Names

Names were very important in Bible times because they showed what a person was like or their character. God has many names too, like Yahweh, Elohim, and Emmanuel. Yahweh means loving and caring, Elohim means creator, and Emmanuel means God with us. God’s names describe his relationship with us and what he is like. Sometimes God changes people’s names in the bible to show that he has changed them. God changed Abram to Abraham and Jacob to Israel and many more. My visual is a name tag that says, “Hello, my name is joy, great happiness.” I chose this because that is what my name means and I feel like my name really fits me. What I learned from this, is that names in the bible can help us better understand the meaning and context of the story.

Conflict/Doubt

Doubt is a very normal thing. Many people in the bible doubted God at one point, like Sarah when she laughed after being told she was going to have a baby. Peter also doubted God and even denied him three times. It’s easy to wonder why did someone I love die? Why is my family member sick? Why does God allow this? For my visual I chose a picture of Teagan, she is the daughter of my cousins Tyler and Ashley. Teagan was born early and weighed only a little over one pound, she passed away a few hours later. It was really hard for our family when she died but God is amazing and exactly one year later my cousin Bennett was born to Tyler and Ashley. He is a very healthy boy (almost ten pounds.) I learned that even through hard times we can trust that God has a plan.

Covenant

God made many covenants in the Bible, some of them he has already fulfilled, many he is still keeping, and some he will complete some day. God makes two kinds of covenants with his people; conditional and unconditional. Condition covenants are “if you do this… then I will do this…” In Exodus 19:5 God says, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” This is an example of a conditional covenant because it has conditions. Unconditional covenants are different because God keeps his part of the deal no matter what. God made an unconditional covenant with David and his family that he would bless them and that from his family line, Jesus would come. A rainbow is my symbol because it is a sign to us of God’s unconditional covenant that he would never flood the whole earth again. I learned that God is faithful and loving, and he cares about his people.

Sinai Law

God gave the Israelites laws so they would know how to live in a way that pleases him. God didn’t give us the commandments to take all the fun out of life but to protect us and show us how we can have a good relationship with Him and with others. If everyone followed God’s laws perfectly, life would be just as God intended, but we don’t and we can’t. We are imperfect and can’t follow all of God’s laws, and that is why we need a savior. My visual is a child holding their father’s hand. I think of God holding our hand and showing us how to live with his laws. I learned that God gives us rules because he cares and wants to protect us so we can live in a way that is pleasing to him.

Salute to a King

After God brought the Israelites safely to the promised land, they did well for a while but then forgot about him and sinned by worshiping other gods and building idols. When God saw that his people sinned, he sent other nations to attack them. The people would cry out and say, “God, save us!” God would see them and have compassion for them. God would send a judge and then things would go well for a while, but then when the judge died the people would start sinning again. The cycle would start all over again, and each time God would lovingly send a judge but it would only help for a little while but God never gave up on them. My visual is a Ferris wheel because you go up and then you go down and then up and down and so on. You can not stop the endless cycle of up and down unless someone stops it and helps you off. The Israelites cycle of Judges is like a Ferris wheel because they are at the top for a while doing well, and then they go back down and up again, over and over. The Israelites need help to stop their cycle, just like you need help to get off a Ferris wheel. I learned from this that God is compassionate and loving towards his people and will not give up on them, no matter what.

Symbol of a lamp

God used the symbol of a lamp to show that the savior would come through David’s line. David was Israel’s lamp. This symbol means that David’s lamp would always remain burning even when David’s descendants did follow God and were very evil, God would never wipe out his family line because of the unconditional covenant he made with David. A lamp was a fitting symbol for people in Israel’s time because it was their source of light in the dark and they used them all the time. For the people in Judah light became a symbol of Jesus their promised savor, the light of the world. For my visual, I chose a campfire because when you are camping and it is dark you can find your way back to your tent by following the light of the fire. Without it, you might trip and fall or get lost. I learned from this that God always keeps his promises, no matter how far we stray away from him. I also learned that even though David made many mistakes and was sinful just like us God used him for amazing things and called him the lamp of Israel. God even uses sinful people for his plans.

Something is rotten

Once Israel got a king, things started out well but just went downhill from there. First, Israel split into Judah and Israel and the leaders craved for more power, and to do that they killed many people and set up false altars and golden calves. Jeroboam was the first of Judah’s kings that were really bad, he built false altars in Judah because he did not want his people going to Israel to worship. After Jeroboam came more bad kings; Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and so on. The Bible describes these kings as following in Jeroboam’s footsteps and doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. When evil king Ahab came to reign, God did not destroy his family because of the promise he had made so long ago. My visual is a piece of rotten fruit because Israel had become so rotten and corrupted that they were like this piece of fruit, no longer useful for anything but to be thrown out, but God didn’t give up on his people. I learned from this that God will always keep his promises no matter what he is faithful.

A Savior

  The Israelites were sinful and could not keep the Sinai covenant that they made with God. God loved his people so much that he offered them a new covenant that they could be saved by forgiveness and grace. This new covenant would not be on stone tablets but it would be written on their hearts and minds. They would no longer have to kill sacrifices because Jesus would be their ultimate sacrifice. My visual is a lamb because it is a reminder that Jesus is our perfect lamb, the ultimate sacrifice who gave up his life for us. I learned that God loves us so much he was willing to send his only son to die on a cross for our sins. We weren’t perfect but God made a way for us to be saved.