Theme: Names

Names were very important back in the Old Testament, people had certain names for a reason. In the Old Testament, the Israelites used a few different names for God such as Elohim which means Creator because God is the creator. The other name they used for God was Yahweh which means Loving relationship and caring which makes sense because God is caring and has a loving relationship with his people. I feel like a name tag is a good symbol for names because it shows that God gave us names for a reason and that we should use them. What I learned is that in the Old Testament people had names and they had those names for a specific reason. And God gave people names based on their meaning.

Theme: Conflict & Doubt

We’ve always struggled with conflict and doubt, people even doubted back in the Old Testament. We still struggle to this day by doubting people and God. I think an injury would be a good example for conflict and doubt. Because every time you get an injury no matter how small you always start doubting. And then there are conflicts like, you shouldn’t do this or you can’t play sports or do the things that you enjoy until your arm is healed. What I learned is that everybody struggles with conflict and doubt. I also learned that every time you doubt you always ask yourself questions like why?.

Theme: Sent to the Promised Land

Trust, everybody struggles with it, people in the Old Testament especially struggled with trusting God. And if you did there would be blessings. And if you didn’t there would be curses and punishments. I feel like moving is a good symbol of trust. Because you hope and pray that everything goes well. And trust God that everything will go smoothly. What I learned is that you should never doubt, especially God.

Theme: Salute to a King

In the Old Testament the Israelites always saw that all the other nations had kings so therefore they thought that they should have a king themselves. In the Old Testament there was a cycle called, The Cycle of Judges. The Cycle of Judges went like everything’s going well, then the Israelites sin and do as they saw fit. Then God sends an enemy to teach the Israelites a lesson. Then the Israelites would cry out to God for help and guidance. And then God would send a judge to help them out and save them from their sins and misery. Every time that I think of someone doing as they see fit I think of the toys that everybody had when they were little. The toy shape sorter cause I just really feel like it goes with everybody doing as they see fit. What I learned is that we still struggle with this today just thinking we have everything under control, and doing as we see fit.

Theme: Symbol of a Lamp

In the Old Testament, God used the symbol of a lamp for Jesus since that was the only source of light for the people back then. And because Jesus is the light of the world. And that Jesus will come from the line of David. For a symbol, I like to think of a lamp and a candle. Because Jesus is the light of the world. And a light in the darkness. What I learned was that God used light to guide and show the way to a lot of people.

Theme: Something is Rotten

Since Israel ended up having kings just like all the other nations. They just kept having lousy kings. Every so often they had such bad kings that God had to send someone to talk, fix and sort it out. And sometimes the people and the king don’t change after he/she make a difference. For example, one time the Israelites kept wavering between the god Baal and the one true God. So God sent Elijah to show them that God is the only God and the God of his people, Israel. When I think of this I think of good sportsmanship like when I ran cross country. We always tried to show good sportsmanship to the other teams. Even now they didn’t always see, recognize or appreciate it. I learned that every time you do or say something it might not be noticed, but if you keep doing it people will start to realize what you’re doing or saying.

Theme: Slide to Destruction

When Israel ended up having good kings, they ended up worshipping a false god called Baal. God gave them consequences by sending enemies to scatter them and teach them a lesson. Same thing happened to Judah they had good kings, but the rest of the people worshipped idols. And then the Babylonians conquered them. And the king’s focused on popularity and power, not Gods laws. I visualize someone so focused on their phone that they just walk off a ledge. I learned that sometimes we focus on something and later afterwards figure out we totally missed something.

Theme: Slavery & Salvation

Joseph was sold by his brothers to be a slave. He worked as a slave for many years. Then Pharaoh ended up making him second behind himself so Joseph was basically in charge of Egypt. And when his brothers came begging for food, Joseph was nice and treated them with kindness. Similar thing happened to Moses, He was born into slavery, yet he led Israel out of Egypt. Every time I think of this I think of Martin Luther King Jr. Because he was underestimated and offended because he was black. Then he made a giant change in civil rights. What I learned was that you should not underestimate somebody. And even know people do some bad or terrible things to you, you should be nice and forgive them.