Archive for year: 2020

By Janth English

Read Together: Babel, the first city that Nimrod built, was the beginning of his kingdom. The people all spoke the same language, so it was easy for them to share ideas and work together. But instead of working together for good, they began to rebel against God. Even though God had commanded them to fill the earth with their families, the people refused. With Nimrod as the leader, the people built a huge tower in the city of Babel. The city they built, with its towering fortress, made the people very proud of themselves and what they had done. They were so proud that they believed they could defy God. But the people did not know the amazing miracle that would happen next.

Read Together:  Genesis 10:9–10; 11:1–4

Discuss:

• Explain to your child that Noah and Shem could tell the people about the flood and what happened before the flood. (According to the genealogies contained in the Bible, they were still alive during the time that Nimrod built Babel.)
• The people knew what they were doing was wrong. Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), and he would have continued to preach after the flood. Explain to your son or daughter that the people were being disobedient and wanted to do things their own way, regardless of what God said.
• Help your child to understand that there is never a time when we can rebel against God. Still, when we do something wrong, we can ask God to forgive us, and He will. God loves us, and we can rely on Him to provide for us and protect us.

Review Memorization.

Genesis 11:4 “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’

 Featured Passage: Genesis 23-26

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Sarah died in Hebron at the age of 127 years old. God had allowed her to watch her son grow into a man. Shortly after Sarah died, Abraham sent his servant back to his own country to find a wife for Isaac. When the servant arrived at the well outside the city of Nahor, a young woman named Rebekah came to draw water. The servant had prayed asking that the young woman who gave him water to drink and offered to water his camels would be the one chosen to be Isaac’s wife. Rebekah did exactly that. The servant found out that Rebekah was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Rebekah agreed to leave her family, go to Canaan, and marry a man she had never met. Isaac was forty years old when he and Rebekah were married. Abraham died at 175 years of age and lived to see the birth of Isaac’s sons. This was further evidence that God’s promise of giving Abraham many descendants would be fulfilled. After Abraham died, God spoke to Isaac and made the same promises to him that He had made to Abraham. God said that He would give all the land of Canaan to Isaac’s descendants, and that they would be as numerous as the stars in heaven. God promised that in Isaac’s seed, all the nations would be blessed.

Discuss:

• Point out to your child that Abraham had seven other sons who are named in the Scriptures – Ishmael (from Hagar), and Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah (from Keturah).  However, Isaac was the son of promise.
• Discuss with your son or daughter the qualities the servant was looking for in a wife for Isaac by seeing if she would give him water and offer to water his camels.
• Talk to your child about the blessing Rebekah’s family gave her. How does her blessing relate to the promises God gave to Abraham and his descendants?
• Ask your child how they think Isaac may have felt when God appeared to him personally. Would that be very encouraging for Isaac?
  

Memory Challenge:

Hebrews 11:17–18  “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”

Photo:Richard Gunther, Gunther.net.nz | FreeBibleImages.org

Read Together: God gave ancient Israel instructions concerning Passover observance. On the tenth day in the first month of the year, each family was told to select a special,  Passover lamb. This lamb was to be perfect, without any blemishes at all. Four days later, as the 14th day of the first month was just beginning at sunset, they were required to kill the lamb, cook it, and eat it as part of a special Passover meal, putting some of the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Those who did this would be protected from the death angel, who would kill all the firstborn in the land, except those in houses with the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Every year after that, the Israelites were commanded to eat a Passover meal on this same night and remember how God had spared them from the death of the firstborn in their home. But this Passover lamb also symbolized something more. All humans are under the threat of death because we all have sinned, and death is the penalty for sinning against God. We may not have the death angel passing over us, but we still are subject to death for our sins. Instead of a Passover lamb, however, we have Jesus Christ. Christ was the perfect sacrifice who was willing to become a human being and then die for our sins, protecting us from death, just as the blood of the lamb on the doorway protected the Israelites. Before Christ died, He taught His disciples that they should think of the Passover as a yearly reminder of His sacrifice for them, and to drink a small cup of wine and eat a small piece of unleavened bread instead of cooking a lamb. These new symbols were taught to the church by the disciples. Since that time, the faithful people of God through history have continued to remember Christ’s sacrifice every year at the Passover, just as the Israelites remembered the Passover every year. They were released from their Egyptian taskmasters, while we are released from the grasp of Satan and sin.

Read Together:  Exodus 12:3–8, 43–47; Leviticus 23:4–5; Romans 3:23; 6:23; Hebrews 10:4; John 1:1–3; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:23; Philippians 2:5–8; John 10:17–18; 3:16; 1:29.

Discuss:

• Ask your child why they think the lamb selected for Passover had to be without any blemishes. How does this relate to Jesus Christ?
• People often question why Christ had to die. Discuss this with your child. Be sure to relate that God will not compromise with sin and that there could be no pardon of sins without shedding blood (Hebrews 9:22). Christ had to die to atone for mankind’s sins, giving you, your child, and every human being who has ever lived a chance for salvation and eternal life in God’s family.
• Discuss with your child how awful sin is and why God hates it. Choose one of the Ten Commandments and talk about how breaking it causes misery, pain, and suffering. How different would the world be if that commandment were kept? Remind your student that it is because of sin that Christ had to die.
• Explain to your child that the blood of Christ is represented by the wine, and the bread represents His body that was beaten for us.  

Review Memorization:

1 Corinthians 5:7  “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Read Together: Before God created the universe, He planned to create human beings and make them a part of His family. He determined to give mankind the gift of free moral agency. In other words, He would give mankind the ability to make choices. The most important decision is choosing whether to obey God or not. But God recognized that under the influence of Satan, man would choose to follow his own heart and disobey His commands. And just as Satan had done, Adam and Eve rebelled against Him. Since then, all humanity has followed their example. But God is holy and wants nothing to do with sin. So, how could sinful mankind ever become a part of God’s holy family? The answer is amazing! Remember, God had an astonishing plan for the human race to be part of His spirit family, and He wants us to know about it. To help us understand each step in His master plan, He gave us the Holy Days. This is why we observe these days every year, beginning with the Passover. Learning about the Passover helps us to understand the first step in God’s plan for us – and all people who have ever lived.

Read Together:  1 Peter 1:18–20; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22; Romans 3:23; Psalm 5:4; Isaiah 59:2; Leviticus 23:1–37

Discuss:

• Remind your child that it was God’s plan from the beginning to create a family. We are made in His image (Genesis 1:26–27), and we should grow in character to become like Christ (Ephesians 4:13–15).
• Discuss with your child what it means to have free moral agency. Mankind has not been given the right to decide what is right and wrong. Only God has the wisdom to make that determination. We  choose whether or not we will do what is right as God defines it.
• Help your child identify each of the Festivals and Holy Days mentioned in Leviticus 23. Briefly discuss how each Holy Day fits into God’s plan. Be sure to emphasize Leviticus 23:2 where God says, “… these are My feasts.”
• Help your child understand that they are a part of God’s plan and that God is looking forward to them being born into His family.

Review Memorization:

1 Corinthians 5:7 “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.   For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Read Together: As the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt, Moses spent 40 years tending his father-in-law’s sheep. But God was not finished with Moses. As Moses passed by Mount Horeb, he was amazed to see a bush furiously burning – but not being burned up! This was God’s way of getting Moses’ attention, and it worked. As Moses approached the bush, He heard God speak plainly to him. God told Moses that it was time for him to lead the children of Israel out of bondage. At first, Moses was not happy with God’s command. He gave one excuse after another about why he was not the man for the job. In the end, Moses humbled himself and obeyed God’s instructions, leaving for his old home in Egypt. Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh and announced to him that he must let the children of Israel go to worship God in the wilderness. What do you think Pharaoh said? He basically said, “No way!”

Here are his exact words. “Who [is] the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2)

But Pharaoh would come to regret his disrespect and disregard of the true God. God sent one plague after another upon Egypt–each one attacking one of their gods. In the first plague, their sacred river was turned to blood. But Pharaoh would not let the people go. In the second plague, frogs appeared everywhere. Still, Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the people go. Nine times, in plague after plague, Pharaoh started to soften, then hardened his heart toward Israel and the true God. Finally, after the 10th and last plague, Pharaoh let Israel go.

Read Together: Exodus 3-10

Discuss:

• Help your child to understand that God gave Moses specific instructions on what to do. Moses was not deciding what to do on his own.
• Ask your child how the Israelites might have felt when they were not delivered after Moses’ first meeting with Pharaoh.Instead of being set free they were made to work harder.
• Help your child identify each of the plagues as you read about them and discuss what each might have been like for the Egyptians.
• Explain that God brought these things about to show Egyptians and Israelites that He is God and there is no other.

Review Memorization:

The Ten Plagues: (1) Waters turned to blood, (2) Frogs, (3) Lice, (4) Flies, (5)Animals die, (6) Boils, (7) Hail, (8) Locusts, (9) Darkness (10) Death of the Firstborn