Archive for category: LivingEd – Youth

Sweet Publishing | FreeBibleImages.org

By Janth English

Read Together: The city of Babel was the beginning of Nimrod’s empire, and the beginning of mankind’s post-Flood attempt to govern himself apart from God. Nimrod led the people to build a very tall tower in rebellion against Him. But God was not pleased with their actions, so God decided to confuse the people’s language. They couldn’t share ideas and so they weren’t able to keep working on the tower. The word “Babel” itself means confusion, and you can imagine what happened when God confused the languages. Only those who spoke the same language could understand each other, and God divided the languages along family lines. People stayed with those they could understand, and they began to settle in their own territories as God wanted them to. Needless to say, work on the tower ceased. The Tower of Babel was never completed, but the attitude of mankind’s rebellion against God continues to this day.

Read Together: Genesis 11:1–9

Discuss:

• Ask what the people of Babel did to show their defiance toward God.
• Ask your child to imagine working on a group assignment when suddenly he or she could not understand anything other members of the team were saying. Would they be able to work together as a team? This is the same situation that occurred in Babel when God confused the languages.
• Point out to your child that God wants people to communicate and understand one another. This is why He will restore a pure language to mankind in the Millennium (Zephaniah 3:9).

Review Memorization.

Genesis 11:9 “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Printable PDF – L2.15

By Janth English

Read Together: Have you ever been to a wedding? Think back to the ceremony and the wedding vows. You may remember that the minister asks the groom if he is willing to be a faithful husband. That means, is he willing to provide for, protect, and cherish his soon-to-be wife. In the same ceremony, the bride is asked if she is willing to love, honor, and obey her soon-to-be husband. They both must answer “I do” or else they don’t get married! And when they say “I do,” they have entered a covenant, which is a solemn promise to do what they said they would do. When you read Exodus 19:3–8, you can see that God proposed to take care of Israel in response to her obedience. If Israel would obey, God promised prosperity, peace, and safety. When all Israel said, “I do,” they promised to obey God. But sadly, they did not keep that promise. However, that is not the end of the story! Today, the Church is the “Bride of Christ,” which is preparing to marry Jesus at the resurrection. That means that each person, when baptized, agrees to enter into a marriage covenant with Christ (meaning, to honor and obey Him). In return, Jesus Christ, as the Church’s Husband, promises to love and faithfully care for each member of His Church. The marriage between Jesus Christ and the Church will take place at the resurrection, just before the Millennium begins. As all brides do, we look forward to that glorious event!

Read Together: Exodus 19:5, 8; Leviticus 26:1–6; Jeremiah 3:14, 20; Ephesians 5:31–32; Revelation 19:7–9

Discuss:

• Discuss with your child the relationship between Jesus Christ, who was the God of the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 10:4), and ancient Israel. Did God perform His duties? How did ancient Israel respond?
• Discuss the relationship with Jesus Christ and the Church. Show how it is an intimate family relationship. Use this as an opportunity to discuss the roles of fathers, mothers, and children in the family.
• Explain that if your child is old enough to be baptized before Christ returns, he or she will have the opportunity to be part of the bride of Christ, too.

Review Memorization: Exodus 20:1–17, The Ten Commandments (long form)

Printable PDF – L3.14

By Janth English 

Read Together: There was one man during this wicked age (the time before the flood) who continued to follow God’s laws. His name was Noah, and Noah was a just man. That means he tried to treat everyone fairly, as the Bible teaches us to do, and just like we want to be treated in turn. He followed the example of his great-grandfather Enoch, who had also walked with God. “Walking with God” means that Enoch and Noah loved God and obeyed Him. God says that He shows His servants when He is going to send destruction on people because of their sins (Amos 3:7). Noah was a faithful servant of God, and God told Noah that He planned to destroy the earth with a flood, but would save Noah and his family because of his obedience to God.

Read Together: Genesis 5:21–32; 6:8–10; 13–14

Discuss:

• Explain to your child that people lived very long lives before the Flood.
• Ask your child how Noah must have felt living in such a wicked society.
• What do you think about God being merciful to Noah and his family and saving them from the flood? Do you think they were happy about that?
• Help your child understand that to be righteous means to keep God’s commandments in faith (Psalm 119:172), and that we too can be righteous.
• Discuss with your child what it means to “walk with God.”

Review Memorization:

2 Peter 2:5 “And [God] did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.”

Printable PDF – L1.14

Author: Janth English

Read Together: God saved eight people from the great flood He brought upon the earth: Noah and his wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his sons’ wives. The sons of Noah began to have children, and their families grew into all the nations of the world. The names of their descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) can be found in Genesis 10. Even as these families grew into tribes and nations, the earth was still very sparsely populated. One of the sons of Ham was named Cush, and one of the sons of Cush was named Nimrod, who was a mighty hunter. The people began to trust in Nimrod for their protection in place of God Almighty. They called Nimrod “the mighty hunter before the LORD” (Genesis 10:9). People began to idolize him, and most of them soon forgot the lessons of the Flood.

Read Together: Genesis 9:18–19; 10:1–8, 13–32; Acts 17:26

Discuss:

• Explain to your child that knowing the names of the ancient peoples and lands they lived in is important because it helps us identify their descendants today. This also helps us understand prophecies that affect them.
• Discuss Acts 17:26 with your child. Explain that Acts 17:26 shows that God has given different parts of Noah’s family different lands to inherit.
• Ask your child to picture himself or herself on the earth about 100 years after the flood. Would it be frightening to live in an area where wild animals outnumber humans? What would be the natural thing to do? What should they have done?
• Ask your child what lessons he or she thinks people should have learned from the Flood. How does the people’s attitude toward Nimrod show they had not learned those lessons?

Review Memorization:

Genesis 11:9 “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Printable PDF – L2.13

Moody Publishers | FreeBibleimages.org

Author: Janth English

Read Together: Did you know that Noah’s name means “rest”? His name showed the hope his father had that God would use Noah to bring deliverance to His people. And of course, that’s what God did. God used Noah to preserve the human race. When Noah and his family left the ark, God commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. This means God wanted them to have large families. All nations, races, ethnicities, and cultures–all people today can trace their lineage back to Noah. Noah saw many of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren because he lived for 350 years after the flood. He lived a total of 950 years, which was common for people in the pre-flood era. However, after the flood, the length of most people’s life began to shorten. Within about five generations after the flood, people were living less than two hundred years. Noah also lived to see, just as God had said, that man’s heart is inclined toward evil (Genesis 8:21). People did not learn from the problems of the pre-flood world. Not long after the flood, the human family was again walking contrary to God.

Read Together: Genesis 5:28–29; 9:18–29; 10:1–32

Parents:

• Help your student to see how families are the structural building blocks of society.  Notice that families grown large became nations.
• Point out to your child the care that God took to record the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth and where they lived. One reason for this is so that we can identify modern nations by their ancient names.
• Noah was a preacher of righteousness before and after the flood (2 Peter 2:5). He also was the elder and leader (“patriarch,” which means the male head of a family or tribe) of his growing family. Discuss with your child why people did not listen to Noah. Explain that human beings have freedom of choice, but that Satan the devil influences their decisions.
• The people did not listen to the wisdom of Noah who was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet 2:5). Ask if this is a common problem in families today. Think aloud with your child about Proverbs 1:7–8; 10:21. Ask your child if they can think of an incident in which things went wrong because someone failed to listen to their elders.

Review memorization:

Genesis 6:9 “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect [upright, blameless, or wholehearted] in his generations. Noah walked with God.”

Printable PDF – L1.11

Printable PDF – L1.9-L1.12