In this video, I show you how to make a Tabernacle model. You will need the following supplies:
I give you directions on how to put it together in the video. I also explain why the Tabernacle is significant, and the modern equivalent of the Tabernacle today.
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This morning when we were listening to the story of Esau approaching Jacob’s family with 400 men, I stopped the audio to ask the kids how they would feel. Esau had previously said that he would murder his brother Jacob for stealing his birthright and blessing through trickery and lying. Jacob knew that he was going to be killed, and he was scared half out of his mind.
“What would you have done to appease your brother’s fury and try to protect your family from being killed?” I asked this after they heard that Jacob had given a huge present of lots of animals to his brother.
“Give him presents” was the answer that seemed appropriate because Jacob had sinfully tricked Esau out of his father’s blessing, and Jacob had received double the inheritance that Esau had, because the right of the firstborn back then was to get a double portion of the inheritance. (To do the math, since there were two kids, the money was divided into three parts; the firstborn got 2/3rds, and the second son was supposed to get 1/3. If you had 8 kids, you divided the inheritance money into 9 parts, giving the firstborn a double portion.) Anyway, since Jacob had swindled riches away from his brother, it was only right for him to make up for his sin through money. Money back then (wealth) was counted through livestock and land. So Jacob was giving large amounts of livestock to his brother to appease his anger.
“But wait, Mom!” shouted my oldest son. “God told Jacob that he would prosper in the land back home. So there was no way that Esau would kill his brother. If he had trusted God, he would not have been scared.”
I paused. My son was right.
Circumstances are not reality. God’s Word is reality. If we can truly grasp this, we would never have fear, because God has promised that all our circumstances will work out for our good. I was shocked that my son had such deep spiritual perception.
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Recently I decided to make some Bible-time foods, having found the book Foods from the Bible at a used curriculum sale for fifty cents. My son begged me to get it, so I let him make these recipes. The first recipe was for the lentil stew that Jacob might have made for Esau in exchange for the birthright. After reading the story to the children, we mixed the following ingredients together:
Add these together in a big pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour. Pour it into a blender, making sure the lid is on tight, or everyone will scream at being scalded by the burning stew, which looks like barf by that time. I told the children to look away so that they wouldn’t lose their appetite. But it was too late.
Oh, I forgot to mention to add these ingredients to the blender at the last minute:
You need more than a pinch of red pepper for this tasteless stew to have any flavor whatsoever. It tastes kind of like pea soup. Plus, it’s not red, even though the lentils were red. So the real stew must have contained tomatoes. Or something red. Maybe something with flavor. No way did Esau trade his birthright for this dish.
As a side dish, we made a Bible-time cucumber salad:
Combine ingredients and chill before serving. This salad has a more delicate flavor than your average cucumber salad, which I like better than this. But this salad was okay. The children ate it without complaint.
And lastly, we made some Bible-time mint tea:
Steep all the ingredients together for about three minutes. Pour into cups, and garnish with a sprig of mint. Two of my children loved this tea, which is a great way to finish a somewhat lousy meal.
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“Journey to the Cross” is an outdoor Easter play that our family has attended for the last few years. You walk down a path representing the life of Jesus, especially the last week of His life. The Last Supper, the betrayal by Judas, the Garden of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, and the resurrection are all depicted as if it were really happening. The costumes and scenery are also well-done. We recorded it so that others could feel the experience:
During our recent study of John the Baptist, one of my children dressed up like him. After hearing the Word of God regarding John the Baptist, I read the chapter about him from Wilkinson and Boa’s Talk Through Bible Personalities. My children had a well-rounded view of this prophet. First we saw prophecies that foretold the coming of John in Isaiah and Malachi. Then the birth of John the Baptist was surrounded by strange events, since his father Zacharias saw the angel Gabriel and didn’t believe the news when the angel told him that he was going to have a son in his old age. So he was struck dumb and wasn’t able to speak until the birth of his son.
In the wilderness, John ate locusts and wild honey. You can have your kids taste honey and observe a grasshopper in a terrarium. (Pet stores sell crickets for cheap, but beware that they chirp at night and are irritating.) John looked like a wild madman. He spoke in sharp rebukes and harsh words, and people flocked to him to hear him preach and be baptized by him. John even baptized Jesus, having His identity confirmed by God the Father speaking, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Holy Spirit descended as a dove at the same time.
Even before John was born, he leaped for joy when Mary the mother of Jesus entered the room. John recognized the presence of Jesus even before birth. So why did he doubt when he was in prison? (Remember, Herod was not happy about being told he had done the wrong thing to marry his brother’s wife, so he threw John into prison.) John’s doubts probably came from the fact that he didn’t know that Christ was going to come again, and a lot of the prophecies weren’t being fulfilled. Jesus answered John with Scripture that was being fulfilled, and He said that “Among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11:11)
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Wouldn’t it be cool if we could find out where the real ark of the covenant is located? Or Noah’s ark? Or even Mt. Sinai? The Bible Explorer Series is a set of three DVD’s that chronicle the modern search for these three things. This series is a professionally done, truly fascinating exploration of where on earth these are located. Each DVD starts out as a mystery, and each new piece of evidence leads to a greater understanding of the location of these items. (I know a mountain isn’t an item, but I’ll call it an item anyway.)
In the Ark of the Covenant DVD, there is evidence that the ark was removed from Jerusalem during King Manasseh’s reign, because he placed a stone idol in the Holy of Holies, which would have been an abomination to the priesthood. There is an island (Elephantine Island) in the middle of the Nile River in Egypt, close to Aswan, where a temple was built by the priests who had rescued the ark away from the defilement of Manasseh. Evidence of the Jewish priests from Manasseh’s reign being on the island is conclusive. From there, the Egyptians were horrified that the Jews were sacrificing rams, because the Egyptians worshiped rams. A strong disagreement resulted in the Jewish priests leaving Egypt with the ark and going to Ethiopia, of all places. First it was put on an island in Ethiopia, and there is evidence that the ark might have rested there for hundreds of years.
Finally a Christian Ethiopian king came and stole it from the island, placing it in a church in Ethiopia, where it stands today. Unfortunately the object is so holy that nobody is allowed to look at it. In my mind, this is actually a good thing, because if it’s truly the ark of the covenant, the Israelites would want their possession back, which would cause violence, since many major religions consider this to be a holy relic, and they would all fight over it, taking it away from the Ethiopians. Based on eyewitness accounts, after seeing this DVD, I think it’s highly likely that the ark is actually located in Ethiopia today. Isn’t that frieken’ cool?
The other two DVD’s are equally interesting. Suffice it to say that all my kids were fascinated just as much as I was with this series. So in my opinion, this DVD set is worth buying. I will be giving away a free copy of the Bible Explorer Series DVD’s. Enter the contest below for a chance to win:
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My 10-year-old son just finished reading through the entire Bible on his own. It took him eight months. He colored in a square for each chapter that he read. We sometimes would talk about what he was reading. He had a deep desire to read God’s Word on his own.
Now my 9-year-old son has started reading the Bible. He’s only been reading for about two months. A week ago when I was pouring myself some coffee, my son shouted, “I love Leviticus! It is my favorite book! Besides Revelation, I mean.”
“Why do you like it so much?” I asked.
“All the chapters about leprosy are so interesting!”
Go figure. My son thinks leprosy is interesting. I walked off with my coffee, totally perplexed.
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I'm Susan Evans. I speak at homeschool conferences, teach creative writing classes, and homeschool my four kids using unit studies.
How to Write a Mystery Story
Four 1-Hour Video Classes
Organizing for a Fun Homeschool
2-Hour Downloadable DVD
