Finding Your Way Student Handbook (2nd Edition)

FINDING YOUR WAY A JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE’S STORY OF SALVATION

STUDENT HANDBOOK WRITTEN BY RACHEL REITSMA & STEPHEN RENN

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Published 2010 by CEP. Reprinted 2013.

Second edition 2018.

ISBN 978-1-925725-51-3 eISBN 978-1-925725-52-0 Copyright © Christian Education Publications 2010 This resource is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be copied without the written permission of the publisher.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc. Christian Education Publications PO Box A287, Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia P (+61 2) 8268 3344 E sales@cepstore.com.au W cepstore.com.au New Zealand P (+64 6) 357 0281 E sales@cepstore.co.nz W cepstore.co.nz Authors: Rachel Reitsma and Stephen Renn Comic artist: Belinda Stead Editorial: Rhonda Watson, Valerie Williams and Natasha Percy Theological editor: Claire Smith Second edition 2018 Additional lesson content: Kenton Webb and Cassandra Cassis Theological editor: Guangyao Un Cover and internal design: Andrew Hope Comic and illustration artist: Belinda Stead Images: shutterstock.com/unsplash.com Digital Student handbook 2018 Project manager: Cassandra Cassis Designer: Andrew Hope

 Bible  Reflection  Discussion  Drawing  Journalling

An army with 700 left-handed men.

Judges 20:16

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 THE BIG PICTURE LESSON 1 BEGINNINGS Genesis 1–11

6

LESSON 2 BIG PROMISES Genesis 12—Deuteronomy

13

LESSON 3 A MATTER OF TRUST Joshua–2 Chronicles

20

LESSON 4 THE WISDOM BOOKS Job–Song of Songs

27

LESSON 5 REMEMBER THE PROMISES 1 Kings–Malachi

30

LESSON 6 THE PROMISE FULFILLED Matthew–John

35

LESSON 7 THE PROMISE CONTINUES Acts–Revelation

42

CONCLUSION 47 GOD'S PROMISE OF SALVATION —JESUS

CREATION —

C. 2000 BC —

ABRAHAM

1300 BC —

MOSES

JUDGES —

1000 BC —

KING DAVID & KING SOLOMON

INTRODUCTION THE BIG PICTURE

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs

930 BC —

JUDAH

DIVIDED KINGDOM

ISRAEL

Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations

Jonah Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah

PROPHETS

EXILED TO ASSYRIA

605 BC —

EXILED TO BABYLON Ezekiel Daniel

538 BC —

LATTER PROPHETS

460 BC —

400 BC —

Ezra Haggai Zechariah Esther Nehemiah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Malachi 400 YEARS

BC AD

0 —

†

30 AD —

GOSPELS

30s AD —

THE EARLY CHURCH

PAUL'S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS

100 AD —

Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation

1. WHY READ THE BIBLE?

{ God’s faithfulness to his people (individuals and the nation of Israel). { Promises about God’s plan to restore the broken relationship between God and humanity. { Time frame: from Creation to 400 BC. { Original language-Hebrew (some Aramaic).

2. WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE? The Bible contains information about God and his relationship with humanity. It is a collection of books

{ During the 2nd century BC the Old Testament was translated into Greek.

written over a period of approximately 1600 years.

There are 66 books in the Bible—in two sections.

O LD

The first section is the Old Testament (OT), consisting of 39 books, and the second section is the New Testament (NT) which includes 27 books.

T E ST A M E N T

3. WHAT IS A TESTAMENT? Testament is another word for ’solemn agreement’ or ‘solemn promise’. In the Bible this agreement is referred to as a ‘covenant’ between God and his people.

4. WHERE DID THE BIBLE COME FROM? God inspired human authors to record his message.

Some sections of the Bible were written as historical accounts of God's people, others as instructions and laws. Songs and poetry, written for use in worship, and letters on how to live God's way were also collected together.

All sections were handwritten on separate scrolls or parchments which were coped by scribes who

NEW T E ST A M E N

T

took great care to ensure all copies were accurate.

No originals remain but comparing the great volume of copies reveals the accuracy with which the Bible documents have been passed down.

{ God’s plan revealed through Jesus’ life, teaching, death and resurrection.

5. THE BIBLE TODAY

{ How and why people followed Jesus.

The Bible has been translated into over 2900 languages. Translators work from the original languages to ensure accuracy.

There are at least 50 English translations of the Bible. Resources such as biblegateway.com allow you to search online for passages in a variety of versions and languages.

Many people today like to use Bible apps on their phones and digital devices. These allow easy access to a Bible anywhere, anytime.

FINDING YOUR WAY 2

{ The spread of Christianity during the 1st century AD. { Time frame: birth of Jesus to 90 AD. { Original language-Koine Greek. { Translated into various languages during the first few centuries AD, including Latin.

counted down from higher numbers to lower numbers as you

6. A TIME AND A PLACE

move forward in history. This period is also referred to as BCE

The events recorded in the Bible reveal God’s relationship with

(Before the Common Era).

humanity through time. Identifying the places and the time periods of history in which events occurred helps us to better

AD is a Latin phrase, ‘Anno Domini’ meaning ‘the year of our

understand the people we meet in each part of the Bible. This

Lord’ and refers to the period of history from the coming of Jesus

Student handbook contains a Bible timeline at the beginning of

up to the present time. On this side of the timeline the numbers

each lesson. The Bible timeline indicates:

increase as you move forward in history. This timeline only goes as far as 100 AD, as by this time the writing of the New Testament

when the events took place

was complete. This period is also referred to as CE (Common Era).

the order in which they happened the connection between the parts of the Bible.

THE WORLD SCENE The events in the Bible took place in the area of the world known

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE TIMELINE

today as the Middle East and the Mediterranean countries.

Follow the dates from top to bottom to see the events of the Bible story in chronological order. The dates listed are mostly

As you read the Bible there are references to other cultures and

approximate; however dates for the creation of the world and the

nations, some of which were powerful empires in the ancient

rebellion against God are unknown.

world. Events in the Bible interact with the following major empires: Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman.

BC (Before Christ) refers to the period of history before the birth of Jesus Christ. On this side of the timeline, the years are

Black Sea

· Rome MACEDONIA

HITTITES

Caspian Sea

ASSYRIA · Haran

Tigris River

· Nineveh CRETE

CYPRUS

SYRIA

Mediterranean Sea

· Damascus Sidon · Tyre · · Nazareth · Jerusalem

LIBYA

Euphrates River

BABYLONIA PERSIA · Susa

Babylon · Ur ·

EGYPT SINAI

Persian Gulf

Highlight the regions on the map where the events of the Old Testament took place.

H I G H LI G H T

Red Sea

ARABIAN DESERT

Choose a different colour or shading pattern to highlight the regions where the events of the New Testament took place.

Introduction—The Big Picture 3

7. MANY BOOKS The Bible is a collection of many documents written between

rescue humanity from the consequences of rebelling against him.

This promise is ultimately revealed through Jesus Christ.

approximately 1500 BC and 90 AD. These books include different

Match the categories listed below to the correct sections of the

text types and are arranged with the different categories

Bible library.

grouped together.

GOSPELS . WISDOM AND POETRY Although written by many different human authors over such

NT HISTORY . MAJOR PROPHETS

a long period of time, the Bible has a unified theme because it

MINOR PROPHETS . PAUL'S LETTERS

is really God’s message. This theme is a promise that God will

OTHER LETTERS . PROPHECY . OT HISTORY

FINDING YOUR WAY 4

8. BEFORE YOU START

2. QUICK QUIZ

1. ARE YOU READY TO FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE BIBLE?

After looking over the information in this introduction, see if you can answer

The books of the Bible are divided into chapters and sentences or verses to help readers find

the following questions. a. What do BC and BCE mean?

specific sections.

What do AD and CE mean? b. Place these events in correct chronological order:

Name of the book of the Bible

____ Kings rule God’s people ____ Jesus teaches people about God’s kingdom ____ Moses leads God’s people

5 0 1 : 9 1 1 M L PS A Chapter number of the book

____ God makes promises to Abraham. c. In what year did Jesus die and come back to life? d. Some books of the Old Testament are named after the people who wrote them. Suggest six Old Testament books that have the author’s name.

Verse or sentence number of the chapter

1.

2.

3.

Find the following references in the Bible to discover what they tell us about God and the Bible.

4.

Complete the chart below.

5.

6.

Bible reference 2 Timothy 3:16 OT or NT?

e. Some books of the New Testament are named after the places to which

Page number in your Bible

Christianity spread. Suggest four destinations to which letters were sent.

1.

What it tells us …

2.

3.

4. f. Write the name of a book of the Bible that belongs to the following types of writing. Indicate whether it is found in the Old Testament (OT) or New Testament (NT).

Types of writing Bible reference John 3:16 OT or NT?

Name of a book found in this category

OT or NT?

LETTERS

Page number in your Bible

Law

What it tells us …

Gospel MAJOR PROPHETS

WEIRD BUT TRUE

History

g. In what part of the world did the events in the Bible take place?

Queen who gave a test to a king.

1 Kings 10:1-3

Introduction—The Big Picture 5