Teaching Children Old Testament Stories In Light of Christ
David and Goliath, Noah's Ark, and Abraham are just a few of the Bible stories of the Old Testament that children learn in Sunday School. Many children's programs in churches lean towards teaching these popular stories of the Old Testament. We've all seen the kids Bibles, coloring sheets and crafts of rainbows and animals spilling out of the top of the Ark.
These stories are great stories that our children should be taught, but are we teaching them the wrong way? Are we focusing on the wrong aspects of the stories and dumbing them down to make them more entertainable for our children? When I ask kids about the story of Noah's Ark, most answer with Noah made an ark and the animals were on it while it flooded. When teaching these stories to our children are we showing them God, or are we simply giving the most basic explanation we can?
Who is God in the Old Testament?
In order to point our children toward God when reading and teaching the Old Testament, we must first know who God is in the Old Testament. First off, God is the SAME in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God does NOT change. So God in the Old Testament is the same as God in the New Testament. God is all powerful, unchanging, all knowing, and all present.
The Old Testament shows God as the creator and sustainer. We learn about his plan to redeem his people. God's love and just anger is shown for his nation Israel when they defy him. We learn the history of Jesus, and why Jesus is a fulfillment of the Old Testament promises made to Gods people. These aspects of God should be present in our teaching of the Old Testament to everyone, including children.
It is important as we are teaching the stories of the Old Testament that we do not get side tracked by commercial Christianity. There are many moral truths taught in Old Testament stories, but that is not what our primary teaching should be. We are to teach God's story of redemption and the coming of Christ when are are teaching the Old testament.
Gods Promises in the Old Testament
Lets start at the very beginning of the Old Testament. We read about God as the creator of all things in 6 days and resting on the 7th day. Then scripture continues to tell us of how sin entered the world and of God's solution. God didn't just leave his creation to fall into the hands of the evil one. He started a plan in Genesis to redeem his chosen men. God made man, man sinned and God promised a savior.
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offsprin and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15
What we see in Genesis 3:15 is that God has promised a savior that will save his people. The offspring of woman will crush the serpents head. This is God pointing towards Jesus's coming. The start of the story of redemption, of Jesus, starts at the very beginning. God has a planned from the start of creation of how he would save his people. The Old Testament is a story telling the history of God's people which point towards the coming of Christ.
So What is the Story?
Many people go through their lives attending church and still have no idea that the Bible is an entire story! I grew up in the church and it wasn't until my adulthood that I was taught and shown how all the stories of scriptures work together. They are all intertwined to bring us this amazing story. One that is better than any of us could write ourselves. A story full of love, betrayal, battles, death and life. The difference between this story and all others, is that it is true!
Many our fairytales books, television shows and movie follow a pattern set by scriptures. Something is created, something bad happens to that creation, and someone comes to save that creation. Even when people chose to deny God, they still follow his story set forth in creation. As created beings, we can not get away from the story that God has made. The story we are all belong to. God's story of creation, fall, rebellion, redemption and consummation.
God created us and through the sin of Adam and Eve we failed. We see the rebellion that occurs throughout scripture and in our own lives. We rebel against God. Then God sent Jesus, his son to redeem us. To save us from our sins and become the bridge between us and God the Father. Jesus conquered sin and death, to live again. Jesus then ascended into Heaven and will come again.
Tips for Teaching
But how do we teach this? Many of the tips I am going to give can be used when teaching anyone stories from the Old Testament. I am specifically writing this for parents to use when teaching their children, or reinforcing what was taught at their church.
1. Read the Story from Scripture
There are many children's Bibles available with stories from the scriptures. Although there is a time to use children's bibles, the time is not when you are teaching a child in the church. Children can sit and listen to stories like Noah being read in the same Bible as you read, or can follow along and read with you. Not only are you teaching children the importance of God's Word and that his word is for them, you are teaching them to sit and listen. You will be amazed at how much your child can comprehend from scripture and that they don't need the Children's Bible version.
2. Ask Questions
When you are reading from scripture, your child might have questions about what is being read. Depending on the length of the passage, you could either stop every few verses to discuss, or wait until you are finished. The younger the child, the shorter their attention span and you might need to stop every 2 verses to discuss the story. For instances, when reading Noah, you might need to pause after reading Genesis 5:5, and talk to you child about what is wickedness and what happens when we are wicked. You can then continue on reading the passage.
3. Hands on Activity
When teaching, anything you can do that is hands on can help people remember and reinforce the scripture you are studying. For older children, this might mean having the child take notes as you are reading the passage. They might have some questions to answer after reading that you can discuss together. For younger children, this might mean learning a song, making a craft, or playing a game that will help them remember the scripture passage you read. For Noah, you could have the children build their own Ark and see how many animals they can fit, or color a picture. They could learn a song about Noah, or draw a picture of Noah's Family Tree.
Go and Teach
Now that we've discussed a bit about how to teach Old Testament passages pointing towards Christ, you can try it out! I encourage you to try reading scripture to your children and using some of theses tips. These tips and tactics will help you learn to read and teach scripture in the way it was meant to be read, as an entire story.
When we approach scripture as an entirety we start to read Old Testaments stories in a different way. We see them as a part of a whole, instead of just moralistic teachings and miracle stories. We see how God redeemed his people with the purpose of sending Jesus Christ to save everyone from their sins.
Have you ever heard of the Bible being presented in the way of creation, rebellion, redemption and consummation? Do you tend to read from a Children's Bible when teaching scripture to your children?
