Jacob and His Many Sons

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Intro

This is a continuation of our study of the Patriarchs. Students may find the twists and turns of Jacob’s story quite interesting. There is a lot to cover, so it may be helpful to share the most of Jacob’s story with students and pick important verses to read together.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Students will understand the twelve tribes of Israel
  • Students will explore the role of women
  • Students will think about the role God plays as we wrestle with our conflicts.

Scripture: Genesis 32:22-32 and Genesis 37:1-11

Teaching Points:

  • It is through Jacob that the legendary twelve tribes of Israel are born, albeit by four different women. We can acknowledge that these tribes may well have existed and interacted but their origin story is probably unknown.
  • We might make the observation that this entire section of podcast focuses on the patriarchs (men) through whom God’s blessing was passed down. It is important to observe the role that women play (or don’t play) through this narrative and consider how women may struggle to find themselves in this unfolding story of the Jewish/Christian tradition.
  • If you have logical thinkers, you may want to draw a family tree to help them see the connection through each generation from Abraham through Jacob.

Discussion Questions:

  • Opening Question: What is something in your life that you have had to wrestle with? A decision you had to make or a relationship where there was conflict?
  • There is a lot of deception in Jacob’s story. What do you make of the fact that God’s blessing/covenant is passed down through a man who lies, cheats, schemes and takes unfair advantage of situations?
  • What role did the women play in the narratives? How can we read these stories today so that women can see their importance in God’s story and blessings?
  • In Genesis 32, we read about Jacob wrestling with an angel, perhaps a representative of God. This happens while he is in conflict with his brother. Can you relate to this idea of wrestling with God?
  • In Genesis 37, we begin to learn about Joseph. Verse 3 suggests that the practice of having a favorite son has continued into the next generation, and the stories that follow seem to demonstrate that Joseph has a big ego. What can you take from this? How does it speak to us today that God continued to use flawed Biblical characters?
  • What can we learn about God and about humans in these chapters?
  • Joseph’s story continues through Chapters 38-50. Encourage students to continue to explore the rest of the story using the same interpretive tools we have been using.
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Moses and the Exodus

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Scripture: Exodus 1-12, specifically Exodus 2:1-10 and 7-12

Intro: As we continue on through this Bible exploration, we will explore Moses and be reminded of the story of his extraordinary life and how his experiences are meaningful even for us today.

Teaching Points

  • These chapters in Exodus very quickly transition from a scenario in which the tribes of Israel (all of Jacob’s progeny) are rich and powerful and possess huge territory and assets to a situation in which they are subjugated under the rules of Egypt and subjected to hard labor and slave-like conditions. Even so, we see that certain strengths are attributed to the Hebrew people: strength in childbirth, cleverness, and resourcefulness.
  • The exodus becomes one of the great liberation narratives of the Jewish tradition and remains powerful today. However, most scholars accept that it is not anchored in history, primarily because we have substantial historical records from Egypt at this time and there is no record that makes reference to these events or people. There is also a lack of archaeological evidence that such a huge group of people actually traveled this part of the world during this period. We might consider that the events of the exodus may have happened in some way but on a much smaller scale than is described.

Discussion Questions

  • Start the lesson time with this question: Have you ever been talked into something that at first you didn’t want to do, but in the end you were happy you were talked into it? (assuming it was a positive thing)
  • Before you begin to read the scripture, ask students what they remember about Moses’ life.
  • As a legendary story, what is cool (or beautiful) about the story of Moses’ birth and upbringing?
  • When the time comes for Moses to return to Egypt and free the people, it takes about three chapters (Exodus 4-6) for God to convince Moses that he possesses the gifts and speaking ability to be the agent of liberation. What might we make of the fact that Moses is an unwilling participant in the story?
  • Have you ever been hesitant to follow God’s call on your life? (This may simply be someone asking you to serve in some way.)
  • In what ways do we experience God’s “persistence
    in inviting us (repeatedly) to answer our call?
  • Exodus 7-12 is one of the great showdowns of the biblical narrative. What do you think about the repeated times that God “hardens Pharaoh’s heart”?
  • You may have learned about the 10 plagues as children. Is there anything that troubles you now about this story? If you had the opportunity to teach this story to children or new/non-believers, how would you do it?
  • There is enduring internationalist theology anchored in this story. Who needs liberating today? What does it (or would it) look like to be Moses in our own time? Who have been Moses figures in the liberation movements of our more recent history? How were their stories similar (or different) to this legendary story?

Celebrities and Religion

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There is a new trend. Well, there are several new trends. Maybe the biggest right now is the app Tik Tok, but that’s not what we are talking about today. Today, let’s look at the trend with celebrities who are turning their lives to Jesus. Jordan Nations wrote an article titled, “Bieber. Chance. Kanye. Selena-and the movement Christians are missing”. I found the article interesting and a little thought provoking. The idea the maybe we have been a little too critical or ignored the fact that these performers, maybe because they are famous, are publicly talking about their faith.

My first thoughts always go to, “How are young people being affected by this?” (Listen to our podcast as we talk with a teenager about the article.) I hope that this isn’t just the next trend, but something that will be deep rooted. As the statics show (https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/) Christianity continues at a decline each year in this country. We all know that “influencers” are starting to impact our young people from the clothes they wear to the music they listen to. So, we can only hope that if Justin Bieber or Kanye bring the “cool factor” to Christianity maybe it will be enough to spark some curiosity in a teen to explore church? Check out this post from Justin back in September. https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/entertainment/2019/september/justin-bieber-opens-up-about-how-the-love-of-christ-led-him-through-heavy-drug-abuse-anxiety

It’s quite clear that now more than ever, young people may claim to be religious, but they are not all attending our churches. So, being conscience of what is trending, and what these celebrities are saying and doing is important if we want to reach young people. It’s a great discussion starter. And like Nations says in his article, don’t be so quick to criticize, but celebrate lives being changed! And may we all get to be a part of something similar, and be influencers in our own right with our non-famous friends!

p.s. If you listen to the podcast, we talk about Kanye’s $250 sweatshirt. This price does include a pre-sale ticket to an event! 😉

Isaac and His Sons

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Introduction: This is the 6th blog/podcast in this series where we dive into the Bible to open up conversation around the idea of Fact vs. Truth. I want to remind everyone that we started by discussing that the truth of the message of the Bible continues to be alive today. It is important to always ask, how does this relate to our world today.

Also, it would be a good idea to start a list, if you are doing this on your own or as a group, of characteristics we are learning about God and humans. This helps us keep our focus on the message and not the minute details.

Student Outcomes:

Students will discuss the factors that play out when there is favoritism.

Students will understand the story of Isaac, Rebekah and their sons

Students will discuss the meaning of covenant and how we may all be called

Scripture: Genesis 25:19-34 & Genesis 27:1-40

Teaching Points:

In order to make sense of these stories, we must first understand that they were written well after the events they purport to describe. By the time these stories were committed to writing, Israel had already experienced several significant events that shaped their desire to tell a coherent narrative about their origins.

Helpful dates:

  • 1050 BCE to 930 BCE – dates during which Israel is believed to have been a united monarchy, although many scholars question whether this ever actually occurred
  • Around 930 BCE – Israel splits into the Northern Kingdom (capital: Samaria) and the Southern Kingdom (capital: Jerusalem) with different kings and different social structures.
  • Around 740 BCE – The Northern Kingdom falls to Assyria. This profoundly shapes the way that they are viewed by their counterparts in the Southern Kingdom and, over time, changes their culture.
  • Around 587/586 BCE – the Southern Kingdom falls to the Babylonians, the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed, and many of the people are exiled from the land
  • Around 539 BCE – the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, allows many Israelites to return to their homeland and return to some measure of their own cultural and religious practice
  • The stories we find in the book Genesis were most likely edited and compiled in the 6th and 5th century BCE (that’s the 500’s and 400’s) which means that the people were telling retrospective stories about their tribes, unification, later division, exile and return
  • While leading a high school SS class on this, I found it helpful to talk about our own country’s history as it has been passed down in just a few hundred years. How is the facts that are learned about Christopher Columbus and the early pilgrims taught? While students learn some facts, it is filtered. This will help them understand how these stories, too were passed down filtered by human experiences.

Discussion Questions:

  • Opening Question: Do you ever think that your parent(s) have a favorite? Why? How does it make you feel?
  • Understanding when these stories were written and all that had transpired, what sense can we make of the narrative in which two twin boys are battling in the womb of their mother, Rebekah?
  • Throughout the story, Rebekah and Isaac have clear favorites and deal rather unfairly with their children. Is this to be taken literally? What might the authors be telling us about their understanding of these two men (representing the “chosen” people and the “others”)? Who did they see as superior or more enduring?
  • As Christians, what do we make of this notion of a “chosen” people? How does that affect our present-day relationship with our Jewish siblings?
  • Do we still feel we are a “chosen” people? How might the way we interact with other people are the measures we are willing to take to ensure our own advantage and success?
  • Is it possible that this ethos pops up for us in our sense of being American and the way we relate to other nations? Where can we see that in politics, social media and public rhetoric?
  • How is the promise God made to Abraham still playing out in this story?

Resources:

Keep It Simple

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Churches often ask me, “We want to reach young(er) people.” In fact, there are very few churches that I have come across that do not have this goal in mind. My first response is, please do not think that reaching younger people means they will be in attendance on Sunday morning. We have to start first with redefining “reach.” If you want to “reach” generation z (teens) or millennials (young adults), you need to start with building relationships with them. They won’t just come to church. If they want to listen to a sermon, they can do it via a podcast. But more times then not, they have never gone to a worship service, so they won’t just show up. And if they do, please do NOT immediately bombard them with places where you need volunteers. Get to know their name, find out what they are passionate about, take them out to lunch. Develop a friendship first. Then find out what they are seeking in a church. You may find that the one thing your church can offer is friendship. Start there. Then see where the spirit leads. It’s just that simple.

Father Abraham

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Introduction: There are no fossil record, extra biblical support, or other historical evidence for any of the stories in Genesis or Exodus. (As opposed to early New Testament texts, for which we have ample supporting texts written by other folds outside the tradition.) So, the genealogies provided may or may not have any measure of historical accuracy to them, and they are certainly not reliable for establishing timelines or supposed time elapsed. So, it is assumed these stories were passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition in order to reveal how people thought about God and how they imagined their own origins and development. So, it might be a good idea if you are leading a group to start a chart of what we are learning about the character of God and of humans

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Students will understand the story of Abraham and Sarah
  • Students will explore what we learn about human nature through this story

Scripture Reference: Genesis 22:1-19

Teaching Points:

We are introduced to Abraham in the final verse of Genesis 11; his story begins in earnest in Genesis 12. It begins with a command and a promise that God will make a great nation of him and his family.

A few points will bear some explanation:

  • God makes a covenant with Abraham (Abram)to make a great nation of him, but God takes a long time to deliver on that promise. In the meantime, Sarah and Abraham take matters in their own hands in multiple ways. Sometimes these efforts have heartbreaking consequences, and we can learn a lot about our own human nature from these stories. (i.e. Hagar/Ishmael)
  • God is not always consistent in God’s response to human beings. Sometimes God seems quite frustrated and judgmental (i.e. when Sarah laughs), while sometimes God is quite forbearing (i.e. in his tolerance of Abraham having a son with Hagar and God’s later care for Hagar and Ishmael).
  • Once Abraham finally gets his promised son with Sarah, we encounter this bizarre and disturbing story in Genesis 22, in which Abraham is “tested” and asked to sacrifice the very son for which he has waited so long. It may help us contextualize this story to know that first-born children were sacrificed in many of the surrounding cultures as a way to gain favor and power with various deities.

Discussion Questions:

  • Springboard Question: Have you ever wanted something really bad, but had to wait awhile to get it? Please share.
  • What do we learn about human nature from the stories of Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael? Can you think of situations in your own life when you have taken matters into your own hands? Maybe were impatient about something? What happened?
  • What troubles you about this story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22? What are some traditional interpretations of this story? What do those interpretations suggest about Abraham? About God? Do you agree?
  • If child sacrifice was likely prevalent in the surrounding cultures at this time, how might it help us to reinterpret this difficult story?
  • Does understanding the historical context of this story change your thinking about the story?
  • Do you think God requires sacrifice from us? Are there other/better ways to think about loyalty/faithfulness?
  • Abraham was called by God even though he was flawed. Where do you think God is calling you?

Cain & Abel…Cities Civilizations

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As we continue our journey through Genesis, our next stop is with the age-old sibling rivalry of Cain and Abel. This may be one of the most relevant stories for teens to relate to! (Not the killing part, of course!) But we have probably all, at some point, been frustrated with a sibling. (You may help an only child relate by talking about an extended family member, like a cousin.) And that is a great place to start the discussion and time of sharing. Think of a story of your own you can share, then ask them to do the same. But we will dive deeper than the surface story.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Have an understanding of how the main characters could be a representation of how cities and growing communities came about.
  • Acknowledge the pitfalls of jealousy
  • Discuss the character of God and human as we learn from this story

Biblical Reference: Genesis 4:1-22

Teaching Points:

  • It has been suggested that this story is an epic tale of the rise of civilizations (cities) and the end of agrarian nomadic communities. Using this idea, Abel represents the nomadic farmer who was “killed off” (metaphorically speaking) by settled communities that built walls and chose to develop the land.
  • The text tells us where Cain settled, that he had sons, and that his sons also settled cities. There are other details included (i.e. development of tools and musical instruments) that suggest the focus of the story was intended to be broader than simply a conflict between two brothers.
  • This is one of the stories that has been used to justify racism and slavery by suggesting that certain people (ethnic groups, skin tones, etc.) bear the “mark of Cain.” We would do well to acknowledge the ways that scripture can be harmfully interpreted to exclude or subjugate others.
  • Understand the phrase “mark of Cain” and how it has been used

Discussion Questions:

  • What is the root cause of the conflict between Cain and Abel? Do you think God shows favoritism for Abel’s offering without any justification?
  • Do you find anything else in the story unfair?
  • Why would God go to so much trouble to protect Cain when he was guilty of murder?
  • The “mark of Cain” has been used in a way that has been hurtful to many people. How would you respond to someone who would use this scripture in that way?
  • Do you think God shows favoritism today? Why or why not?
  • How can we avoid these interpretations of Bible passages?
  • Let’s review what have we learned about God and ourselves through the lessons so far.
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