Between Babel and Beast
(America and Empires in Biblical Perspective)

The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan

Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)

Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)

The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

Jane Austen
(A Biography)

Solomon Among the Postmoderns

The Baptized Body

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

Against Christianity

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church

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Bible - OT: Exile for kids

This is the last in a series of posts summarizing the way I’ve taught an Old Testament survey to kids aged 5-11 this summer.  Overall, it’s worked well.  We’ve covered a lot, and the kids have learned some of the basic patterns of the Bible.  It got more difficult the further we went in the Old Testament, since we were covering less familiar territory.  Some of the chants are convoluted and need more work.

Briefly, the last session was partly review, partly about the exile and return.  For review, I did a game show.  I divided the kids into teams and then quizzed them on the chants that we learned through the summer.  I rewarded the kids on the winning team with candy.  Parents love that.

The final session also gave a basic overview of the prophetic “eagle” period of Old Testament history.

First, we asked, What is a prophet?  The answer is:

A prophet is a member of God’s council

During the prophetic/eagle period of Israel’s history, the nation is scattered among the nations.  They have moved from garden (tabernacle/priest) to land (temple/king) to the world.

After the exile, they return to the land and reestablish Israel in the holy land.   The sequence for reestablishment of Israel can be chanted out as a list of people:

Joshua, Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah

It can also be chanted as a series of building projects.  Joshua and Zerubbabel work on reestablishing the altar and the temple, then Ezra comes to teach the people the law, and finally Nehemiah comes to build the city walls.  This replicates the order of the original creation in a way: garden, land, world.

altar, temple, people, city

Israel went into exile in Babylon, and were returned to the land by the Persians.  They lived in the land under two other Gentile powers, Greece and Rome.  These are the four imperial powers symbolized by the four metals on the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2).  This makes an easy chant:

Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome 

The exilic and post-exilic periods of Israel’s history are hugely important, and the least known periods.  I’ve given them far too little attention in this Bible survey.  That’s one of the things that needs work next time we do this.