GENESIS 

Chapters 34 and 35 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 34 and Chapter 35.

Chapter 34
Verses 1-3      Shechem commits a crime against Dinah.
Verse 4           Shechem wants to marry Dinah.
Verse 5           Jacob learns of the crime against his daughter.
Verses 6-12    Shechem’s father asks Jacob to give Dinah to his son as a wife.
Verses 13-17  The sons of Jacob make an agreement with Shechem’s father.
Verses 18-24  Shechem and his dad present the agreement to the men of their city and all agree.
Verses 25-29  While the men of the city were recovering from the circumcisions, Simeon and Levi kill every male in the city. They take the women and children hostage and plunder all their goods.
Verses 30-31  Jacob is not happy with Simeon and Levi and he fears for his life.

Chapter 35
Verse 1          God tells Jacob to go to Bethel.
Verses 2-4     Jacob tells his family and all in his house to get rid of the idols and purify themselves.
Verses 5-7     Jacob travels to Bethel in safety.
Verse 8          Rebekah’s nurse dies.
Verses 9-10   God tells Jacob his name is now Israel.
Verses 11-15 The promises given to Abraham and Isaac are also given to Jacob.
Verses 16-20 Rachel dies in childbirth as she gives birth to Benjamin.
Verses 21-22 Reuben sleeps with Bilhah (Rachel’s maidservant).
Verses 23-26 A list of the 12 sons and who their mothers were.
Verses 27-29 Isaac dies. Jacob and Esau bury their father.

Discussion:
-- Have you been the victim of a crime? How did you handle it? Did you avenge yourself by committing a crime against that person? Did you take the law into your own hands?
-- Dinah was hanging out with the wrong people. Does that justify what happened to her?
-- Who do you blame when bad things happen to you? Do you forgive those who have wronged you?
-- Jacob was more concerned with his reputation than his daughter’s. What should he have done?
-- The 2 brothers killed all the males in that city – did that punishment fit the crime?
-- Jacob orders the family to “clean up”. Was that enough? Did anyone confess their sin or ask for forgiveness?

Children Discussion:
-- What kind of punishment should you get when you disobey? Time out? Spanking? Loss of privileges?
-- Does punishment help you to obey?
-- Is it better to just obey?

GENESIS 

Chapters 32 and 33 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 32 and Chapter 33.

Chapter 32
Verses 1-5     Jacob sends a message to Esau.
Verses 6        Esau sends a message back.
Verses 7-8     Jacob is afraid of Esau and divides his family and flocks into 2 camps so that one will be spared if the other is attacked.
Verses 9-12    Jacob prays for safety.
Verses 13-21  Jacob prepares his gifts for Esau.
Verses 22-32  Jacob wrestles with God. God changes his name to Israel.

Chapter 33
Verses 1-3      Jacob divides up the women and children into 3 camps. The ones he loves the most are last.
Verses 4-7      Jacob and Esau meet. Esau meets the family.
Verses 8-11    Esau doesn’t want the gifts from Jacob but Jacob insists.
Verses 12-15  Esau wants them to all travel together but Jacob comes up with reasons why they can’t. Jacob agrees to meet up with Esau later.
Verses 16-17  Esau goes off in one direction and Jacob goes in another – Jacob is not going to meet up with Esau – he deceives him again.
Verses 18-20  Jacob buys a piece of land.

Discussion:
--Jacob is returning home and knows he will run into Esau. Jacob remembers the death threats and comes up with a plan to soften Esau’s heart. Do you think Esau still wanted to kill him?
--Jacob tries to buy Esau’s forgiveness. How do you ask for forgiveness? Is a gift necessary?
--Jacob prayed to God for safety and then he lies to protect himself. Do you take matters into your own hand? Do you trust God or yourself?

Child Discussion:
--Does your family have reunions?
--What’s it like seeing people you haven’t seen in a long time?

GENESIS 

Chapter 31 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 31.

Verses 1-3    Jacob notices that things are not going well with Laban and his sons.
Verses 4-13  Jacob tells Rachel and Leah all that has been going on.
Verses 14-16 Rachel and Leah agree with Jacob.
Verses 17-18 Jacob packs up all that he has.
Verse 19        Rachel steals her father’s idols.
Verses 20-21 Jacob and his family secretly leave Laban.
Verses 22-25 Laban pursues Jacob and finds him. But Laban had a dream where God spoke to him.
Verses 26-30 Laban wants answers – why did they leave and why did they steal his idols?
Verses 31-32 Jacob explains why they left secretly and tells Laban he can search for his idols amongst their belongings.
Verses 33-35 Laban searches everywhere and can’t find the idols. Rachel sits on the idols and makes an excuse for not getting up to be searched.
Verses 36-42 Jacob is very angry and gives Laban a tongue lashing.
Verses 43-55 Jacob and Laban make a peace agreement.

Discussion:
Jacob could tell that things had changed – Laban was jealous. Has anyone been jealous of you? How did it make you feel?
Have you been jealous of someone? Why?
God told Jacob to leave but He didn’t tell him to do it secretly. Did Jacob think that God would not protect him from Laban?
Have you had to do something in secret? Why?
Rachel stole idols from her father – if an idol can be stolen, does it really have any power?
Rachel also lies about it. Does it seem like Jacob had any kind of godly influence in his family?
Laban believed in idols and yet he made an agreement with Jacob with God as the witness. Was God just another “idol” to Laban?

Child Activities:
Collect some items (rock, toy, etc.)
Hold each one up – is it silly to pray to a rock (or toy, etc.) for help?
(gives a visual for children to see that man made idols are nothing)

GENESIS 

Chapters 29 and 30 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 29 and Chapter 30.

Chapter 29:
Verses 1-14  Jacob meets Rachael.
Verses 15-30  Jacob makes a business agreement with Laban in exchange for marriage to Rachel. Laban tricks Jacob and gives him Leah. Another agreement is made so that he can have Rachel also.
Verses 31-35  Leah starts having children – has 4 sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah). Then she stops having children.

Chapter 30:
Verses 1-8  Rachael has not been able to bear children yet. She gives her maid to Jacob and she has 2 sons (Dan and Naphtali).
Verses 9-13  Not to be outdone, Leah gives her maid to Jacob and she bears 2 sons (Gad and Asher).
Verses 14-21  Rachael makes a deal with Leah. Leah bears more children for Jacob (Isachar, Zebulun and Dinah).
Verses 22-24  Rachael finally has a child for Jacob (Joseph).
Verses 25-43  Jacob makes another deal with Laban – this time he wants to start his own flock. Jacob comes up with a plan to get more lambs.

Discussion: 

Are you married or engaged?
Was it love at first sight when you met each other?
Did you have a long engagement or a short one?
Obviously Leah knew she wasn’t the one that Jacob was supposed to marry – did she agree with Laban to do this? Was Laban just trying to get rid of his daughters?
Jacob worked 14 years to get the woman he loved. Have you ever had to go above and beyond for the one you love?
Leah had 4 sons before she started praising the Lord (Genesis 29:35). Are you praising God in the midst of your trials?
Rachael finally has a son but she wants more – she was not satisfied with what she had. Are you satisfied with what you have? Why or why not?
Jacob did not have to agree to have children with the maids – but he did. What might have been his reasoning? What do you think it was like for the women?

Child Activities:
Coloring pictures of sheep and goats – make them speckled and spotted.

GENESIS 

Chapters 27 and 28 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 27 and Chapter 28.

Chapter 27
Verses 1-4  Isaac tells Esau to make him some savory food and that he wants to bless him before he dies.

Verses 5-17  Rebekah overhears Isaac talk to Esau and comes up with a plan for Jacob to get the blessing instead.

Verses 18-26  Jacob brings the food to Isaac and convinces him that he is Esau.

Verses 27-29  Isaac blesses Jacob with the blessing he was going to give Esau.

Verses 30-36  Esau shows up with the food he has made and finds out that Jacob beat him to it.

Verses 37-40  Isaac gives a blessing to Esau.

Verses 41  Esau plans to kill his brother once their father is dead.

Verses 42-45  Rebekah tells Jacob to go to her brother Laban. Rebekah may have thought Esau would calm down in a few days.

Verses 46-48  Rebekah creates a situation to manipulate Isaac into sending Jacob away.

Chapter 28
Verses 1-5  Isaac sends Jacob to Laban to find a wife.

Verses 6-9  Esau sees that his father disapproves of his 2 Canaanite wives, so he adds another wife from Ishmael’s family (Isaac’s half brother).

Verses 10-12  Jacob has a dream of a ladder to heaven and angels going up and down the ladder.

NOTE: The ladder created a bridge from heaven to earth.
The cross is the bridge from earth to heaven. Jesus showed us the way to heaven.

Verses 13-15  God speaks to Jacob in his dream – gives him the promise that was given to Abraham and Isaac.

Verses 16-17  Jacob wakes up and realizes that he was in the presence of God.

Verses 18-22  Jacob makes a vow and anoints the stone that was used as his pillow.

Discussion:
How does it feel when someone tricks you?
Have you tried to trick someone?
Has anyone made you a promise? Did they keep it?
Have you made a promise to someone? Did you keep it?
God had a plan for Jacob but Rebekah decided to hurry it along. Have you tried to hurry God along?
What were the consequences of that?

Child Activities:
Furry fabric (to drape on one of the children to create hairy neck and arms)
Blindfold
Have a child put on the blindfold. Then have one of the children put on the furry fabric. See if the blindfolded child can guess who is wearing the furry fabric.

Crafts:
Make a paper (or cardboard) ladder tall enough to reach the ceiling.
Cut out angel figures and attach (glue or staple) to the ladder.

GENESIS 

Chapter 26 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 26.

Verses 1-6  There is a famine in the land and God tells Isaac not to go to Egypt, but to stay in Gerar.

Verses 7-11  Isaac tells a lie to protect his wife (just like his dad). Isaac had faith to trust God in the famine. Isaac had faith to pray for children (Chapter 25). But, he did not have faith that God would protect his wife. Isaac’s lie gets discovered when the king sees him being affectionate to Rebekah. Abimelech calls him out on the lie.

Verses 12-16  Isaac prospers in the land, so much so that the Philistines envy him and Abimelech asks him to leave.

Verses 17-18  Isaac leaves the area and digs up the wells that were from the time of his father.

Verses 19-22  Apparently Isaac didn’t move far enough away and his servants and the herdsmen of Gerar quarrel over the water rights. Eventually they find water that no one is arguing over.

Verses 23-25  Isaac goes to Beersheba and God speaks to him there repeating the covenant that He made with Abraham.

Verses 26-31  Abimelech shows up and wants to make a treaty with Isaac (he sees how God has blessed Isaac).

Verses 32-33  The servants dig another well and find water.

Verses 34-35  Esau takes 2 wives of the Hittites and this upsets Isaac and Rebekah.

Discussion:
What are you afraid of?
Do you have something so special that you can’t trust anyone with it – not even God?
What do you think will happen to it?
Have you worried about something and nothing happened?
Does worrying help?
If you make a mistake, do you tell your children?
Are you teaching them to do what you say but not what you do?
Do your words and actions match up?
What has happened in your life to confirm that you are where God wants you to be?
If you don’t have confirmation, what can you do about it?

Children Discussion:
Have you told a lie to protect someone? What happened?
Do you have enemies? Why are they enemies? Can you make a treaty with them?
Does your behavior upset your parents? What can you do about that?

GENESIS 

Chapter 25 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 25.

Verses 1-6  Abraham marries Keturah and they have 6 sons. Abraham gave gifts to all his sons but to Isaac he gave all that he had. Abraham’s other sons were sent away from Isaac. In later years these other sons would become nations that will give Israel trouble.

Verses 7-11  Abraham dies at the age of 175. Isaac and Ishmael bury their father with Sarah.

Verses 12-18  The genealogy of Ishmael – he had 12 sons. Ishmael lived to the age of 137.

Verses 19-28    Isaac and Rebekah were married for 20 years before they had children. Isaac prays for his wife. Rebekah gives birth to twin sons. Esau was the first born and Jacob was second. Isaac’s favorite was Esau and Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.

Verses 29-34  Esau sells his position in the family (firstborn) because he was hungry and too tired to make anything for himself. He decided a meal was more important than his position in the family.

Discussion:
Abraham’s favorite son was Isaac.
Isaac’s favorite son was Esau. Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.
Jacob’s favorite son was Joseph. (Chapter 37:3)
Favoritism seems to run in this family . . .

Do you have a favorite child? Why is one favored over the others? Do you think your children know that you have a favorite?
Did your parents have a favorite? Was it you? If it wasn’t you, how did that make you feel? Did it cause sibling rivalry?

Children Discussion:
Is it important to pray for people (like Isaac did for Rebekah)?
Do parents have a favorite child? Is that fair?
If you are the oldest child in your family, would you trade places with a younger sibling (like Esau did)?
Did Esau make a good choice? What would you have done?

Activity:
Ask each child if they need prayer about something.
Assign prayer partners and have them pray for each other.
Write down the prayer needs and watch as they get answered.

GENESIS 

Chapter 22, 23 and 24 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 22, Chapter 23, and Chapter 24.

Chapter 22:
Verses 1-19  Abraham is tested by God and he passes the test! (Note: It has been said that Isac was about 33 years old at this time – he was not a child.)
Verses 20-24  Abraham hears about the children born to his brother Nahor. (this will be important when we get to chapter 24)

Chapter 23:
Verses 1-2  Sarah dies.
Verses 3-20  Abraham negotiates with the sons of Heth for a burial place for Sarah.

Chapter 24:
Verses 1-4  Abraham makes his servant swear that he will find a wife for Isaac but not from the Canaanites.
Verses 5-9  The servant is concerned that the woman will not go with him. However, Abraham does not want the servant to take Isaac with him. If the woman will not go with him, then he will be released from the oath.
Verses 10-14  The servant loads up the camels and travels to Mesopotamia (where Abraham’s brother Nahor lives – see chapter 22: 20-24) The servant prays for a sign from God to show him which woman he should ask for Isaac.
Verses 15-25   The servant meets Rebekah and the servant sees the sign that he had asked God for. The servant gives Rebekah the gifts he has brought for her.
Verses 26-27  The servants thanks God for answering his prayer.
Verses 28-30  Rebekah tells her family about the servant and shows them her gifts.
Verses 31-33  Laban greets the servant and invites him in.
Verses 34-49  The servant tells them about his mission.
Verses 50-51  Laban and Bethuel agree and give Rebekah to the servant.
Verses 52-53  The servant worships God for answered prayer again and gives more gifts to Rebekah.
Verses 54 – 61  The servant and Rebekah and her nurse depart to make their way back to Abraham.
Verses 62-67  Rebekah and Isaac meet and become husband and wife.

Discussion:
God does not approve of child sacrifice. Did Abraham know that? Did Abraham have faith that God would give Isaac back to him? Why did Isaac go along with it?

Isaac must have had faith, belief and trust as he allowed Abraham to bind him. What do you think they talked about on the way to the mountain? While on the mountain? On the way home?

Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac. Do you think it was a coincidence that the servant found Rebekah? Do you think that God guided the servant to Rebekah? Rebekah goes with a stranger, to an unknown land – do you think she trusted God?

Abraham prayed that God would go before his servant and select a bride for Isaac. His prayer was answered! Does God answer prayers? Is the answer always yes? Can the answer be no?

Children Activities:
Have someone be the “servant” and someone else be “Rebekah”. Have “Rebekah” hide and then have the children look for her. Give hints to point the way.

Wedding celebration! Have a party with wedding themed plates, cups, etc.

GENESIS 

Chapters 18, 19 & 20 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 18, Chapter 19, and Chapter 20.

Chapter 18:
Verses 1-8  Three men visit Abraham.
Verses 9-15  The men tell Abraham that Sarah will give birth to a son.
Verses 16-21  The men tell Abraham the plans for Sodom and Gomorrah.
Verses 22-33  Abraham asks the Lord to spare the city for the sake of the righteous people in it. He starts out at 50 and works down to 10. The Lord will not destroy the city if there are 10 righteous people in it.

Chapter 19:
Verses 1-3  Two men go to Sodom and Lot invites them to his house for the night.
Verses 4-11  The men of the city want the 2 visitors to come outside – they want to engage in sinful activities with them.
Verse 8  Lot offers his daughters to the men outside but they want the visitors.
Verses 12-17  The visitors tell Lot to take his family and leave the city – to flee to the mountains.
Verses 18-20  Lot doesn’t want to go to the mountains – asks to go to a nearby city instead.
Verses 21-25  The visitors will not destroy the city until Lot and his family reach their destination.
Verse 26  Lot’s wife did not obey and becomes a pillar of salt.
Verses 27-29  Abraham sees the smoke. Not even 10 righteous people in Sodom & Gomorrah.
Verses 30-38  Lot and his daughters left Zoar and went to the mountains. The daughters get the idea to have offspring by their father to preserve his lineage.

Chapter 20:
Verses 1-2  Abraham lies again.
Verses 3-7  God speaks to Abimelech and protects Sarah.
Verses 8-10  Abimelech confronts Abraham.
Verses 11-13  Abraham gives his excuse.
Verses 14-16  Abimelech blesses Abraham.
Verses 17-18  God heals Abimelech, his wife and female servants so that they could have children.

Discussion:
Who were the 3 men? Angels? Why?
Have you ever entertained “angels”? What caused you to think they were angels? What did they share with you?
Have you prayed for your city?  Your county?  Your state?  Your country?
What would happen if your city was slated for destruction? Would there be at least 10 righteous people living there to stop it? Would you be one of them?
Have you ever stepped in to protect someone from harm? What did you have to sacrifice to do that? Have you ever stood up for someone’s rights against an angry crowd?
Lot did not instruct his wife and daughters in the way of the Lord. When the time came for him to lead them, they did not believe him and they did not obey. Are you a good example to your family? Do you spend time with them in the Word?
Abraham lies about his wife again – still has trouble trusting God even though God has rescued him before. Do you trust God? Do you think God won’t help you a 2nd time? Do you feel that you don’t deserve God’s help? Why? What would you have done if you were Abraham?

Children Discussion:
What would it be like to live in a city that was evil and did bad things all the time? Scary?
Lot’s wife did not want to leave and she looked back – what is a pillar of salt?

Child Activities:
Find a picture of a Pillar of Salt (google). 
Use small cardboard boxes to make houses.
Cut out "people".
Assemble houses and people together – preferably outside in a fire pit.
Have an adult set it on fire.
Have the kids be far away but still able to see the smoke (Abraham’s view).

GENESIS 

Chapters 15, 16, 17 & 21 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17 and Chapter 21.

Chapter 15:
Verses: 1-3  Abram asks God about an heir as he doesn’t have one. Would his heir be his servant?
Verses: 4-6  God says that the servant will not be his heir and that he will have descendants as numerous as the stars. Abram believed God.
Verses 7-21  God makes a covenant with Abram.

Chapter 16:
Veses 1-4  Sarai was impatient – decided to “help” God.
Verses 5-6  Sarai realizes her mistake and sends Hagar away.
Verses 7-14  Hagar flees from Sarai and has an encounter with an Angel of the Lord who tells her to go back and to name her son Ishmael.
Verse 15-16  Ishmael is born.

Chapter 17:
Verses 1-14:  God affirms His covenant with Abram and changes his name to Abraham.
Verses 15-22  God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah and tells Abraham that she will have a son and to name him Isaac.
Verses 23-27  Abraham circumcises all the males in his household.

We are skipping ahead to Chapter 21. We will continue with Chapter 18 in the next blog.

Chapter 21:
Verses 1-7  Sarah gives birth to Isaac. (Sarah is very old – similar to the age of a grandmother).
Verses 8-19  Ishmael scoffs at Isaac and Sarah tells Abraham to send him and Hagar away. God tells Abraham that it is OK – that he will make a nation out of Ishmael also. Hagar and Ishmael leave. They run out of water and believe that death is imminent. But God heard their cries and showed them were the water was.
Verse 20-21  Ishmael grows up and becomes an archer. Hagar finds a wife for Ishmael.
Verses 22-24  Abimelech is concerned that Abraham may go to war against him and wants a peace agreement.
Verses 25-34  Abimelech and Abraham work out the well rights.

Discussion:
Do you get impatient for the promises God has for you? Do you try to “help” God out? How did that turnout?

How impatient are you? Do you want things NOW? Do you understand that God’s timing is different than ours?

Do you think anything is too hard for God? Does everything need to have a human explanation? Do miracles still happen today? What does a miracle look like?

There are consequences when we run ahead of God. Sarah received the promise of God (Isaac) and now she had to deal with the consequences of her impatience (Ishmael). What would you have done?

Abram and Sarai were given new names. When you were younger, did you have a nickname? Is your nickname based on your behavior? Is it a form of your given name such as James/Jimmy? Which do you prefer? Why? As an adult, do you go by the nickname or your given name? Have you ever wanted to change your name – be known by something else? Why?

Discussion for Children:
When someone makes a promise to you, is it hard to wait for it to happen? Do you get impatient? Do you nag that person about the promise?

Sarah made a big mistake by not being patient. Has that happened to you?

Ishmael was jealous of Isaac. Are you jealous when Mom has a new baby? Why?

Crafts/Activities:
Cut out lots of stars.
Write names on the stars – have the kids think of everyone in their family (include cousins, etc.) If you have a family tree already done, use that to get lots of names.
Hang them from ceiling (if possible) to give the illusion of a night filled with stars.

GENESIS 

Chapter 12, 13 & 14 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 12, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14.

12: 1-9 Abram, Sarai and Lot leave the family and start traveling.

12:10-20 Abram tells his first lie (his way of protecting Sarai instead of trusting God). God protected Sarai.

13:1-18 Abram and Lot go their separate ways. Lot went in the wrong direction.

14:1-17 Lot gets captured and is rescued by Abram.
14:18-20 Abram meets Melchizedek – first mention of bread and wine (communion elements).
14:21-24 Abram refuses payment from the King of Sodom for his efforts.

Discussion:
Abram built an altar to God. What would that look like today?
Has God spoken to you? How did you respond?
Have you ever feared for your life? Was prayer the first thing you did, or the last?
Did your fear become reality or did you worry for nothing?

Families do quarrel and have conflicts among themselves. What causes the conflicts in your family? Are you able to work it out peacefully?

Have you had to rescue a family member because of their choices? Has anyone had to rescue you?

Abram won the battle but would not take anything that wasn’t his. Abram had the opportunity to get more but he refused. What would you have done? Would it have brought glory to God?

The tithe – the law had not been written yet. How did Abram know to tithe to Melchizedek? Were stories passed down from Cain and Abel about their offerings?

Abram lived in a land of idol worship – so who taught him about offering first fruits to God? How do you thank God?

Child Discussion:
Have you and your family moved to a different place?
Is it far from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins?
Was it scary to live in a new place and make new friends?
Have you told a lie? Who were you protecting?

Activities:
Have each child move to a different seat and “meet” the person sitting next to them.
Serve crackers and juice for snack.

GENESIS

Chapter 11

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 11 .

Chapter 11 starts off with everyone speaking the same language – not unusual as they all came from the same family.

Verses 1 – 4: Tower of Babel – making bricks to build a tower to heaven. Also note that they did not want to be scattered (verse 4)

The people were going down the wrong road . . . again. God had promised that He would never flood the earth again. So, He did something different.

Verse 5-9: Everyone spoke the same language until God changed it. Then they were scattered over the face of the earth.

Babel sounds a lot like babble – when someone is babbling, you can’t understand what they are saying.

God then focuses on Shem’s line (Shem honored his father and covered him – see chapter 9).

Verse 10-26: Genealogy of Shem

• Shem
• Arphaxad
• Salah
• Eber
• Peleg
• Reu
• Serug
• Nahor
• Terah

Terah's sons:  Abram, Nahor and Haran.
Verse 27: Haran’s son is Lot
Verse 29: Abram marries Sarai; Nahor marries Milcah (his niece)

Verse 31-32: Terah takes Abram, Sarai and Lot and goes to Haran. Note: the name Haran differs from the place called Haran

Discussion:
What would it be like if your siblings all spoke a different language?
What would it be like for the family to split and go off in different directions?
There were no maps or roads – how would they find each other later?
Why do you think they wanted to build such a tower?
Were they trying to reach God another way?
Were they going the same route as Adam and Eve?
Was their pride getting in the way of their relationship with God?
Do you have a family member that is walking with God but the rest won’t?
Or, do you have a family member that isn’t walking with God and the rest are?
Which family member are you?
Has a relationship with God caused a split in your family?

Activities for Children:
Using legos or blocks build a tall tower. See how high you can go. Could a tower ever reach to heaven?

Have each child make up their own “language” and then have them try to talk to each other in their own language. Is it fun or frustrating?

Coloring Pages:

To print out the coloring pages: Click on the image, select copy image, then paste the image onto a document (such as Word). You can make the image smaller or larger – then print.

GENESIS

Chapter 10

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 10

Verse 1: Noah’s 3 sons – Shem, Ham and Japeth

More genealogy!

• Japeth (verses 2-5)
• Gomer Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meschech, Tiras
• Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, Togarmah
• Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, Dodanim

• Ham (verses 6-20)
  
• Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan
• Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabtechah, Nimrod
• Raamah’s sons: Sheba, Dedan
• Mizraim’s sons: Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim
• Canaan’s sons: Sidon, Heth

• Shem (verses 21-31)
• Elam, Asshur, Aphaxad, Lud, Aram
• Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Gether, Mash
• Aphaxad son: Salah
• Salah son: Eber
• Eber’s sons: Peleg, Joktan
• Joktan’s sons: Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, Jobab

Each son settled in a different area.

Japeth – went northward and settled in regions around the Black and Caspian Seas (Europe & Asia). Coastland peoples (verse 5)

Ham – went southward – south and central Arabia, Egypt, east shore of Mediterranean Sea and east coast of Africa (Ethiopians, Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, African and Oriental people). Cities included Babel, Nineveh, Sodom & Gomorrah. (Verses 10, 11, 19)

Shem – went eastward (verse 30) Jews, Assyrians, Syrians, Elamites in north Euphrates Valley and it’s border. (Modern southwest Iran, eastern Iraq, Arabian peninsula, central Asia Minor) (Jesus will come through Shem’s line)

Discussion:
Each son went off in a different direction. The whole earth was theirs – they were the only living people. As their families grew, they would create nations. Reminds me of the early settlers coming to America to start a new nation. Then going westward – to the open prairies – to start a new life.
• Would it be hard to leave your parents, etc. to live in a faraway place?
• Have you come to a point in your life where you wish you could start new again?

With Jesus, you can! (2 Corinthians 5:17). You don’t have to move across the world, across the country or even across town. You can start anew right where you are. Look at the things that need to change and then start with one. One step at a time, one day at a time. When you have Jesus, you can’t fail.

Romans 6:6  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

Colossians 3:9-11   Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Crafts & Activities for Children:
Roll of brown craft paper or paper tablecloth
Crayons or markers
Legos or blocks

Cover a table with the brown paper or tablecloth. Draw roads, etc on the paper. Use the legos or blocks to build houses, etc and put them on the paper. Create a neighborhood or a city!

Using a large map of the world, find each place where Noah’s sons went to live.


Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

GENESIS 

Chapter 8 & 9 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 8
Click this link for Genesis Chapter 9

Chapter 8
Verses 1-5 – The rain stops.
Verses 6-12 – Noah sends out 2 birds – raven and dove (sends the dove out 3 times).
Verses 13-14 – Flood waters are gone – now dry land.
Verses 15-19 – God tells Noah to leave the ark (along with his family and all the animals).

They were in the ark for 1 year and 17 days. They spent 5 months of that floating and 7 months on the mountain.

Verses 20-22 - 1st thing Noah did when he got out of the ark was to build an altar. It was pleasing to God and He promises that He would never curse the ground or destroy all living things again.

Chapter 9
Verses 1-7 – God gives Noah and his family all the animals of the earth for food. He tells them to be fruitful and multiply.
Verses 8-17 – God establishes His covenant with Noah and gives him the rainbow as a sign of that covenant.
Verses 18-21 – Noah becomes farmer, plants a vineyard and makes wine. And gets drunk.
Verses 22-23 – Ham sees his father lying in his tent (naked) and tells his brothers. The brothers take a garment and walk backwards to cover their father – they did not see their father naked.
Verses 24-27 – Noah wakes up and sees what has happened. He curses the son who saw his nakedness and blesses the 2 sons who covered him.
Verses 28-29 – Noah lived to be 950 years.

Discussion:
• Noah and his family (and all the animals) were in “lockdown” on the ark for 1 year and 17 days. No leaving the ark, no shopping, no going to school or work, no going to church. What do you think it would be like to be stuck in your house for a year? To never be able to leave for the whole year?
• Would it cause depression?
• How would you use your time?
• Would it cause anxiety?
• Would you use the time to rest?
• It seems like the ark only had one window and it was probably closed during the storm. For me, this would be claustrophobic – how about you?
• Noah’s first act was to build an altar and worship God. What is the first thing you do after you have gone thru a trial?
• It took about 2 years for the grapevines to grow and provide grapes. Noah made wine and got drunk. One son witnessed it and told his brothers (gossip). When a family member or friend sins, and you witness it, what do you do?

Discussion with the children:
• Who would like to live on a boat?
• What do you think it was like to live on a boat with all those animals?
• Do you think Noah and his family were glad to get out of the ark?
• Have you seen a rainbow?

Crafts:
Various colors of construction paper – make a rainbow. 
Plain paper & crayons – draw and color a rainbow. 
To print out the coloring pages below: Click on the image, select copy image, then paste the image onto a document (such as Word). You can make the image smaller or larger – then print.

                 

 

Activity:

Take the people and animals off the ark you made for chapter 7 and celebrate with a party. Remember to thank God – the reason for the party.

GENESIS

Chapter 6 & 7 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 6.
Click this link for Genesis Chapter 7.

Story of the Flood

Chapter 6
Verses 1-7: God sees the evil that is on the earth.
Verse 8: The story of Noah begins.
Verses 9-10: Noah has 3 sons (Sham, Ham, Japheth)
Verses 13-22: God tells Noah to build an ark. (In Chapter 5:32, it tells us that Noah was 500 years old.) God gives very specific instructions for building the ark.

Chapter 7
Verse 1: God tells Noah to “come into the ark” (He did not say “go into the ark). God was already inside.
Verses 2-5: God gives Noah instructions for bringing in the animals.
Verse 4 tells us that Noah and everyone was in the ark for 7 days before it started to rain.
Verse 6: Noah is now 600 years old. It took a long time to build the ark!
Verse 7-15: Noah, his family and all the animals go into the ark. Verse 11 explains that not only did it rain but that the flood waters also came from the “deep” (underground).
Verse 16: God shut him in.
Verses 17-24: It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Every living thing that had breath died in the flood – all that was outside of the ark. Except for the fish – they did not die. Fish don’t have breath and they live in the water, so they were not included. The flood waters stayed on the earth for 150 days (about 5 months).

Discussion:
• It took Noah 100 years or so to build the ark. What do you think his neighbors were thinking when they saw it being built?
• Do you think that Noah may have been the object of ridicule? Have you been the object of ridicule because someone did not understand what you were doing?
• Have you ever felt that God wanted you to do something that you thought was impossible? What did you do?
• It took a miracle to get all those animals into the ark. How else would they know where to go? What about their behavior? Seems like the animals did not fight with each other.
• What do you think about miracles?

The ark only had one door – one way in and one way out. And God was on both sides of that door. Jesus said He is the door or gate to salvation – only one way to be saved. Which side of the door are you on?

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

Activities for Children:
Craft sticks (or Legos, blocks)
Glue
Plastic animals
Toy people

Have the children make a boat out of craft sticks, blocks or Legos. When finished, add the people and the animals.

Or, if you have a toy boat, fill it with the animals and people and float it in a pool or bathtub.

For a dramatic display of the flood put toy people and plastic animals in an empty bathtub. Plug the drain and then slowly add water. Add a toy boat with “Noah” and the animals. The toy boat will rise with the water (saving Noah, his family and the animals).

Coloring pages for younger children:





To print out the coloring pages: Click on the image, select copy image, then paste the image onto a document (such as Word). You can make the image smaller or larger – then print.


Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

GENESIS  

Chapter 5  

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 5

Chapter 5 deals with the genealogy from Adam to Noah. Notice how old each person is before and after the flood.

Adam – 930 years
Seth – 912 years
Enosh – 905 years
Cainan – 910 years
Mahalalel – 895 years
Jared – 962 years
Enoch – 365 years
Mehuselah – 969 years
Lamech – 777 years
Noah – 950 years (Genesis 9:29)
Shem – 600 years (Genesis 11:10-11)
Arphaxad – 438 years (Genesis 11:12-13)
Salah – 433 years (Genesis 11:14-15)
Eber – 464 years (Genesis 11:16-17)
Peleg – 239 years (Genesis 11:18-19)
Reu – 239 years (Genesis 11:20-21)
Serug – 230 years (Genesis 11:22-23)
Nahor – 148 years (Genesis 11:24-25)
Terah – 205 years (Genesis 11:32)
Abraham – 175 years (Genesis 25:7)
Isaac – 180 years (Genesis 35:28)
Jacob – 147 years (Genesis 47:28)
Joseph – 110 years (Genesis 50:26)

Notes:
Methuselah’s life overlapped that of Adam by 243 years and that of Shem (Noah’s son) by 98 years – thus forming a connecting link between the Garden of Eden and the post flood world.

Joseph and Mary both descended from David through his sons:
Joseph from Soloman (Matthew 1:1-16)
Mary from Nathan (Luke 3:31)

Look at the names of each person:

Adam = man
Seth = is appointed
Enos (Enosh) = mortal
Cainan (Kenan) = sorrow
Mahalaleel = the blessed God
Jared = shall come down
Enoch = teaching
Methuselah – that his death shall bring
Lamech = the despairing
Noah = rest and comfort

Discussion:
Is it just a coincidence that the names spell out a promise from God?
What does your name mean?
God lists several family trees in the Bible. Why was that so important?
Have you created a family tree?
Have you had your DNA tested? Do you know where your ancestors originated?
Adam lived to be 930. Methuselah to 969 and Noah to 950. What do you think it was like to live that long?
People didn’t live as long after the floor – what happened?
We each have a legacy – good or bad. What is yours?

Activities for kids:
Work with the children to create their own family tree – grandparents, parents, themselves.

GENESIS
Chapter 4

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 4

• Adam & Eve have a baby (verses 1-2)
• Cain – 1st child mentioned (verse 1)
• Abel – 2nd child mentioned (verse 2)
• Seth – 3rd child mentioned (verse 25)

The first murder (verses 8-10)

God punishes Cain – he can no longer be a farmer (verses 11-12)
Cain leaves the family and goes far away. He also leaves God. He finds a wife, gets married and has children. But he no longer has God. (verses 16-18)

Story of Lamech – great great great grandson of Cain (verses 19-24)

• Cain
• Enoch (son)
• Irad (grandson)
• Mehujael (great grandson)
• Methushael (great great grandson)
• Lamech (great great great grandson)

Lamech marries 2 women (verse 19)
Both wives have children (verses 20-22)
Another murder (verses 23-24)

Discussion:
Can you imagine being a parent and having to deal with one child killing the other child?
Do you think Cain is happy? Why or why not?
Where did he get his attitude?
Was Cain really trying to please God?
Did Cain know what God required? Or did he just do his own thing?
What did Adam and Eve teach their kids about God? Is it the parent’s fault when the child does evil or bad things?
What do you think of his punishment?
Where did Cain get his wife? Did Adam and Eve have other children not mentioned?
What’s the story with Lamech? Why does he think he should get special treatment? What do you think Cain told him?



Crafts for the Children
poster board
cut outs of people (adults and children) see stick figures
construction paper
glue

Put the new poster board in a place across the room from the other poster. Indicates a place far away. Glue cutouts of Cain, his wife and children. Or have the children draw their own version.

Make a grave marker with the construction paper (could be a cross with Abel’s name). Put it somewhere on the poster that has Adam and Eve – indicates that Abel has died.

Glue a cutout of a child (Seth) next to Adam and Eve. Seth will be the start of something wonderful! Have the children try and guess what that will be. (Hint: Jesus will come from Seth’s descendants)

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

 GENESIS
Chapter 3

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 3.

• The serpent deceives Eve. (verse 1-5)
• Eve and Adam disobey God. (verse 6)
• They cover themselves with fig leaves. (verse 7)
• Adam and Eve hide from God. (verse 8-10)
• The blame game. (verse 11-13)
• The serpent gets cursed. (verse 14-15)
• Adam and Eve have consequences for their actions. (verse 16-19)
• Eve gets her name! (verse 20)
• God puts clothes on Adam and Eve. (verse 21)
• God takes Adam and Eve out of the garden. (verse 22-24)

Discussion:
Eve had everything – except one tree. Why do we always want the one thing we can’t have?
Why did God allow Satan in the garden?
We have free will. Why is that important to God?
Do you enjoy freedom of choice?
Would you want someone to love you if they are being forced to?
Adam wasn’t deceived. Why did he disobey?
Did Adam want Eve more than he wanted God?
Adam and Eve had a perfect world and it wasn’t enough. How do you view your world?
They tried to cover themselves but it wasn’t good enough. Why?
Do you believe that all choices have consequences?


Questions and Crafts for the Children
Is it easy to obey?
Have you disobeyed your parents?
Did you get caught?
Did you blame it on someone else?
Were you punished for it?

Crafts
Cutouts of boys and girls
Crayons
Construction paper
Poster board

Paper Dolls

Paper Doll Clothes



Print out the paper dolls and the doll clothes images. Have the children color the clothes and cut them out. Or, have each child make clothes for the cutouts using the construction paper.





To print out the images: Click on the image, select copy image, then paste the image onto a document (such as Word). You can make the image smaller or larger - then print.

Take Adam and Eve off the original poster and put them on the blank poster board. (leave room to add to it for future chapters).

                        



Cut strips of paper to represent fence posts and put them on the original poster. (see fence samples) This will show that the garden is now off limits to Adam and Eve.

GENESIS
Chapter 2

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 2

Starting off with verses 1-3, God rested on the 7th day.

The Bible is full of “Sevens”:
     Every 7th day is a Sabbath
     Every 7th year is a Sabbatical year.
     Every 7th Sabbatical year was followed by a Jubilee year
     7 weeks between Passover and Pentecost
     Passover feast lasted 7 days
     Tabernacles feast lasted 7 days
     Jericho fell after 7 priests with 7 trumpets, for 7 days marched around the wall. They marched 7 times on the 7th day.

Verses 4-5 tells us this is the history.

Here we find a man, a garden, animals, and a woman. God planted the garden and caused a mist to come up from the ground to water it. (Verse 6)

Verse 7 – God made man from dirt & breathed life into him. God made man before He rested on the 7th day (see Chapter 1:27-31). Here in chapter 2, it tells how He did it. God was personally involved when making man – got His hands “dirty” in forming us from the dust of the earth. We weren’t just something He spoke into existence. He lovingly crafted us – shaped us, molded us. He used His own breath to give us life (verse 7).

Adam is the only human created from dirt. All other humans come from other humans. God used only one man to create the rest of the humans.

Verse 8 – God puts man in the garden.
Verse 15 – Man is to take care of the garden.
Verse 17 – God gives man the one rule about the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil.
Verse 19 & 20 – God brings the animals to man so that he can name them.
Verse 21 & 22 – God made a woman from the man’s rib. Eve is not made from dirt. God used a part of Adam to make Eve.
Verse 24 – The first marriage.

Discussion Questions:
God created man and the animals from dirt (verse 19). Why do you think God used dirt?
How do you feel about rules? Do you make them or break them?

Crafts and Activities for the Children
Craft supplies:
Dirt, sand, red clay dirt
Bowl for mixing
Styrofoam cups – small planter pots
Seeds – all different
Cut out of a girl

Take the bowl and mix all the types of dirt together. Have the children pick up a handful of dirt.  Ask them: Can they make a man from dirt?

Fill the Styrofoam cups (or small planters) with dirt and plant seeds in it. Have each child plant a different type of seed. This will be the “garden”.

Use the poster made for Chapter 1 and have the children give each animal a name. Not the species name (such as horse, chicken, etc.) – that would be too easy. Have them give each animal their own made up name. What would they call a horse? They can see what it was like to have to come up with names for everything.

Take the cutout of the woman and put her on the poster with Adam. (See stick figure). Or have the children draw their own version.

Drawing page: Have the children draw different flowers coming up from the planters.



Ask the children what rules they need to obey.

GENESIS 

Chapter 1

We start our study with Genesis – the book of beginnings – and the first book of the Bible.  If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for the first chapter of Genesis:  Genesis Chapter 1

Genesis is an important book of the Bible. Well, actually, they are all important. But, with Genesis, we get to see our beginning – the VERY beginning of all things. It is crucial that we understand and believe Genesis Chapter 1. From it, we will build a foundation for our faith.

Genesis is derived from a Greek word meaning “origin” or “beginning”. Genesis will show us that our universe and all matter had a beginning and came into existence through the will of God. There a quite a few scriptures that backs this up:

Nehemiah 9:6
You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.

Job 26:7
He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.

Psalm 95:5
The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.

Psalm 102:25
Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Acts 14:15
and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,

2 Corinthians 4:6
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Genesis starts off with “In the beginning . . .” In the New Testament, the book of John also starts off with “In the beginning . . .” and goes on to explain that all things were made through God. (see John 1:1-5)

1st day – Created light – no source for the light yet – it was just there. (Verses 3-5)
2nd day – Created heaven – separated it from the earth. (Verses 6-8)
3rd day – Divided the earth into land & seas. Created grass, herbs & fruit trees. (Verses 9-13)
4th day – Created the sun, moon & stars (now the source of light). (Verses 14-19)
5th day – Created fish & birds. (Verses 20-23)
6th day – Created cattle & reptiles. Then God created man. (Verses 25-31)

On the 7th day, God rested (that is in Genesis chapter 2:1-3)

NOTE: God made the trees on the 3rd day, knowing that one day a tree would be cut down and its wood would be used for a cross – a cross that Jesus would die on for our sins. God created a solution before He even created man.

Discussion Questions:
1) What does living in darkness mean to you?
2) Do you prefer light or darkness? Why?
3) Does darkness cause fear?
4) What do you associate with darkness?
5) What do you associate with light?
6) When “darkness” overwhelms you (such as depression, tragic events, etc.) what do you do?
7) Are you able to find “light” during the dark times?
8) Do you have the Light (Jesus)?

Genesis starts out with God creating light and ends in Revelation with God being the light.
Genesis 1:3 – God said “let there be light”
1 John 1:5 – God is light, no darkness in Him
Revelation 21:23 – no need for the sun

CRAFTS & ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN

Craft Supplies:
Large poster board (one side black and the other side white)
Glue
Scissors
Crayons, colored pencils or markers
Construction paper (various colors)
Cutouts of animals, reptiles, fish & birds (or pictures from magazines)
Cardboard cutout of a man
Coloring pages (see below)

Day 1: Show the black side of the poster board – that is “darkness”. (verse 1-2) Discussion with children on living in darkness (fear of the dark). Then read verses 3-5 and flip the poster board over to the white side. Now we have light!

Day 2: Draw a line across the paper “dividing” it (making heaven – read verse 6-8). 1/3 of Poster board can be “heaven” and the rest will be “earth/land”.

Day 3: (Verses 9-10) Using blue construction paper cut out circles of “water” and put them on the bottom portion of the poster board (where “land” is). Leave room on the “land” portion for the rest of the scene. Cut out pictures of trees & flowers (verses 11-13) or draw them on the poster board.

(For younger children: coloring page 1) Color the 3 “water” images with blue and color the rest (“land”) with green crayons (grass). Trees & flowers: coloring page 3 & 5 

Day 4: Cut out the sun, moon and stars and glue them on the top portion of the paper. Read verses 14-19. (For younger children: Coloring page 2)

Day 5: Draw or cut out pictures of fish and birds and glue them to the appropriate sections of the poster board. (verses 20-23) (coloring page 4)

Day 6: Draw or cut out pictures of animals and reptiles and add to the picture you are creating on the poster board. Read verses 24-25. Then add the cut out of the man (verse 26-31).
For younger children: coloring pages: horse, tiger, chicken.

Finished picture shows the story of creation!

To print out coloring pages: Click on the image, select copy image, then paste the image onto a document (such as Word). You can make the image smaller or larger -  then print.

Coloring Page 1   

Coloring Page 2    

Coloring Page 3   

Coloring Page 4  

Coloring Page 5   

Coloring Page: Horse   

Coloring Page: Tiger   

Coloring Page: Chicken   

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

WELCOME!

Welcome to my Practical Application Bible Study blog. Have you ever wanted to take a stroll through the Bible, stopping along the way to see how it applies to your life today? Me too! My prayer is that you and your family will enjoy exploring all that the Bible has for you. This blog will include adult discussion questions and observations as well as craft ideas and activities for the children. Something for the whole family! Note: This is not a commentary on the Bible - just thoughts, questions, applications and ideas to help with your own study. So, grab a Bible, some paper and a pen or pencil (or crayon) and let’s get started!