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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Aaron Approaches God With Care

Tags

Aaron, Children of Israel

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

When Aaron entered the holy place of God he was to wear the names of the twelve sons of Israel on a breastplate which was to be placed on his heart. Aaron was to be thinking of the children of Israel when he came before God. He was also to approach God with care.    

Discussion Questions:

• What does it mean by the judgment of the children of Israel?
• Why would wearing the names of the sons of Jacob help Aaron concentrate on the children of Israel?
• Why was it important for Aaron to concentrate on the children of Israel when he approached God?
• What does it mean to approach God with care?

Creative Thinking Questions:

• Why do you think that it would be more effective to place each of the twelve names of the sons of Jacob on the breastplate rather than just write “the sons of Jacob” or “the children of Israel”?
• If you were Aaron what would you do in order to properly “approach God with care”?

Activities for Homeschooling and After-Schooling:

• Aaron was told to come with care before God. This referred to going before God into a special place. Should we treat going before God any differently?
• Aaron was to bear the judgment of the children of Israel. Should we bear the judgment of others? If so, whose and under what circumstances?
• Aaron walked into a special place to be with God. Go to two or three houses of worship in your community and ask about how the people and the clergy talk to God. Note any differences between the religions.
• Why do you think that Aaron wore the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart and not on his head?
• Write a journal entry for Aaron describing how he prepared to enter God’s holy place.
• Find the accounting of how Aaron was to approach God in the book of Exodus and write out an accounting, in bullet points, of what he had to do.
• Aaron carried a heavy responsibility. Do you think that anyone was jealous of him? If so describe why.
• This description of how Aaron was to approach God is in the book of Exodus. Why do you think it is included in this book of the Bible?

Do Clothes Make the Person?

Tags

Aaron

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

The wise-hearted people of the children of Israel were told to make special clothes for Aaron, who was to become the high priest, so that he would be holy. 

Discussion Questions:

• There is an expression, “The clothes make the man.” What does this mean? Do you agree with it?
• The wise-hearted people of the children of Israel were to make special clothes for Aaron. Why would God ask that he wear special clothes?
• Can we speak to God in our everyday clothes? Does it matter what we wear? Do you think that Aaron was different?

Creative Thinking Questions:

• Create a list of times when it is justified to have a dress code only for certain people.
• Explain why you think that it is okay or not okay for God to distinguish Aaron with special clothing.
• What is the difference, if any, of God giving Aaron special clothing and Jacob giving Joseph a special tunic?

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Do you think that Aaron would be a less effective priest to God if he didn’t have special clothing. Explain your reasoning.
• Design an emblem that would be appropriate for an organization that you belong to.
• Describe a situation in which you felt that you were dressed inappropriately. Explain how you felt.
• Why do people care about how they are dressed?
• Aaron’s clothes were designed by God. Write a journal entry for Aaron explaining how this made him feel.
• Design a piece of clothing that would help you pray to God.
• Write a poem or a song to describe how you would feel putting on a piece of clothing for the first time that was designed by God especially for you.
• Why do we sometimes like new clothes better than old clothes and yet want to buy new clothes?

The Children of Israel are United!

Tags

Children of Israel

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

It must have been awesome to hear all of the children of Israel answer together that they would follow all that God had spoken.

Discussion Questions:

• What does the word awesome mean?
• What does it mean that all the people responded with “one voice”?
• What do you think it would be like to hear a lot of people answer together the same response?
• What makes it so special that all the children of Israel answered together?
• If someone does something that you asked them to do, does it really matter if they did it by choice or if they were forced in some way to do it?

Creative Thinking:

• There were hundred’s of thousands of children of Israel. Would it really have mattered if a few did not reply the same way? Explain.
• What is the difference between responding with “one voice” and responding “together”?

Activities for Homeschooling and Afterschooling:

• Come up with a statement that you think would be easy to get ten people to agree with. Now try to get ten people to agree with your statement. Was it as easy as you thought? Why or why not?
• Come up with a statement that you think will be hard to get ten people to agree with. Now try to get ten people to agree with your statement. Was it as difficult as you thought? Why or why not?
• Try to get someone to agree to do something without telling them what you are going to ask of them. Was this hard to do? Why?
• The children of Israel agreed to follow God’s words. Do you think that they would have followed the words if they came from Moses?
• At this time the children of Israel were really united. Make up a campaign to unite your neighborhood, school, class, family, or some other unit to do something worthwhile. Describe how you are going to get your group to do your project.
• Get together a group of about ten people and have them say a poem altogether. Is it hard for everyone to say the words at the same time?
• Write a story about everyone in your country saying something together at the same time.
• Write a list of things that you do by choice and a list of things that you do because you have to.
• How is it different to do something because you feel that you have to and doing the same thing out of free choice?
• Write a journal entry for God explaining how He felt when everyone responded together that everyone would follow His words by choice?

No Cursing in My House

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

Discuss:

• What does it mean to curse someone?
• Is cursing someone the same as talking negatively?

Creative Thinking:

• Come up with three ways of criticizing your government (local or federal) on something that you are not happy with in a constructive way.
• How is cursing God the same as cursing a leader?
• Do you think that it is okay to curse a leader that is not of “your people”?
• Explain the differences between cursing a friend, a leader, God, and your parents.

Bible Homeschool Activities:

• Write about a leader that you admire.
• Write about a leader that you do not agree with.
• Think of 10 questions that you would like to pose to a current leader that you do not agree with.
• Think of 10 questions that you would like to pose to God about decisions that you think He made that you do not agree with.
• Write about “your people”.
• Create a flyer explaining why people should not curse their leader.
• Create a flyer explaining why people should not curse God.
• Explain any differences that you would have between a flyer getting people to refrain from cursing their leader and a flyer dissuading people from cursing God.

How Much Compensation Is Fair?

Tags

compensation, law

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

God gives laws to the children of Israel. These laws include how much compensation is to be given for an animal eating from a neighbor’s field or vineyard.

Discuss:

• What kind of punishments are given today for people taking what isn’t theirs?
• What does it mean to be fair?
• What makes a punishment a fair punishment?
• Is letting your livestock eat from someones field the same as stealing? Explain.

Creative Thinking:

• Name three valid reasons that someone would let their livestock loose in a field or vineyard that they did not own.
• Name three invalid reasons that someone would let their livestock loose in a field or vineyard that they did not own.
• Pick five law violations and write compensatory consequences that you think would be fair.
• Imprisonment is a threat for most crimes today. Explain why you think that imprisonment or repayment of goods is a better punishment.

Homeschool Activities:

• In the case given in the Bible livestock took something that did not belong to it. If a minor child steals from a store should the parent or the child be responsible for payment? Explain.
  • What should be done if the parent or the child did not have the money to repay the owner?
• In the Bible the children of Israel are told that if their cattle eat from someone else’s field they are to compensate from the best of their field. Why do you believe that it is fair, or not fair, to have to compensate with what could be a higher level of produce and therefore worth more money?
• If you have any farms or vineyards near you go for a visit and see if you can help pick some produce.
• Pick three different kinds of produce and state what you should look for that makes each one the best quality possible.
• The Bible does not talk about people going to jail. Research when and why jails were instituted.
• Choose three kinds of livestock and find out what they like to eat.
• Write a defense for a farmer claiming that another farmer did not compensate him with the best of his produce.

Check out all of the law given to the children of Israel in the desert via Moses by God in Enjoying Exodus: The Bible in Rhyme.

Does it Matter How We Get to the End Product?

Tags

altar, book of Exodus, Children of Israel, God

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

God told the children of Israel to build an altar. However, he told them that if they used a sword in building the altar, it would desecrate it 

Discuss:

• What does it mean to be desecrated?
• If you are told to build a house, does it matter what tools you use? If it doesn’t matter why did God care if the children of Israel built an altar using a sword?
• Can any item be used for both good and bad?

Creative Thinking:

• Are swords “instruments of war” or “instruments used in war”? Make a list of points for each side of the argument.
• Why would God say not to use a “sword” rather than saying “an instrument of war”?
• If you take the ‘s’ from sword and put it at the end of the word you get “words’. What is the relationship between a sword and words?
• Think of at least five ways to suggest making a desecrated altar holy.

Homeschool Bible Activities:

• Make a list of tools that would be acceptable to God to make an altar.
• Make a list of tools that would probably not be acceptable to God to make an altar.
• Explain why building an altar to be used in the service of God should be pure from the start.
• Find other verses in the Bible with “sword” in them.
• Think of at least five reasons that God would care what tools were used to create an altar.
• Research the origin of the sword.
• In what things today does it matter how you get to a final purpose?
• What were the advantages of using a sword in war?
• Research how various altars were used in different religions and /or in different countries.
• God cared what the children of Israel used to make the altar. Try to justify to God using a sword that was never used in war?

Does Being in Awe of God Reduce Sin?

Tags

Children of Israel, God, Moses

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

The children of Israel are afraid to listen to God. They did not want God to speak to them directly. They asked Moses to tell them whatever God wanted them to hear. Moses tells them not to be afraid, God wants the children of Israel to be in awe of Him so that they will not sin.

Discuss:

• What does it mean to be in awe of someone?
• What does it mean to be in awe of God?
• What kinds of people are other people in awe of?
  • Why do you think that this happens?
• What does it mean to be elevated?
• What does it mean to sin?

Creative Thinking:

• Make a list of reasons that causes people to sin.
• Make a list of reasons that stops people from sinning.
• Make a list of things which elevate you as a person.

Homeschool Activities:

• Is sinning related to religion? Explain your point of view.
• God was trying to help the children of Israel from sinning. Create a media campaign to help people not sin. Use at least three of the following media:
  • twitter
  • Facebook
  • sermon
  • face-to-face talk
  • flyer
  • brochure
  • emails
  • TV commercial
  • radio commercial
•  Is it a sin to be in awe of another person? Defend your point of view.
• Is it the same thing to be in awe of another person and to be in awe of God? Explain.
• Do you ever want to do something that is considered a sin? Write about what would stop you from sinning.
• The children of Israel were afraid to hear God directly.  They wanted Moses to tell them whatever God wanted to convey. Can you get the same message through a mediator? Explain your position.
• If God wanted to talk to the children of Israel did they have any right to tell Moses that they didn’t want to hear God directly?

Is Moses Naive to Trust the Children of Israel?

Tags

Children of Israel, God

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

Moses told the children of Israel to stay away from the mountain and then he climbed up to be with God. Once he was up on Mount Sinai, God told him to go down and to tell the people to stay away from the mountain so that they would not die. Moses said that the children of Israel would not go near the mountain because they had already been warned to stay away.   

Discussion Questions:

• Do you get annoyed when you are told something more than once?
• Should we trust that people listen to what we say and not repeat our warnings?
• Moses trusted the children of Israel. What does it mean to trust someone?

Creative Thinking:

• Make a list of times when you should trust people and a list of times when you should not. What is the defining difference?
• What could be some of reasons that God would tell the children of Israel not to touch Mount Sinai at this time?

Homeschool Activities:

• What is the difference between cannot and may not? Explain in context of the children of Israel touching Mount Sinai.
• Was Moses naive to trust the children of Israel?
• God said that the mountain was to be holy and that the children of Israel should stay away from it. Why do you think that the children of Israel were told not to touch the mountain?
• Moses trusted the children of Israel not to touch the mountain. Why do you think that he trusted them?
  • Do you think that they deserved his trust? Explain.
• Write a letter to Moses and God describing why they should believe that you will heed their warning.
• Create a flyer to give out to the children of Israel warning them not to touch the mountain.
• The children of Israel were told that the mountain was holy. Explain what holiness is.
• Today there are signs by hydro stations warning people to stay away. But, every year people are hurt because they touch hydro lines. Compare this with the warning to the children of Israel by God through Moses that they were not to touch the mountain.

It is almost Father’s Day! Check out Cards & Toasts for Father’s Day for ideas of what you can write or say to your dad to make this a meaningful Father’s Day.

Unity and Obedience From the Children of Israel

Tags

Children of Israel

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

After God told the children of Israel that they should listen to His voice and follow His covenant they responded that they would do whatever God asked of them. 

Discussion Questions:

• Is it usual to say that you will do what someone asks when you don’t know what will be asked of you?
• Have you ever agreed to do something before knowing what was going to be required? How did it work out?
• Do you think that you have the same point of view as a whole group of people? How does it feel?

Creative Thinking:

• Do you think that the world would be a better place if everyone had one point of view? Explain.
• How would the world be different if everyone followed all the laws?
  • Would this solve all of the world’s problems? Why or why not?

Homeschooling Activities:

• Try to get someone to agree to do whatever it is that you are about to ask of them without revealing what you are about to ask.
  • Was it hard to find someone who would blindly agree to your request?
  • Now try to get a whole group of people to agree to do whatever it is that you are about to ask of them without revealing what you are about to ask.
    • How much harder was this than just convincing one person?
• What do you think it would be like if your whole country or everyone of your religion had one point of view?
• Make a chart with ten different groups (such as your city, religion, sports club). Beside each group mark off if you can say that there is something of significance that everyone in the group can agree on. For the groups that have a view point in common write down what they agree on.
• Try doing everything that your parents ask of you for one week. Describe the experience.
• Describe a point of view that your immediate family agrees on very strongly.
• Describe a point of view that your immediate family disagrees on strongly. Describe the different points of view.
• Write a speech to try and get people to hold your point of view about something that you really care about.