God responds to the faith of His people. Abram had faith in God Almighty, and he obeyed God’s instructions. God Almighty, Yahweh, spoke to Abram, telling him to leave Ur, which was his family home. Continuing with the story we began last week, God’s directions included a stopover at the city of Haran, where Abram and the rest of the traveling party, including his wife, father, nephew, and servants, settled for a time. Haran is where Terah, Abram’s father died. After this event, Abram is once again told by God to leave. The destination is to be revealed as he travels, and the great promises God made to Abram earlier are restated.
God wanted Abram to continue stepping out in faith and obedience, trusting Him to keep His promise, to a final destination which will be the land of Canaan.
The issue of worship of a false god - the moon god - came up again in today’s class. God Almighty, Yahweh, is clearly moving Abram away, putting distance between where Abram’s descendants will eventually settle and where the worship of the moon god, now known by the name Allah, is entrenched. Abram and his descendants will encounter other false gods in their territory, but God Almighty, Yahweh, is starting to establish a place on the earth that is to be identified with Him, so that Yahweh will eventually become known as the God of Israel.
In previous classes, last summer and this fall, we have taught about God, introducing the name of God, in Hebrew יהוה which we have taught should be pronounced Yahweh; we have also taught that some people do not pronounce the Name, but read the Hebrew letters instead. We also have taught that the Holy Bible reveals Yahweh to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a Trinity.
A student asked the question, “how do we know that Yahweh is God Almighty, and not the moon god, Allah?” My response was to mention the Name, JESUS. Jesus, the Son of God, has revealed the Father to us, and He has declared “I and the Father are one” - that is, united as one within the Trinity, along with Holy Spirit. Our KidZone major theme for this year is “Fix Your Eyes - on Jesus” taken from Hebrews 12: 2. The Holy Bible teaches that יהוה - Yahweh - is God Almighty, and Jesus validates this, particularly through His life, death, Resurrection, and ascension.
I finished my response at that point; I answered without hesitation, and am fully convinced and persuaded that Yahweh is God Almighty. It may sound like a cliche, but my approach to giving this answer was -- there’s the answer; that settles it. I did not discuss the opposition to my answer that exists and that the students will eventually have to confront. But as the 5th graders progress through public schools (if they attend them) and are exposed to politically correct teaching on Islam in their lessons and multicultural activities, they will at least been given a start on filtering those teachings through the basic truth we teach. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the true God Almighty, and Allah is a false god.
I would like to also comment that just because a student asks a question that is phrased in a skeptical way, does not mean that the student is actually a skeptic regarding Christianity. I encourage inquiry, and have always told the students that we will take time for their questions. This class has raised many excellent questions over this school year, including the one mentioned above.
In the rest of the class, we continued to learn about the remainder of Abram’s travel and God’s renewing of His solemn promise - a covenant - that also gave Abram a new name, Abraham, which means “the father of many.” Abraham was to have many descendants, his chosen descendants would inherit the land He promised to Abraham as an everlasting possession, and through His Seed all the families of the earth will be blessed.
We teach that His Seed is a promise that refers to Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.
The class closed with Memory Verse practice for the weekly verse, shown on page 4 of Bible Adventures, Psalm 32:8, and the new Emphasis Verse, Isaiah 60: 1 (shown below).
1 Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. [NKJV]
The Memory Verse from last week, Psalm 32: 8, is re-assigned this week, and Isaiah 60: 1. is the Emphasis Memory Verse for the remainder of the month of November. These verses can be said for Achievement Points credit.
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