Finding Your Way student handbook

Song of Songs

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Introduction

The Big Picture

, What s in the Bible?

q Informati on about Go d and his relations hip with humanit y.

q 66

books – in two sections. q Th e first section is the Old Testament (39 books). q Th e second section is the New Testam ent (27 books).

qA collection of books w ritten ove ra period approxim of ately 160 0 years.

Old Testament • 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).

What is a Testament?

through • God’s plan revealed death and

• How and why people

Testament is another word for“solemn agreement”.

In the Bible this agreement is referred to as a “covenant” between God and his people.

followed Jesus.

ty • The spread of Christiani AD. century during the 1st

• Time frame: birth of Jesus to 90 AD.

• Original language – Koine Greek.

• Translated into various the first few

• During the 2nd century BC the

Jesus’ life, teaching, resurrection.

Old Testament was translated into Greek.

languages during centuries AD, including Latin.

CREATION NOAH MOSES 3000 BC 1900 BC

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JUDGES

Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Jonah

1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles

Joshua Judges Ruth

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

BIBLE TIMELINE ISRAEL

KING DAVID & KING SOLOMON

1000 BC

Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah

God’s relationship with humanity.

DIVIDED KINGDOM

JUDAH 750 BC

Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations

• The origin of the world and

New Testament

EXILED TO ASSYRIA

Ezekiel

Why read the Bible?

EXILED TO BABYLON PROPHETS

608 BC

Where did the Bible come from?

•

God inspired various human authors to record his message.

•

Some sections 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 copied by scribes who 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.

The Bible today • • • •

The Bible has been translated into over 2000 languages.1 Translators work from the original languages to ensure accuracy.

There are 13 English translations of the Bible.

Resources such as www.biblegateway.com allow you to search online for passages in a variety of versions and languages.

WEIRD B

UT TRUE

Sun an

d moon stood s till for a w hole da y .

Jos

hua 10

:13

TRUE T U B D WEIR ed to be liv .

Man s old year 9 6 9 5:27

esis

Gen

BC

RETURN 460 BC 538 BC

400 BC

0

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

Matthew Mark Luke John

400 years

Ezra Haggai Zechariah Esther Nehemiah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Malachi

Daniel

AD

AD 30s

THE EARLY GOSPELS CHURCH AD 30

PAUL’S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS

AD 100

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A time and a place The events recorded in the Bible reveal God’s relationship with humanity through time. Identifying the places and the time periods of history in which events occurred helps us to better understand the people we meet in each part of the Bible. The Bible timeline indicates:

• • •

when the events took place the order in which they happened the connection between the parts of the Bible

Reading the timeline Follow the dates from left to right to see the events of the Bible story in chronological order. The dates listed are mostly approximate; however dates for the creation of the world, and the rebellion against God are unknown.

BC

(Before Christ) refers to the period of history before the birth of Jesus Christ. On this side of the timeline, the years are counted down from higher numbers to lower numbers as you move forward in history. This period is also referred to as BCE (Before the Common Era).

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AD is a Latin phrase, ‘Anno Domini’ meaning “the

year of our Lord” and refers to the period of history from the coming of Jesus up to the present time. On this side of the timeline the numbers 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 was complete. This period is also referred to as CE (Common Era).

The world scene The events in the Bible took place in the area of the world known today as the Middle East and the Mediterranean countries.

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

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

As you read the Bible there are references to other cultures and nations, some of which were powerful empires in the ancient world. Events in the Bible interact with the following major empires:

•Egyptian •Assyrian •Babylonian •Persian •Greek •Roman

Many books The Bible is a collection of many documents written between approximately 1500 BC and 90 AD. These books vary in nature and are arranged with the different categories grouped together.

Match the categories listed below to the correct sections of the Bible Library:

Although written by many different human authors over such a long period of time, the Bible has a unified theme because it is really God’s message.

This theme is a promise that God will rescue humanity from the consequences of rebelling against him. This promise is ultimately revealed through Jesus Christ.

OLD TESTAMENT

Gospels History Law Letters Poetry Prophecy The Prophets

WEIRD B

An arm

UT TRUE

y with s even hu ndred left-han ded me n .

Jud

ges 20

:16

NEW TESTAMENT

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B4 u start 1) R U Ready to fInd your way around the Bible?

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

Name of the book of the Bible

Psalm 119:105 Chapter number of the book Verse or sentence number of the chapter

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

Complete the chart below.

Bible reference

John 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16

What it tells us‌

OT or NT? Page number in your Bible

T TRUE WEIRD BaUlked around

w Man who ars. r three ye fo d nake

EIRD

RUEed T T igh BU

e ir w e ha at his s o s wh kilo ut.

Man out 3 airc h ab l :26 ua ann l 14

W

ue

am

2S

6

0:2-3

Isaiah 2

WEIRD B Queen

UT TRUE

who ga ve a test to a king.

1K

ings 10

:1-3

2) Quick quiz After looking over the information in this introduction, see if you can answer the following questions:

f.

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

Suggest 4 destinations to which letters were sent.

g.

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).

a. What do BC and BCE mean?

b. What do AD and CE mean?

c. Place these events in correct

chronological order:

• ____ Kings rule God’s people

Types of writing

• ____ Jesus teaches people about

Poetry

God’s kingdom

• ____ Moses leads God’s people

• ____ God makes promises to Abraham.

Name of a book found in this category

OT or NT?

Law Gospel Prophets

d. In what year did Jesus die and

come back to life?

History

e.

Some books of the Old Testament are named after the people who wrote them.

Suggest 6 Old Testament books that have the author’s name.

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

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1. Beginnings st Li

My top 5

5t

hings

‘In the beginning...,

ral world tu njoy. th a e n t a t yo e u mos in th

What big idea is introduced by the first sentence in the Bible? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________

The first chapter of Genesis was written with several repeated words and phrases to emphasise qualities about God and the world he created.

Read Genesis 1:1-31 aloud and listen for the repetitions.

What God did… What this showed…

Match the phrases in the left-hand column with the statements on the right-hand side. How many times does each phrase occur in Genesis 1?

And God said, ‘Let there be.../Let the ...’

God approves his work

And it was so...

God speaks powerful words

God called...

God’s words bring about creation God names what he has created

God saw it was good

3000 BC 1900 BC

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JUDGES

1000 BC

DIVIDED KINGDOM

JUDAH 750 BC

EXILED TO ASSYRIA

Ezekiel

1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles

KING DAVID & KING SOLOMON

ISRAEL

Hosea Isaiah Joel Jeremiah Amos Lamentations Obadiah

CREATION NOAH MOSES

Joshua Judges Ruth

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

BIBLE TIMELINE

Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Jonah

How was God active in creation?

EXILED TO BABYLON PROPHETS

608 BC

RETURN

538 BC

460 BC

400 BC

BC

0

THE EARLY GOSPELS CHURCH

AD 30

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

Matthew Mark Luke John

400 years

Ezra Haggai Zechariah Esther Nehemiah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Malachi

Daniel

Created with order and purpose

Create your own illustrated version of the process described in Genesis 1.

1 2 3

4 5 6

What patterns can you notice in this process?

How is the creation of humans described?

AD

AD 30s

PAUL’S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS

AD 100

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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he ‘created him; male and female he created them.’

Genesis 1:27 NIV

Do any of these concepts help you to understand what it means to be made in ‘the image of God’?

Mark with a tick or a cross and discuss your choice.

Read Genesis 1:26-30 and choose a few phrases which highlight things that are unique about humans.

•___________________________________________________ •___________________________________________________ •___________________________________________________ •___________________________________________________

p Thum mp Thu

Use your own words to describe the special purpose God gave humans. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Responding to God Genesis 3 tells us what happened next.

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______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Genesis 2 describes in more detail what God provided for Adam and Eve. • God provided a garden to live in and food to eat.

• God gave them a relationship to enjoy.

• God gave them the responsibility of caring for the world.

• God gave them the ability and opportunity to obey his instructions.

Who did the man and the woman listen to? _______________________________________ What information did they hear? _______________________________________ What choice did Adam and Eve make? _____________________________________ If Adam and Eve were still alive after they had eaten the fruit, what did God mean when he said ‘you will surely die’? Discuss with 2-3 others and then share your reflections with the class.

Choices have consequences

Read Genesis 3:14-23 carefully to discover what happened after Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Then decide whether these statements are true or false.

Snakes would always crawl on their belly.

All creation was blessed. True

True False

False

Weeds would never be a problem again. True False The relationship between the man and the woman was damaged.

True False Giving birth would be easy for the woman. True False Work would now be hard.

True

False

Life continued as if nothing had happened. True False

Life outside the gardeN What happened to Adam and Eve after they left the Garden of Eden?

Circle YES or NO in answer to the following questions.

• • • •

Could they live forever? YES/NO Did they live with pain and suffering? YES/NO Did they live in a peaceful relationship with God? YES/NO Were they totally abandoned by God? YES/NO

What happened to the world?

The story of Noah and the great flood has two powerful themes.

• J_____________________________ Why do you th ink God limited the length of human life once people un derstood What does this tell us about God’s character? good and evil? __ __ __ ______________ ________________________________________________________________________ ______________ _______ ______________ ______________ __ __ __ _____ ________________________________________________________________________ What promise is given in Gen esis 3:15? ______________ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Read the outline of the _____________ ______________ ______________ account in Genesis 6-9. ____

• R_____________________________

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The Flood

•How did God feel about the world he had created? (Genesis 6:5-6) ___________________________________________

•Why did God have a plan for Noah?

(Genesis 6:8-9, 18) ___________________________________________

•Why were pairs of male and female animals also part of God’s plan? (Genesis 7:3; 9:7) ___________________________________________

•Describe how the rainbow was important in this story? (Genesis 9:9-17)

___________________________________________

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___________________________________________

Really Important Stuff!

Fill in the missing words

Creation

• The world was created by God’s _______________________.

• People were created in________________ _______________ with the purpose of______________

the earth and its creatures.

• When Adam and Eve disobeyed God,________________ and ______________ came into the world.

Genesis 1-2

Sin enters the world Genesis 3

• In the Bible, rejecting God is called___________________.

• Sin ruined a perfect___________________ between God and humanity, but God did not abandon

humanity.

• God promised that one day a descendant of the woman would _____________________ sin forever.

• As people spread over the earth, they continued to____________ ______________ from God. • God instructed Noah to build a large boat, in which he, his family and pairs of male and female

animals would be ___________________ from the flood.

• All life on earth was given a ____________ ______________ after the flood.

Life away from God’s presence Genesis 4

The spread of EVIL Genesis 6:1-6

• God placed a rainbow in the sky – a reminder of the _________________ that he will never again destroy the whole earth by flood.

In this space, journal what you’ve read from this section of the Bible. Note any questions you have.

In this space, represent the big ideas of this section of the Bible with your own sketches or words.

Noah and the flood Genesis 6-9

The Tower of Babel Was sagten Sie? Qu’avez vous dit?

Genesis 11

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

CREATION NOAH

MOSES

3000 BC 1900 BC

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