Punishment

Tags

EU, European Union, U.K.

Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

God told the people that anyone who makes anything like the anointment oil to smell would be cut off from his nation.

Discussion Questions:

• What is a punishment?
• What types of punishment do people use?
• What is a nation?
• What could it mean to be cut off from a nation?

Creative Thinking:

• If God didn’t want anyone to ever make the anointment oil again why did He tell them how to make it? Why didn’t He somehow give them a ready made potion?
• Write an essay on the limits of punishment. Talk about what you think is fair punishment and what would make a punishment too harsh.
• How do you think a person being cut off from his nation in Biblical times is similar to how people feel in the U.K. that wanted to stay in the European Union (but because of the referendum will be leaving)?

Activities for Homeschool and After school:

• Why would having a unique potion be so important that no one is able to even smell the potion again?
• The U.K. just voted to leave the European Union. The majority of people voted to leave. Almost half of the people did not get their way. Some people may have wanted to make the anointment oil for some reason. How does it feel when you are not allowed to follow what you want to do? Tell how you felt when you could not do something that you wanted to do.
• The children of Israel did not always dwell in the land of Israel (Canaan)  but they remained a nation. How do you think that the Jews managed to remain a nation even when they did not have land of their own?
• The anointment oil was similar to a perfume. Find a perfume recipe on the Internet and make it.
• Think of something that you are only allowed to do once or for a limited time period (like using the anointment oil) in your life. Describe how you felt when you finished and knew that you were not to do the same thing again.
• God told the people that they were not allowed to make the potion again to smell. Why do you think that He picked the sense of smell?
• Research the sense of smell.
• Make a list of animals which have a good sense of smell.

 

 

What is the Value of Being Unique?

Tags

unique

Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

Discussion Questions:

• What does it mean to be unique?
• How do you feel when you want to buy something and it is no longer available?

Creative Thinking:

• Think of at least five reasons why this oil was not to be made again.
• Why is marketing something as only being manufactured for a short time a good sales technique?
• What reasons could God have for saying not to pour (use) the oil on human flesh?

Activities for Homeschool and After-school:

• Name at least one unique quality about yourself and tell about it.
• Explain why the oil would be more special if it was never made again.
• Why can companies charge more for something that is a limited edition?
• If you were a product would you prefer to be manufactured for a long time or to be only produced for a short time? Explain.
• Design a campaign to sell a product that was only going to be made for two weeks.
• What qualities make people want to buy or use a product?
• Describe how the oil felt when it heard that it was never to be made again.

 

Get Ready for Passover

Tags

Children of Israel, Passover, Pesach, ten plagues

Passover is coming!
Spice up your seder with ideas from
Family Preparations for the Jewish Holidays: Passover

This book includes:
~basic information about Passover
~arts and craft ideas for kids – young and old
~ways to make the ten plagues come to life
~ways to represent the splitting of the sea
~game ideas to make your seder lively and educational
~lots of ideas to get the message of Passover across while having a lot of fun!

 

Use even a fraction of the ideas in this book and your Passover will never be the same again! Check it out on Amazon!

God Wants Our Best

Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist              

God told Moses exactly what spices and in what amount He wanted to inaugurate the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony.

Discussion Questions:

• Does God really like things such as spices?
• What does it mean to inaugurate something?
• God asked specific spices to be mixed together. He specified that they were to be the best of these species. Picking the best spices might be easy, but can we always do our best?

Creative Thinking:

• What difference could the exact mixture of the spices make to God?
• God told  Moses to take the choice of the spices. Make a list of when people take the best of something.

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Find out what types of things are inaugurated and why.
• Research spices.
• Do you believe that God likes earthly pleasures such as the smell of spices? Explain.
• Research how we smell.
• Most people do not do their best all the time. Explain what makes you do your best?
• God tells Moses to take the choice of the spices. Do you think that there was a chance that Moses would not have taken the best of the spices for inaugurating the tent of meeting and the ark of testimony?
•  Do you think that Moses ever got tired of God telling him what to do? Explain.

 

 

The Significance of Ritual

Tags

Aaron, water

Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

Aaron and his sons and their future generations are to wash their hands and feet before serving God.

Discussion Questions:

• What does spiritual cleansing mean?
• Do you think that the washing was used for a physical or spiritual cleaning?
• Washing before serving would have been a ritual.
  • What is ritual?
  • How could a ritual help people concentrate on their job?

Creative Thinking:

• Give as many reasons as you can for why washing hands and feet would be important?
• Why would the feet and hands be picked for cleansing?

Activities for Homeschool and Afterschool:

• Research how water cleans.
• Research a ritual from another cultural that you didn’t know about before.
• Write a diary entry for the water about how it felt being used to wash the hands and face of Aaron and his sons.
• Write a comic strip featuring the hands and feet talking to each other during the washing ritual.
• Write a tweet or a blog post for a descendant of Aaron being washed for the first time.
• How do you think Aaron’s thoughts would differ from that of a descendant while being washed for the first time?
• Research ways to wash yourself when there is no water available.
• See how many different things you can find that water is good for.

Setting a Meeting Spot

Tags

Moses

Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

God tells Moses that He will speak to him and meet him at the altar in the tent of meeting. 

Discussion Questions:

• Are all meetings important? Explain.
• Are some places more productive for meetings than others?
• What kinds of places are good for listening to someone intently?
• What kinds of places are good for meetings?

Creative Thinking:

• Design a place which would be conducive to having important meetings.
• Is it the people at a meeting or the agenda that make it important?

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Describe the things that make a place conducive to a good meeting.
• Describe the things that make a place not conducive to a good meeting.
• Do you think that it is a good idea to have a specific place to talk with someone about important things? Why or why not?
• Does having a consistent place for a meeting help produce results? Explain.
• Describe the things that make a meeting go well?
• Why would God pick the altar as His place of meeting?
• What is the difference between a meeting with God and God speaking to someone?
• Many people say that a car is a good place to talk to someone. Why would they say this?

 

Taking Over From Aaron

Tags

Aaron

        Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

Aaron was given special clothes to wear when he went into the tent of meeting. When he died these clothes were to go to his son who took over from him. 

Discussion Questions:

• Which jobs have specific uniforms?
• Why do these jobs have uniforms?
• Why do many schools require their students to wear uniforms?

Creative Thinking:

• Support your reason why schools should or should not have uniforms.
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of uniforms.
• Do you think that society would be better off if there were no styles and everyone wore the same types of clothes?

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Did the clothes of the high priest belong to the person (Aaron and whoever took over after him) or to the position? Explain.
• Explain what fashion is.
• What makes some clothes more fashionable than others?
• Which do you like wearing more old comfortable clothes or brand new clothes? Explain.
• Would it bother you to wear your father’s work clothes? Explain.
• The high priest wore special clothes when he went into the tent of meeting. Do you think it would help you concentrate if you had study clothes for when you needed to study for school?
• Design a fashionable outfit. Explain what makes it fashionable.
• Would you feel funny wearing clothes of someone who has died? Explain your answer.

Blood in the Tabernacle

Tags

Aaron

               Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

The priests were told what to do with the blood of the bull by the altar.

Discussion Questions:

• Are you squeamish around blood?
• Do you think that the priests thought about the blood while performing their duties?
• Do you think that you would be able to perform this function in the tabernacle?

Creative Thinking Questions:

• We are conscious that animals are living and that we kill them for food (and in the past sacrifices). Why do we not think about plucking a vegetable from the ground or fruit from a tree?
• Is there a difference between killing a wild animal for food and killing an animal which was raised for that purpose? Explain your answer.

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Research blood. What purpose does it have?
• Guess how much blood we have in our bodies. Pick five animals and guess how much blood they have in their bodies. Now find out how much blood we and these animals really have.
• Could you cut open an animal and climb inside of it to keep warm if you needed to survive? Explain how you would feel.
• Do you think that you could be a surgeon and put your hands inside of someone’s body? Explain your answer.
• Write a journal entry for the ground when a carrot gets pulled out from it.
• Write a conversation between two apples: one which fell from a tree and one which was picked from the tree.
• Do you think that people are more squeamish around blood today than they used to be? Do you think that this is related to being able to buy our meat and fish packaged at a store rather than having to hunt and kill it ourselves?

Priesthood Was a Job for Life

Tags

Aaron, priesthood

Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

The priesthood was a job given to Aaron, and his sons, and his descendants for ever.

Discussion Questions:

• Do you like it when people ask you what you want to be when you grow up?
• How would you feel if you knew what job you would have because you were born into a specific family?
• Would you like not having to think about what you were going to do when you grow up?
• Do you think that you would resent not being able to pick your profession?

Creative Thinking:

• It was common for people to learn a profession and stick with it for life. Today that is uncommon. Write a list of advantages and disadvantages for staying with a profession for life and for frequent changes in profession.
• Do you think that a descendant of Aaron would do a better job than someone else because his family had always done the same job?
• Do you think that it is more important to like a job, be good at a job, or make a good living from a job. Explain your answer.

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Pick a job that you might want to do when you get older. Outline all the steps that you will need to accomplish in order to get that particular job.
• Is there a difference between a job and a profession? If so what is the difference.
• Do you think that you are more qualified for a job if you train for it as an apprentice or if you study for it in University? Explain your answer.
• Write a journal entry explaining how you feel when you get to the age of going into the priesthood like your brothers, father, grandfather, etc.
• Write a journal entry from someone who really would like to be a priest but can’t because he is not of the lineage of Aaron.
• Do you think that you would worry more or less about doing a good job as priest because your whole family is part of the priesthood? Explain.
• Write a song or a poem explaining how you feel about your life being mapped out for you.

Oil in the Bible

Tags

Moses, oil

Excerpt from Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme by Marcia Goldlist

Moses was told to take anointment oil and put it on Aaron’s head before he performed his sacred duty. 

Discussion Questions:

• What exactly is oil? Where does it come from?
• What does it mean to anoint someone?
• What would have been the purpose of the anointment?
• Do you think that you would feel special being anointed by oil? Explain.

Creative Thinking:

• Why do you think that God chose oil for anointing people?
• What do you think is the difference between a ceremony using water and one using oil?
• What do you think is the significance of the oil being poured over the head?

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Research oil. From what can we make oil? What were its uses throughout history?
• Research who was anointed with oil and the reasons given for its use.
• Write a journal entry for a priest who was just anointed with oil.
• Make some oil. Write down the steps that you took to make it.
• Take different types of oil and pour them into different containers. Mark each oil so that only you know which is which. Ask someone to touch, smell, taste, and feel the various oils. See if they can tell the difference between them.
•  Make a diagram of how oil was made in ancient times and one for how it is made today.
• Make up a song or poem about oil.
• What are the health benefits and hazards to our health of eating oil. Make a chart with at least three different kinds of oil.