The Children of Israel Have Faith in God and Moses

Tags

Children of Israel, Egypt, God, Moses

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

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Discussion Questions:

• The children of Israel had seen the “hand of God” before, during the plagues in Egypt, so why does it only say now that they had faith in God and in Moses?
• What does it mean to revere someone?
• What does it mean to be sincere?

Creative Thinking:

• Why would the splitting of the Sea of Reeds be a bigger miracle than the ten plagues?

Homeschool Activities:

• Do you revere anyone? Who is it and why do you revere him or her?
• Are you sincere about anything? What is it and why are you sincere about it?
• Do you have faith in anyone? Who is it and why do you have faith in him or her?
• Write what you think it would have been like to see the sea coming over the Egyptians at the Sea of Reeds.
• Explain the emotions that you think God felt when He drowned the Egyptians.
• Have you ever seen anything that could be considered the “hand of God”? What happened? Explain why you could describe it as the “hand of God”.
• Do you think that the Egyptians recognized that it was the “hand of God” which inflicted their death? Explain why or why not.

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Which is Better: Something Uncertain or Something Bad But Known? The Children of Israel Must Decide.

Tags

Children of Israel, Egypt, Moses

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

The children of Israel escaped into the desert. When they thought that they were free they saw the Egyptians coming after them. At this point they ask Moses if it would not have been better to serve as slaves in Egypt then be free in the wilderness where they believe that they will die.

Discuss:

• When is it better to struggle and when is it better to give up”?
• After the children of Israel saw all of the plagues in Egypt should they not have had faith that they could survive? Explain.

Creative Thinking:

• Explain to someone why you would rather stay a slave or take your chances in the wilderness as a free person.
• The children of Israel had left slavery in Egypt. Does this mean that they were free of all obligations? Describe what it means to be free.

Activities for Homeschoolers and Everyone Else:

• Describe how you decide if one thing is better for you than something else.
• Explain why the children of Israel would have been afraid that they were going to die in the wilderness.
• Do you think that the children of Israel should have had more faith that they could have survived? That Moses would help them? That God would help them?
• Research survival techniques that you would need to stay alive in the wilderness by yourself.
• Write a journal entry for Moses explaining how he feels when the children of Israel complain to him that they would have preferred to stay in Egypt.
• Write a speech that Pharaoh would broadcast on the radio to the children of Israel in the wilderness after finding out that they were complaining about leaving Egypt.
• Write a prayer from the children of Israel to God asking for help in the wilderness when they see the Egyptians coming after them.

Remembering Specific Days

Tags

Children of Israel, Egypt, Moses

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

Moses admonished the children of Israel not to forget the day that God took them out of Egypt.

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Discussion Regarding Remembering Specific Days:

• What is a holiday?
• Why would Moses tell the children of Israel to remember the day that God took them out of Egypt?
• Name some holidays and their origins.

Creative Thinking About Special Days:

• Describe what it would be like if there were no special days in the year.
• If you could create a holiday what would it be called and what would its purpose be?

Homeschooling Activities for Everyone – Homeschooled or Not:

• If we didn’t have holidays like Passover or Christmas, do you think that people would think about their origins? Defend your answer.
• Do you think that most people think about the origins of holidays, or just how they are celebrated?
• Why is it important to remember things that happened in the past?
• How does our memory work?
• What are the similarities and differences between our memory and the memory of a computer?
• Why is it important to mark specific days?
• What is the origin of the word holiday? Would the original name still be appropriate? Why or why not?
• Make a chart with two sides and write down points for why the children of Israel would remember leaving Egypt longer because Moses told them to remember the day and a side with reasons why the children of Israel would have remembered the day just the same had Moses not said anything.

The Children of Israel Must Save Themselves

Tags

Children of Israel, Egypt, God, plague

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

God promises the children of Israel that if they mark their doorposts He will pass over them and not kill their firstborn on His way to kill the firstborn of the Egyptians.

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Discuss the Children of Israel Marking Their Doorposts:

• Why would God tell the children of Israel to put blood on their doorposts? Would God not know where they live?

Creative Thinking About the Children of Israel Marking Their Doorposts:

• Name as many reasons as you can why God would have the children of Israel use blood to mark their doorposts.
• Name as many reasons as you can why God would have the children of Israel mark the doorpost as opposed to somewhere else.
• In which circumstances is it okay to leave everything up to God and when do we have to do something to help ourselves?

Homeschool Activities for Everyone:

• God gave the children of Israel a chance to save their firstborn. Write how God felt if one of the children of Israel did not mark his house with blood.
• If one of the children of Israel put blood on the lintel but only one door post what do you think happened? Why?
• God did not give the Egyptians a chance to save their firstborn. Do you think that He liked killing the Egyptians, was ambivalent, or did not like to do it at all? Explain your answer.
• Blood was used to mark the doorposts of the children of Israel. Research blood.
• Write a note of thanks to God for having your firstborn saved.
• Write a dialogue between a firstborn asking his father to put blood on the doorposts and the father refusing.
• This is the first plague that the children of Israel had a part to play. In all the other plagues God made a clear divide between the Egyptians and the children of Israel. Why do you think God now made the children of Israel do something to protect themselves?

The Plague of Locusts Expanded Throughout the Borders of Egypt

Tags

borders, Children of Israel, Egypt, locusts, plague

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

God said that He would spread locusts throughout the borders of Egypt, but no locusts would enter over the border to where the children of Israel lived.

Bible Study Tools

Discussion Questions About Borders:

• Why do countries have borders?
• Do you think that it is good that there are different countries or should we just be people of the world?

Creative Thinking Questions About Borders:

• Describe a world without borders.
• On what basis would you assign borders?
• Do you think that countries should still be allowed to change their borders?

Homeschool Activities for Homeschoolers and Non-Homeschoolers Alike:

• Are there any customs, food, or language that are specific to the country in which you live? If so, what are they?
• Are there any border disputes today in the world? If so where?
• God sent a plague of locusts throughout Egypt. Make a list of the harm that locusts can do.
• Write a journal entry for a locust in Egypt near the border with the children of Israel .
• Write a newspaper report from a reporter watching the Egyptian border from the side of the children of Israel.
• How would you mathematically figure out how many locusts it would take to fill the land of Egypt.
• There are no lines in the ground defining borders. What are the different ways that countries mark their borders?
• Countries are not the only places that have borders. Make a list of other borders.
• God sent locusts throughout the borders of Egypt as a plague. Research locusts.

A Divide Between the Egyptians and the Children of Israel

Tags

Children of Israel, Egypt, God, Pharaoh, plague

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

God created a plague. All the Egyptian livestock died from the plague. But, the cattle that belonged to the children of  Israel did not die.

Discussion Questions Related to Cattle Dying in Egypt From the Plague:

• Is it normal for cattle to die?
• Is it normal for disease to spread?
• If it is normal for disease to spread and cattle to die why was this plague exceptional?

Creative Thinking About Cows Dying in Egypt:

• If an Egyptian said to you that it was just coincidence that all the Egyptian cattle died and none of the cattle from the children of Israel died, how would you convince him that this was God’s doing?
• If you were an Egyptian cow and you went over to where the children of Israel lived, do you think you would be spared, or you would still die? Explain.

Homecshooling Activities for Even Non- Homeschoolers About Cattle Dying in Egypt From the Plague :

• Write a journal entry from a cow on the Egyptian side that sees all of the cattle around her is a dying.
• Write a journal entry from a cow on the side of the children of Israel that sees the cows dying on the Egyptian side but all the cows healthy on the Israelite side.
• Create a TV news broadcast standing right on the division line between the Egyptians and the children of Israel.
• Write a poem from a dying cow.
• Research a disease.
• Research death.
• What do you think happens to someone after they die?
• What do you think people would do with all the cows after they die?
• Do you think that the children of Israel realized at the time that all the cattle of the Egyptians were being killed and their cattle was being saved? If they knew do you think that they felt lucky that God didn’t kill any of their cattle from this plague? Why or why not?

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From the Times of Genesis Man Has Not Been Master of His Plans

Tags

Canaan, Egypt, famine, Isaac

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

(Those of you who follow my blog will notice two things. One I have not written as many blogs in the last few weeks and the last blog skipped a number of interesting points in the Book of Genesis. These two points are actually related. I have been finishing the last few touches on a number of books at once; one being Enjoying Genesis: The Bible in Rhyme. As a result I have not attended to the blog as often as I like and I made a mistake and jumped a number of issues that I wanted to raise. I apologize for anyone who has been waiting for blog posts to come out and I am going back a bit in the Book of Genesis to fill in on a number of interesting points. I don’t know if my plans of posting more and always having posts in order were changed by God or just my own mistakes, but it is important to note that we all make plans and they just don’t always work out the way that we expect.)

In Chapter 26 of the Book of Genesis Isaac decides to move to Egypt because of a famine in Canaan. However, God tells Isaac to stay in the land of Canaan and that God would be with him and bless him. God also said that He would give the land to Isaac and his offspring (just as He had told Abraham).

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Bible Talk

Discuss with your children:

• Sometimes our plans  do not work out.
  • How do people feel when their plans do not work out?
  • Is it sometimes for the best when this happens?
  • Unlike Isaac, we do not always know what changes our plans. Do you think that this is for the best?
• Isaac was told not to go to Egypt by God and he listened.
  • Do you listen when you are told to do or not to do something?
  • Do you listen to some people more than you do to others?
  • Why do you listen to some people more than others?

Creative Thinking:

• If God did not want Isaac to move away from Canaan why would He make a famine?
• If this was a test for Isaac, why did God feel He had to test Isaac?

 Homeschooling Projects:

• Make a plan to do something over the next few weeks. As you carry out your plan keep a chart of what goes the way that you expected and what changed.
• Isaac was told to stay in the land that He was to be given for himself and his offspring. Today we call this land Israel. Research the land and who lives there today. Are these people related to Isaac?
• Isaac wanted to go to Egypt to get food. Egypt is a neighbor of Canaan (today known as Israel). Research why Egypt would have food if its neighbor didn’t.
• Isaac was going to go to Egypt because there was a famine. Research what a famine is and if we still have famines in the world today.
• There were a number of famines in the Book of Genesis. Research what we do today to prepare for years with little rain.
• Isaac was told not to go to Egypt by God and he listened.  Often when we are told to change our plans we want to know why and the details of this change. Come up with ten questions that you would have liked to ask God related to being told not to leave Canaan if you were Isaac.