Genesis 12 begins next week and we have two more things we need to learn before that. First of all, we are going to talk theology with typology, which is a fun and clever way to discover clues about Jesus all the way through the entire Bible. Then we get serious and talk about human sacrifice but don’t worry--I am not going to be gross about it. Tr…

To better understand the Akeida in Genesis 22, we need to have some background on the olah offering—also translated as the whole burnt offering or ascending offering. What was it? How was it different from other sacrifices? Why did they believe that God needed smoke in order to smell it? This lesson is going to give us a lot of ancient Near Eastern…

Oh my gosh, we start Genesis 22 in two weeks and can you believe it? The Bible hasn’t mentioned love even once! Is that a problem? Not really. Love will be mentioned for the first time in chapter 22. And it isn’t even God’s love. This week we will talk about how God has been showing His love and faithfulness and loyalty in a lot of ways even though…

Wow, here we are at the end of Genesis chapter twenty-one at last! Before taking a break for the Fall Festivals, we’re going to look at the consequences of not being trusted as well as not being trustworthy—as both Abraham and Abimelech know very well. And we’ll be talking about sheep, wells, and planting trees in the middle of the desert! Transcri…

Oh man, I hate this portion of the Bible. It’s so messy and sad and frustrating. Abraham is upset about Sarah wanting Ishmael gone forever—I mean, of course he is! God hasn’t chimed in but when He does, it’s shocking so we will need to get an explanation. God isn’t done with Hagar or Ishmael yet, and Hagar is going to get one more visit before she …

A huge theme in ancient writings (and especially the Bible) is the difference between foolish and wise people. When we aren’t aware of it, we are tempted to look at everything people are doing in the Bible as examples of what is good and right but the Bible isn’t that sort of book. It’s a book about God being wise and putting up with humans—when ev…

Hurray! Isaac is weaned and has passed through the very dangerous first three years of life in the ancient world. Abraham throws a big party to celebrate but not everyone is happy. What happens when seventeen-year-old Ishmael expresses his anger over being replaced by a toddler? Why did Sarah even think that her solution was okay? In talking about …

We’ve been waiting for ten chapters, since Sarah was introduced at the end of chapter 11, and finally Isaac is here. But why is the story so short??? In fact, why are all the stories about Isaac so short? For someone we’ve been anxiously waiting for so long, he doesn’t get nearly as much attention as his father Abraham and his son Jacob. Sometimes …

Few things are less understood and acknowledged than God's incredible patience, and there’s no better time to discuss the patience of God than when we are beginning to wrap up the story of Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, and Hagar. Impatience wrecked their family peace while God’s patience leads to Jesus! And Jesus shows us God’s patience in how He dealt …

Anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy studying the history of the ancient Near East because it is also the history around the Bible. But what is it? Where is it? And how is it different from the Greco-Roman Near East of Jesus? And does it make any difference? Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/08/07/episode-149-what-is-the-ancient-nea…

I have been wanting to do this lesson for a long time and I wish someone had shared all of this with me—or even any of it with me—when I was a beginner. We never read anything without translating it in our own minds, and the Bible is no exception. We read the Bible and decide what it means based on our own lives, understandings, and what we have he…

Our last teaching in Genesis 20. Abimelech finally does what he should have done in the first place if he wanted to marry Sarah, and he finds himself in the unpleasant position of having to reward someone who lied to him so that Abraham will pray for him and his household. Although this would have made sense to Abimelech, what are we supposed to th…

God is getting Sarah back home, but Abraham starts making excuses—can we believe any of them, or is he just trying to keep himself out of trouble? Abimelech is furious, and so are his people when they hear about Abraham’s plan. But what are we supposed to think about all of this? And what do we do when a friend tells us to lie if we want to still b…

Considering the fact that Abimelech has kidnapped Sarah, it’s shocking to us that when he tells God how innocent he is, God agrees. But God is most certainly not giving Abimelech a pass and makes a terrifying threat that Abimelech had better do what is right—or else. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/07/07/episode-145-is-abimelech-really-…

Audio fixed on this--my apologies. I uploaded the parent version. You’re not going to believe this but we’re going to have a replay of Genesis 12 where Abraham lies to Pharaoh about Sarah his wife and gets her into more trouble. How is this time the same? How is it different? And how is God going to get her out of it this time? And who is Abimelech…

We are circling back to talking about what it means to become more like Jesus again because, as we will see again next week when we start Genesis 20, Abraham has a real problem with lying when he is scared and not trusting God. What did Jesus do when He was afraid? What does the Bible tell us about lying and when is it the right or wrong thing to d…

Were all disciples men? What does the word even mean? What did Jesus have to say about disciples and why He had them in the first place? Was Jesus the only person to ever have disciples? Are you a disciple of Jesus or are you not quite sure? What should we think of when we hear the word disciple? What words did Jesus say about what it takes to be o…

This week we close out Genesis 19 and say goodbye to Lot. Sometimes it is easy to forget that this chapter of the Bible is about Lot and not about the wicked city he is living in. Lot isn’t done with his bad decisions, and some of the worst are yet to come. Why can’t Lot just trust God and obey? Why do there always have to be arguments and foot dra…

Lot is super irritating and what he does this week proves that just being unhappy with how people are acting isn’t enough to make a difference in a wicked place. No one respects Lot or takes him seriously—not even his future sons-in-law. Lot still isn’t willing to leave Sodom, even when his neighbors want him dead but God keeps forgiving Lot and gi…

There are a lot of bad dads and moms in the Bible but if Lot isn’t the worst one then he is near the top of the list. Being a young girl in the ancient world was a very dangerous thing and sometimes the members of your own family could be your worst enemies. How far will Lot go to obey the hospitality codes of the ancient world? Who is he willing t…

This week we will be talking about the mysterious angels in disguise, what Lot did to make his neighbors angry, and what a city gate was. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/05/06/episode-138-mysterious-strangers-in-sodom/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/b2LMiM2ulJgBy Tyler Dawn Rosenquist

The truth is that we know more about angels on tv and in Christian art than we do about angels in the Bible, and so before we dive into our first real encounter with angels in Genesis 19 we’re going to see what the Bible does and doesn’t say about Angels. And we’ll talk about the three most famous angels of all! Transcript: https://contextforkids.c…

Who is the first intercessor in the Bible? Abraham! He went to bat for the people of Sodom, appealing to and reasoning with God's mercy over His sense of justice. This makes him very different from everyone who went before Him--especially Noah! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/03/27/episode-136-the-one-when-abraham-tries-to-save-sodom/ Y…

Last year, we talked about the stories of Esther and Vashti, but this year, we are going to focus on irresponsible King Ahasuerus, Esther’s cousin Mordecai, who didn’t follow his own wise advice, and the wicked Haman. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/03/20/episode-135-esther-and-the-great-big-mess/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fq9diKf9mG8…

Do you know what a prophet is? There are many stories going around that make it look like prophets were fortune tellers, but nothing could be further from the truth. God is going to name Abraham a prophet in chapter 21, but in Genesis 18, he is already being treated like one. Understanding prophets and what they are and are not will help you unders…

Most people look at Sarah’s laughter in Genesis 18 and think nothing of it. We think of what it looks like in the movies or in our picture books but what does the Bible tell us about Sarah laughing when she heard she was going to finally be a mom? Why are we so confused about what the Bible does and doesn’t say and what does it tell us about the st…

This week we are beginning Torah portion Vayera, which covers the time from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to the Akeida in chapter 22. Today we start out with a very mysterious appearance of three strangers soon after Abraham circumcised all the men in his household. From the very first line, we know that one of the strangers is God but why…

Well, I was planning on doing a teaching on patience but that isn’t going so well lately so I decided that this was the perfect time to do a lesson on hospitality because that’s mostly what Genesis 18 and 19 are about! Just like Honor and Shame and Covenants, once you understand the rules of ancient hospitality, you will know it when you see it and…

Kindness is complicated. It’s a lot different than just being nice because Jesus wasn’t always nice but He was always kind. Being nice is just being pleasant to people, but kindness is treating people better than we think they deserve to be treated. And that isn’t easy when we are angry, sad, in pain, or just plain frustrated. Kindness is going to …

Well, whenever someone says goodness is how to be like Jesus, it makes me want to say, “Well, duh…” but what does goodness even mean? It means so many different things in English that it makes your head spin. This week we will talk about what “goodness” means in the Bible and how the Holy Spirit works in us to get us closer and closer to being good…

What faithfulness means to us today and what the Greek word pistis meant to Paul are sort of the same but also very different. Fortunately, what Paul meant will teach us how much we can trust Jesus and how we want to become people who can be trusted by Jesus. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/01/23/episode-128-being-like-jesus-faithfulnes…

Mercy is a huge thing in the Bible and so we would expect Jesus to not only teach about the importance of being merciful but also that He would be merciful. Mercy is a big step up from showing self-control. To show how mercy works, we’re going to look at one of the funniest parables about the Ungrateful Servant. It doesn’t seem funny at first, but …

It’s one thing to say that Jesus had every single fruit of the Spirit to perfection, but quite another to look at what that really means when you have the authority and power to do absolutely anything you want. It isn’t so much about what Jesus did but what He was capable of. That makes Him even more amazing! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/…

Have you ever been scared to pray because you don’t want to say the wrong thing or because you are afraid that you can’t trust God to do what is right or that He will be angry if you are honest? Today, we’re going to talk about why we can always be ourselves when we are talking to God. And not only that, but about how having to be perfect in our pr…

Forgiveness is hard to understand and even harder to do. Grownups ask me all the time about what forgiveness is and isn’t, and if it means forgetting and acting like nothing happened or if we can still be careful when someone is dangerous. Learning about the forgiveness from God we have through our King Jesus, and what Jesus told us to do, and how …

We are about halfway through the story of Abraham in the Bible. His life story in Genesis is traditionally divided into two "Torah Portions"--Lech Lecha and Vayera. As we just finished Lech Lecha, I wanted to toss out all the context and to just enjoy myself telling the first part of Abraham's story the way that extra-biblical Jewish writers did to…

Special episode: Many kids feel (or are made to feel) that they are mistakes for this or that reason. It’s an issue near and dear to my heart so we are going to tackle it. Oh no! God has made it clear that it was always His plan to give a miracle baby through Sarai and now Abraham realizes that his beloved thirteen-year-old son Ishmael won’t be his…

This week we will be talking about one of the themes of Scripture—miracle babies! Sarai’s will be the very first of seven and that calls for a new name, new promises, and new problems for Abraham. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/31/episode-121-sarais-new-name/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/vgnbqUGa-MY…

God is going to tell Abraham to make a decision that can’t ever be taken back, by obeying a commandment that can’t ever be undone. And what does it tell us about how different our God is in how He feels about kids and slaves? And why weren’t women included?? Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/23/episode-120-circumcision-no-slave-or-free…

When God makes a Covenant, He really makes a Covenant. In chapter 17, Abraham is given the promise of a permanent Covenant, which means it will be around as long as God is around. And you know, that’s forever! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/18/episode-119-a-permanent-covenant/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/2hACXSgYML0…

The surprising new covenant promise is revealed and Abram gets a brand new name! I can’t tell you how relieved I am that I can write Abraham from now on because it’s easier to remember than Abram. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/09/episode-118-abrams-new-name/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/8tM3Rv98dyw…

God appears to Abram for the first time in twenty-four years (I am not counting the vision appearance of the Word of the Lord in Gen 15), introduces Himself by a new mysterious name, promises a new covenant, and gives Abram a new command! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/02/episode-117-el-shaddai/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/ifm-4Uo4whI…

Sorry, parents--but in order to teach Genesis 17, we can’t avoid talking about circumcision—a subject that was absolutely normal and not at all embarrassing in the ancient world. It’s actually incredibly interesting! And not only that, but we have to talk about what holiness is and about the nine special signs in the Old Testament. I will also be p…

For Yom Kippur this year, the Day of Atonement when the Temple would be cleansed from the sins of the people of Israel, I want to talk about invisible sins and how they mess everything up. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/09/18/episode-115-yom-kippur-why-does-god-hate-lies-so-much/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/cOHEZ_YyV8o…

Hagar is unique and important in the Bible for a lot of reasons. We’ve already talked about some of them but perhaps her most important contribution to our faith is when she gave God a name. No one else ever does. What does that name tell us about Hagar, about God, and about her son Ishmael? Plus, we’re going to explore another “what if” story to t…

Who is the first person to actually see AND talk to the Angel of the Lord? It’s Hagar! In this episode, we’re going to see how much God loves Hagar and even calls her by name when Abram and Sarai don’t. God has some amazing promises for Hagar that would eventually mean a completely different and better life for her. In fact, God makes Hagar a promi…

Genesis 16 isn’t a good chapter for Abram, Sarai, and especially for Sarai’s Egyptian slave Hagar. Sarai comes up with an idea to get a child for herself by following ancient Near Eastern custom, and Abram goes along with it. The result is one huge mess and a whole lot of pain for everyone. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/08/30/episode-…

Today we are going to learn about a very important young lady in the Bible. Her name is Hagar and even though the people in her life treated her badly, God treated her like a VIP, a Very Important Person. All of chapter sixteen is about Hagar, so she deserves her own story “before the story”. We will be learning about Egyptians, slavery, and about …

This is an episode designed to address a serious issue for both adults and kids—what does it mean to honor mother and father, and how does one obey their parents “in the Lord” as per Eph 6:1? There isn’t anyone in Christian or Jewish leadership who hasn’t been asked these questions—generally by adults suffering under the weight of abusive and irres…

We talked about this a bit back in episode 107, but this episode is actually about a lot more than it looks like on the surface. When we know what to look for, this is the most powerful promise yet about the Messiah, Jesus. God made a promise to Eve, and now He makes an even greater promise to Abram! This will be the last lesson in Gen 15. Transcri…