24. Hungry Worms
25. Escape to Slavery
26. One Big City
Books That Helped
Acknowledgments
Index
My old seminary prof said, “It’s a sin to make the Bible boring.” My four children agree. If you’re looking for a predictable children’s Bible story book, don’t buy this one. There are no stories about Jonah and the great fish in here. If you’re expecting a story about David and Goliath, you’ll be disappointed. This book even does the unthinkable in a children’s devotional: It skips Noah and the flood completely! Based on limitless research into the lives of my children, I’ve concluded that a new story beats a rerun every time. The excitement of the Bible is its unpredictability. You never know what the omniscient God is going to do—unless, of course, you’ve heard the story before. Find your kids, their pajamas, and a few minutes of time. I promise they (and you) won’t be bored. I’ve put four tips for you in each chapter. Here’s how they work:
Tip #1—Scripture Passage
You can use the Scripture in a few ways. If you’re in a hurry, you can simply ignore it. Admit it; sometimes you will! That’s okay; I wrote the stories so you can dive right in and tell them without any preparation. If you have time to read the passage over before telling the story, you’re type “A.” That’s terrific, and I’ll ignore the guilt I feel for being less driven. However, what will probably happen is you’ll be reading the story to your children and be silently thinking (with them), “No way that’s in the Bible!” Then, not wanting to teach your kids what isn’t true, you can read the story in the Bible after telling it to your kids. Your conscience will feel better knowing it’s a true Bible story!
I’ve provided Scripture verses at the end of each chapter to help your children understand how the story relates to them. You could pick one verse to memorize or just read all the verses at the end. Some of the passages are terrific to use as a bedtime prayer. Or you can skip them altogether. They’re parallel passages that fit with the “So What?” of the story, described in “Tip #2.”
Tip #2—So What?
The beginning of each chapter has a “so what” explanation of why we’re telling this Bible story to our children. It’s the application of the story. Sometimes it’s obvious, other times not. More than once I thought, “Now I know why no one told me these stories. They’re impossible to understand! Why did God put them in here anyway?” Of course, finding the answer to that question is what adds excitement to the Bible and to the stories. I’ve included an index at the end of the book so you can find stories based on specific passages of Scripture or on the “so what” application topics. That way you can skip to a specific topic if you like. The stories are arranged according to the biblical time line, so some later stories may refer to previous ones. But, you’re smart—you’re a parent after all—and you can deal with that.
Tip #3—For Parents: [Anything in brackets]
There are a few difficulties in telling Bible stories to children. One is the “R” rating many of the stories would have in a movie version: David walking back with a bleeding head the size of a basketball tucked under his arm; people screaming and clawing to climb into the ark as the rain continues to fall. You can even read about family trees that have no branches. Here’s what I did. If you tell the story as written, your children should understand it with a “G” rating. In brackets, I’ve included more information about the story. It might be background information, gory details, resources, even a little parental humor. Include what you think your kids should know and skip the rest.
Tip #4—Questions
Each story contains a number of questions for your kids to answer. On those nights when you worked late, the kids are hyperactive, and you need them in bed pronto to preserve your sanity, skip the questions. On the other hand, when you have a little extra time or when the kids can sleep in the next day, ask all the questions. Your kids will love them, and you will be shocked at some of their answers. An interactive, unpredictable Bible story is what we’re after, and the questions are key. Just stay sane, okay?
Scripture Passage: Numbers 22
So What? God knows what you’re thinking!
For Parents: [Anything in brackets]
Have you ever sneezed and had someone say, “Bless you”? What do people mean by that? Does it give you a blessing? What would happen if someone said, “Curse you”? What would that mean? What would that do?
Some people believe strongly in blessing and cursing things. This is especially true for those who worship the earth, or Satan, or other false gods. When they bless things or people, sometimes it seems good things happen to them. When they curse things or people, it seems bad things happen to them.
Years ago, the king of Moab wanted to curse the Jewish people because he was afraid they were going to attack his country. He hired a man named Balaam to do the cursing. It seemed that whenever Balaam cursed or blessed people, he got results. He was getting rich just going around cursing or blessing other people for hire. That wasn’t a bad job! It paid well, and everyone seemed to like him.
Maybe you would go to Balaam and say, “Hey, I don’t like my little brother. Can you put a curse on him—nothing too bad—for this weekend?” “Sure,” Balaam might say, “for ten bucks.” So you would pay him, and he would do it. On the other hand, maybe you would pay him to bless your next soccer game or your math test.
Balaam’s blessings and curses really came true. Sometimes this may have been just luck, but other times it was more than luck. He lived on the shores of a big river called the Euphrates. Scientists have been able to dig up the old towns on the bank of the Euphrates from when Balaam lived. They found a lot of things that were used to worship demons. They’re similar to things used today for voodoo, witchcraft, and New Age and occult religions. Balaam believed in all kinds of gods. He was successful in bringing blessings and curses because the demons of these gods were doing things for him. He was a very dangerous man, and he was making a lot of money.
How many true gods are there? How do you talk to God? Can you order him to do things for you?
Balak, the evil king of Moab, wanted to curse the Jewish people. So he said, “Balaam! Hey, Balaam! I’ll pay you big bucks to call curses down on Israel.” Balaam liked the sound of that. Big bucks were what he liked.
The
