In this children’s ministry video, the characters Moses and Malachi engage in a playful, instructional dialogue that introduces the Ten Commandments. Malachi, initially skeptical about rules, follows Moses through a dramatized blindfold‑and‑cliff demonstration that symbolically shows how each commandment acts as a protective guide, preventing him from “falling off a cliff.” Moses explains each commandment with simple, everyday examples—avoiding other gods, not making idols, respecting God’s name, keeping the Sabbath, honoring parents, not murdering, staying faithful in marriage, not stealing, not lying, and not coveting. The script emphasizes that these laws are not meant to spoil fun but to create safe boundaries, illustrating that God’s guidance keeps us safe. The video concludes with Malachi acknowledging the protective value of the commandments and expressing a desire to keep them, reinforcing the lesson that God’s rules guide and protect believers.
Chapters
Where is he? I, uh, no, no, uh, where I, I, where is— hey, um, do you guys know where Moses is? Have you seen him? I've been looking for Moses all day and I haven't— oh, there you are, Moses!
Oh, these are so heavy. I wish I'd remembered my staff. Oh, these stone tablets are really heavy.
Are you all right?
Yeah, can I sit down? Yeah, of course, of course.
Here.
So what are you doing in my tent when I'm not here?
I was looking for you, Moses.
Oh, well, I was up on the mountain.
What? You were up on a mountain? People need you down here, Moses. What were you doing up on a mountain?
Well, God told me to go up on the mountain, and he told me that he had something special he wanted to tell me and show me and give me. Any guesses what he might have given me, Malachi?
Some arch-shaped rocks?
He did, he gave me these. Do you even know what's on these?
I don't know, I can't read.
These are the Ten Commandments.
Commandments, I'm not very good at— My English, that sounds a lot like rules.
They're like rules, they're guidelines. Yeah, I guess they're rules. You don't like rules?
No, I really don't like rules. No, not at all. Why is there 10 of them?
Because they are to protect us. They actually, they're not difficult. They're not. Yeah, you want, you want, you want, you don't know how to count to 10? Would you like, let's do it together, okay? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. You can do it. 9, 9, 10, 10. Yeah, look at our little friends out there, Malachi. They can all count to 10. Yeah, and I did great as well because God gave us just these 10 little, little rules to help us be safe, to help us be protected. Do you feel that you want to learn what these rules are about?
I don't see what the point— it just all seems— it just seems like God is trying to spoil us having any fun.
No, these rules are not to spoil us, but to protect us. They're not to spoil the fun, but to make it possible to have fun within safe boundaries. You know, I think the easiest way would be for me to show you how these 10 His beautiful laws protect us. Why don't you come with me? Follow me out here and I'll show you. Okay, come along, Malachi. So what we're gonna do for this illustration is we're going to look at each one of these Ten Commandments. You see the kids out there, don't you? And each one of these commandments, we're gonna learn something. All of God's commandments are to protect us. They're to keep us from dangerous things. So you can see this cliff right here?
Yeah.
I am not going to let you step off that cliff because you are going to obey these Ten Commandments, okay? And these are going to keep you safe. So we're going to put this over your eyes. Can you put that— you do it yourself, because that's what it's like when people put it over your eyes quickly. This is what—
you're going to keep me safe?
I'm going to keep you safe. The Ten Commandments are going to keep you safe. Okay, so as we walk, I'll stop you, and it'll be just like you almost did something wrong, but the commandment stopped you, okay? All right, so start walking. Oh, stop! The first commandment says, "Do not have other gods besides the one true God." What other gods could people have?
Well, I know of the neighboring tribes nearby. They have— I heard them worshiping like Baal.
That's a great example. Let's keep walking and move on to the second commandment. Okay, let's go towards that cliff. Oh, stop right there! Whoa, sorry. The second one says, "Do not make idols." We should never make an idol that represents anything that would take us away from God, but particularly idols of other gods. Many of the neighboring tribes have those. Okay, let's keep walking. Okay, and you're going towards the edge there, but I'm going to stop you. Whoa, that was close. Do not— this is the third commandment— do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. How do some people misuse the name of God?
Well, I mean, some people just say like I, I, I don't, I don't want to say it though, but they just say when they get angry and stuff.
Yes, that is, that is misusing his name, but we shouldn't do that, should we? No, no, that's good. Okay, let's keep walking to the fourth commandment. Will help us. And stop! Oh, that was so close. This fourth commandment says keep the Sabbath day holy. Every six days we work, and then on the seventh day, the Sabbath, God says if you keep my day holy, it will give you the strength to be safe and protected. So that's why he gave us that commandment. Okay, I'm going to turn you around because we got to the edge of the cliff there. We're going to go the other way now.
Which way is the other way?
Over here. Start walking.
No, I don't want to.
Oh, stop, stop, stop. Oh, goodness. The Fifth Commandment says, "Honor your father and mother." Now you know what that means. Be nice to mom and dad. Don't do anything that they wouldn't want you to do. Let's keep walking.
Okay, great.
Okay, just— Oh!
So close.
Number 6, do not murder. Murder. We know what that is. That's when someone dies because of something we've done. We don't want to ever do that. Okay, keep walking. Oh, sorry, so close. Number 7, keep your marriage promises. Do you have a mom and a dad? Yeah. Do they love each other?
I think so.
Yeah, that's what this one means, is that we should always show the most love that we can to our partners, to our husbands and wives. Okay, number 8, keep coming. Oh, stop, stop. Do not steal. How would not stealing protect you? Uh, what could happen if you stole something?
I mean, people might get upset at me because they don't have their binoculars anymore.
Yeah, that's true, they would. And you could get in a lot of trouble, couldn't you?
Yeah.
So we don't want to steal. Okay, let's keep going. We're almost done. Number 9. Oh, stop, stop, stop, stop. Number 9 says, do not lie. When you tell a lie, it's hard to remember. If you tell lots of lies, you're gonna get yourself trapped. But also, when you tell a lie, it misrepresents you, it misrepresents the truth. And like you said earlier, if you say you follow God, you're misrepresenting him too because you're telling that lie. One more step right there. Oh, stop, stop, stop. Number 10 says, do not want things that are not yours. Have you ever wanted something that's not yours?
Yeah, it's like those binoculars. I mean, I didn't—
what? Yeah, it's, it's good that if you want something that's not yours, you can ask to borrow it, you can ask to play with it, but then you always give it back. Okay, you can take the blindfold off.
Thanks.
Can you see how the Ten Commandments keep us safe?
I can see. Um, oh yes, yeah, the commandments. Yeah, um, Yeah, I guess I'm not off the cliff.
No, you survived because we didn't break any of the commandments. Let's walk back into my tent. Come on, Malachi.
Ah, so I'm just glad I'm standing on two feet.
Yeah, have a seat. Are you starting to understand, Malachi, that God guides us Did God save you? These 10 laws protected you. I know it was only pretend and we were make-believing, but it was to help you understand, just like I stopped you, that God's laws, his 10 Commandments, stop us from doing the wrong thing. They protect us and they keep us safe. So God is actually guiding us by giving us these 10 beautiful rules. Would you like to keep these rules? I—
yeah, do you have like a spare copy of those that I can take home?
No, there's no spare copy.
Oh, can I just take those ones home? Because they were—
I—
these guidelines, they're not really like rules. They're like guidelines. Yeah, they're great for understanding. For— yeah, sending— because you said it wasn't really like, you know, that scary. I couldn't see anything that was terrifying.
I know, but did you trust me?
I—
we've been together—
I did try.
Yeah, we've been together all week now, and I know you've complained a lot, and I've listened a lot, but we're friends now, and you would not have done that if you didn't trust me. But you trusted me to guide you through all 10 of these, just like we can trust God because he guides us. So we can trust God. So no, you can't take these home with you. These stay here because they belong to all the people. But you know how you can take them with you? You can memorize them. You can remember them in your mind and in your heart so they can guide you through the rest of your life.
