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Let's sing!
What does the Bible say?
Watch this one first:
Watch this one first:
Watch this one second:
Watch this one third:
Watch this one fourth:
Click here to color with us.
Class Schedule:
Start with: Musical chairs along with the music videos. (Playing down to a winner - time depending on how many players we have)
Everyone to chairs: The first two Abraham videos (apx 3 minutes)
Littles will go color while bigs stay in chairs to learn about Abraham's timeline. (10 minutes)
Teams will switch. Littles will come learn more of Abraham while bigs go color. (5 minutes)
Everyone to the tables: Snack, finish coloring, watch two remaining Abraham videos. (15 minutes)
Time filler: Musical chairs rematch.
The above items on this post is what we will cover in class. The information below is just extra!
Show me on the map: (Copy and paste these coordinates into Google Earth to see the locations. If I've messed up a location - please comment so that I can fix it.)
Haran: 36°52′39″N 39°02′02″E
Canaan: 31°47′N 35°13′E The "land of Canaan" is thought to be the present day countries of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. These coordinates will give you Jerusalem. If you pull your view out, you will see these countries and understand the approximate area for Canaan.
Great Tree of Moreh at Shechem: 32.222500°N 35.287500°E It is hard to say where the Great Tree of Moreh stood - but Shechem is thought to be the modern day city of Tell Balata in the West Bank.
Bethel: 31°55′42″N 35°14′18″E It is thought that the modern village of Baytin (Or Beitin) was the Biblical city of Bethel.
Ai: 31.916667°N 35.288333°E The ruins of Ai (It was destroyed by the Israelites) is perhaps the modern day city of Et-Tell.
Negev: 31°15′32″N 34°47′58.95″E Is a desert region whose capital city is Beersheba. (This is the same coordinates as Beersheba at the bottom of this list.)
Egypt: 30°2′N 31°13′E These are the coordinates of Cairo. (Pronounced KIE-row)
Euphrates River: 31°0′18″N 47°26′31″E
Moriah: 31°46′40.7″N 35°14′8.9″E A highly debated thought among scholars is that Mount Moriah - or the location where Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him - is now the location of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. I don't know the right answer to this. In the mean time, I have given the coordinates for the Temple Mount. (If someone has a comment on this - please speak up)
Beersheba: 31°15′32″N 34°47′58.95″E
Cave of the Patriarchs:
31.524744°N 35.110726°E Maybe this is where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah are buried. Maybe. There are some interesting articles about this location online about different people who have supposedly been under ground and truly into caves beneath the large building that has been built over the site. We may never know for sure if this is indeed the location of their burial, but this is traditionally said to be the location. You can read further about it here and here. (Please read those articles with the understanding that we really don't know for sure, and not everything we read on the internet is true.)
This is a very interesting article about what life may have been like for Abraham prior to, and just after, being called of God. Abraham: From Ur to Haran
It is easy to look at the story of Abraham and think that it was easy for him to trust in God. Much easier than it is for us! The year was approximately 2091 B.C. when God first called Abraham out of Egypt at the age of 75. "The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran." Genesis 12:1-4.
Genesis 12:7: Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants. And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Using this timeline from Biblehub.com, it appears that approximately six years passed between verse 7 and God speaking to Abraham again in Genesis 15:2. Consider that when reading verse Genesis 15:2 "But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. If you realize that six years have passed since God spoke to Abraham about his descendants, it makes sense that it is one of the first things that he mentions when God brings it up again. Perhaps many nights were spent pondering the notion of "your descendants."
Another 19 years passes before Isaac is born.
Those 19 years may have been a bit more confusing than the six years prior to them. Eleven years after being told by God to leave, Abraham does have a son. A son from Sarah's maid and his name is Ishmael. But God said that while it's all fine and good that you have a son, he isn't the son that I've been talking about. "Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants. Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.” Genesis 17:15-21
God was faithful to the promises that He made to Abraham. Promises that were first given 25 years ago. If you think that it was easier for Abraham to trust God than it is for us - I can't imagine that it was.
"The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. 2She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. 3And Abraham named their son Isaac. 4Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. 5Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born." Genesis 21:1-5