, and they all died in the Red Sea.
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Remember
1 Pharaoh instructed the midwives to kill all Israelite male children at
birth. The midwives feared God and did not carry out Pharaoh’s
instruction.
2 Pharaoh announced that the Egyptians should throw sons born by
the Israelites into the river.
3 Moses was born by a couple from the tribe of Levi.
4 Moses’ mother hid him for three months after his birth.
5 Baby Moses was later put inside a basket and placed among the
reeds at the river bank.
6 Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket and asked her maids to fetch it.
7 Moses’ mother was called to take care of him and get paid for the
job.
8 Moses grew, saw the problem of his people and decided to fight for
them.
9 Moses killed an Egyptian and ran away from Egypt to Midian.
10 He was taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep one day when he saw
that even though there was a fire in the bush, the bush itself did not
get burnt.
11 God called Moses to deliver the children of Israel from bondage.
12 God did several miracles and signs in Egypt through Moses.
13 God divided the Red Sea, so that the children of Israel could walk
through on dry ground.
14 The army of Pharaoh was destroyed in the Red Sea.
Moral lessons
1 Moses escaped death from Pharaoh and his agents. God can deliver
us from our enemies.
2 God wants to do miracles and wonders through us.
3 God had pity on the children of Israel. He always pities people.
4 Moses obeyed God. We must obey God, our parents and our
teachers.
5 The midwives did not kill babies because they feared God; God
wants us to fear him.
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Exercise
1 Explain how God saved Moses as a child.
2 Explain how Moses identified himself with his people in Egypt.
3 Explain what happened at the burning bush.
4 State what happened at the Red Sea.
5 Moses used the ____________ to divide the Red Sea.
6 Moses’ parents were from the house of ____________.
7 ____________ was the brother of Moses that went with him to Egypt.
Choose the correct answers from the following:

8 Moses’ mother hid him for ____________.
A. 2 months B. 3 months C. 4 months
D. 6 months
9 Moses’ snake swallowed the snakes of the ____________.
A. priests B. magicians C. shepherds
D. pastors
10 One of the plagues in Egypt involved __________.
A. locusts B. plants C. manna
D. sheep
Activity
1 Dramatise the crossing of the Red Sea.
2 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Adopt, (b) Magician,
(c) Locust, (d) Rod, (e) Frog, and (f) Midwives.
Unit 5 Judges as leaders

Objectives
1 explain the term ‘judges’.
2 give the names of some judges in the Bible.
3 identify the roles of the judges in the Bible.
4 explain how God used the judges to save the people of Israel.
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5 explain the roles of the political and religious leaders in their
communities.
Bible passages (Judges 1:10–20, 3 and 1 Samuel 7:7–16)
Explanation of the term, judges

Judges are the ones chosen to take decisions over cases, that is, quar-
rels or conflicts that are in court. In our country today, we have High
Court Judges, Magistrates Appeal Court Judges, and Supreme Court
Judges.
In Old Testament times, there were some judges in Israel. Not only
did they judge cases, they also led the country and their names are re-
corded in the Bible.
Names of judges in the Bible

When the people of Israel got to the land God promised them, after the
death of Joshua, God raised judges as leaders for them.
The names of some of these judges are:
1 Othniel 2 Ehud 3 Deborah 4 Gideon
5 Jephtha 6 Samson 7 Samuel and his sons
Roles of judges as religious and political leaders in the
Bible
Judges in the Bible were the people chosen by God to lead Israel to war
against their enemies. God saved his people through the judges.
They also helped in settling quarrels or conflicts among the people.
Some that also served as seers, prophets and priests, helped to guide
and advise the people of Israel on how to serve and worship God. For
example, Samuel was a judge in Israel. He led Israel to war against the
Philistines. He also served as a priest, a seer and a prophet to the people
of Israel.
How God used judges to save the people as recorded in

the Bible (Judges 1:10–20, 3; and 1 Samuel 7:7–16)
In the above stated Bible passages are some stories of how God used
the judges to save Israel from their enemies.
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Why the people of Israel were disturbed by their enemies
(Judges 1:10–20)
Joshua led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, which was
where God promised them. After he died, the Israelites asked God to
give them someone who would lead them to war against the Canaan-
ites, to protect them. The Lord told them that Judah would lead them.
Under Judah, the people of Israel fought in different places against
the Canaanites. They defeated even the giants among them.
The Israelites were able to drive the Canaanites out from many plac-
es but could not drive out those in the plain area or level ground. It was
because those ones had chariots of iron. God used them and other
groups to punish the people of Israel any time they disobeyed Him. If the
Israelites repented, he would choose someone as a judge to lead them
to war and give them victory.
How Othniel as a judge saved Israel from the king of

Mesopotamia
The people of Israel worshipped such idols as Baals and Asheroth. God
punished them by making the king of Mesopotamia rise against them.
He fought the people of Israel and defeated them. For eight years they
suffered under him.
When the Israelites repented, God chose Othniel as a judge to deliv-
er Israel from the king of Mesopotamia. Othniel led Israel to war against
the king and defeated him. Israel had peace for forty years.
How Ehud as a judge saved Israel from Eglon the king of

Moab
When Othniel died, the people of Israel disobeyed God. He therefore
gave Eglon, the king of Moab power to rise against them. The king of
Moab also brought the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join him and
they defeated Israel. They even took over the City of Palms. The Israelites
suffered under Eglon, the king of Moab. They were even paying taxes to
him. Eglon was a very fat man.
When the Israelites repented and cried to God, He chose Ehud as
a judge to save them from the king of Moab. Ehud was a left-handed
man. Ehud made a sword that had two edges. One day when the Isra-
elites sent a present to Eglon, through Ehud, he hid the sword on his right
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thigh under his clothes.
Ehud and the people of Israel who accompanied him gave the pres-
ent to Eglon. Immediately after that, Ehud sent them away. He told Eg-
lon the king of Moab that he had a secret message for him from God.
The king then sent his attendants away to hear the message.
Immediately, Ehud stabbed him in his potbelly and he died. The
sword went right inside his fat belly and was covered. Ehud left the place
and locked the door against the dead king.
When Eglon did not come out in time, his attendants thought that
he had gone to relieve himself in the closet. After waiting for a very long
time, they took a key and opened the door. Then they saw the king lying
on the ground dead.
When Ehud got back to Israel, he told the people what had hap-
pened. After that he gathered them and led them to war against the
people of Moab and defeated them. The Israelites killed ten thousand
very strong Moabite men. The people of Israel then had rest for eighty
years.
After Ehud, there was Shamgar who led Israel to war against the Phi-
listines and defeated them. They killed six hundred Philistines.
How Samuel as a judge saved Israel from the Philistines

During one of the times the people of Israel disobeyed God and wor-
shipped idols, he made the Philistines rise against them. Samuel their
judge then advised them to stop worshipping idols and return to God.
He told them that if they would do that God would deliver them from the
Philistines. The people obeyed. Then Samuel gathered them at Mizpeh
and fasted on that day. He confessed their sins to God.
When the Philistines heard that the Israelites gathered at Mizpeh, their
lords then went to fight Israel. Immediately the people of Israel knew of
that, they became afraid. They begged Samuel to continue praying to
God to save them. Samuel took a lamb and offered it to God as a burnt
offering (sin offering) and cried to Him. Immediately, God answered him.
God thundered with a mighty voice and it threw the Philistines into confu-
sion. Then the people of Israel pursued them and killed them.
Samuel set up a stone between Mizpeh and shen, and called it ‘Eb-
enezer’, meaning that God had helped them. It was meant to remind
them of how God helped them. The people of Israel even recovered
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Ekron and Gath from the Philistines. Israel had peace throughout the
time when Samuel was their judge.
Samuel offering a sacrifice
The role of the political and religious leaders in the

community
Political leaders and their roles

In our communities we have the obas, obis, emirs, councillors, local gov-
ernment chairmen, etc. as traditional and political leaders. They help to
make sure that there is peace and progress in society. They do this by
helping to:
1 Provide security so that our lives and property can be safe. Some
of them organise vigilante groups to help the police fight against
criminals.
2 Settle quarrels like land disputes among people in their community.
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3 Protect the boundaries of their various communities.
4 Provide some social amenities like pipe borne water, electricity, good
roads and school buildings.
Religious leaders and their roles

We have religious leaders like pastors, reverend fathers, bishops and
imams.These people provide spiritual leadership; they teach us about
God and help us to worship him. They do this by doing the following
things:
1 They organise religious activities and programmes like conventions,
youth fellowship and some activities for children. These programmes
are to help people to love God, love their neighbours and live in
peace.
2 They lead worship during religious services and events in their
communities.
3 They help to build new churches and mosques in their areas.
4 They work hard to promote the word of God by preaching. Many
people give up their evil ways when they hear the messages being
preached.
5 They organise people to help the needy like the orphans, widows
and abandoned children.
6 They help to settle conflicts in homes or in the families.
Moral lessons
The work of the leaders is to help the people under them take care of the
problems facing them. They might be problems of security, food, good
water, good roads, or spiritual things.
We should keep a good relationship with God so that He will give us
good leaders that can help us take care of our problems.
We are also to work together with our leaders obediently so that they
can take care of us.
Remember
1 Judges are the people that take decisions over cases or disputes in
court.
2 Judges in the Bible were the ones chosen by God to save the Israelites
from their enemies. Examples: Othniel , Ehud and Samuel.
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3 Some judges in Israel were not just political leaders, they also provided
religious leadership; an example is Samuel.
4 Our traditional, political and religious leaders help us to solve our
problems.
Exercise
1 Why were the Israelites under Judah not able to drive out the
Canaanites in the plain area?
2 Why did the enemies of the Israelites keep rising against them?
3 Why did God keep raising judges for them to deliver them from their
enemies?
4 ____________ was the name of the judge who saved Israel from the
king of Mesopotamia.
5 The judge that was left-handed and that made a sword with two
edges was _____________.
7 Who was the judge that advised the people of Israel to stop worshipping
idols so that God would save them from their enemies?
A. Ehud B. Samuel C. Samson
D. Deborah
8 One of the duties of a political leader is to provide ___________ for his
people.
A. offering baskets B. security C. cigarettes
D. goats
Activity
1 Find out the names of some judges in our country.
2 Find out the meaning of these words: (a) Closet, (b) Relive, (c) Raise,
(d) Criminals, (e) Dispute, and (f) Conflict.
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Unit 7 Saul and David as kings in Israel
Objectives
At the end of the unit, pupils should be able to
1 describe the birth and call of Samuel.
2 describe how Saul and David were made kings.
3 give reasons why God rejected Saul as king.
4 point out why David was appointed king.
Bible passages (1 Samuel 1:1–28, 3:1–21, 1 Samuel 10:1–end, 1

Samuel 16, and 1 Samuel 15)
The birth and call of Prophet Samuel

Samuel was born by Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, an Ephrathite. Hannah
was barren for many years. Her rival Peninnah troubled her very much
because of this. One day Hannah went to Shiloh where the people wor-
shipped God and sacrificed to him every year. She wept and prayed to
God. She asked God to give her a son. Also she vowed that she would
give the child back to God.
Eli the priest who was in charge of the temple saw her praying and
thought she was drunk, because she did not pray aloud, but her lips kept
moving. She told Eli that it was because she was troubled, that she was
praying to God from her heart. She explained that she had drunk neither
wine nor strong drink. Eli then told her that God would grant her the desire
of her heart.
Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy whom she
named Samuel. She fulfilled her vow by taking Samuel back to God at
Shiloh.
Samuel the little boy began to serve God under Eli the priest at Shiloh.
He heard a voice calling his name one night as he was sleeping. He ran
to Eli, thinking Eli called him. This happened three times. Samuel had not
had this type of experience before. Eli felt strongly that it was God calling
Samuel. He told Samuel that if he heard the voice again he should say,
‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’
Samuel did as he was instructed by Eli. God told Samuel that He
would punish Eli’s family because his sons behaved badly. Eli knew of
his son’s wickedness but did not correct them. Samuel was afraid to tell
86
Hannah praying before the Lord at the altar
Hannah handing Samuel over to Eli the priest
Eli what God had told him. Eli persuaded him to tell him, and eventually
he told Eli everything. Eli and his sons later died as God had said they
would.
87
The anointing of Saul and David as kings
Since the Israelites settled in the promised land they had no earthly king.
God had been their King. They were under judges, prophets and priests.
One day, they came to Samuel saying that they wanted a king who
would rule over them. They wanted to have kings like the other nations
around them. Samuel did not like the idea. However, a change later
came as God appointed Saul the son of Kish, a Benjamite as the first
king of Israel.
One day, Saul’s father’s asses got lost. So Saul and a servant were
sent to search for the lost asses. When they could not find them, they de-
cided to see a man of God, a seer who lived in certain city. This was not
new in Israel. It was the usual practice to visit a seer or prophet if anyone
was in doubt or in search of something. Before Saul and his father’s ser-
vant got to Samuel, God had already told Samuel about who the king
would be. Saul and his servant got to Samuel’s place. They slept there
overnight. The second day, Samuel and Saul ate together. Samuel told
Saul that his father’s asses had been found.
Samuel anointing Saul as king of Israel
88
Prophet Samuel told Saul God’s intention. Saul would be given an-
other heart. Some men would greet Saul and give him presents. He
would prophesy with some prophets. These were the signs that he would
be king. Samuel anointed Saul secretly. The public anointing took place
after Saul fought with the Ammonites. He destroyed them totally. The
people of Jabesh–Giilead whom Saul fought for came and demanded
that Saul would rule over them. Samuel and the Israelites went to Gilgal
and there they made Saul king. This was Saul’s public anointing.
Reasons why God rejected Saul as a king

Not long after Saul had been publicly anointed as king, there was a bat-
tle between the Philistines and Israel. Samuel was to come to perform
a religious sacrifice but he was delayed for seven days. Saul became
impatient. He went ahead to offer the burnt offering which was not the
duty of a king. Shortly afterwards, Samuel came and was angry with king
Saul.
King Saul pleading with Samuel
89
Also God through prophet Samuel instructed King Saul to go and
destroy the Amalekites utterly. Nothing must be spared. Saul went to the
war but spared Agag, the king of Amalek and some sheep and cows.
Prophet Samuel said that God had removed Saul from the throne
because of his disobedience. When Saul was pleading with Samuel,
he held his garment but it tore. Samuel got angry. He told Saul that the
kingdom had been torn from him and given to his neighbour.
How David became the king over Israel

David was also anointed secretly like Saul. Prophet Samuel had felt ter-
ribly bad about King Saul’s disobedience for a long time. One day God
told Samuel to visit another family and one of the sons should be anoint-
ed king. The family was that of Jesse, the Bethlemite.
Samuel was afraid to carry out this order because of Saul. God told
him to fill his horn with oil and go there for a sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel
invited Jesse and his sons for the sacrifice. Jesse made all of them pass
before Samuel from the firstborn to the last person but none of them was
chosen by God. When Samuel saw Eliab, Jesse’s first son, he thought he
Samuel anointing David in the presence of his family members
90
was the one God had chosen. God warned Samuel not to look at out-
ward appearance, because he (God) looks at people’s hearts.
Prophet Samuel asked Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ Jesse replied
that the youngest one was keeping the sheep. David was sent for im-
mediately. When David came, God told Samuel to anoint him because
he was his choice. Samuel anointed David in the presence of his broth-
ers. The spirit of God was mightily upon David as from that day but God’s
spirit had left king Saul.
Why David was made the second king of Israel

1 David had taken care of his father’s sheep in the wilderness. This was
to prepare him to lead the people.
2 Although he was the youngest in his family, God was with him.
3 He was brave and hardworking, and he spoke politely to people.
4 Saul had disobeyed God and so had to be replaced.
Moral lessons
1 We must obey God, our parents and our teachers.
2 We must be patient.
3 Anywhere we are, whatever we are doing, God is preparing us for
greater work just as he prepared David to become king. David was
a shepherd boy; he did not think of becoming king.
4 We must not judge people from physical appearance.
5 God looks into our hearts.
6 God corrected Samuel when he wanted to choose the wrong
person as king. We must be ready to accept correction from God,
our parents, teachers pastors and priests.
Remember
1 Samuel was a special son, a special gift from the Lord. He became
a mighty prophet in Israel.
2 Saul was the first king of Israel. He started well but later he did not
obey God totally. The spirit of God left him.
3 David became Saul’s successor.
4 David’s background as a shepherd gave him the opportunity of
becoming a king in Israel.
5 The spirit of God was with David.
91
Exercise
1 Give two reasons why God rejected Saul as king.
2 Why did God choose David as the second king of Israel? Give one
reason.

3 _____________ was Samuel’s mother.
4 ____________ was the firstborn of Jesse while the name of the last
born was ____________.
5 David was a keeper of ______________.
Choose the correct answers from the following:

6 God was angry with King Saul because _______________.
A. he spared Agag and the fattest sheep
B. Saul was tall C. King Saul was afraid
D. he could not fight a war
7 We must always be _____________ God and our parents.
A. disobedient to B. obedient to C. impatient with
D. angry with
8 Hannah paid her vow by giving back ___________ to God.
A. Elias B. Prophet Samuel C. David
D. Elkanah
Activity
1 Memorise 1 Samuel 15:22:
‘Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams.’
2 Drama – You and the other pupils in your class should act how Saul
and David were anointed as kings of Israel. Your teacher will supervise
this drama.
3 Find out the meaning of the following words: (a) Sacrifice,
(b) Reject, (c) Anoint, (d) Immediately, (e) Replace, and (f) Vow.
92

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BASIC CHRISTIAN

Area ofﬁces and branches

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

© Learn Africa Plc, 2010

ISBN 978 978 026 381 2

Theme 1 Talking to God through Jesus Christ 1

Theme 2 The life of Jesus Christ 31

Theme 3 God the creator and the father of all 60

1 Talking to God through Jesus Christ

Unit 1 The meaning of prayer

The meaning of prayer

Reasons why we pray

Demonstration of right attitude to prayer

The Pharisee and the tax collector

When we humble ourselves in prayer, we will go back home

Fill in the gaps of the questions below with correct answers.

Choose the correct answers for the questions below.

Bible passages (John 11:41–42; Luke 6:12–16; John 6: 1–14; and

Evidence of Jesus as a man of prayer

Why we should pray

Fill in the gaps of the questions below with correct answers.

Choose the correct answers for the questions below.

Bible passages (Matthew 6:9–15; Matthew 26:45; Luke 22:45–46; and

Jesus’ teaching on how to pray and the model prayer

The parable of the unmerciful judge

The wicked judge

The Lord’s prayer

The explanation of the Lord’s prayer

Jesus encouraged us to pray

Jesus and his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane.

Fill in the gap with the correct answer.

Choose the correct answers for the questions below:

Unit 4 Types of prayer

Bible passages (Genesis 18:20–23; Acts 7:56–59; Acts 4:23–25; Luke

Prayer of confession of sins

Things to pray for

Jesus encourages us to pray

Bible passages (Acts 16:25–33, 1 Samuel 1:19–20, 1 Kings 18: 30–39,

The importance of the power of prayer

How God answered those who called

Fill in the gaps below with correct answers.

Unit 6 God cares for us

3 God helps us to rest and regain our strength.

People who received special care from God

Daniel sitting down among lions in their den

Fill in the gaps with the correct answers.

Bible passages (Luke 1:26–38; Matthew 1:20–21 and Isaiah 7:14)

How the birth of Jesus was announced to Mary (Luke 1:26–38)

Angel Gabriel and Mary

How the birth of Jesus was announced to Joseph (Matthew

The meaning of ‘Emmanuel’ and ‘Jesus’

Fill in the gaps with correct answers.

Unit 8 God gives the world a Saviour

Bible passages (Luke 2:1–7, Luke 2:8–20; and Matthew 2: 1–12)

The birth of Jesus

Shepherds visited the child Jesus

Shepherds with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus

Wise men visited the child Jesus

The wise men presenting gifts to Jesus

Fill in the gaps with correct answers.

2 The life of Jesus Christ

Unit 1 The early life of Jesus

Elders with Jesus in the temple at age twelve