Context for Kids

Before we get into Chapter 11, the Tower of Babel and the journey of Abraham, we need to talk about ancient Mesopotamia—what it was like, what people’s lives were like, and the things that Abraham would have grown up with. A lot of people think of that area of the world and assume it is all desert, but it was more like a garden paradise! How were their lives the same as ours? How were they different? What did they look like and how did they dress? What did they eat and how did they live? Knowing this is important to understanding the stories of Abraham, Sarah, and Lot.

For me, this is the fun stuff. What do a fiery furnace, magic underwear, an army invading heaven, idolatry, and a marriage between people who were born 1500 years apart all have in common? They’re all part of the wild development of Nimrod myths from the time of Jesus until modern times. But the Bible says almost nothing about Nimrod, and history says nothing. So why are there so many stories about him floating around out there? And how many different names can I come up with for magic undies?

For someone who is talked about so much, the Bible sure doesn’t say much about Nimrod! Or does it? This week we are going to look at what the phrases “powerful hunter” and “in the sight of the Lord” mean before having fun next week talking about all the different stories people have made up about Nimrod.

Just like with Adam and Eve and their kids, the Bible is telling us again that we are one big human family with one big God, but why was that story so important for Moses to tell and why is there no other story like it in ancient history?

No child I teach is ever going to have an excuse for believing that the Bible supports any form of racism.

Sometimes, grownups come up with some pretty zany ideas that they think come from the Bible but instead, we can use the Bible to show that they are nonsense. As we did with the Mark of Cain, which was actually a blessing and not a curse, this week we’re going to talk about the claim that all of the descendants of Ham were cursed by God—when what really happened is that one of Ham’s sons was cursed by Noah. We’re also going to discuss how this wrong belief has been used to hurt people all over the world.

The most important thing that ever happened in the history of the world was when Jesus rose from the grave--but why? How is resurrection different from raising the dead? What is vindication? What will our lives be like when we are resurrected? We're going to talk about Passover and about Yom HaBikkurim--the day of First Fruits--because they are 100% about Jesus!

This week I am going to introduce you to my wonderful, funny, and beautiful young friend Savannah Smalling who is going through a tough few years in and out of the hospital. And when things like this happen, or any other tragedy, we ask ourselves the same question we hear in the lamentation Psalms--why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? We're going to look at Psalm 73 and how the Bible encourages us to bring our complaints and confusion and anger to God. Is this a question we can even answer? Let's find out. 

Just like when we talked about what Adam and Eve could have done differently, and what Cain could have done instead of getting angry and killing his brother, this time we are going to talk about how Noah reacted and maybe what he should have done instead. We’ll be comparing him to Jesus, who faced a similar situation where he was naked and humiliated and behaved very differently.

This is a very confusing part of the Bible. Noah messes up really badly. Ham makes the situation even worse. Then Noah speaks his only recorded words in the Bible and sometimes we aren’t sure how we should feel about them. What do we do when the Bible tells us what happened but doesn’t tell us how we should feel about it?

We’re going to see the word covenant for the second time and now God is going to keep the promise He made all the way back in chapter six. God told Noah that He would make a special covenant with Noah, but first Noah would have to make the ark and obey everything that God told Him to do or there would be no Noah to make a covenant with! What exactly is God going to give to Noah and his family and to the whole world?