{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69457/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69457","id":"gutenberg_69457","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69457","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Study and teaching","Bible stories, English","Category: Parenthood & Family Relations","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Teaching & Education","Christian education of children"],"text":"[Illustration:\n\n COURSE IV PART I\n\n GRADED COURSE\n INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM\n\n STORIES FROM\n THE OLDEN\n TIME\n\n TEACHER\u2019S\n TEXT BOOK\n\n Prepared by\n JOSEPHINE L. BALDWIN\n\n HENRY H. MEYER, Editor\n\n THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN\n NEW YORK CINCINNATI]\n\n\n\n\n +=======================================================================+\n | ORGANIZATION CHART |\n +===+=========+===========================+===================+=========+\n |AGE| COURSE | TITLES OF COURSES |Departmental Groups| School |\n | | | +---------+---------+ Grades |\n | | | | Plan 1 | Plan 2 | |\n +===+=========+===========================+=========+=========+=========+\n | 4|BEGINNERS|The Little Child and the |BEGINNERS|BEGINNERS| KINDER- |\n | 5| | Heavenly Father (A Two | | | GARTEN |\n | | | Year Course for children | | | |\n | | | of Kindergarten age.) | | | |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+---------+---------+---------+\n | 6|I |Bible Stories for the | | | |\n | | | Sunday School and | | | |\n | | | Home\u2014Year 1 | | | E |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ | | L |\n | 7|II |Bible Stories for the | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | E |\n | | | Sunday School and | | | M |\n | | | Home\u2014Year 2 | | | E |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ | | N |\n | 8|III |Bible Stories for the | | | T |\n | | | Sunday School and | | | A |\n | | | Home\u2014Year 3 | | | R |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+---------+---------+ Y |\n | 9|IV |Stories from the Olden | | | |\n | | | Time (including Special | | | G |\n | | | Summer Material) | | | R |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ | | A |\n | 10|V |Hero Stories (including | | JUNIOR | D |\n | | | Special Summer Material) | | | E |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ JUNIOR | | S |\n | 11|VI |Kingdom Stories (including | | | |\n | | | Special Summer Material) | | | |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ +---------+ |\n | 12|VII |Gospel Stories (including | | | |\n | | | Special Summer Material) | | | |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+---------+ | |\n | 13|VIII |Leaders of Israel | | | |\n | | | (including Special | | INTER- | H |\n | | | Summer Material) | | MEDIATE | I |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ + | G |\n | 14|IX |Christian Leaders | | | H |\n | | | (including Special | | | |\n | | | Summer Material) | | | S |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ INTER- +---------+ C |\n | 15|X |The Life of Christ | MEDIATE | | H |\n | | | (including Special | | | O |\n | | | Summer Material) | | | O |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ + | L |\n | 16|XI |Christian Living | | SENIOR | |\n | | | (including Special | | | |\n | | | Summer Material) | | | |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+---------+ | |\n | 17|XII |The World a Field for | | | |\n | | | Christian Service | | | |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ +---------+ |\n | 18|XIII |The History and Literature | | | |\n | | | of the Hebrew People | | | |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ SENIOR | | |\n | 19|XIV |The History of New | | YOUNG | C |\n | | | Testament Times | | PEOPLE | O |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+ | TO | L |\n | 20|XV |The Bible and Social | | 24 | L |\n | | | Living | | YEARS | E |\n +---+---------+---------------------------+---------+ | G |\n | |Special Courses for Parents| | | E |\n | | and Elective Courses on | ADULT | | |\n | | Special Topics | | | |\n +=============+===========================+===================+=========+\n | THE COURSES BEGIN WITH OCTOBER |\n +=======================================================================+\n\n\nNOTE\n\nPLAN 1: When the Graded Lessons were first issued the yearly courses were\ngrouped to correspond to this well-known classification of pupils, and\nthe text books were marked in accordance with this plan.\n\nPLAN 2: The departmental grouping by a series of three years to a\ndepartment corresponds to the school grading where Junior High Schools\nhave been organized and is now recommended by many denominations.\n\nCare must be taken to select the Graded Course by age and titles, as\nindicated in the left column, rather than by department names.\n\nCopyright, 1918, by N. S. Barnes.\n\n\n\n\n Prepared for teachers of children about nine years of age\n\n STORIES FROM THE\n OLDEN TIME\n\n TEACHER\u2019S TEXT BOOK\n\n COURSE IV, PART I\n\n Prepared by JOSEPHINE L. BALDWIN\n\n [Illustration: The Berean\n GRADED COURSE\n INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM]\n\n HENRY H. MEYER, Editor\n\n THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN\n NEW YORK CINCINNATI\n\n Copyright, 1909, 1913, 1917, by Josephine L. Baldwin\n\n The memory verses from the American Standard Bible\n are copyrighted, 1901\n by Thomas Nelson & Sons, New York\n\n\n\n\n To Mrs. J. Woodbridge Barnes\n\n WHOSE CLEAR VISION, WISE LEADERSHIP, AND\n UNDAUNTED COURAGE HAVE MADE POSSIBLE\n THE INTERNATIONAL COURSE OF GRADED\n LESSONS, AND WHOSE CRITICISM AND SUPERVISION\n HAVE BEEN INVALUABLE IN THE\n PREPARATION OF THESE LESSONS FOR PUBLICATION,\n THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n =Out of Childhood into Youth= 7\n\n =Our Juniors, Their Teachers and Lesson Helps= 11\n\n GRADED INSTRUCTION 11\n Reasons for Having a Graded System; The Purpose of the Graded\n Course; The Material Used.\n\n THE JUNIOR COURSE 12\n Arrangement of Material; The Aims; The Correlated Lesson.\n\n THE JUNIOR PERIOD 14\n Beginning and End; Characteristics; Spiritual Needs.\n\n THE JUNIOR TEACHER 16\n Personality; Opportunity.\n\n GUIDES FOR STUDY AND TEACHING 19\n The Teacher\u2019s Text Book; The Pupil\u2019s Book for Work and Study;\n The Children\u2019s Bible; The Rainbow Bookmark; How the Bookmark\n is Used; The Bookmark as a Reward.\n\n PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS AND HONORS 26\n The Basis for Promotion; Recognition for Extra Work.\n\n =Stories from the Olden Time=\n\n I. STORIES OF THE BEGINNINGS 27\n 1. In the Beginning 29\n 2. The Garden of Eden 35\n 3. Hiding from God 40\n 4. Cain and Abel 46\n 5. Review 51\n 6. The Building of the Ark 54\n 7. The Flood and the Rainbow 60\n\n II. STORIES OF THREE PATRIARCHS 65\n 8. The Call of Abram 67\n 9. Giving Lot the First Choice 72\n 10. Abram\u2019s Rescue of Lot 77\n 11. Abraham Entertaining Angels 83\n 12. The Song of Mary (Christmas Lesson) 88\n 13. Review 93\n\n =Appendixes= 97\n\n A. Memory Work 99\n B. Book List 101\n C. List of Stereographs 103\n D. Aids for Superintendent and Teacher 105\n E. Outline of Lessons for the Year 107\n\n\n\n\nOUT OF CHILDHOOD INTO YOUTH\n\n\nTraits of Boyhood and Girlhood\n\nAt the beginning of the period of childhood for which the Junior Course\nis intended, approximately nine years of age, there appears to be in\nthe life of the normal boy or girl a real transition as the traits and\ninterests of earlier years give way to those of full fledged boyhood and\ngirlhood. Strange premonitions of impending physical and mental changes\nnow appear, with suggestions of riper years that are rapidly approaching.\nThe physical and mental changes of this period are accompanied by an\nawakening of social consciousness. This is noticeable in the friendships\nformed, in the increase of love and sympathy for others and in the\ndawning recognition of obligations toward others. The opposite of the\nsame tendency is reflected in the sense of rivalry and emulation and,\nespecially in boys, in the developing spirit of pugnacity, tempered with\na tendency to defend the weak. This growing social consciousness brings\nwith it also a stronger consciousness of self, a clearer recognition of\nright and wrong and an awakening of conscience which now begins to take\nthe place of rules made by others as a guide to action.\n\n\nThe Inner Life of the Spirit\n\nThe normal growth of the inner life of the spirit is likewise rapid, the\nspiritual awakening which may be counted on during this period bringing\nwith it the first religious crisis in the life of the boy and girl.\nFor this crisis the most careful preparation should be made. When the\nspiritual awakening comes, the child should be given an opportunity to\nchoose for himself to live as God\u2019s child in obedience to his laws and\nin loving unselfish devotion and service for others. When the choice has\nbeen made, the new sense of responsibility which follows must be fostered\nand the child aided by suggestion and encouragement in daily conduct\nto follow right habits of thought and action. The meaning, need and\nthe helpfulness of worship may be taught through actual participation\nin services of worship suited to the pupil\u2019s age and the manner of his\nnatural expression of religious impulses and aspirations.\n\n\nMaterials and Methods\n\nThe materials provided in the course of religious instruction for\nthis period take into account the growing interest of the pupil in\ndefinite information and knowledge. This material includes stories\nwith a rich coloring of adventure and connected historical narratives\nappealing to the interests of this age. By the use of these materials\nthe mind of the pupil is stored with the best Biblical images of strong\nand noble character as his studies introduce him to the great heroes\nand champions of the faith of past ages. Much emphasis is laid upon\nreligious privileges and duties, while profitable occupation exercises\nare suggested to insure a daily reinforcement of the lesson taught in\nthe Sunday school hour. By precept and example the teacher may inculcate\nhabits of neatness, accuracy, punctuality, patience and other virtues. He\nmay watch over the religious life and as a wise specialist in the field\nof soul nurture may anticipate and prepare the way for each successive\nstage of that life\u2019s unfolding.\n\n\nThis Text Book\n\nThe introductory chapters of this Teacher\u2019s Text Book, entitled Our\nJuniors, Their Teachers and Lesson Helps, present in detail the aims, the\nmethods and the underlying principles governing this Junior Course. A\ncareful study of this chapter together with the introductory chapters for\nthe other years of the course will be found most profitable.\n\n\nThe Course and the Writer\n\nWe would unreservedly commend the writer of this course, Josephine\nL. Baldwin, to the confidence of all teachers. She writes, not from\ntheory alone, but from long, practical experience in teaching Junior\nchildren. Every one of the lessons contained in this course she has\ntaught repeatedly. As a teacher of teachers, therefore, she speaks with\nauthority in the suggestions and directions contained in this Teacher\u2019s\nText Book. The stories and suggestions regarding method in the form in\nwhich they are here presented, are the rich fruitage of her expert\nknowledge and training. There are no better courses for use with children\nof junior age than this course. It is a tool well fashioned for its\nintended use. As such it will not furnish a substitute for intelligent\nstudy and devotion on the part of the teacher, nor will its use lessen\nthe dependence of the teacher on Divine help and inspiration in teaching;\nbut these personal qualifications being present, this Junior Course and\nthe graded system, of which it is a part, should yield large returns for\nthe Kingdom in the stimulation, growth, and enrichment of the religious\nexperience and life of children.\n\n THE EDITOR.\n\n\n\n\nOUR JUNIORS, THEIR TEACHERS AND LESSON HELPS\n\n\nGRADED INSTRUCTION\n\n\nReasons for Having a Graded System\n\nThe reason for having a graded course of instruction for the Sunday\nschool is that the children differ year by year in knowledge, capacity,\ninterests, and needs. Graded lessons are simply an attempt to meet these\ndifferences with instruction suited to each year of the developing life.\nThe aim of religious education is to fit the child for complete Christian\nliving, to make him not simply a religious individual but a useful\nmember of society, intelligently devoted to the highest welfare of his\nfellows and of mankind. In order that this may be accomplished he must\nhave knowledge and his knowledge must lead to action. There is a broad\npurpose underlying the graded lessons which is thus stated in terms of\nthe children\u2019s religious needs.\n\n\nThe Purpose of the Graded Course\n\nThe purpose of the graded lessons is to meet the spiritual needs of the\npupil at each stage of his development. The spiritual needs, broadly\nstated, are these:\n\n1. To know God as he has revealed himself to us in his Word, in nature,\nin the heart of man, and in Christ.\n\n2. To exercise toward God the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord\nand Saviour, trust, obedience, and worship.\n\n3. To know and do our duty to others.\n\n4. To know and do our duty to ourselves.\n\n\nThe Material Used\n\nThe material through which this purpose is to be attained is taken mainly\nfrom the Bible and treated as story, biography, history, or literature\naccording to the period for which it is used. There are certain facts,\nnot found in the Bible, the knowledge of which is essential if the pupils\nare to see God in the present day world. Therefore, many nature lessons\nare given to the little children, incidents in the lives of modern\nfollowers of the Lord are provided for the older children, and broader\nstudies from the field of modern reform and of missionary movements for\nyoung men and women. There are also lessons on the Book itself and how it\nhas come to us. All of these lessons start outside of the Bible and lead\nback into it for their explanation. The Bible lessons begin with the Word\nand go out into life for their application. The one is just as biblical\nas the other.\n\n\nTHE JUNIOR COURSE\n\n\nArrangement of Material\n\nIn the Graded System the Junior Course follows the two-years Beginners\u2019\nCourse and the three-years Primary Course. In those earlier years the\nstories are not chosen chronologically but are grouped under themes. The\nsense of time dawns when the child is about nine years old, therefore the\nGraded Lessons for the Juniors are arranged chronologically, at first by\nperiods and later in a straight chronological course from the Conquest of\nCanaan to the end of New Testament History.\n\n\nThe Aims\n\nThe aim for the Junior lessons as a whole is:\n\n=To help the child to become a doer of the Word, and to lead him into\nconscious loyalty to Jesus Christ.=\n\nThe aims for each of the four years are these:\n\n=1. To awaken an interest in the Bible, and love for it; to deepen the\nimpulse to choose and to do the right.=\n\n=2. To present the ideal of moral heroism; to reveal the power and\nmajesty of Jesus Christ, and to show his followers going forth in his\nstrength to do his work.=\n\n=3. To deepen the sense of responsibility for right choices; to show the\nconsequences of right and wrong choices; to strengthen love of the right\nand hatred of the wrong.=\n\n=4. To present Jesus as our Example and Saviour; to show that the\nChristian life is a life of service; to deepen interest in the Book\nwhich contains God message to the world.=\n\nIn the first year all but eight of the fifty-two lessons are the\nelemental stories taken from the first five books of the Bible. This is\nas it should be, for these stories appeal more strongly at this time\nthan at any later period. As the first twenty-six lessons are found in\nthe book of Genesis the stories are easy to find and the child is not\nperplexed and confused by having to search for the one he wants among\nmany books with unfamiliar and difficult names. He is led by easy stages\nin his Bible readings, and through the charm of the stories, together\nwith his growing ability to handle the book in which they are found, the\nchild not only becomes interested in the Bible but learns to love it.\n\nThe second part of the aim implies obedience, and that may be said to\nbe the key-word of this year\u2019s work. (See the Junior motto and verse\nfor the year on the inside of front cover of the Work Book.) With these\nchildren, it is largely the absolute obedience of the immature. This\nform of obedience is a temporary virtue which must eventually be lost in\nself-control. But no one can attain the most perfect self-mastery who has\nnot first learned to yield obedience to rightful authority. The transfer\nof the seat of authority from without to within should keep pace with the\nchild\u2019s growth in knowledge, in emotional balance and control, in moral\nstrength, and in the ability to form accurate judgments. The teacher\u2019s\naim is to bring the child\u2019s will into line with God\u2019s will for him.\n\n\nThe Correlated Lesson\n\nIn the Junior period it is essential that two lessons be given every\nweek, the one the regular lesson in the Junior Graded Series and the\nother a lesson dealing with the more mechanical part of the instruction.\nThis is called the Correlated Lesson because it is closely related to the\nmain lesson. The reason for having it is that during the Junior period\nthere is a large amount of information which must be given in order that\nthe pupils may grasp the truths in the lesson stories and learn how to\nhandle the Bible with ease.\n\nIn the first year the books and divisions of the Bible must be taught.\nIn the other years Bible geography becomes increasingly important as\na background for the lessons, and this is the time when it should be\nstudied; for the sense of location dawns at about the ninth year and the\ninterest in geography is at its highest during the Junior period. Some\nknowledge of the manners and customs of Bible lands is necessary for\nan understanding of many of the stories. All through the Junior period\nare required frequent drills on essential facts and all material for\nmemorization in order that those things may be permanently held in memory.\n\nA Junior child cannot profitably pay attention to one subject for more\nthan twenty minutes consecutively. The lesson story on any given Sunday\nrequires that much time, so it would be impossible to combine with it in\none Junior lesson period the necessary correlated information. Fifteen\nminutes should be devoted to the Correlated Lesson, preferably the first\nquarter of the Sunday-school hour, to be followed by the service of\nworship and all the other exercises, leaving the last twenty minutes for\nthe lesson of the day.\n\nIn schools where this plan is followed and the lessons are well taught,\nthe memory texts are both learned and remembered. The children are\nfamiliar with Bible lands and can associate events with the places\nwhere they occurred. They understand the strange customs of Bible times\nand therefore are not puzzled by accounts that would otherwise be\nunintelligible. They know the Bible as a book and can find references\neasily. The upper grade Juniors can find a score of the great passages\nin the Bible without having the reference given. In schools where the\ncorrelated lessons are not taught the children are not only ignorant of\nmany things they ought to know, but do not gain the benefit that they\nshould get from the course of study.\n\n\nTHE JUNIOR PERIOD\n\n\nBeginning and End\n\nOnly broad and general statements can be made concerning the division\nlines between the different departments of the Sunday school, especially\nafter the end of the Primary; but the largest factor in deciding when the\nJunior period begins is the ability on the part of the pupils to read\nwell enough to be able to read in the Bible without too much stumbling.\nThe end of the period is indicated by the beginning of adolescence, and\nthis fixes the Junior period of the normal child as extending over at\nleast three years. The course provides studies for four years.\n\n\nCharacteristics\n\nThe general characteristics of the children in this period are marked,\ndiffering in many important particulars from those of the period before\nand still more sharply from those manifested in the adolescent years.\nThere is a reaching out for and a choice of companions differing from\nthe happy-go-lucky way in which the Primary child accepts his neighbors\nas playmates and a growing tendency to concentration in groups or gangs\naccompanied by the most intense loyalty to the members of the group.\nThe normal interests which have an important bearing are those in\nreading, heroes, the forces of nature, and the attainment of results.\nIntellectually, the child begins to seek for reality. The historic sense\ndevelops, and the sense of location both develops and matures during this\nperiod. There is a deep regard for authority if rightly administered by\none who the child feels has a right to rule over him. Memory is strong\nand retentive. A deep-seated, though egoistic, sense of justice is\napparent. This is preeminently a time when habits are formed and fixed.\n\nThere are limitations here, as in every other period. The child is and\nmust be more or less self-centered, because this is a time when he must\npay attention to himself and get himself adjusted to the world about him\nbefore he can send his energies out in service for others, as will be\nnormal in the next period. The reasoning power is very weak, depending\nupon sequence rather than causality. The interest in people is altogether\nin conduct and not at all in character; what a person does is what these\nchildren care about, not what he is.\n\n\nSpiritual Needs\n\nThe study of even these few characteristics so briefly stated makes it\nevident that the children have special spiritual needs; that is, certain\nphases of the great fundamental truths which underlie all religious\nteaching will make the strongest appeal and be most helpful at this time.\nFor instance, in God\u2019s relation to us, it is not the Fatherhood of God\nwhich will appeal more strongly, but the Kingship of God, his authority,\nhis wisdom, his justice and power; but with this presentation of the\nmajesty of the Creator must be closely associated the thought of God as a\ndaily Companion, as a Saviour from the power of sin, and as the Giver of\neternal life and a heavenly home. Our relation to God as subjects of the\nKing, and as dependent upon him for guidance, is linked with the thought\nof the privilege of cooperating with him in such forms of service as are\npossible to children, and in such manifestations of love as find natural\nexpression in prayer, praise, and worship.\n\nThe Junior in his relation to others must be taught to play fair, to obey\nthose in authority, to cooperate heartily in the duties and joys of the\nhome life, and to champion right causes, whether standing alone or in\ncompany with others. The duties the child owes to himself which can best\nbe taught and are most needed in this period are the formation of right\npersonal habits, making right choices, and establishing right conceptions\nof progress.\n\n\nTHE JUNIOR TEACHER\n\n\nPersonality\n\nA great deal is said about the characteristics of the Junior pupils and\nhow these affect the plans that are made for their instruction. They also\nhave a bearing upon the type of adult who should deal with the children\nin this formative period. It should not be necessary to say that the\nteacher must be a Christian and a church member, for consistency and\ncommon sense alike would demand that he who seeks to prepare recruits\nfor the army of the Lord must be in active service himself. He cannot\nsay, \u201cGo\u201d; he must be able to say, as the Master did, \u201cCome, follow me.\u201d\nThe blind cannot be leaders of the blind. But there are many kinds of\nChristians and church members-persons who differ in temperament and in\nways of looking at religious truth.\n\nThe Junior period is a time when the pupils are searching for realities.\nIf normal children, normally trained in the home and church, they have\nalmost unbounded credulity, which during this period rapidly develops\nwith growing knowledge and experience into true faith. This is the\nGod-given time for so strengthening the foundations of religious\nbelief for the children that in the succeeding periods, when doubts\nwill normally arise and sometimes beat most insistently upon the house\nof their faith, it will stand firm because built upon a rock. It is\na crime to suggest doubts to Junior children or to surround them\nwith an atmosphere of uncertainty. The teacher who attempts to guide\nchildren in this period should know what he believes, and believe it\nwith all his heart, and speak with no uncertain sound. This may seem\nan almost impossible condition in an age when most learned scholars\nfind innumerable points of criticism upon which they cannot agree, and\nconcerning which many declare themselves to be agnostic; but there are\ncertain great fundamentals which all must believe if they are to be\nintrusted with the leading of the young, and those who are chosen for\nJunior teachers should have the temperament which puts emphasis upon the\npositive and constructive in belief rather than upon the things which lie\non debatable ground.\n\nA person who has not a keen sense of justice, and who is not able to\nbe impartial and to keep in the background any personal preferences\nthat he may have, should not attempt to teach Juniors. The children\nwill apply to themselves the most rigid rules if given an opportunity\nfor self-government, and will rejoice in obeying them, but they will\nresent with the utmost intensity the slightest ruling of a teacher or\nsuperintendent which has in it a taint of partiality or injustice. This\ndoes not mean that the teacher of Juniors must be ideally perfect. The\nimpossible is not required of anyone in God\u2019s work; but because \u201cwe teach\nonly a little by what we say, much more by what we do, and most of all\nby what we are,\u201d it is more important that the Junior teacher should\ncultivate those qualities in himself which appeal most strongly to the\nJunior child than it is that the lessons chosen for the children shall\npresent those qualities through the lives of the heroes of the past.\n\nThe best teacher is one in whom the pupil feels the presence of religion\nas a concrete, natural thing. The best Sunday-school teaching is an\ninitiation of the pupil into sacred things, and initiation is a process\nof admitting one to a society of persons and fellowship. Many persons\nhave been asked to say what in their experience as Sunday-school pupils\nmost influenced them for good. The reply, apparently the invariable\nreply, has been, \u201cThe personality of the teacher rather than the content\nof formal instruction.\u201d Nothing in the way of methods or advice can take\nthe place of wholesome, winning personality that actually lives in the\nrealities of the Christian experience and truly admits pupils into the\nfellowship of this life.[1]\n\n\nOpportunity\n\nIt is the aim of the Sunday school \u201cgradually to bring to completeness\nor perfection the worthy qualities and characteristics of each pupil,\nand repress the unworthy, to the end that he may do the work and exert\nthe influence of a true Christian in his environment.\u201d The Junior period\nis a time when the Sunday-school teacher is given a unique opportunity\nfor helping to realize this aim. In the child\u2019s physical life this is a\ntime of slow growth and bodily vigor, which makes possible a degree of\nconcentration in work and study not to be expected in the earlier years.\nIt is a time when the memory is both strong and retentive, and the child\nmay make the greatest treasures of holy writ his own for all time if he\nlearns them in these years.\n\nThe brain cells are still plastic, though hardening rapidly. It is\ntherefore easy to get the child to act along suggested lines, and through\nincentives and rewards to secure that regular, voluntary repetition\nof the right act which is necessary for the formation of a habit. The\nfact that this is the great habit forming and fixing period of life\nmakes evident at once the large opportunity and the corresponding\nresponsibility of the Sunday school in its relation to Junior children.\n\nTeachers, while endeavoring to exemplify the virtues which they\ninculcate, should constantly aim to help their pupils to form such habits\nas regular Bible reading and study, church attendance and attention\n(which is even more important), punctuality, cooperation, industry,\nthoroughness, perseverance; cheerful, systematic, intelligent giving,\nreverence and orderliness. It is tremendously important that the children\nshall form character building habits at this time; for \u201cwhatever is found\nin the life as habits of thought, feeling, and action at the dawn of\nadolescence will then be greatly magnified and strengthened.\u201d\n\nAnother fact which emphasizes the opportunity this period presents is\nthat at some time during these years, usually toward the end of the\nperiod, comes the first great age of spiritual awakening, when the child\nmay be expected to become conscious of his relationship to Christ, and\nproclaim his newly realized loyalty. In the eyes of the church the child\nis a member of the kingdom of heaven. It now becomes the duty of the\nchurch \u201cto see that the child does not lose his spiritual inheritance;\nthat he is kept in the kingdom and so trained that at the time when he\nbecomes fully conscious of his relationship to the Divine, he will choose\nto claim his inheritance as a child of God and lead the life for which it\ncalls.\u201d\n\nIt is sometimes said that Junior children are \u201ctrying,\u201d and this is\nabsolutely true. Each class tries its teacher, not because the children\nwish to be aggravating, but because it is ordained that they shall gain\ntheir knowledge and experience by testing each new situation in which\nthey find themselves, and each new person with whom they are brought\ninto close contact. What they are seeking is reality, and they will\nexperiment until they find out what is true about their teacher. They\nare not endeavoring to get their own way, though that may often seem\nto be the case. They never like a teacher who is weak and vacillating,\nbut if in the testing process they discover a teacher who knows what he\ntries to teach, who is firm and kind, impartial, just, and loving, they\nwill yield to that teacher the truest respect, admiration, loyalty, and\naffection. The Junior teacher should rejoice in the opportunity that his\ntask affords. There is no other time in the life of a Sunday-school pupil\nwhen such a ready response will be made to the right influence, example,\nand instruction.\n\n\nGUIDES FOR STUDY AND TEACHING\n\n\nThe Teacher\u2019s Text Book\n\nTwo text books are provided with the lessons\u2014one for the teacher and one\nfor the pupil.\n\nIn the teacher\u2019s book it has been the aim to give as much material for\nthe individual study of the lesson as is possible within the prescribed\nlimits of the book. Bible passages that throw light either upon the\ntruth to be taught or upon the meaning of the lesson story have been\ncarefully selected. The quotations from the commentators will also be\nfound valuable. The plan of study that will bring the best results to any\nteacher using this book is first to read carefully the lesson passage\nand any history intervening between the lesson and the preceding one, to\nstudy what is said by the commentators and the Bible references that are\ngiven, and to glance over the suggestions under Lesson Preparation.\n\nWhen these things have been done the teacher should turn away from\nall books and ask himself, \u201cHow can I best present this lesson to my\nclass?\u201d and with the needs of his own pupils in mind, plan the lesson\nfor presentation. After the plan is settled the method of presentation\nas given in this book will not prescribe a method but may be helpful in\nthe way of suggestion. The importance of individual preparation cannot be\nemphasized too strongly, for no ready-made lesson can be perfectly fitted\nto any class.\n\nThe lessons for the first half of the quarter are taken from the \u201cmorning\nstories\u201d in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. These stories nourish\nthe soul of the child as few other stories can, because they keep the\nchild in the presence of God. It is a God who not only creates, but\nguides, loves, reproves, walks, and talks with man as one friend with\nanother. The nine-year-old child is hardly yet beyond the stage where the\nfancies of fairy tale and myth make a strong appeal. For that reason it\nseems to him perfectly natural that God in visible presence should meet\nand converse with his children. These stories, therefore, strengthen the\nGod-consciousness within him, and awaken a response which results in the\nrealization that he, too, may have personal relation with his loving,\nheavenly Father.\n\n\u201cThe ancient Hebrew had no notion of science. He did not ask for the\nimmediate cause of physical events. It entirely satisfied his instinct\nfor ultimate truth to assume that thunder was God\u2019s voice; that God had\nplanted those cedars whose life reached back before the memory of man. He\nrelated all mysteries to God, and in that relationship his mind rested\nand his heart was satisfied.\u201d[2]\n\nThis is equally true of the child. His heart is satisfied with God, and\nhe is not troubled with any questions concerning whether these early\nstories relate actual happenings or not. They are gloriously true because\nthey tell the truth about God. They give the child an axis for his\nuniverse, and that is what he is seeking. The teacher should not try to\ninterpret the stories, but simply tell them as nearly as possible in the\nsplendid simplicity of the Bible language.\n\n\nThe Pupil\u2019s Book for Work and Study\n\nThis book guides the pupil in his Bible reading and study, indicates\nverses or passages for memorization, and through the handwork furnishes\nhim an opportunity for making the lesson his own. There are several\nreasons why this book is of high educational value. One is that it serves\nto fix the facts clearly in mind and facts are the basis of ideas. Ideas\ncannot be clearly seen until the facts are mastered.\n\nBut the book does much more for the pupil than to put him in the\npossession of knowledge. It gives him an opportunity to practice\nobedience in a different way from anything to which he has been\npreviously accustomed. In the Primary Department the children do an\nincreasing amount of handwork, but they do it with the help and under the\nsupervision of their teachers. The nine-year-old child must learn to work\nby himself and to obey printed instructions.\n\nTeachers examining this work for the first time may think that the\npupils\u2019 books for the first year are so stereotyped as to leave no\nroom for originality. That is true in a sense, and the work has been\nprepared purposely in this way, for before the pupils can do original\nwork, they must have a certain basis of knowledge. They must learn how\nto follow printed instructions carefully, and be able to make themselves\ndo the thing they are told to do at the time they are told to do it.\nIf through the books of the first year the pupils should learn to be\nboth accurate and punctual, we might feel well repaid even if no other\nresults come from this study. But the fact is that while doing the work\nexactly as it is assigned they will get the greatest benefit from the\nlesson themselves, for the spirit of obedience generates an atmosphere in\nwhich all the Christian graces possible to a child can best develop and\nflourish.\n\nThe work book ministers to the child\u2019s growing sense of responsibility.\nIf he accepts the responsibility and honestly tries to meet its\nrequirements his character is strengthened thereby. If he shirks his duty\nhis moral nature is weakened.\n\nNo teacher can afford to allow the children to neglect the work book. If\nthey do not do the work there outlined, they cannot learn the lessons, no\nmatter how well the stories may be told in class. The child learns not\nby hearing but by doing. On the other hand the book must never be thought\nof as an end in itself, but only as a means to an end. In one school\nthe most perfect work book shown in the exhibit represented the most\nabject failure from the standpoint of religious education. It was made\nby a boy whose mother had compelled him to do the work and supervised it\nrigidly. He hated it with his whole heart because he was never permitted\nto play until that work was done. The mother was exceedingly proud of\nthe book. To have it completed and neatly done was the end she had been\nseeking, and that she had attained. But the book was well-nigh worthless\nin the teacher\u2019s estimation because it did not represent the child\u2019s\nown initiative and volition. When the pupil, incited by example and\nsuggestion and rewarded by commendation, chooses to do the work, the book\nbecomes one of the important means by which the great end of character\nbuilding is accomplished for him.\n\nThe teacher should always have a copy of the Pupil\u2019s Book for Work and\nStudy and do the work in it just as he would like to have the children do\nit. Of course it should be better done than any child can possibly do it.\nIf the teacher colors the pictures with water colors, uses illuminated\ninitial letters, and writes neatly and plainly, his book will be a great\nincentive to the children to do the very best possible work themselves.\n\nIn the beginning of the first quarter\u2019s work the teacher should remember\nthat these children are still to all intents and purposes Primary\nchildren unaccustomed to working alone. It is exceedingly important that\neach teacher should meet the children of the class during the week after\nteaching the first lesson and show them how to cut out the pictures for\nthat first lesson and paste them in the book. The children would then be\ncertain to start right, and though it may not be true that \u201cwell begun\nis half done,\u201d a good beginning is so encouraging to the child that he\nis much more likely to keep up the work and to find it enjoyable. But\nif he makes mistakes or neglects to do the work at the beginning it is\ndoubly difficult to interest him later. The week day gathering to start\nthe children on their handwork might be called a Work Book Social, ending\nwith games and light refreshments. When the children arrive have them\ntake their books and read carefully with you the instructions on pages 2\nand 3 before doing the pasting and writing for Lesson 1. Suggest that\nthe picture sheet be handled very carefully so that the pictures needed\nfor later use may not become marred or defaced in any way. Encourage the\nchildren to keep the book clean and neat. In order that the cover may not\nbe soiled from use, it is well to make a cover for each book from manilla\npaper and place the picture sheet between the manilla cover and the cover\nof the book so that there will be no danger that the pictures will be\nlost as the book is carried home. Explain that the reading is to be done\neach day just as indicated in the book. Great stress should be put at\nall times upon the doing of these specified tasks regularly and keeping\nstrictly up to date with them, in order that the children may form the\nhabit of daily Bible reading and study.\n\nIncentives and rewards will be found necessary as means for inducing the\nchildren to choose to do the work. Juniors do not love work, but are\ninterested in the attainment of results, and when wisely led will learn\nlater to love work for work\u2019s sake. Among the incentives there should be\na department Honor Roll, and a Class Banner. The first year children who\ncomplete their books satisfactorily should be given a social or outing at\nthe end of each quarter. They like public recognition of every kind, so\nthe prospect of having the book appear in the exhibit on promotion day is\na strong inducement for doing good work.\n\nBecause of the necessary wear and tear on the book and the danger that it\nmay be lost in carrying back and forth, it is not best to have the pupils\nbring their books every week to the school all through the year; but in\nthe beginning it is desirable to have the book brought each week so that\nthe teacher may see how the work is being done. After the children are\nwell started the teacher can use his own book in the class in giving any\nnecessary instruction.\n\n\nThe Children\u2019s Bible\n\nIn the beginning of this Junior work every pupil must have a Bible of\nhis own, the American Standard, if possible. If the parents will not or\ncannot provide one, the school must do so, for the child cannot possibly\ndo the work as outlined unless he has a Bible to work with. It is also\nessential for other reasons. No one can be interested in a book which\nhe does not know how to handle, and it is impossible for any child to\nbecome familiar with the Bible if the only time he uses it is on Sunday\nduring the Sunday school session.\n\nIf some of the children have a King James Version and some the American\nStandard, explain that both are translations into English from another\nlanguage, that the King James translation was made three hundred years\nago and that of the American Bible finished at the beginning of this\ncentury. Tell the children also that because we think the American\nStandard gives the meaning more clearly we use it in these lessons\nwhenever any memory texts are printed.\n\n\nThe Rainbow Bookmark\n\nThere is no question but that learning the books and divisions of the\nBible is one of the hardest tasks that the children will meet during\nthe Junior period. Most of the books have names that are in a foreign\nlanguage and therefore especially difficult to learn. But as the children\ncommit anything to memory easily in this period, and as the interest in\nnew words is strong, the work is not nearly so hard as adults are apt\nto think it. But whatever the difficulty may be it is essential, if the\nchildren are to get the best results from the Junior work, that in this\nfirst year they shall learn the names of the books of the Bible, and\nlearn how to handle the Bible and find references quickly.\n\nThe use of the rainbow bookmark has been found helpful in interesting the\nchildren in the study and making it easier for them, and in awakening in\nthem a desire to use their own Bibles. Its bright colors are attractive,\nand the rainbow standing for God\u2019s promises has a beautiful meaning,\nwhich is joyfully recognized by the children when they hear the story of\nThe Flood. The bookmark is also useful in conducting department or class\ndrills.\n\nThis bookmark is made of nine ribbons in the prismatic colors with indigo\nand purple, darker shades of blue and violet, and a white ribbon to mark\nthe Gospels. The colors are used in this order: red, orange, yellow,\ngreen, blue (light), white, indigo, violet, and purple. The ribbons put\ntogether in such a way that they will not tear the leaves of the Bible\ncan be secured of the publishing house at 25 cents for each bookmark.\n\n\nHow the Bookmark Is Used\n\nThe bookmark is placed in the Bible by putting the ribbon at the end of\nthe division for which it stands. In this way red follows Deuteronomy,\nand marks the five books of Law or the Pentateuch. Orange, following\nEsther, marks the twelve books of History. Yellow, following the Song of\nSolomon, marks the five books of Poetry. Green, following Daniel, marks\nthe five books of the Major Prophets. Blue, following Malachi, marks the\ntwelve books of the Minor Prophets. White, following Saint John, marks\nthe four Gospels. Indigo, following Acts, marks the one historical book\nof the New Testament. Violet, following Hebrews, marks the fourteen\nPauline Letters. Purple, following Jude, marks the other seven letters.\nRevelation, the one book of Prophecy in the New Testament, has no ribbon.\n\nThere is a peculiar fitness in having white, the combination of all\nthe colors, for the Gospel story, which is the center and climax of\nall the Bible narratives, and it is very desirable to have the life of\nChrist marked in a peculiar way which will set it apart from the rest\nand emphasize its importance. In the regular order indigo, the darkest\nand least attractive of all the ribbons, would mark the Gospels, and\nthere would be but one ribbon for the letters, which leaves a series of\ntwenty-one names to be learned in one group.\n\n\nThe Bookmark as a Reward\n\nThis device is first mentioned in connection with Lesson 8. In the\ncorrelated work for Lesson 9 slips of paper of the bookmark colors are\nsuggested as markers for the memory texts, and the children in this way\nbegin to learn the kinds of books in the Bible. A sheet of paper for each\ncolor is not difficult to secure and would make enough strips for several\nclasses.\n\nIf the school can afford to give them, the bookmarks make a fine reward\nto give to the children when they have learned the books and divisions\nperfectly. If the parents can afford to buy them and the school cannot,\nsuggest that they do so but ask them to wait until the children know the\nnames of the books, so that it will come as a reward in any case.\n\n\nPROMOTION REQUIREMENTS AND HONORS\n\n\nThe Basis for Promotion\n\nIn any graded course of study the pupils are expected to earn promotion\nfrom grade to grade by attaining a certain required average in their\nwork. In the Junior Course the Pupil\u2019s Book for Work and Study is, as\nthe name implies, both a guide in study, and a means of fixing in mind\nthe knowledge which has been gained. To meet the requirements of this\nbook the pupil must do the daily Bible readings, learn the memory text\nor texts each week, do whatever reading is required, and learn the hymns\nthat are printed in the book. At the beginning of the course the pupils\nshould understand that the doing of the work for which the Work Book\ncalls is a requirement for promotion. In all schools seventy-five per\ncent out of a possible one hundred is accepted as a passing average.\nTherefore, three out of four Work Books satisfactorily completed during\nthe year entitle the child to promotion. Knowledge that the requirements\nof the Work Book must be met in order to earn promotion is with many\nchildren one of the strongest incentives that can be presented to them\nfor doing that work regularly and well.\n\n\nRecognition for Extra Work\n\nEvery child should be incited to do more than merely meet the requirement\nthat passes him from one grade to the next. It is to furnish this\nstimulation that extra honor work is provided. If the child chooses to\ncomplete the fourth Work Book he earns an honor in that way. If the hymn\ngiven for illustration is illustrated that gives another honor. Learning\nthe optional memory passages, prayers, and hymns is a third method of\ngaining honors; and regular attendance upon the church service a fourth.\n\n\n\n\nI. STORIES OF THE BEGINNINGS\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 1\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nAt the beginning of this lesson the teacher and each pupil should have\nhis Bible in hand.\n\nLet us look at this book of ours which is the finest story book in all\nthe world. What name do you find on the back of the book? The word Bible\nmeans \u201cThe Book,\u201d and that is the best possible name for God\u2019s Word,\nbecause it is the Book of all the world, the one of which more copies\nare made, sold, and read than of any other. In the last hundred years\n316,000,000 copies of the Bible were sent out by the different Bible\nsocieties of the world.\n\nNow let us look at this wonderful Book. Turn to the title-page and we\nwill read together what we find there. Containing what? So there are two\ngreat divisions in this book of ours, one called the Old Testament and\nthe other the New Testament, and it is just as you would think from the\nnames. The Old Testament tells of things that happened long, long before\nthose that are told about in the New Testament. (Drill on the names of\nthe two parts of the Bible until the class is familiar with the words.)\n\nNow let us look at the page opposite the first book of the Old Testament.\nWhat do you find there? (The Names and Order of the Books of the Old\nTestament.) So you see our Bible, the great Book of the world, is not\nsimply one book but a whole library of books. How many books are there\nin the Old Testament? (If there is time it might be well to let each one\ncount for himself.) So the Old Testament has 39 books.\n\n(Follow the same plan with reference to the New Testament, and when the\npupils have found that there are 27 books have them find the number of\nbooks in the Bible by adding the two numbers. When you have drilled on\nthese figures and facts sufficiently give to each pupil a copy of the\nPupil\u2019s Book for Work and Study and show them the first part of Lesson 1,\nletting them tell what words are to be written in the spaces as the work\nfor the following day at home. Do not let them look ahead at the other\nlesson, as that is to be taken up after the lesson has been taught.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 1\n\nIn the Beginning\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 1:1 to 2:3.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 1:1-5.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.\nGenesis 1:1.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nNehemiah 9:6; Job 12:7-10; 26:7-14; Psalms 19:1-6; 33:6-9; 74:16, 17;\n90:2; 95:4, 5; 104:1-35; Jeremiah 51:15, 16; Amos 4:13; John 1:1-3;\nRevelation 4:11.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nWhat, then, are the truths taught us in these chapters? The first is\nthat there has been a creation, that things now existing have not just\ngrown of themselves, but have been called into being by a presiding\nintelligence and an originating will. No attempt to account for the\nexistence of the world in any other way has been successful. A great deal\nhas in this generation been added to our knowledge of the efficiency of\nmaterial causes to produce what we see around us; but when we ask what\ngives harmony to these material causes, and what guides them to the\nproduction of certain ends, and what originally produced them, the answer\nmust still be, not matter but intelligence and purpose.\u2014_The Expositor\u2019s\nBible_, _Genesis_, _Marcus Dods_.\n\nThe record is not a geological treatise, but a hymn of praise to God,\nmagnifying his mighty works, indicating man\u2019s high relation to him, and\nhallowing the weekly Sabbath, which is man\u2019s day of rest.\u2014_The Handy\nCommentator_, _A. R. Payne Smith, Dean of Canterbury_.\n\nThe cosmogony of Genesis shows, in opposition to the conceptions widely\nprevalent in antiquity, that the world was not self-originated; that it\nwas called into existence, and brought gradually into its present state,\nat the will of a spiritual Being, prior to it, independent of it, and\ndeliberately planning every stage of its progress. The spirituality, not\nless than the dignity, of the entire representation is indeed in marked\ncontrast to the self-contradictory, grotesque speculations of which the\nancient cosmogonies usually consist. \u201cIt sets God above the great complex\nworld process, and yet closely linked with it, as a personal intelligence\nand will that rules, victoriously and without a rival.\u201d\u2014_The Book of\nGenesis_, _S. R. Driver_.\n\nIf anyone is in search of accurate information regarding the age of this\nearth, or its relation to the sun, moon, or stars, or regarding the exact\norder in which plants and animals have appeared upon it, he should go to\nrecent textbooks in astronomy, geology, and paleontology. It is not the\npurpose of the writers of Scripture to impart physical instruction, or\nto enlarge the bounds of scientific knowledge. So far as the scientific\nor historical information imparted in these chapters is concerned, it\nis of little more value than the similar stories of other nations. And\nyet the student of these chapters can see a striking contrast between\nthem and extrabiblical stories describing the same unknown ages handed\ndown from prescientific centuries. Here comes to view the uniqueness\nof the Bible. The other traditions are of interest only as relics of\na bygone past. Not so the biblical statements; they are and ever will\nbe of inestimable value, not because of their scientific teaching, but\nbecause of the presence of sublime religious truth in the crude forms of\nprimitive science. If anyone wishes to know what connection the world\nhas with God, if he seeks to trace back all that now is to the very\nfountain-head of life, if he desires to discover some unifying principle,\nsome illuminating purpose in the history of the earth, he may turn to\nthese chapters as his safest and, indeed, only guide to the information\nhe seeks.\u2014_The Christian View of the Old Testament_, _Frederick Carl\nEiselen_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To present the thought of God as the Creator of all things, the rightful\nruler of the universe, and to establish in the child an attitude of\nreverence toward God as Creator, and toward nature as his work.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nThe best possible preparation for the teaching of this lesson and\nthe accomplishment of its aim is to saturate one\u2019s mind with the\nGod-permeated story of the creation in the lesson passage, and other\nBible passages given, in which God stands preeminent as the almighty\nCreator of the universe.\n\nIn the Intermediate period, the four years that follow the Junior, it\nwould be highly interesting, and instructive as well, to discuss with\nthe class the various creation stories that are found in the writings of\nantiquity, and to compare them with the story as given in Genesis; but\nthese children have not the historical background that would be necessary\nto enable them to appreciate such discussions. What they are most\nintensely interested in is the deeds of people. Not what people think or\nwhat they are, but what they do, attracts the Junior child; and in like\nmanner it is not the attributes of the Deity, but his power manifested\nin the universe, creating, ruling, and overruling, that will hold the\nattention and minister to the spiritual needs of those we teach.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nPoint of Contact\n\n(Show a picture representing a person or persons in the act of prayer.\nThe well-known Angelus is perhaps one of the best for this purpose.\nQuestion on it, and get from the children, if possible, the story of the\ncall to prayer.)\n\nThe sweet sound of the bell borne on the evening breeze from the steeple\nof the village church comes to the field where the workers are busy with\ntheir tasks. What do they do as they hear it? To whom are they speaking\nwhen they bow their heads?\n\nLet us think for a moment of another scene. It is in another country far\naway from this, and the people look very different from those in our\npicture, but they too are bowing, not simply the head but the whole body,\nfor they are kneeling and their heads are bowed to the earth. What do\nyou think they are doing? Yes, they are praying, but to what? As we look\ntoward the east we see that the sun is just rising above the horizon,\nand it is the sun that those people are worshiping. In that country and\nin others we could find people who worship the moon in the same way, and\nthe reason why these things are done is that all people everywhere have\na desire in their hearts to worship, and these people have taken the\nthings that they see which seem to them to be the most wonderful and have\nmade gods out of them. They know nothing about this greatest Book in all\nthe world, which you and I know and love, and so they do not know of the\ngreat and good God to whom you and I pray, and whom we call our Father.\n\nIf we could see those people and talk with them what would we wish to\ntell them? It seems to me that for these people, the first story to tell\nfrom God\u2019s Word would be the first story in that Book, one that we have\nheard, perhaps, many times, but which we never tire of hearing, and which\nwe are to hear once more to-day.\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nIt seems strange, does it not? to think of a time when there was no\nearth; but there was such a time and there our story for to-day begins.\nAll was black darkness where this world now is, but God was in his\nheaven, for in his Word we read, \u201cBefore the mountains were brought\nforth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from\neverlasting to everlasting, thou art God.\u201d So in the eternity of long,\nlong ago God lived and ruled, and he was thinking of a people whom he\nwould make in his own image to be his children, and of the home that\nhe would make for them. Then it was that from the great black space of\nthe universe darkness fell away, for God said, \u201cLet there be light:\nand there was light. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he\ncalled Night.\u201d Under the almighty hand of the Creator, at his command,\nthis planet that we call the earth began to swing in its orbit, but it\nwas wrapped in vapors until God spoke again saying, \u201cLet there be a\nfirmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from\nthe waters.\u201d At his words the clouds gathered together above, separating\nthemselves from the waters upon the earth, \u201cand God called the firmament\nHeaven.\u201d (From this point try reading the story from the Bible, but have\nit so thoroughly in mind that if you find the attention of the pupils\nwavering in any degree you can return to the other method. Whether you\nread or tell the story of the six days, have the pupils open their Bibles\nand read with you the first three verses of the second chapter.)\n\n\u201cIn six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in\nthem is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the\nsabbath day, and hallowed it\u201d (Exodus 20:11).\n\nWhat a beautiful story it is, and how glad we are to know that all the\nwonders of the earth and sky and sea are the handiwork of our Father!\n\u201cThe heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his\nhandiwork\u201d (Psalm 19:1).\n\n The unwearied sun, from day to day,\n Does his Creator\u2019s power display,\n And publishes to every land\n The work of an almighty hand.\n Soon as the evening shades prevail,\n The moon takes up the wondrous tale,\n And nightly, to the listening earth,\n Repeats the story of her birth;\n While all the stars that round her burn,\n And all the planets in their turn,\n Confirm the tidings as they roll,\n And spread the truth from pole to pole.\n\nThis is what the poet has said about the moon, sun, and stars in the\nheavens, and then he says that though there is no voice or sound that we\ncan hear, still they truly sing and always of God their Creator. This is\nthe way that the poet has told the story to us:\n\n What though in solemn silence all\n Move round the dark terrestrial ball?\n What though no real voice nor sound\n Amid the radiant orbs be found?\n In reason\u2019s ear they all rejoice,\n And utter forth a glorious voice;\n Forever singing as they shine,\n \u201cThe hand that made us is divine.\u201d\n\n \u2014_Joseph Addison._\n\nThe most wonderful thing of it all is that though our God is so great\nhe tells us in his Word that we may speak to him in prayer. That is the\nmeaning of the Angelus bell calling to prayer every day, and it is the\nmeaning of other bells which on one day in the week ring sweet and clear,\nnot as a call to prayer in the midst of work or play, but as a call to\nworship on the day that is holy, set apart from the duties of the week,\nand made a day of loving service and praise to our God.\n\n\nTHE PUPIL\u2019S BOOK FOR WORK AND STUDY\n\nIf you have not already done so, read carefully the comments and\nsuggestions on page 22, concerning the necessity for helping the children\nto start the work in their books correctly. Read what is said on page 26\nabout promotion requirements and let your pupils know at the beginning of\ntheir work how important it is for them to do regularly what is asked of\nthem in the Work Book if they wish to earn an honorable promotion at the\nend of the year.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 2\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\n(Holding your Bible, review something in this way:)\n\nWhat is this book called? What does the word Bible mean? Into how many\nparts is the book divided? What are they called? Why is the first called\nthe Old Testament and the second the New? How many books are there in the\nOld and how many in the New? How many in the Bible? What is the name of\nthe first book in the Bible? Who can spell that word? What does it mean?\nWhat is the first verse in the first book?\n\n(Open your Book for Work and Study that the pupils may see your first\nlesson neatly written and the pictures pasted. Even though you have had\nthe children together during the week as suggested on page 22, in order\nthat you might help them work out this first lesson in their books, it\nwill be an encouragement to them if you examine each book and commend\nthe work heartily when it is possible to do so. If any have not yet done\nthe work it is of the utmost importance that you have them stay after\nSunday school or see them either at their homes or your house before\nnext Sunday. To allow the first week\u2019s work to be neglected will leave\nthe child to conclude that it is not very important after all and that\nyou do not really care whether it is done or not. As soon as possible\nthe children must learn to do the work without assistance, but at the\nbeginning they will need both help and stimulation. Speak of the fact\nthat if they do all the work in the Junior Course and keep their books,\nthey will have a little library of twenty-three books illustrated with\nmany beautiful pictures. Tell them of the exhibit of Work Books when\nthe work of all the Juniors will be shown to other people in the Sunday\nschool and to the parents and friends of the children. Whatever you can\ndo to make the child see the value in his book and arouse his pride in\nhis work will be a great help to him in establishing habits that make\nfor strength of character. To allow a pupil to fail to do his work is to\nencourage a neglect of duty and indifference to just obligations, which\nwill inevitably weaken his moral fiber.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 2\n\nThe Garden of Eden\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 2:4-25.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 2:9, 15-25.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden\nof Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nProverbs 14:23; 18:9; 22:29. Ecclesiastes 9:10; 11:6; Romans 12:11; 1\nThessalonians 4:11, 12.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nMan is not made simply to enjoy life; he is to labor and work. Even such\na garden as the one described in verse 9 gives scope for man\u2019s activity;\nhe is to till it, to develop its capacities, and adapt it to his own\nends, and to keep (Isaiah 27:3) or guard it, against the natural tendency\nof a neglected garden to run wild, and against damage from wild animals\nor other possible harm.\u2014_The Book of Genesis_, _S. R. Driver_.\n\nBut man is not designed solely to till and keep the garden. There are\ndormant in him capacities of moral and religious attainment, which must\nbe exercised, developed, and tested. A command is therefore laid upon\nhim, adapted to draw out his character, and to form a standard by which\nit may be tested. It is a short and simple command, unaccompanied even\nby a reason; but it is sufficient for the purpose: man\u2019s full knowledge\nof what he must do or not do can be attained only as the result of a\nlong moral and spiritual development, it cannot exist at the beginning.\nAnd the command relates to something to be avoided: the acknowledgment\nand observance of a limitation, imposed upon his creaturely freedom by\nhis Creator and Lord, must be for man the starting point of everything\nelse.\u2014_Die Genesis Erkl\u00e4rt_, _August Dillmann_.\n\nIt is not enough to place man in the garden: further provision is yet\nrequired for the proper development of his nature, and satisfaction of\nits needs, a helper who may in various ways assist him, and who may at\nthe same time prove a companion, able to interchange thought with him,\nand be in other respects his intellectual equal, is still needed.\u2014_The\nBook of Genesis_, _S. R. Driver_.\n\nIn order to complete man\u2019s happiness three primal laws were given. The\nfirst was work; this was embittered later in consequence of man\u2019s sin,\nbut is still his greatest blessing, whether he recognizes it as such or\nnot. We find this to be true, for whenever man evades work, and seeks\npleasure only, his whole nature becomes impoverished, and deprived of the\nstability of earnest purpose and responsibility which ought to be his\nbirthright. The gift of law, even in its rudimentary stages \u201cthou shalt\nnot,\u201d is the second great blessing to man. The moral law, putting man\ninto the right relationship between good and evil, is as necessary as the\ngreat laws of the physical world are to the universe. Further, with the\nrevelation of that law was given also the penalty of transgression. \u201cIn\nthe day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die.\u201d \u201cThe wages of\nsin is death.\u201d\u2014_Bible Lessons for Schools_, _Genesis_, _E. M. Knox_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To help the pupils to realize that work is a part of the infinite plan\nfor the development of character; to make it evident that it is noble to\nbe a worker, and to lift the everyday duties of home and school from the\nplane of drudgery to that of joyous cooperation in God\u2019s purposes.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nThe gospel of the dignity of labor has never been adequately preached,\ntherefore the preparation for this lesson may include the entire reversal\nof what has been ground into the teacher\u2019s consciousness from the\nbeginning until now, concerning the place of work in the world. For many\nyears people have read the Lord\u2019s words to Adam after the fall, which\nconsigned him to the task of wresting his sustenance from the unwilling\nearth, as if that were the introduction of work into the world, and as if\nit were, therefore, brought in simply as a punishment for disobedience.\nThis was evidently the thought in the mind of the poet who sang,\n\n Dear work! art thou the curse of God?\n What must his blessing be!\n\nThrowing aside all such misconceptions, read the material for this lesson\nwith the thought of finding in it how, under the ideal conditions of\nEden, work was given to man which would require the use, and therefore\nminister to the development of his physical powers in tilling the ground;\nhow his mind was given exercise in plans for guarding or \u201ckeeping\u201d the\ngarden and in naming the animals; and how the higher spiritual powers\nwere called into service when he was given a companion in association\nwith whom the emotions of love and tenderness would find expression. It\nis implied also in Genesis 3:8, that God was wont to meet with Adam and\nEve in the garden and talk with them there.\n\nThe picture that we get as we study this passage in this way has in it\nthe elements of congenial employment, companionship, obedience to the\nhighest law, and communion with God, and these are exactly the elements\nthat will bring the nearest approach to the ideal in any life to-day.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nI wonder if you can remember the time when you first began to ask such\nquestions as these: Who made the world? Who made the moon and stars that\nshine in the night, and the sun that lights and warms the day? Who made\nthe trees and taught them how to grow? Who made all the animals? Who made\nthe fish that swim in the water and the birds that fly in the air? Have\nyou ever asked such questions? They are the questions that children have\nbeen asking always, ever since there were any children in the world, and\nthe story that answers all these questions for us is one that mothers\nhave told to their children for thousands of years. Do you know what\nstory I mean? Who can answer the question, \u201cWho made the world?\u201d by using\njust one verse from the Bible?\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nOur story to-day is about a garden. It was a beautiful garden, more\nbeautiful than anything you and I have ever seen. In it were all kinds\nof trees and plants, grasses, flowers, and herbs. A river watered the\ngarden. Animals lived in the garden; birds made their nests in the trees\nand flew across the blue of the sky, filling the air with their sweet\nsongs. Everyone who has heard or read the story of the Garden of Eden\nthinks of it as a beautiful place in which there was nothing to distress\nor make one afraid.\n\nThe story tells us that God made this garden as a home for the man whom\nhe had created in his own image. \u201cThe Lord God took the man and put him\ninto the Garden of Eden\u201d\u2014to do what do you suppose? Just to amuse himself\nall day long? No, God did not put Adam into the garden that he might\nhave a pleasant place in which to do nothing. He was put into the garden\n\u201cto dress it and to keep it.\u201d He was to find the greatest joy working in\nthe garden, picking the fruits, caring for the growing things, and in\nguarding them from anything that might not be good for them. Even in the\ngarden there was studying to be done; for Adam studied the animals and\nthe birds, watched them at their play, saw how they lived, and gave to\neach a name that was suited to it. This kind of work was pleasant, but\nAdam could not make companions of the animals, and though he had work to\ndo Adam was lonely. God saw that this was so, and he said, \u201cIt is not\ngood that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.\u201d\nAnd the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and\nwhen he awoke he found a woman at his side whom God had given him to be\nhis companion and friend. Now he was no longer lonely, for he had some\none with him who had a mind and spirit like his own, who could talk with\nhim and help him in his work as none of the animals could possibly do.\nSo Adam and Eve were happy in obeying the heavenly Father. They found\npleasure in doing what he told them he would like to have them do, and in\nkeeping from doing what God had said they must not do. Let us read from\nGod\u2019s Word just what this was. (Verses 16 and 17.)\n\nWhen the sun had gone behind the western hills, and the refreshing\nbreezes of the early evening were making the air sweet and cool, and the\nbirds were singing their good-night songs, then it was that the sweetest\nof all the joys of the day came to the pair in the garden, for we are\ntold that God walked with them in the cool of the day.\n\nHave you ever thought you would be glad if there were no such thing as\nstudy? Have you ever wished that you could play all day and never do any\nwork? I suppose all of us have felt that way sometimes, but would it be\nbest for us? Would we be happy very long if we had nothing to do but\nplay? Not very long. I have often heard boys and girls say at the end of\nthe long summer vacation that they were glad to go back to school. And\nthis story, which pictures for us a garden of beauty and happiness, tells\nof study and work as well as play, of loving companionship and through it\nall a spirit of cheerful obedience to God. (Memory Text.)\n\n\nTHE PUPIL\u2019S BOOK FOR WORK AND STUDY\n\nShow the picture for this lesson and go over the work for the coming week\nas carefully as you think necessary, but not so elaborately as to rob it\nof all freshness for the child when he comes to take it up by himself.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 3\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nWhat was the name of our story last Sunday? In what book is that story\nfound? In what chapter were your readings for the week? Tell me what\nyou found in the picture for the lesson. If you were asked to write a\ntitle under the picture what would you choose? (Tell the children they\nmay write a title in their books.) What work was given to Adam that he\ndid with his hands? What did he have to think and plan for? What was the\nmemory text of the lesson? Suppose the heavenly Father had not cared to\nhave his children do any work, how do you think that verse would have\nended then? \u201cThe Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of\nEden\u201d\u2014to do what? (To have a good time, may be suggested.) Do you think\nhe would have had a really happy time without anything to do? No: God\nhimself is not idle, and his children, because made in his image, cannot\nbe really happy unless they do something worth while with the powers that\nhe has given them. I suppose there are some kinds of work and study that\nyou have to do that you do not enjoy doing, but you can do anything if\nyou remember that it will please the heavenly Father, your own father and\nmother, and others who love you. Your play afterward will give you much\nmore pleasure, and the best of it is that, after a while, you will learn\nto like the work. What command did God give to Adam about one of the\ntrees in the garden?\n\n(Show your book and find out what the pupils have done in theirs.\nDiscourage emphatically any attempt to do this work ahead of the\nlesson-teaching in the school. The tendency in the beginning will\nprobably be on the part of many to rush ahead with the work while it is\nnovel, but when the novelty has worn off there will be a reaction and it\nwill be difficult to get the work done at all. Keep in mind constantly\nthat one great purpose to be accomplished through the work book this year\nis to teach the children to follow instructions implicitly.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 3\n\nHiding from God\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 3:1-24.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 3:1-15.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not\nsee him? saith Jehovah. Jeremiah 23:24a.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nPsalm 139:7-12; Proverbs 28:1, 13; Jeremiah 2:17, 19; Romans 5:12-19;\n6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nAs of the tree of life which stands in the paradise of the future it is\nsaid, \u201cBlessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have\nright to the tree of life\u201d; so in Eden man\u2019s immortality was suspended\non the condition of obedience. And the trial of man\u2019s obedience is\nimaged in the other tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.\nFrom the childlike innocence in which man originally was, he was to pass\nforward into the condition of moral manhood, which consists not in mere\ninnocence, but in innocence maintained in presence of temptation.... Only\nby choosing the good in presence of the evil are true manhood and real\nmaturity gained.\u2014_The Expositor\u2019s Bible_, _Genesis_, _Marcus Dods_.\n\nLike the great Teacher of Nazareth, the prophetic author of this\nmarvelous story was dealing with the deepest experiences of human life.\nHis problem was to make clear and plain even to children the nature of\nthat inner struggle which we call temptation. He accomplishes his end\nby the use of the simple story and dialogue. Attention and interest are\nfixed from the first on the experiences of a certain man and woman. The\nstory has all the personal charm of those fascinating popular tales\nwhich come from the ancient East. Its prologue, the primitive story of\ncreation, was old centuries before the days of Moses. In the first scene\nthe actors are the serpent, the woman, and the man. In the dialogue\nbetween the serpent and the woman is brought out vividly the struggle\nthat raged in her own mind between her natural inclinations and her sense\nof duty. In the second scene Jehovah appears. The acts and motives of\nthe man and woman and the terrible consequences of sin are portrayed so\nconcretely and dramatically that even the youngest and simplest reader\ncan fully appreciate them. The thoughtful reader, however, soon discovers\nthat the marvelous biblical narrative is far more than a mere record\nof the experiences of a primitive man and woman. Like the inimitable\nparables of Jesus, it is a chapter from the book of life.\u2014_Heroes and\nCrises of Early Hebrew History_, _Charles Foster Kent_.\n\nAmong the many religious teachings with which this marvelous story\nabounds may be noted: (1) Innocence does not become virtue until it is\ntested and proved by temptation. (2) If the testing is to be effective,\nthe temptation must be of a character to appeal to the individual tested.\n(3) Sin is not God\u2019s but man\u2019s creation. (4) To sin is to act in accord\nwith the baser and more selfish rather than the nobler and diviner\nmotives. (5) An act of sin destroys a man\u2019s peace of mind and purity\nof thought. (6) Sin unconfessed is a sin constantly committed, and it\nabsolutely prevents even God himself from forgiving the unrepentant\nsinner. (7) In keeping with the law of cause and effect, sin brings its\nown inevitable punishment. (8) The worst effect of sin is the severing\nof the normal, harmonious relations between God and the individual. (9)\nMost of the pains and ills of life are the result of some one\u2019s sin. (10)\nMan must learn in the school of pain and toil the lesson of obedience.\n(11) Even though guilty and unrepentant, man is still the object of God\u2019s\nunceasing love and care\u2014_Ibid._\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To show through the story of the first disobedience the character and\nconsequences of all sin, and to point out the only way to escape from it.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nThe story that we have in this lesson must make an appeal to every child\nbecause there is no child in our Junior Department who has not had the\nexperience of being disobedient, and also, doubtless, of trying to hide\nboth the sin and himself from the one disobeyed. Probably there can be no\nmore effectual way of beginning the preparation of this lesson than for\nthe teacher to think back to his own experience as a child, and recall\nin what manner he made his way back through repentance and forgiveness\nto a complete restoration of the feeling of loving freedom that should\nexist between parent and child. The attitude of the one in authority is\nalways a very important factor, but even with the most wise and loving of\nparents or guardians, the natural tendency of the one who transgresses\nis to concealment. With the facts of the story clearly in mind and the\nmemory of one\u2019s own experience as a guide, it should be easy to make the\nchildren realize that disobedience always brings unhappiness in the end,\nand a sense of separation from those who love us; that the worst thing\nanyone can do is to try to hide a disobedient act, because the only way\nto get back to the right road again is through the opposite course\u2014brave\nconfession instead of cowardly hiding or denying, repentance and the\ndetermination to forsake instead of clinging to the wrong.\n\nPrayer is always the most essential part of our lesson preparation, and\nin this lesson especially we need to pray that we may be given such\nheavenly wisdom and so much of love in our own hearts that we can make\nthe children see the heavenly Father as a God of infinite love and\ncompassion, one who hates sin but loves the sinner. Many people who are\nnow teaching children have testified that in their own childhood, from\nthe way in which these Old Testament stories were presented, they saw in\nGod only an avenging Deity, eager to punish or destroy. We must always\nremember that Jesus never presented his Father and ours in that way,\nand that he whose life was given to provide a way of escape for sinning\nhumanity said, \u201cHe that hath seen me hath seen the Father.\u201d\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\n(Describe the happy home life of a family of children, each having his\nown work to do in the home, each taking a pride in doing his work in\nthe best way, and tell of the playtime following the work. Picture the\nchildren going down the street to meet their father as he comes home from\nwork, and the joys of the evening time when all are together. Then tell\nof a day when the playtime was not so happy because one of the boys did\nnot care to play. He said he was not sick, but he certainly was cross,\nand took no pleasure in any of the things that he generally loved to do.\nWhen the time came to go to meet father he would not go, but instead went\nto his own room. Of course the father missed him and when he found his\nboy was not ill he was anxious to know what the trouble could be.) Can\nyou guess what it was that made Walter wish to hide from his father that\nnight?\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nWhat a beautiful garden that was of which we heard last Sunday! And how\nhappy Adam and Eve were as they did the work God had given them to do,\nand enjoyed the loveliness of the place which God had given them for a\nhome, looking forward each day to the time when he would come and walk\nand talk with them there! But there came a sad day, when all that was\nchanged. The garden was just as beautiful, but Adam and Eve found no\npleasure in it. The work was there to be done, but they had no heart\nfor it. Open your Bibles to the second chapter of Genesis and read with\nme verses 16 and 17. That does not mean that the moment they disobeyed\nthey would die, but that the sin would open the door for death to enter\nthe world, and that some day death would come to them as the result of\ndisobedience.\n\nOne day the tempter said to the woman, \u201cIs it possible that God has said\nthat you must not eat of the fruit of all the trees of the garden?\u201d Eve\nanswered (Genesis 3:2, 3). The serpent said: \u201cThat is not true. You will\nnot die. The real reason why God does not wish you to eat of the fruit\nof that tree is that when you do so you will become as a god yourself,\nfor you will know good and evil.\u201d It seems strange that Eve would listen\nto anyone who said that what God had told her was not true, but she did.\nShe even began to look at the tree and its fruit and to long to have\nit, until, finally, she took it and ate, and gave some to Adam, and he\nate. Then they did know good and evil, for they could remember the days\nwhen they were obedient and the happiness that they had, and now through\nshame and fear and the wretchedness of a guilty conscience they saw what\nevil is, and that with their own hands they had opened the door to let\nit into their lives. There was no longer any joy in the thought of the\nheavenly Father\u2019s coming to the garden, and they tried to hide themselves\nfrom him. \u201cCan any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see\nhim? saith Jehovah.\u201d How would you answer that question? Of course they\ncould not hide from God, and it would be the worst possible thing to do\nif they could. God knew of the wrong they had done and the punishment\nthat the sin must bring to them, but his only wish was to help his sinful\nchildren, for he loved them then as always. (Have the children read\nverses 9 and 10 to themselves and then answer this question:) What reason\ndid Adam give for hiding himself? Was that the true reason why he was\nafraid? No, for he had been naked before and had never been afraid. It\nwas his sin that made him afraid. (Read verses 11, 23, 24.)\n\nYou have guessed that the boy I told you about in the beginning of the\nlesson had disobeyed his father, and that that was the reason why he\nwished to hide. You knew because you have sometimes felt like hiding\nyourself for the same reason. So you can see how this old, old story\ntells what we know is true when it shows us that wrong doing separates us\nfrom the one whom we have disobeyed and makes us miserable. What was it\nthat spoiled the happy home that Adam and Eve had in the Garden? What was\nit that spoiled Walter\u2019s good times? Yes, disobedience; and it is always\nso. Those who break God\u2019s law have to suffer for it in some way. But how\nglad we are to know that God loves us so much that when we are sorry and\ntell him so, he will forgive us and give us a chance to try again. Listen\nwhile I read you something that the Bible says about this. (Psalm 86:5; 1\nJohn 1:9.)\n\n\nTHE PUPIL\u2019S BOOK FOR WORK AND STUDY\n\nThere probably will not be anything in the work outlined for this week\nthat the children cannot easily do. It would be well, however, to call\ntheir attention to the memory text printed on page 8. Have them pronounce\nthe name of the book from which it is taken, and help them to find the\nreference and read the words from the Bible. Ask them what the \u201ca\u201d after\nthe reference means, and if they do not know, have them read again the\nparagraph explaining this on page 3. The easiest way for the children to\nfind the book of Jeremiah when unfamiliar with any of the books is to\nopen the Bible in the middle. The book opened to will be Psalms, which\nyou can explain is the hymn book of the Bible, and then they can turn the\nleaves to the right until they reach the book of Jeremiah. Tell them that\nthe name is that of the man who wrote the book.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 4\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nGet the facts of last Sunday\u2019s story briefly from the children, leaving\nmost of the time for the answers to Wednesday\u2019s question in the pupil\u2019s\nwork book concerning what they think Eve should have done when she was\ntempted to disobey God. Another question which it will be helpful for\nthe children to think through and find an answer to is, After Adam and\nEve had disobeyed the heavenly Father, what should they have done right\naway when they realized the wrong and felt the shame? If each pupil can\nbe brought to see, through thinking it out for himself, that the only\npossible help for one who has done wrong comes from God, and that Adam\nand Eve should have gone to God to confess their sin and ask forgiveness\ninstead of trying to hide from him, the conclusion will point its own\nmoral and each child will make his own application.\n\nSee how many know the memory text and the name of the book in which it\nis found. If there is time, read to the children Psalm 139:7-12, letting\nthem follow you with the Bible open before them. Ask all to read softly\nwith you, each making it his own prayer, verses 23 and 24.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 4\n\nCain and Abel\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 4:3-15.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 4:3-15.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not. 1\nCorinthians 13:4a.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nJob 11:14,15; Romans 6:12,16; Colossians 3:12-14; James 3:14; 5:9.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nThe narrative ... impressively shows how sin, having once appeared,\nbecame hereditary in the human race, and speedily developed into its\nmost revolting form. Its details enable us to see how jealousy, when\nindulged, leads to hatred and murder, and violates not only the ties of\nhumanity but those of family affection; how the sinner casts off all\nregard for the truth and for his natural obligations; how progress in\nsin adds to the misery of man\u2019s lot; and \u201cconscience doth make cowards\nof us all.\u201d The truths taught are, that God looks on the hearts of his\nworshipers, seeks to restrain the sinner ere he yields to passion, marks\nthe death of the innocent, and graciously mitigates his punishment when\nhis mercy is sought.\u2014_The One Volume Commentary_, _James R. Dummelow_.\n\nThose who do not serve God hate him who does because they cannot help\nwishing that they were like him, yet they have no intention of imitating\nhim, and this makes them jealous and envious. Instead of being angry with\nthemselves, they are angry with him.\u2014_Sermons_, _Thomas P. Newman_.\n\nThe reason of the rejection of Cain\u2019s offering was that he had not been\n\u201cdoing well.\u201d (\u201cIt would be strange if the gods looked to gifts and\nsacrifices and not to the soul.\u201d\u2014Plato.) Notice that the offering is\nsecondary: _Abel and his offering, Cain and his offering_; the man and\nhis state of spirit are the important elements.\u2014_Commentary on Genesis_,\n_Marcus Dods_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To help the child to feel the beauty and strength of the love that\nenvieth not, and to awaken within him a desire to possess it.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nEnvy is defined as \u201cselfish ill-will toward another because of his\nsuperior success, endowments, or possessions.\u201d It is a feeling which\nis apt to be displayed by children comparatively early because of\nthe greater success of their classmates in school, or of the larger\npossessions of those whose parents have either more money or less wisdom\nin spending it than their own. It is so ugly a trait and so insidious\nin its attacks that it is well to have a lesson like this which shows\nthe sin in its most hideous form. The story of Joseph\u2019s brethren, who\nhated him because he was more worthy than they, and of Saul, who viewed\nwith murderous jealousy the popularity of the young David, are other\ninstances of the direction in which envy inevitably carries those who\nyield to it. In preparing the lesson imagine how the two boys probably\ndiffered in their boyhood, for \u201cgreat crimes are committed only by men\nwhose characters have been gradually debased by lesser sins.\u201d Kent points\nout nine vital truths illustrated by the story of which the preceding\nquotation is one. Another which Juniors would be able to understand is\nthat God patiently points out to the offender the right way and endeavors\nto influence him to follow it. Another is guilt unconfessed cuts a person\noff from his fellows.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nI am thinking of a strange picture in which a flaming sword that turns in\nevery direction closes the way into a garden. Back in the distance I can\nsee a place over which the sun is shining with warmth and beauty. Trees\nand plants and birds and flowers are all glad in the sunshine, and the\nanimals are running and playing for very joy; but there are no people\nthere. What garden is it that I see? Were there ever any people in it?\nWho were they? What command was given to them there? When they disobeyed\nthat command they could no longer live in that beautiful home, and when\nthey went out from it the flaming sword was placed there to show them\nthat they could never hope to go back to the place where they had been\nso happy while they were innocent and obedient children of the heavenly\nFather.\n\nSuppose some one should ask us to tell how people might have a happy\nhome in these days\u2014what would we say? I should say that first of all\nthe people in the home must love and be glad to help each other. (Let\nthe children express their own ideas freely but guide the conversation\nso that the essentials of obedience, cheerfulness, and kindness will be\nmentioned.)\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nI have a story to tell you to-day about two brothers. When the first one\nwas born his mother named him Cain, and as she looked at him she said to\nherself, \u201cI hope my boy will be strong to fight against evil.\u201d But as he\ngrew older the face of the mother became sad as she watched her boy, for\nsoon she saw that he was yielding to evil tempers instead of fighting\nagainst them. After a time another baby boy came to the home, and he was\ncalled Abel. Together the two boys grew, the father and mother teaching\nthem and hoping the best things for them. When each was old enough to\nchoose the way in which he would make his living Cain became a farmer\nand tilled the ground, planting seed and raising fruits and grains. Abel\nbecame a shepherd and spent his time raising and caring for his sheep.\n\nIt seems from the story that Abel succeeded better than Cain, and Cain\nbecame envious and jealous of his brother. The Bible does not tell us so,\nbut we may be quite sure that Abel was a cheery, pleasant, unselfish,\nhelpful son to his father and mother, and that Cain was gloomy, selfish,\nand cross in the home. Cain saw the difference between his brother and\nhimself, but instead of trying to be like Abel he simply hated him for\nhis goodness.\n\nDuring their boyhood days Cain and Abel had seen their father bring\nofferings to the Lord, and as boys they had taken their part with their\nfather and mother in the family worship; but when they were grown men\neach must do for himself what their father had done for them when they\nwere young. So it came to pass that Cain and Abel brought their offerings\nto God, Cain bringing some of the fruits that he had raised, and Abel\nbringing the best of his flock. God was glad to accept the offerings of\nAbel because the spirit in which Abel brought his gift was one of love\nand joy. God can read the very thoughts of our hearts, and as he looked\nat Cain he saw envy and jealousy and hatred choking every good thing in\nhis life, and because he was cherishing such evil thoughts, his offering\ncould not be acceptable to the God of love. When Cain saw that his\noffering was not accepted he became very angry, he scowled and hung his\nhead. Then the Lord said to Cain: \u201cWhy are you angry, and why is your\ncountenance fallen? If you will do what is right, you will please me. If\nyou do wrong, sin is like a wild beast crouching at your door, wishing\nto destroy you; but you can rule over it if you will.\u201d See how tenderly\nthe heavenly Father showed Cain his wrong, and tried to help him back\ninto the right way. But Cain let sin, that is like a wild beast, stay at\nhis door, and did not try to conquer it. After a while he said to his\nbrother Abel, \u201cLet us go out into the field,\u201d and when they were in the\nfield alone together, Cain in his envy and hatred of his brother rose up\nagainst him and killed him. Open your Bibles at the fourth chapter of\nGenesis and read with me verses 9 and 10. God told Cain that he would be\nfrom that day a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. Cain answered, \u201cMy\npunishment is greater than I can bear, for I shall be driven away from\nthy face, and anyone who finds me will kill me.\u201d But the Lord appointed\na sign for Cain which would show people that they must not kill him, and\nCain went away from his father\u2019s house.\n\nSin had ruined another life. As it had driven Adam and Eve from the\nGarden of Eden, so now it drove Cain away from his home, and left his\nfather and mother in the greatest sorrow they had ever known.\n\nHow dreadful envy, jealousy, and hatred are, and how much unhappiness\nthey have brought into the world. Is there anything strong enough to\nconquer this sin which God said is like a wild beast? Yes, love is\nstronger than anything else in the world. Envy cannot even stay where\nlove is. \u201cGod is love,\u201d the Bible says, and he will help us to be loving\nand kind if we ask him. \u201cLove suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth\nnot.\u201d (Have this text repeated, and if the conditions are such that you\ncan do so, close with a sentence prayer.)\n\n\nTHE PUPIL\u2019S BOOK FOR WORK AND STUDY\n\nRead to the class the directions given under Thursday\u2019s work for finding\n1 Corinthians 13:4a, and let them find the verse without comment or\nother explanation on your part, in order to make sure that they are able\nto follow such printed directions. Of course it is important that they\nshould be able to find the verse, as it is the memory text of the lesson.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 5\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nHome Preparation\n\nTake some small blank cards or slips of heavy paper and prepare them\nfor use in the class by writing plainly on one side and on the other\nthese things: First card (1) Genesis, (2) Beginnings. Second card (1)\nGenesis 1:1, (2) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.\nThird card (1) What story is in Genesis, chapter 2? (2) In what book and\nchapter is the story of the Garden of Eden? Fourth card (1) What story\nis in Genesis, chapter 3? (2) In what book and chapter is the story of\nthe disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Fifth card (1)\nWhat story is in Genesis, chapter 4? (2) In what book and chapter would\nyou look for the story of Cain and Abel? Sixth card (1) Where is the\nverse that begins, \u201cLove suffereth long\u201d? (2) Repeat 1 Corinthians 13:4a.\nSeventh card (1) Where could you find the question that begins, \u201cCan any\nhide himself in secret places\u201d? (2) Repeat Jeremiah 23:24a. Eighth card\n(1) What is the meaning of the word \u201cBible\u201d? (2) The Book. Ninth card (1)\nHow many parts has the Bible, and what are they? (2) Two, Old Testament\nand New Testament. Tenth card (1) The Bible contains how many books? (2)\nSixty-six. Eleventh card (1) How many books in the New Testament? (2)\nTwenty-seven. Twelfth card (1) How many books in the Old Testament? (2)\nThirty-nine.\n\n\nReview in Class\n\nExplain to the pupils that each one is to have a card on which is some\nquestion, and if he can answer it, he is to keep the card, if he cannot\nanswer it, the one next to him on the left may try, and so on around the\nclass. If no one can answer, the card is to be laid aside to be drilled\non later. If it is answered, the one who gives the correct answer keeps\nthe card. Most of the cards are made out in such a way that it makes no\nparticular difference which side up they are placed; that is, whichever\nside is up will suggest to one who knows what is on the other side. But\nin the questions on the Bible, books, etc., the cards should be placed\nwith the question up. Of course it is obvious that the pupil who has the\nmost cards in his possession at the end of the review has done the best\nwork in it.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 5\n\nReview\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis, chapters 1-4.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Work.=\u2014Answering questions and reading Genesis 4:20-22.\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nRead at one sitting the first four chapters of Genesis, and then think\nthrough the stories to get at the inner meaning which you have tried\nto bring to the children. The class review with the cards will have\nbrought the more mechanical facts that have been learned sufficiently to\nmind. This review should emphasize the truths that the stories hold in\nsolution, but should do this, not by dogmatizing concerning them, but\nby leading the children to make the statements for themselves. Because\nof the natural interest of children in the origin of things enough new\nmatter is introduced in the Pupil\u2019s Book for Work and Study to give the\nnames of the persons to whom are ascribed the originating of tent life,\nmusic, and the making of instruments of metal. These things should not be\ntouched upon in this lesson, however, but left as a surprise for the home\nwork.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\nRecite to the children the lines from Joseph Addison\u2019s hymn, \u201cThe\nSpacious Firmament on High\u201d (quoted in the first lesson). Why is it that\nthe sun, the moon and the stars make people think of the power of God?\nWhat else that you see every day reminds you of God\u2019s handiwork? Can you\ntell the story which was given us in the Bible to teach us that God made\nall things? (Have the story told briefly and as nearly as possible in the\nBible words.)\n\nWhat is the name of the beautiful home which God gave to Adam? What\ndid Adam have to do in the garden? Why could not the animals be his\ntrue companions and friends? What did God do for him? (Let the children\ndescribe what they think might have been a day in the life of Adam\nand Eve in the Garden of Eden. Mention the two trees and the command\nconcerning them if the children do not do so, and see if without any\nreminder or suggestion from you, they tell that in the cool of the\nevening God walked with the pair in the garden.)\n\nWhat a happy home that was in the Garden of Eden! Were Adam and Eve\nalways happy there? How was it that one day instead of looking forward\nwith joy to the time when God would come to talk with them, they tried to\nhide from him? Yes, they had not been strong enough or loving enough to\nobey, and having been disobedient, they were afraid to meet God. Was it\nright for them to try to hide? What should they have done?\n\nWe had a story of two brothers. What were their names? (Let the children\ntell the story briefly.) What was it that made Cain do such a dreadful\nthing? Could he have conquered the sin that crouched like a wild beast at\nthe door of his heart, if he had tried?\n\nI am going to ask you four questions, and I think you can answer each one\nof them in the words of a Bible verse. Who made the world? What did God\ngive Adam to do in the Garden of Eden? Can anyone hide from God? Tell me\ntwo things that love does and one that love will never do.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 6\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\n(As the references to Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain are the first passages\nthat have been given in the pupil\u2019s book without being first presented\nin the class, it will be interesting to see how well the children have\nsucceeded in getting at the facts.)\n\nWhat was our picture for this last week? How many people were there in\nit? What were they doing? What was the name of the man who is called \u201cthe\nfather of all who play upon the harp and the organ\u201d? So we found from our\nBook which tells us of the beginnings of things, that way back in the\nages of long ago people learned how to make instruments of music and to\nplay upon them. To-day we have wonderful instruments, great pipe organs,\nviolins, pianos, cornets and other instruments of brass, and whenever\nwe see these or hear their music we will remember that the Bible tells\nus that the one who first thought of making music in that way was named\nJubal.\n\nWhen a man is taking care of large herds of cattle, what does he need to\nfind for them? It is not easy to find pasture for a great many cattle,\nand it would be very tiresome and even impossible to go back every night\nto the home. It would not be comfortable to sleep on the ground with no\nprotection from the rain or cold. Who was it that first thought of having\na tent to live in, and carrying it with him wherever he went? So Jabal\nwas the father of all such as take care of cattle and live in tents. Are\nthere any people to-day who live in tents all their lives?\n\n(With a class of boys the reference to Tubal-cain could be introduced\nby asking for a penknife and getting the pupils to tell of the man who\nfirst thought of making tools and weapons out of metal. Ask if anything\nis being invented to-day. Lead the children to see that the possibilities\nof discovery and invention are by no means exhausted, and help them to\nrealize the wisdom and love of God in giving to man power to think out\nsuch things.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 6\n\nThe Building of the Ark\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 6:5 to 7:5.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 6:5, 9, 14-22.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so\ndid he. Genesis 6:22.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nPsalm 103:17, 18; Proverbs 1:33; 19:16; Jeremiah 18:7-10; Ezekiel\n33:14-16; Matthew 24:35-39.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nThe narrative here becomes more circumstantial than it has been in\nchapters four and five, for the Flood is the first event of crucial\nimportance since the Creation and the beginnings of man upon earth\n(chapters one to three), of which Hebrew tradition told. The Flood marks\nthe end of a past age and the beginning of a new one; it is thus an event\nin which the purposes of God may be expected to declare themselves with\npeculiar distinctness; and it is, accordingly, treated as the occasion\nof a great manifestation both of judgment (chapter 6) and of mercy (8:15\nto 9:17). The Flood is a judgment upon a degenerate race: Noah, with\nhis family, is delivered from it on account of his righteousness; as\nhumanity starts upon its course afresh, new promises and new blessings\nare conferred upon it.\u2014_The Book of Genesis_, _S. R. Driver_.\n\nWhat, then, is the purpose of inspiration? Is it to insure that we shall\nhave clear and infallible information on certain questions of geology and\nastronomy, or on the way in which God created the heavens and the earth?\nIs it to keep us from mistakes about the history of Israel?... Surely\nnot. God had no intention of giving us an encyclopedia of scientific\nknowledge, and thus depriving us of the discipline of acquiring such\nknowledge for ourselves.... Inspiration is concerned with what is to\nus of infinitely more importance\u2014even the guidance of our conduct,\nthe building up of noble characters for God. It has been well said\nthat conduct forms three fourths of human life, and it is with these\nthree fourths that the inspired writings have to do. Their inspiration\ntherefore consists not so much in their infallible science or minutely\naccurate details of history, as in their teaching God\u2019s will and God\u2019s\nrelation to men.... These writings concern themselves with the great\nmoral and spiritual facts, duty, character, moral responsibility, the\nhappiness that comes from harmony with the will of God. Their object is\nto teach the eternal contrast between Righteousness and Unrighteousness,\nObedience and Disobedience, Selfishness and Self-sacrifice, Purity and\nLust; to teach men that God is on the side of holiness and good, that his\nhelp and sympathy are near in the fierce fight with temptation, and that\neven when the fight is lost and the life defiled, there is a way back to\nholiness and God if men will but earnestly seek it.\u2014_How God Inspired the\nBible_, _J. Paterson Smyth_.\n\nThey (the Scriptures) conveyed to the Hebrews, and they still convey to\nus, the worthiest conceptions of God and of His relation to the world and\nmen. They are a standing witness to the fact that the nation of Israel\nenjoyed a peculiar revelation of the true God. If the \u201cfolk-lore\u201d of the\nHebrews, like that of all other peoples, was inconsistent at many points\nwith our modern knowledge of nature and history, yet it was so purified\namong them, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, from all taint of\nheathenism, that, as it stands in the opening chapters of Genesis, it\ncontains nothing inconsistent either with the religion of Jehovah or with\nthe fuller revelation of Jesus Christ.\u2014_The One Volume Bible Commentary_,\n_J. R. Dummelow_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To present the ideal of unquestioning obedience to the commands of God,\nand through the story to deepen the impulse to choose and do the right.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nA careful study of the passage of Scripture assigned for the teacher in\nthis lesson presents much that is interesting and many points that are\npuzzling. For one\u2019s own information and satisfaction it would be well\nto read the article on the Deluge in any good Bible dictionary and to\nconsult commentaries on the narrative. But in preparing the lesson for\nthe pupil attention must be centered on the story as given in the verses\nthat the pupil is to read. The simple account of the one man who was\n\u201crighteous,\u201d \u201cperfect [or blameless] in his generation,\u201d and who \u201cwalked\nwith God\u201d in loving obedience, when the \u201cwickedness of man was great in\nthe earth,\u201d and \u201cevery imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only\nevil continually,\u201d is one that makes a strong appeal to the children. The\nbuilding of the ark; the surprise of the people as they saw a boat built\nupon dry land, and their undoubted ridicule of Noah; his opportunity\nfor preaching righteousness; the completion of the ark and the going\nin of the animals, Noah and his family, are the elements of a story of\nsurpassing interest, which carries also a strong religious impression in\nits emphasis upon obedience and its reward. The negative side should not\nbe dwelt upon.\n\nThe teacher will need to note carefully just the point in the story\nwhere this lesson ends. The story is so generally told as a whole,\nincluding the building of the ark, its completion, the going in of\nanimals and people, the coming of the rain, the rising of the waters, the\nfinal settling of the ark on dry land, and the going out of Noah and his\nfamily and the animals, that the natural tendency will be to encroach\nupon next week\u2019s lesson without meaning to do so.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\n(Have your Work Book open at page 14.) We had some rules last week in our\nWork Book, and they were headed, \u201cHow to Have a Happy Home.\u201d How many of\nyou read those rules? Suppose I read them very carefully now, and you\nsee if you think any of them might be left out of the list. Which one of\nthese rules do you think is the hardest of all to obey? (If the children\ndo not speak of it themselves, call their attention to \u201cBe willing and\nobedient,\u201d and explain that it means not simply to do what you are told\nto do, but to do it willingly and cheerfully.) It is often hard to obey,\nbecause the command is to do some hard or disagreeable thing, and the\nharder it is to obey, the more temptation there is to do unwillingly\nwhat we are told to do, and to be cross about it. When one obeys in that\nspirit all the beauty of the obedience is taken away. One who obeys\nwillingly will soon find that he can obey cheerfully, and it is only such\nobedience that is pleasing to the heavenly Father.\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nI have a beautiful story to tell you to-day of a man who obeyed in just\nthat way. The name of this man was Noah. In his time there were many\npeople living in the world, but, except Noah and his family, no one of\nthem cared to please God, and they did not even try to obey him. The\nBible tells us that \u201cthe earth was filled with violence,\u201d and that God\nsaid the evil doers must be destroyed. But Noah was not one of these, and\nto him God said something like this: \u201cThe people are so wicked and cruel\nthat I shall have to send a flood upon the earth which will destroy all\nthose who are doing such evil things, but I want you to build an ark in\nwhich you and your wife and children shall be saved.\u201d This ark was to be\na great boat three stories high, with rooms in it, and a large door in\nthe side. Just as soon as Noah knew what God wanted him to do he bought\nthe wood and hired carpenters and began the work of building the ark.\n(Show the picture for this lesson.) Do you think it was an easy task\nto build that ark in a land full of wicked people? Of course, when his\nneighbors saw what he was doing they were curious to know what this great\nbuilding was to be. When he told them, can you imagine how they would\nlaugh at him for building a boat on dry land, and how they would laugh\nharder still when he said there was to be a flood? It must have been hard\nfor Noah to stand their ridicule, but he never thought of giving up the\nwork. He did a braver thing than just keeping on with the building, too,\nfor all through the years he was at work the Bible says that he was \u201ca\npreacher of righteousness.\u201d He told the people of the punishment that\nwas surely coming, and urged them to give up their wicked ways and do\nthe sort of things that would be pleasing to the heavenly Father. But\nthey would not listen, and would not believe what he told them. Still\nNoah kept patiently on working and preaching until the ark was finished.\nThen God said to his faithful servant, \u201cBefore very long I will bring\nthe flood of waters upon the earth.\u201d Let us read what it says in the\nBible about the things that Noah was to do before the flood came (Genesis\n6:19-21). Do you suppose that Noah did all that just as God had told him\nto do? Let us read that next verse very carefully together: \u201cThus did\nNoah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.\u201d Is not that a\nsplendid thing to be said about any man? Let us read the words again and\nthen close our books and say them, for that is our memory text this week,\nand it is one that we would like always to remember, I am sure.\n\nThe Bible says that God told Noah what he wanted him to do. How does God\ntell you and me what he wants us to do? (Guide the conversation so that\nthe children themselves will mention the Bible, God\u2019s message, and the\nSunday school and church where the meaning of the message is explained to\nus and where we try to help each other to be doers of the Word. Teachers\nat school and those who guide and direct in the home should also be\nmentioned.) You see that as you obey these helpers that God has given to\nyou, you are learning to do according to all that God has commanded you.\nWhat has Jesus said of those who hear the Word of God and keep it? (Luke\n11: 28.) \u201cThus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did\nhe.\u201d Shall we not ask the heavenly Father to help us to be so strong to\nobey and so willing that something like that may be said of us too?\n\n\nPrayer\n\n(To be used if the conditions in the room and the spirit of the class\nmake possible a quiet moment in which heads may be bowed, and the words,\nsoftly spoken by the teacher, heard by all the members of the class.)\n\nOur Father in heaven, we are glad that we have the Bible with its stories\nof people who loved and obeyed thee in the long ago. May we learn from\nthese stories how to be more obedient to-day. Help us to be cheerful,\nloving doers of the Word. We ask it in Jesus\u2019 name. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 7\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nUse your own copy of the pupil\u2019s book, and let the children talk over the\nlesson on the Building of the Ark freely and informally. If you should\nfind that any one of the class has been dwelling in thought upon the\npeople outside of the ark, and wondering why it was necessary that all\nof them should be destroyed, have them read Genesis 6: 11, and help them\nto see that people who choose to live in sin cannot be saved from its\nconsequences. \u201cEvil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him\u201d (Psalm\n140: 11. See also Galatians 6: 7, 8).\n\nPeople were sowing violence and reaping violence. Human life was not\nrespected. God\u2019s laws were scorned and ignored. There had to be a new\nbeginning for the world, if there were to be any people left in it.\n\nDo not refer to this side of the question unless the children speak of\nit. If they do, emphasize the patience of God and the warnings that were\ngiven through Noah\u2019s preaching and the added force that his words would\nhave because of the actual building of the ark going on daily before\ntheir eyes.\n\nGive the children this name drill, telling them not to answer any\nquestion that cannot be answered by a name. Who lived in the Garden of\nEden? Who was told to build an ark? We had a story about two brothers:\nwhat was the name of the older one? The younger? How many people\nwent into the ark? (This should not be answered because it cannot be\nanswered by a name.) Who is said to have been the first to make musical\ninstruments? Who is called the father of all who live in tents? What is\nthe name of the book in which our lessons are found?\n\nWho is said to have been the first man to think about making weapons and\ntools out of metal? What is the name of the first story in the Bible? In\nthat story what did God make first? What did God call the light? What\nname was given to the darkness? What was the gathering together of the\nwaters called? What is the light that rules the day? What is the lesser\nlight that rules the night? What other lights are there in the sky at\nnight?\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 7\n\nThe Flood and the Rainbow\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 7: 6 to 8: 22; 9: 12-17.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 8: 6-20; 9: 12-17.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token\nof a covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9: 13.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nIsaiah 54: 9, 10; Jeremiah 33: 19-21, 25, 26.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nThe Noachian covenant guarantees the stability of natural law. The\ncovenant with Abraham was confirmed in its promise to Isaac and Jacob and\ninsured a blessing through their seed to all nations.... Of still greater\nsignificance was the covenant at Horeb or Sinai.... It was really a\nconstitution given to Israel by God, with appointed promise and penalty,\nduly inscribed on the tables of the covenant which were deposited in the\nark.\u2014_Bible Dictionary_, _Hastings_.\n\nAs the expulsion from paradise and the exile of Cain gave to mankind\na _new chance_, a fresh start, so with the flood. Wickedness had by\nthis time so prevailed that the earth needed to be washed from sin; but\nGod did not repeople it with a new race set above the possibility of\nwrong-doing\u2014rather, the race of man was given a new opportunity. The\nmoral necessity of the catastrophe is emphasized by God\u2019s long attempt\u2014in\nthe preaching of Noah for a hundred and fifty years\u2014to win men back\nto goodness, to induce a voluntary change of heart. The outstanding\nfeature of the story is the covenant, which henceforth runs through the\nhistory of Israel, and of the spiritual Israel.... The emphasis laid\nupon the sanctity of life is especially worthy of note. The sons of Noah\nmight well have believed that God held life cheap after its widespread\ndestruction. Observe, therefore, the insistence upon this command, and\nthat its sanction is still the same as before the almost universal\nappalling wickedness\u2014that man is made in the image of God. The principle\nof the flood is not destruction but salvation, as was that of the\nsentence of death upon Adam. By the flood the danger of departing from\nGod was emphasized for all generations.\u2014_Telling Bible Stories_, _Louise\nSeymour Houghton_.\n\nThis word (covenant) occurs some two hundred times in the Old Testament,\nand the idea lies at the root of the whole conception of law among the\nJews. Covenants as made between men, form the beginnings of civilized\ngovernment.... The word is also used of the relation of God to man; of\nhis justice, his unchangeable nature, and his protecting power, on the\none side, and the corresponding duties devolving upon man, especially as\nembodied in the law of Moses, on the other. A series of covenants (with\nAbraham and his successors, with Israel in the wilderness, with David)\nruns through Old Testament history. The particular idea in the covenant\nwith Noah is that of the uniform working of God in nature and of his\nloving care for his creation. On these two ideas are based all physical\nscience, which could not exist if there were no laws of nature, and all\nreligion, which otherwise would become mere superstitious dread of unseen\npowers.\u2014_The One Volume Commentary_, _James R. Dummelow_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To associate the thought of God\u2019s promises with the rainbow, and to show\nthat his promise is to bless and that our part is to obey=.\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nThere are so many details in this story that are interesting to children\nthat the main task in preparing the lesson, after becoming thoroughly\nfamiliar with those details, is so to arrange the different items that\nthe climax shall stand out clearly, and the full force be given to the\npoint of greatest teaching value as stated in the aim of the lesson.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nOne summer day Alice and Kate and Robert were playing out under the trees\non the lawn and having a fine time, when it seemed to them as if the sun\nhad been put out as suddenly as an electric light is turned off. They\nlooked up and saw that there were heavy black clouds all over the sky.\n\u201cRun,\u201d said Robert, \u201cit is going to rain.\u201d They hurried as fast as they\ncould, but had barely time to pick up their toys and rush to the veranda\nbefore the rain came down in torrents. They found a sheltered place where\nthe rain did not beat in and settled themselves to play, but they had\nhardly started a new game before the sun shone out as suddenly as it had\ndisappeared a few minutes before. \u201cIt has stopped raining,\u201d said Alice.\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Kate, \u201cbut look at those dark clouds.\u201d Robert ran to the\nsteps that he might see the clouds better, and exclaimed, \u201cO, come quick\nand look! It goes all the way across the sky.\u201d What do you suppose he\nsaw? Have you ever seen a rainbow? What is the first thing you do when\nyou see one? Probably we all want to do as Robert did and call every one\nwithin calling distance to come and see it, for it is so beautiful. In\nthe long, long ago I suppose children did that same thing when they saw a\nrainbow, but I am sure they did something else too. I think they ran to\ntheir mothers or fathers and said, \u201cWon\u2019t you please tell us the story\nof the rainbow?\u201d The story of which those fathers and mothers always\nthought when they saw the rainbow and the one which they told to their\nchildren is the one that I am going to tell to you to-day. Perhaps they\ncalled it just what it is called in our books\u2014the Story of the Flood and\nthe Rainbow. It is another story about the man who built the ark. What\nwas his name? (Review briefly.) What is the verse which tells us how Noah\nobeyed God?\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nFinally there came a day when God told Noah to take into the ark his\nwife, his three sons and their wives, together with \u201cevery beast after\nits kind and all the cattle after their kind and every creeping thing\nthat creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind.\nAnd they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two, of all flesh,\nwherein is the breath of life.\u201d When all were safely in the door was\nshut. Then the rain came and the waters rose high and higher until all\nthe mountains were covered. Upon the waste of waters the ark floated.\nDays and weeks and months went by, still the waters were over everything.\nThen God caused a high wind to pass over the earth and the waters began\nto go down. One day Noah opened the window of the ark and sent a raven\nout and the raven did not come back. Then Noah sent out a dove, but the\ndove found no rest for her foot and came back to the ark, and Noah took\nher in. After waiting seven days more, Noah sent the dove out again and\nat evening time of that day she came back and in her bill she brought an\nolive leaf. The olive trees grow only in valleys, so Noah knew that the\nwater must have dried off the earth. He waited seven days more and sent\nthe dove out again, but this time she did not return. Then Noah removed\nthe covering of the ark and looked, and behold the face of the ground was\ndry. And God spake to Noah saying, \u201cGo forth from the ark, thou and thy\nwife, and thy sons and thy sons\u2019 wives with thee. Bring forth with thee\nevery living thing, both birds and cattle and every creeping thing that\ncreepeth upon the earth.\u201d\n\nSo Noah and his family once more stood in God\u2019s sunshine upon the dry\nland. The first thing that Noah did after leaving the ark was to build an\naltar to the Lord and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. God was pleased\nwith Noah\u2019s sacrifice and gave him a promise that never again should\nthe earth be destroyed by flood, and he said: \u201cWhile the earth remains,\nseed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night\nshall not cease.\u201d Just then the sun shone brightly against a dark cloud,\nand a brilliant rainbow spanned the sky. God said, \u201cThis is the sign of\nthe covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature\nthat is with you, for endless generations. I do set my bow in the cloud,\nand it shall be a token of a covenant between me and the earth.\u201d\n\nSo with the bow shining against the cloud mothers and fathers told this\nstory to their children. To them the rainbow was the sign of God\u2019s\ncovenant\u2014his promise to bless the earth and all who live upon it. They\nremembered something else when they saw it and that is that they had\na part in the covenant. God\u2019s part was to bless; theirs to obey. The\nrainbow will remind us, too, of God\u2019s promise. When we see it stretching\nacross the heavens, in our hearts we will praise the heavenly Father for\nhis loving kindness, and ask him to help us to be his obedient children.\nHow glad we are that he has said, \u201cfor endless generations,\u201d because that\nmeans that his blessing will be for always and always.\n\n\nTHE PUPIL\u2019S BOOK FOR WORK AND STUDY\n\nShow the picture for this lesson and have the children repeat the memory\ntext as they see the rainbow in the picture.\n\nNOTE.\u2014If you have not already done so, read about the Rainbow Bookmark,\non page 24. You will need one to use in teaching next Sunday\u2019s Correlated\nLesson.\n\n\n\n\nII. STORIES OF THREE PATRIARCHS\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 8\n\n\nWe enter now upon the second period of our course, and for the next\nthirteen lessons will follow the fortunes of the three great patriarchs\nof Jewish history. The same lesson of simple and unquestioning obedience\nis found in these stories, with an occasional negative lesson, showing\nthe consequences of disobedience. As the promise to Abram points to the\ncoming of the Messiah, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be\nblessed, the Christmas Lesson chosen for this year is upon the Song of\nMary, which ends with a reference to the promise given to her as the\nfulfillment of the promise given to Abram.\n\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\nI wonder what you will think about the next time you see a rainbow in\nthe sky. Tell me what God said about the rainbow to Noah. God\u2019s promise\nto Noah is only one of hundreds of promises that are in this book, and\nthe best of it is, those promises are for you and me as well as for the\npeople who lived in the days when the Bible was written. Do you see the\nbookmark I have in my Bible to-day?[3] It has in it the colors of the\nrainbow, which people have called the \u201cbow of promise,\u201d and that is one\nreason why we like to have a rainbow bookmark for the Bible. It reminds\nus of such beautiful promises as this: \u201cI will instruct thee and teach\nthee in the way which thou shalt go.\u201d \u201cI am with thee and will keep thee\nwhithersoever thou goest.\u201d This bookmark is useful in another way. The\nBible has how many books? Now those sixty-six books are not all of one\nkind. Some are poetry, some are sermons, some are history and some are\nlaw. These ribbons mark the different kinds of books and so help us to\nhandle the Bible more easily. Some day you will know all the kinds of\nbooks that the ribbons mark, but just now you need only remember one.\nThe red ribbon marks the first five books which are called books of Law.\n(Have the children repeat this.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 8\n\nThe Call of Abram\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 11:27 to 12:9; James 2:23.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 11:31 to 12:9; James 2:23.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014By faith Abram, when he was called, obeyed; and he went\nout, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8a, c.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nJoshua 24:1-3; Nehemiah 9:7, 8; Isaiah 41:8-10; 51:1, 2; Micah 7:20; Acts\n3:25; 7:1-5; Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:6-9; James 2:23.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nEither during the reign of Hammurabi, or shortly before he established\nhis rule, the migration of Abram from the Babylonian city called \u201cUr of\nthe Chaldees\u201d in the biblical narrative, into the land of Canaan, is\nsupposed to have occurred.... Though he and his descendants, for a long\nperiod, were dwellers in tents, living a nomadic tribal life, like that\nof their near relatives, the nomadic Arabs, he had come from a country\nof considerable civilization, where writing and the keeping of records\nwere common, and he had not left that state of civilization behind, ...\nfor \u201cthe power and influence of Babylonia had been firmly established for\ncenturies throughout the length and breadth of western Asia.\u201d\u2014_The Rise\nand Fall of Nations_, _J. N. Larned_.\n\nWith the spirit of the true prophet, Abraham leaves behind all that men\nusually cherish most and sets out on his long journey. In Canaan also he\ndisregards his personal interests and is intent only upon knowing and\ndoing the will of God.\n\nSelf-sacrificing, courageous, obedient to the voice of God\u2014he is\nsupremely worthy to be the father of a prophetic nation. Blessed was\nthe race that had such a character held up thus prominently before\nit!\u2014_Heroes and Crises of Early Hebrew History_, _Charles Foster Kent_.\n\nIn the simple, unhesitating faith with which Abram acted at once and to\nthe fullest, on every intimation of the Divine Will, lay the supreme\ndistinction which gained him his two unique titles\u2014the \u201cFather of the\nFaithful,\u201d and \u201cThe Friend of God.\u201d\u2014_Old Testament Characters_, _Geikie_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To present again the ideal of unquestioning obedience; to give an\nimpulse toward the attaining of this ideal by showing that the obedient\nare friends of God and a source of blessing to their fellows.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nBesides the study of the Bible passages, and what the commentators have\nto say concerning the incident of our lesson, there are many legends of\nAbram which are intensely interesting and relate to the protests which\nhe made against the idolatry of his father and of the people among whom\nhe lived. [See History for District and Graded Schools, Ellwood W. Kemp,\nchapter on \u201cWhat the Hebrews Taught the World\u201d; _Leben Abraham\u2019s_, by\nBeer, quoted by Geikie in Old Testament Characters; The Talmud.] In\nstudying this story with the children in mind we must remember that our\nown point of view concerning leaving one\u2019s country and kindred to go out,\nnot knowing whither, is a far different one from that which the children\nthemselves will have. To them moving has in it the attractive element of\nnovelty, and all the charm of the \u201cunexpected\u201d in every day\u2019s experience\nfor some time after the move has been made. They have not yet become\nso thoroughly attached to the place where they live as to be able to\ncomprehend in the least the sacrifice that Abram made, and if we could\nexamine the contents of their minds by some kind of X-ray process, we\nwould doubtless discover that they were looking upon Abram\u2019s experience\nin that respect as one to be coveted. This may explain why teachers of\nJunior children have often found this story tame and uninteresting from\nthe children\u2019s point of view.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nYou may be quite sure that any child old enough to be in the Junior\nDepartment has had stories of the Pilgrims and Puritans several times\nin his day school course. One good way of introducing this lesson,\ntherefore, would be to question concerning the Pilgrims, and why they\ncame to this country, developing the fact that they cared more to worship\nGod as they thought they should than for anything else that life could\ngive. They were ready to give up their comfortable homes, their friends,\ntheir relatives, and go into a strange land where no homes awaited them,\nand suffer privations, cold, and dangers, because they knew that in that\nstrange land they would be free to worship God in their own way. From\nthis it would be easy to pass to the story of a man who took his family,\nhis servants, and all that he owned and went into a strange land of which\nhe knew nothing, because he had heard the voice of God telling him to go.\n\nAnother method of approach would be by calling attention to the names\nby which some men have been called, which they have won for themselves\nby the things that they did. George Washington was called the father of\nhis country. Why? To-day we have a story of a man who earned a much more\nwonderful name even than that.\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nIt was a long, long time after Noah and the seven who were with him went\nout of the ark and heard God\u2019s covenant with them and saw its beautiful\nsign in the sky. Now there were many people in the earth, and though they\nwere not so wicked as the people had been before the Flood, they had\nforgotten the God to whom Noah built his altar and offered sacrifices,\nand from whom he heard the promise of blessing. Instead of worshiping Him\nwho is the maker of the heavens and the earth, they were worshiping the\nsun and the moon and the stars, and even idols made by men. Of course\nthey could not obey the God whom Noah served when they were giving all\ntheir thought to idols, neither could God speak to them, because they\nwould not listen to his voice.\n\nAmong the people who were descended from Shem, the oldest son of Noah,\nthere was a man named Terah, who lived in Ur of the Chaldees. He made up\nhis mind to take his family and move away from the place where he was\nthen living to Canaan, a country far from Ur. We do not know just why he\ndecided to do this, but he started from Ur with his son Abram, his nephew\nLot, and Abram\u2019s wife, Sarai. They did not go to Canaan, but stopped at\na place called Haran, and there Terah died. Terah was a worshiper of\nidols, but Abram, his son, had somehow kept the faith in the one true\nGod, and did not bow down to the moon or stars or to idols of wood or\nstone. Because Abram loved the heavenly Father, God could speak to him,\nand Abram could hear God\u2019s voice, and his love made him wish to do just\nwhat God asked him to do. So it happened that at Haran Abram heard God\nspeaking to him, and saying, \u201cGet thee out of thy country, and from thy\nkindred, and from thy father\u2019s house, unto a land that I will show thee.\u201d\nGod did not tell Abram where he wanted him to go, he only said, \u201cI will\nshow you the land,\u201d but he gave him a wonderful promise, for he said, \u201cI\nwill make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy\nname great; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.\u201d\n\nNow, Abram not only loved God but he believed that God knew what was the\nbest for him, and that God would do just what he promised. So Abram did\nleave his country and his relatives and friends. \u201cBy faith Abram when he\nwas called, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.\u201d Taking\nhis wife, his nephew, his flocks, and servants, he started from Haran,\nand God led him down into the land of Canaan, the very land to which\nTerah had intended to go when he left Ur. No doubt, as Abram journeyed he\nkept saying to himself as he entered a new part of the country, \u201cI wonder\nif this is the land where the Lord wants me to live.\u201d But as no sign was\ngiven, he kept on until he came to Shechem, in the land of Canaan, and\nthere he found that he had reached the land to which the Lord had called\nhim to go. Let us read from the Bible just what happened there (Genesis\n12:6, 7). The Canaanites were heathen people, and on all sides Abram saw\nidols and idol worship. But he knew something far better than that, and\nas he journeyed through the land he built altars to the true God and\noffered sacrifices wherever he pitched his tents.\n\nIn all this Abram was earning a name for himself, though he did not\nknow it. He loved God so much that he listened for his voice. When God\nspoke he obeyed gladly; and he showed his love by praise and prayer and\nworship. Would you like to know the name that Abram earned? It is one\nthat has been given to him through the thousands of years since he lived,\nand it is the most beautiful name that anyone could ever have. He is\ncalled \u201cThe Friend of God.\u201d\n\n\nPUPIL\u2019S BOOK FOR WORK AND STUDY\n\nAsk the children if they would like to see the place in the Bible where\nAbram is called the friend of God, and help them to find James 2:23. Then\nshow them the first line on page 25 of the work book on which they are to\nwrite the last four words of that verse.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 9\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nWhat did I tell you the first five books in the Bible are called? (Books\nof Law.) What is the color of the ribbon for those books in our rainbow\nbookmark? Let us see how many of our memory texts belong with the red\nribbon. Where is the verse that tells about the creation of the world?\n(Genesis 1:1.) Where is the verse that tells what God gave Adam to do in\nthe Garden of Eden? (Genesis 2:15.) There was one about Noah\u2014where will\nwe find that? (Genesis 6:22.) And one about the rainbow\u2014(Genesis 9:13).\nAll these are in the first book\u2014the book of Genesis, and because that\nis one of the books of the Law I will give you a red slip to mark the\nplace of each of those verses. What was the verse about hiding from God?\nThat verse was in the book of Jeremiah. Let me tell you how to find it.\nOpen the Bible in the middle. What book is there? (Psalms.) Now turn to\nthe right and you will find first Proverbs, then Ecclesiastes, Song of\nSolomon and Isaiah, and then comes the book we are looking for\u2014Jeremiah.\nTurn through the chapters until you find the 23d, and the 24th verse of\nthat chapter. This book belongs in a group of five that are called books\nof the Major Prophets and they are marked by the green ribbon. (Give the\nchildren a green slip and let them put it in as a mark for the memory\ntext in Jeremiah.) What was the verse about love? That is in one of the\nbooks of the New Testament. If you take the part of your Bible that is\nto the right of Jeremiah and open that part in the middle and then take\nthe right hand little part and open that in the middle, you will find you\nhave 1 Corinthians. Then you can find the 13th chapter and the 4th verse.\nThe ribbon for these books, which are called Letters, is violet, so we\nwill put a violet slip in to mark the place of this memory text. (The\nonly other text which they have had is Hebrews 11:8a, c. They can find\nthat by turning to the right from 1 Corinthians, and that may also be\nmarked by a violet strip of paper. Drill by having the children find the\nverses by subjects.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 9\n\nGiving Lot the First Choice\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 13:1-18.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 13:1-13, 18.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them\nlikewise. Luke 6:31.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nPsalm 119:36; Proverbs 1:19; Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:15; John 13:34;\nRomans 12:10; 1 Corinthians 10:24; 13:1-13; James 2:8.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nThis choice of Sodom as a dwelling place was the great mistake of Lot\u2019s\nlife. He is the type of that very large class of men who have but one\nrule for determining them at the turning points of life. He was swayed\nsolely by the consideration of worldly advantage. He has nothing deep,\nnothing high in him. He recognizes no duty to Abram, no gratitude, no\nmodesty; he has no perception of spiritual relations.... It was Abram\u2019s\nsimple belief that God\u2019s promise was meant and was substantial that made\nhim indifferent as to what Lot might choose. His faith was judged in\nthis scene, and was proved to be sound.... Wherever there is faith the\nsame results will appear. He who believes that God is pledged to provide\nfor him cannot be greedy, anxious, covetous; can only be liberal, even\nmagnanimous.\u2014_The Expositor\u2019s Bible_, _Genesis_, _Marcus Dods_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To lead the children to admire the kindliness and unselfishness of\nAbram, and to exhibit a similar spirit in their own daily lives.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nAfter you have read carefully the story of this lesson answer for\nyourself these questions: What is the most important teaching point in\nthis story? How can I arrange the material of the story in such a way as\nto bring that point into strongest perspective? Abram gave up to another\nwhat he had a perfect right to take for himself. Would Junior children\ngenerally regard that as a foolish thing to do, and, therefore, lose\nall the force of the lesson if too much stress should be put upon that\nphase of the truth? What is the Junior child\u2019s highest conception of what\nmust be done in order to obey the Golden Rule? What elements in Lot\u2019s\ncharacter stand out clearly in this transaction? How does he exhibit\nindifference toward the best welfare of his family?\n\nThe consequences of his choice come out in later lessons, and are exactly\nwhat might be expected, but, of course, these must not be touched upon in\nthis lesson. The only point which needs emphasis here is the statement of\nverse 13.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nAbram was sitting in the door of his tent. Sarai, his wife, was near by\nand was watching him anxiously, for she could see that he was troubled,\nbut she knew not why. They had just returned to the place near Bethel\nfrom a long journey which they took into Egypt because there had been\na famine in the land of Canaan. Their flocks and herds were so many\nthat Abram was known as a very rich man in a country where men counted\ntheir wealth by the number of cattle they owned. The dark tents of\nAbram\u2019s servants stretched away over the valley and up on the sides of\nthe low hills, for his followers were many. Lot, Abram\u2019s nephew, also\nhad servants and flocks and herds. His tents were there too, and the\nsmoke was going up from many fires, for it was supper time. As Abram sat\nlooking out over the valley, Sarai questioned softly, \u201cWhat is it that\ntroubles thee?\u201d And Abram answered, \u201cThou knowest how I have thought that\nLot would always be with us, as he has been all his life; but I cannot\nnow see how that can be. To-day and yesterday, and indeed every day\nsince we pitched our tents in this valley, as I have gone about to see\nhow the herds and flocks were being cared for by the men, I have found\nquarreling and strife among the herdsmen.\u201d \u201cQuarreling and strife?\u201d \u201cYea,\nthou knowest we have had none of that before, but now our cattle are so\nmany and there are so few good pasture lands that were not already in use\nby the Canaanites and the Perrizzites before we came into the land, and\nthere are so few wells or springs of water beside those that they claim,\nthat there is constant strife between Lot\u2019s herdsmen and ours. Each one\nclaims every spring of water and pasture land, and so they quarrel. We\ncannot have this kind of thing. Brothers should live together in unity,\nand I must find a way to end the strife. Of course my men feel in duty\nbound to find water and pasture for my cattle; that is what they are told\nto do; and Lot\u2019s men must do the same for his, but we cannot have them\nfighting about it.\u201d\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nThe next morning Abram asked Lot to take a walk with him, and as they\ntogether climbed a hill near by, Abram told his nephew of the quarreling\namong their men, and then he said something like this: \u201cYou see, we have\nnow so many cattle that no one part of the country can give us all the\npasture that we need. I had hoped that we might always live together,\nbut I see that we cannot do so and have peace and right feeling among\nour servants.\u201d Now, of course, you know that Abram might then have\nsaid to his nephew, \u201cGod has promised all of this land to me and to my\nchildren, so it is only right that I should first choose the part of\nthe land in which I wish to live, and that is what I intend to do now.\u201d\nBut Abram knew a better way than that. Open your Bibles and read with\nme Genesis 13:8, 9. So you see, Abram gave Lot the first choice, and\nas they stood together on the summit of the hill they had climbed, Lot\ncould look to the north, west, and south and could see few pasture lands,\nbut many rugged mountains and rather barren valleys. But to the east he\nsaw the well-watered plain of the Jordan, where the grass grew rich and\ngreen, and he said as he pointed that way, \u201cI will take the plain of the\nJordan.\u201d Very soon they separated, Lot and his family, with his servants\nand cattle, going down into the Jordan valley, while Abram journeyed\nsouth over the mountains until he came to Hebron.\n\nWhat did Lot really choose? Not simply pasture lands for his flocks. He\nchose selfishness and greed, for he took the best for himself when he\nknew his uncle had the right to it. He chose wicked people to be his\nneighbors and friends, for there were cities in the valley. Listen to\nwhat the Bible says about the people in a city near which Lot pitched his\ntents. (Read verses 12 and 13.)\n\nBut what of Abram? What did he choose? He chose unselfishness and\ngenerosity, and he gained something better than fine pasture for his\ncattle, for he knew that he had pleased his heavenly Father, and soon he\nheard the voice of God speaking to him, and saying (read verses 14, 15,\n18).\n\nIf possible, have the memory text written upon cards in attractive form,\nwith initial letter illuminated. Give one of these cards to each pupil,\nand with it these statements and the question to be answered next Sunday:\nThis is a rule that Jesus gave to his disciples. It has been called the\nGolden Rule. Can you think of any reason why it should have such a name\nas that?\n\n\nPUPIL\u2019S BOOK FOR WORK AND STUDY\n\nShow the children the picture for this lesson and explain that it is\ntaken from a photograph of the Jordan valley as it appears to-day, and\nshows part of what Lot saw when he made his choice.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 10\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nRefer to the question asked in connection with Friday\u2019s reading, and call\nfor the written answers. Read them and let the children talk about them\nfreely. Then take up the question about the Golden Rule and get their\nideas concerning the name that has been given to it. Help them to see how\nlike heaven this world would be if everyone obeyed that rule. Tell them\nthat people also speak of an Iron Rule and a Silver Rule. Perhaps they\ncan guess what the Iron Rule would be. It is the rule of savage men. It\nsays, \u201cIf evil is done to you, do evil in return.\u201d The Silver Rule is\nthe rule of worldly men. That says, \u201cIf good is done to you, do good in\nreturn.\u201d See if the children can tell why that rule is called \u201csilver\u201d in\ncomparison with the Iron Rule. Then comes the Golden Rule, best of all,\nbecause it says nothing about what other people do, but tells each one\nunder all circumstances, everywhere, to do to others as he would like to\nhave them do to him.\n\nIf you have time review the texts with the colors as given to the\nchildren last Sunday. Then tell them that the white ribbon is used for\nthe four Gospels which tell of the life of Jesus. Let them find Luke\namong the first books of the New Testament and mark the Golden Rule, Luke\n6:31 with a strip of white paper.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 10\n\nAbram\u2019s Rescue of Lot\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 14:1-24.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 14:8-24.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for\nadversity. Proverbs 17:17.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nPsalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:5-10; 6:20 to 7:28.\n\n_Note._\u2014The statements in Hebrews that Melchizedek was without father,\nwithout mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days\nnor end of life, merely mean that the Scriptures do not mention his\nancestors, parents, birth, or death.\u2014_New Century Bible_, _Genesis_, _W.\nH. Bennett, D.D._\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nArch\u00e6ology. In this chapter we again come in contact with Babylonian\nrecords, not, as heretofore, with mythology, but with history. We may\nregard it as certain that Chedorlaomer and his allies were actual\nhistorical personages; that Elam at one period was the dominant power in\nthe lands east of the Euphrates, as implied in verses 5, 9, and 17; and\nthat in the same period the dominant power in those Eastern lands claimed\nand sometimes exercised a certain supremacy in Palestine, which was\nenforced occasionally by such warlike expeditions as the one described\nhere. It is also not improbable that the four Eastern kings mentioned\nhere were contemporaries, and that Elam was the dominant power in their\ntime.... Amraphel: usually identified with Hammurabi, a Babylonian king,\nknown to us from the inscriptions. Numerous letters and inscriptions\nof Hammurabi have been discovered, including forty-six dispatches\n(inscribed tablets of baked clay) to a high official or tributary\nprince. \u201cHammurabi,\u201d we are told, \u201cis already known, from the date on a\nBabylonian contract, to have succeeded in defeating the Elamites in the\ncourse of his reign, and this fact would not be inconsistent with his\nhaving been Chedorlaomer\u2019s ally during the earlier part of his reign, to\nwhich period the narrative in Genesis 14 would, on this assumption, be\nreferred.\u201d\u2014_New Century Bible_, _Genesis_, _W. H. Bennett, D.D._\n\nNo one fails to see what it was that balanced Abram in this intoxicating\nmarch. No one asks what enabled him, while leading his armed followers\nflushed with success through a land weakened by recent dismay and\ndisaster, to restrain them and himself from claiming the whole land\nas his. No one asks what gave him moral perception to see that the\nopportunity given him of winning the land by the sword was a temptation,\nnot a guiding providence. To every reader it is obvious that his\ndependence on God was his safeguard and his light. God would bring him by\nfair and honorable means to his own. There was no need of violence, no\nneed of receiving help from doubtful allies. This is true nobility; and\nthis, faith always produces.\u2014_The Expositor\u2019s Bible_, _Genesis_, _Marcus\nDods_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=The aim in this lesson will be practically the same as that of Lesson 9.\nThis story shows again the kindliness and unselfishness of Abram and even\nmore forcibly and attractively perhaps for the Junior children, as those\nqualities are exhibited in the doing of a brave and hazardous thing.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nIn the lesson story as given last week how much was taken directly from\nthe biblical narrative? How far do you think it legitimate to expand\nthe Bible story? Was the part not given in the Bible narrative true to\nyour conception of the times in which the story has its setting? Bible\nstories sometimes need expansion to make them complete and interesting\nto the children. It was not a necessity in last Sunday\u2019s lesson, but\nwas chosen simply as a way of introducing the lesson story. In all our\nstory work it is not important that the story shall always be something\nthat has actually happened, but it must be something that, given certain\nconditions, could and would be likely to happen. In expanding Bible\nstories we must keep the facts not only true to life, but true to what we\nknow of the age to which they relate. There are many fictitious stories\nthat are true, that is, true to life and to the principles that underlie\nall action. There are others that are both fictitious and false. Take,\nfor example, the so-called Sunday school stories of fifty years ago in\nwhich the good boy was so abnormal and impossible that every normal boy\nwho read the book revolted from the type with a natural and healthy\nhatred. All our illustrative stories must be true to life, and must\nnot present a moral so apparent as to cause the child to react from it\nbecause of the sheer force of the impact.\n\nThe lesson for this week is intensely interesting both to us who are\nolder and to the children, but the points of deepest interest in each\ncase will be different. For us the mysterious Melchizedek, \u201cwho passes\nover the stage a living king and priest,\u201d and then is seen no more,\npossesses much of charm and fascination. The difference between the Abram\nwho was enriched without protest in Egypt by a heathen king (Genesis\n12:16), and the Abram who disdains to take so much as a shoe lace from\nthe king of Sodom (Genesis 14:23), is also of interest to us. But, of\ncourse, in studying the lesson to present it to the children we must\nput these things far in the background and get the story with its vivid\naction and rapid movement so thoroughly into the mind and heart that it\ncan be told with as much feeling as would characterize the narration of\nan event that happened yesterday.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nDown in the Jordan valley, close by the side of Sodom, there are many\ndark tents. Cattle are feeding in the rich pasture lands and both the\ntents and the cattle belong to Abram\u2019s nephew, Lot. Up among the rugged\nmountains, west of the Dead Sea, is Hebron, and there too we see many,\nmany tents, and in the door of the tent of the ruler, or chief, we see\nAbram. There was a time when you would have seen the tents of Abram and\nLot very near together. Why are they now separated by so many miles?\nWhy did Abram let Lot choose first and take the best of the land? Why\ndid Lot take the Jordan Valley? (Let the review so far as possible come\nspontaneously from the children, but if it lags in any degree, or if the\nimportant points are not brought out, ask questions that will make the\nstory complete.)\n\nThe days passed very pleasantly in Abram\u2019s camp. There was now no\nquarreling among the herdsmen, but the camp was a busy place, for all had\nwork to do. Abram himself was not idle. Among his servants there were\nmore than three hundred men who were able to fight, and Abram needed\nto have soldiers to protect the great company of people over whom he\nwas chief, and to protect the flocks from robbers if any should come to\nsteal. So Abram spent quite a good deal of his time training his men, so\nthat they would know how to obey and fight under a leader as all good\nsoldiers must.\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nOne day there was much excitement in Abram\u2019s usually quiet camp. A crowd\nwas gathered about a man from the plain who bore the stains of battle,\nand was worn and hurt with the roughness of the way he had traveled.\nEagerly they questioned: \u201cWhat has happened? How were you hurt? From what\ncity have you come?\u201d and soon they heard the story. \u201cFour kings from\nBabylon, with their armies, came into the Jordan valley to fight against\nthe cities of the plain because they had rebelled the year before and\nrefused to pay tribute, as they had been doing. The five kings of the\ncities with their fighting men went out to meet their enemies, but were\ndreadfully beaten. Many were caught in the slime pits of the valley and\ndied there. Some escaped to the mountains, as I did; but our enemies\nhave taken the women and children and the goods and cattle of Sodom and\nGomorrah and have gone back in triumph to their own country.\u201d Of course\nyou can guess the question that Abram and many others asked right away:\n\u201cWhat has happened to Lot? Was he killed in the battle?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d was\nthe answer, \u201cbut he went out to help the king of Sodom and was taken\nprisoner. His wife and children were taken, too, and all his cattle.\u201d\n\nWhat do you think Abram did when he heard this news? Instantly he\ncalled for his three hundred and eighteen men whom he had trained to be\nsoldiers, and told them to get ready for the march. There were three\nchieftains in that part of the country named Mamre, Eschol, and Aner,\nwith whom Abram was friendly, and when he sent word to them that he\nwas going to rescue his nephew and the other people taken by the kings\nof the East, they joined him, and the party started north. They had to\ntravel more than a hundred miles before they overtook the enemy. Then\nthey waited until night, when Abram divided his company in such a way\nas to make an attack at one time from different places. The soldiers\nwere sleeping, thinking themselves perfectly safe, and when the attack\ncame they were panic-stricken and fled, and Abram pursued them as far as\nHobah, a village near Damascus. Then he led his soldiers, his nephew Lot,\nLot\u2019s family, and all the other people of Sodom and Gomorrah with their\npossessions back toward home.\n\nAs Abram passed near Salem, in the mountains west of Sodom, Melchizedek,\nwho was both priest and king in that city, brought food and drink for\nthe soldiers and for the people who had been rescued, and he blessed\nAbram saying, \u201cBlessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and\nearth: and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies\ninto thy hand.\u201d And to him, as the priest of the most high God, Abram\ngave a tenth of all that he had taken in the battle. Then the king of\nSodom came to meet Abram. It was considered the right thing for anyone\nwho gained a victory in battle to keep for himself all the goods that\nhe took and the people also for slaves, to keep or sell as he wished.\nThe king of Sodom said to Abram, \u201cLet me have the people that you have\nrescued, but keep the goods for yourself,\u201d but Abram answered, \u201cI have\nvowed to the Most High God that I will not take so much as a thread or\na shoe lace of all these things, nor anything else that belongs to you,\nbecause if I do, you may say that you made me rich. Let there be nothing\nfor me. Let all that is taken from your possessions be what my soldiers\nhave eaten and the portion that rightfully belongs to my allies, these\nthree men who went with me.\u201d\n\nIt seems strange that in this story there is nothing to tell us that Lot\neven thanked his uncle for what he had done. All that we know is that\nhe went back into the Jordan valley and to wicked Sodom, and Abram and\nhis soldiers and the friends who had helped him journeyed south until\nthey came to the home tents at Hebron. Did you ever hear the proverb,\n\u201cA friend in need is a friend indeed\u201d? Open your Bibles in the middle,\nturn to the next book on the right, and you will see that it is the book\nof Proverbs. Find chapter 17 and verse 17, and let us read that proverb\ntogether. Who was it in this story that acted the part of a friend? A\nfriend to whom? What is the name that Abram earned for himself? Do you\nnot think that a friend of God would always be quite sure to be a friend\nof man also?\n\n(Ask the children to watch during the coming week and see how many people\nthey can find who are doing kindly things for others. Suggest that they\ntry themselves to be \u201cfriends\u201d and \u201cbrothers\u201d to everybody who needs any\nhelp that they can give.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 11\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\n(If the children have the colored slips marking their memory verses\ncorresponding to the rainbow bookmark colors, as suggested in Lesson 8,\nit will be easy for them to find the verses. Such a drill as the one\ngiven here will not only fix the verses in their memory associated with\ntheir meaning, but will help the children to acquire facility in handling\nthe Bible and turning quickly to references. As you will see this lesson\nis partly a drill on information which is given on page 31 of the Pupil\u2019s\nBook for Work and Study.)\n\nHow many memory texts have we had in the first book of the Bible? What\nis the name of that book? What is the color in the rainbow bookmark for\nthe first five books? What are those books called? Who can tell what the\nmemory texts in Genesis are without looking in the book? Who can give one\nfrom Jeremiah?\n\nWho will find for me a verse about love? What is that chapter called?\nThen if any one should ask you, \u201cWhere will I find the Love Chapter in\nthe Bible?\u201d what would you answer? Who will find a verse that tells how\nAbraham obeyed when God called him? What is that chapter about? Then what\nis it called? In what book is the Faith Chapter found? What is the number\nof the chapter? Let us see if we can all find the Christmas Story.\n\nWhat one of our memory verses would you like me to find? (Give out the\nother memory verses by subjects and let each child read the verse he\nhas found.) What is the text that tells us what a friend and a brother\nwill do for any one who needs his help? Let us find that in the Bible.\nOpen your Bibles in the middle. What book have you there? That is the\nhymn book of the Bible. The next book to the right is another book of\npoetry, and that is the one which has our memory text in it. The chapter\nand verse are both 17. Who will be the first to find it? Yellow is the\ncolor for the books of poetry, so I will give you a yellow slip to mark\nthe place of this verse. Let us all read it together. Who can tell me in\nother words what that verse means?\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 11\n\nAbraham Entertaining Angels\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Genesis 15:1-6; 17:1-8, 15, 16; 18:1-16; Hebrews\n13:16.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=\u2014Genesis 17:1-5, 15, 16; 18:1-8; Hebrews 13:16.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014Forget not to show love unto strangers; for thereby some\nhave entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nNumbers 22:22-27; Judges 13; 1 Kings 19:5-8; Luke 1:11-22, 28-33; Matthew\n2:13.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\n(Genesis 15:1-7.) Abram felt that he had made the mightiest earthly\npowers his enemies, and probably feared that the next campaigning season\nwould bring down on his encampment an irresistible host; so the word of\nencouragement comes, \u201cFear not, Abram; I am thy shield.\u201d Besides, he saw\nthat he was exhibited to his followers as a man who had the enjoyment\nneither of this world\u2019s winnings nor of the promise of God, for the sake\nof which he sacrificed the booty offered him by Sodom. The soreness he\nfelt on this account was removed by the assurance, \u201cI am thy exceeding\ngreat reward.\u201d\u2014_Commentary on Genesis_, _Marcus Dods_.\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To further deepen the impression made by the last two lessons, helping\nthe children to see the beauty of kindness, and so stimulate within them\nthe desire to practice kindness and helpfulness in their own lives.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nThese lessons give to us as teachers an opportunity for a leisurely study\nof the book of Genesis of which every teacher should take advantage.\nOf course all that intervenes between lessons at any point should be\nread for one\u2019s own information, but no more should be given to the\nscholars than is indicated by the limits of the teaching material. It\nis interesting to note in the study of chapter 17 that \u201cthe rite of\ncircumcision is not, as is sometimes thought, a rite peculiar to the\nJews. It was and still is widely practiced in different parts of the\nworld\u201d; but while with other races the underlying principle seems to\nbe initiation into manhood, with full civil and religious rights, its\nmeaning among the Jews was and is the same as that which underlies our\nsacrament of christening, namely, dedication to God.\n\nThe opportunity to lead children in the study of these early stories\nis a privilege which every teacher should appreciate to the utmost.\nDr. Eiselen calls attention to the value of these stories in this way:\n\u201cMissionaries say\u2014and experiences at home confirm the claim\u2014that the\npatriarchal narratives are of inestimable value to impress lessons of the\nreality and providence of God, and to encourage the exercise of faith\nand confidence in him. There is nothing that can be substituted for them\nin religious instruction.\u201d[4] He also quotes from Prof. W. W. White\ntwenty-one Christian virtues that are illustrated and enforced in the\nlife of Abraham: \u201cHe was steadfast, resolute, prudent, tactful, candid,\nkind, self-controlled, obliging, self-denying, condescending, unselfish,\npeaceable, hospitable, courteous, humble, thankful, reverent, prayerful,\nworshipful, faithful, obedient.\u201d\n\nThis lesson is a fitting climax to the three which show particularly\nAbraham\u2019s unselfishness and kindness and self-forgetful thoughtfulness.\nIn the other two he was acting for some one whom he knew and loved as a\nfather might love a son. In this incident he extends the most complete\nand joyous hospitality to men whom he believed to be ordinary travelers.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nI wonder if Abram was not a little discouraged when he came back after\nrescuing Lot and the other people of Sodom from the four kings of the\nEast? It would not be strange if he was both sad and discouraged, for\nthe nephew whom he loved had gone back among the wicked people of Sodom,\nwhere his life was in danger all the time, and Abram might easily have\nfelt that he had not done very much for Lot, and had made enemies for\nhimself of the powerful kings whose soldiers he had attacked.\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nBut if he was discouraged and half afraid, his heavenly Father and Friend\nknew it, and he appeared to Abram in a vision saying, \u201cFear not, Abram:\nI am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.\u201d Then Abram said: \u201cO\nLord, how will you give this land to my children as you have promised,\nwhen I have no child at all?\u201d The Lord took Abram out into the night and\nbade him look at the stars in the sky, saying, \u201cCan you count them? Your\nchildren\u2019s children shall be as many as the stars for number.\u201d And Abram\nbelieved God\u2019s promise and was comforted. Again God appeared to him and\nrepeated his promise, and said, \u201cYour name shall not be Abram any more\nbut Abraham, which means father of a multitude, and your wife\u2019s name\nshall no longer be Sarai but Sarah, or princess, for she shall be the\nmother of kings.\u201d Yet Abraham and Sarah had no children.\n\nOne noon time as Abraham stood in the tent door he saw three men coming\nnear. They were strangers to him, but he hastened to meet them and said,\n\u201cI pray you go no further in the heat of the day. Come and rest here\nunder the shade of the tree, and I will have water brought that your feet\nmay be bathed, and I will have something prepared for you to eat, and\nafter you are rested and refreshed you may go on your way.\u201d The strangers\naccepted the invitation, and Sarah and the servants soon had a dinner\nprepared for the guests, and they ate while Abraham stood by to wait upon\nthem and show them every honor. It was not long before he found that his\nguests were messengers from God. The promise that a child should come to\ntheir home was given to Abraham again, but now one of the messengers told\nAbraham just when Sarah\u2019s son would be born. He said, \u201cAt this time next\nyear.\u201d And Sarah heard what was said as she stood in the tent door near\nby. Can you think how happy Abraham and Sarah must have been that day?\nWhat a joy it was to them that they had provided the very best they had\nfor people who they thought were mere strangers. See what our memory text\nsays. (Hebrews 13:2.) Here is a command from that same chapter (verse\n16). To \u201ccommunicate\u201d means to share the good things that you have with\nothers.\n\nAt the Christmas time when the birthday of Jesus is near, I am sure we\nall wish that we could share the good things that we have with him. Have\nyou ever thought what you would have done if you had been in Bethlehem\nthe night Jesus was born? This is what some one has said:\n\n If I had been a sleeping guest\n Lodged at the inn that Christmas night,\n When the wee Lord was laid to rest\n In the cold stall in humble plight,\n I know I would have waked, instead,\n And given him my warm, soft bed.\n\nHow glad any of us would be to do that. Is there anything we can do? This\nis what the rest of the poem says:\n\n But I was not a lodger there\u2014\n It was so long ago, indeed.\n Yet all around me, everywhere,\n Are little children still in need,\n And when I love and cherish them\n I serve the Babe of Bethlehem.\n\n \u2014_Nancy Byrd Turner._\n\nUsed by permission of the Congregational Sunday School and Publishing\nSociety.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 12\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nTake your Bibles and see how many verses you can find among your memory\ntexts which tell us something that Abraham did, or some command that\nmakes us think of something he did because he obeyed it so well. (Hebrews\n11:8a, c; Luke 6:31; Proverbs 17:17; Hebrews 13:2.) Would you say that\nAbraham was loving? Might we think of Abraham then, when we read 1\nCorinthians 13:4a? What is that whole chapter called in which it is said:\n\u201cAnd Abram when he was called obeyed, and he went out not knowing whither\nhe went\u201d? In what book is the Faith Chapter? What is the number of the\nchapter? In what book is the Love Chapter found? What chapter? How did it\nhappen that Abraham had angels for his guests one day? What command is\nthere for us in the Bible about entertaining strangers and what reason is\ngiven? What verse do you think of when you hear the name of Noah? What\none are you reminded of when you think of Adam in the Garden of Eden?\nWhat verse gives a meaning to the rainbow? What does a friend always do?\nIn what book is that verse found? What kind of a book is it? What is the\ncolor for the books of poetry?\n\nIf you were to turn to Luke 2:8-20 what story would you find? What is\nthat group of books called? How many Gospels are there? Let us say those\nfour names, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Let us find the first one of\nthe Gospels which is also the first book in the New Testament. What is\nthe name of that book? Find chapter 25 and verse 40. Let us mark that\nverse, for it is one we ought always to remember, and it will be a\npleasure to us to be reminded of it as we turn the pages of our Bibles.\nShall we read it together?\n\nWhat is our text for this year? (Luke 11:28.) Listen while I read\nsomething which God said to Abraham (Genesis 12:2, last sentence of 3).\nWhat a wonderful promise that was! To-day we will find out how that\npromise came true.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 12.\u2014CHRISTMAS LESSON\n\nThe Song of Mary\n\n\n=Teaching Material.=\u2014Luke 1:21, 22, 26-55.\n\n=Pupil\u2019s Reading.=-Luke 1:26-28, 46-55.\n\n=Memory Text.=\u2014And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my\nspirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:46, 47.\n\n\nLIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES\n\nIsaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:1-25.\n\n\nFROM THE COMMENTATORS\n\nThis chapter is remarkable for preserving a record of two inspired\nhymns\u2014the Magnificat and the Benedictus\u2014which have been used for more\nthan a thousand years in the public services of Christendom. The\nMagnificat first appears in the office of Lauds in the rule of Saint\nC\u00e6sarius of Arles, A. D. 507. (Blunt, Annotated Prayer Book, p. 33.) It\nis so full of Hebraisms as almost to form a mosaic of quotations from\nthe Old Testament, and it is closely analogous to the Song of Hannah\n(1 Samuel 2:1-10). It may also be compared with the Hymn of Judith\n(Judith 16:1-17). But it is animated by a new and more exalted spirit,\nand is specially precious as forming a link of continuity between the\neucharistic poetry of the old and new dispensation.\u2014_Cambridge Bible_,\nEdited by _F. W. Farrar, D.D._\n\n\nAIM\n\n=To show that the coming of Jesus was the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise to\nAbraham; to arouse and deepen faith in God and gratitude for his greatest\nGift.=\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nRead all of the first chapter of Luke and all of the references from\nthe chapter to other parts of the Bible. Picture to yourself the dark\nand weary centuries of waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. If\npossible, read some such book as Deborah, by Dr. James M. Ludlow, which\ngives a vivid picture of the times of the Maccabees. The books of the\nMaccabees in the Apocrypha and the article on Maccabees in any good\nBible dictionary will also be helpful in showing something of what the\nGod-fearing Jews had been suffering in the two hundred years preceding\nthe birth of Christ.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nI have a story of a song to tell you to-day. It was a song of praise\nand gladness, but the joy that was in it was so great that there are no\nwords that could possibly tell it all. It was sung at first by just one\nvoice, but in the hundreds of years since it has been sung and spoken by\nthousands upon thousands who have been made glad by the joy that rings\nthrough it. It is sung in churches by choirs and people, and the words of\nthe song are read over and over again, especially at the Christmas time,\nin every place where people have heard the Gospel message. Shall I tell\nyou how this song came to be sung the first time?\n\nGod had given this great promise to Abraham, \u201cIn thee shall all the\nnations of the earth be blessed,\u201d and as the years and years went by\nthe people who called Abraham their father became very many, and as the\nfathers and mothers sat in the doors of their tents while the stars\nwere coming out they would say to their children, \u201cDo you see how many\nstars there are? God once told Abraham, our father, that his children\u2019s\nchildren should be as many as the stars, and that promise has come true.\nBut there was another and more wonderful promise than that, for God said,\n\u2018In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,\u2019 and that promise\nwill come true some day.\u201d The children never forgot about that promise,\nand they told it to their children, giving it as one would some precious\njewel, and they would always say, \u201cThe promise has not come true yet, but\nit will.\u201d\n\nSo the long years went by. Many of the people forgot God, and sorrow upon\nsorrow came, and still there was no sign of the blessing that had been\npromised. God sent to his people many prophets who spoke words of cheer,\nand told of a Saviour who would come, but all the people knew was that\nsome day he would come, and they cried eagerly to the Lord saying, \u201cHow\nlong, O Lord, how long shall it be?\u201d The hearts of the people grew sick\nwith waiting as they asked each other, \u201cWhen will the promise come true?\nWhen will the Saviour come?\u201d But no one could answer, for none knew.\n\nOne day, in Jerusalem, those who truly loved the Lord came out of the\ntemple with joy shining in their faces. \u201cSomething has happened!\u201d they\nsaid to their friends, \u201cWe do not know just what it is, but Zacharias\nthe priest has seen a vision. He was in the temple burning incense, and\nwhen he came out to us he could not speak, but he made us know that God\nhad sent him some wonderful message.\u201d So the people began to hope that\nthis might mean the coming of the Saviour. But half a year went by and\nthere was still no sign of the coming of the promised One. Every priest\nwho went into the temple to offer incense must have hoped that some\nmessage would come to him, but no vision of an angel was seen there again.\n\n\nThe Lesson Story\n\nUp in the north in a city called Nazareth there lived a young woman, so\nkind and good and true that even the birds and flowers seemed to love\nher. As God looked at her and read the very thoughts and desires of her\nheart, he knew that he could trust her with the care of the greatest\nGift he had ever sent to the earth, the One in whom the promise made to\nAbraham should come true. So it happened one day that as Mary stood among\nher flowers a messenger came and spoke to her saying, \u201cHail, thou that\nart highly favored, the Lord is with thee.\u201d Mary was troubled when she\nheard his words, for she did not know what they meant. But with joy she\nheard: \u201cFear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God, and to thee\nshall be sent a Son in whom the promise made to Abraham shall come true,\nfor he shall bring blessing to all the people of the world. He will come\nas a little baby, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save\nhis people from their sins. He shall be great, and shall be called the\nSon of the Most High, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.\u201d\n\nWhen Mary heard this she could hardly believe that it was not all a\ndream. To think that she should be chosen as the one through whom God\u2019s\ngreatest promise should come true! All the people thought that the\nSaviour would come as a great king, but Mary knew now that he was coming\nto her arms as a little child, and there was great joy in her heart when\nthe angel left her and went back to the heavenly places. Very soon she\nwent to see her cousin Elisabeth, that she might tell her of the great\nhappiness that had come into her life, but Elisabeth already knew it, for\nGod had told her, and together they rejoiced that the great promise was\nso soon to come true. Elisabeth told her gladness in a few words, but\nMary\u2019s heart was so full that her praises flowed out in song (read verses\n46-48, 54, 55).\n\nSo you see it was the promise to Abraham coming true; and you know how\none night at Bethlehem, while shepherds were watching their flocks on\nthe hillside, a Baby was born in the stable of an inn and was laid in a\nmanger for a cradle. That was the gladdest day of all the days that ever\nhave been or ever will be in this world, for it was the day when Jesus\nwas born in Bethlehem of Jud\u00e6a. No wonder the angels sang, \u201cGlory to God\nin the highest.\u201d No wonder we always wish to sing songs of joy at the\nglad Christmas tide.\n\nLet us say together the words of praise that Mary said: \u201cMy soul doth\nmagnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.\u201d And let\nus praise God as the angels praised him the night when Jesus was born:\n\u201cGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men in whom he is\nwell pleased.\u201d Is there any other way in which we can show our love and\ngratitude? (Speak of what your Sunday school is doing for the poor, and\nof the part which the Juniors have had in the gifts. Quote Matthew 25:40,\nand call attention to pages 36 and 37 of the Pupil\u2019s Book for Work and\nStudy.)\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 13\n\nTHE CORRELATED LESSON\n\n\nAs the lesson for Christmas Sunday is not an integral part of the lessons\nto be reviewed to-day, it would be well to have a conversation with the\nchildren about the beautiful picture for the Christmas Lesson. Get them\nto express themselves freely concerning it. Ask to what they think Mary\nis listening, and in that way get from them the story of the angel\u2019s\nmessage. It is an interesting fact for teachers to know that while one of\nthe greatest charms of the picture as we have it is that it leaves the\nangel to the imagination and centers all thought and attention upon Mary,\nthis effect is secured by leaving out half of the original painting in\nthe reproduction. In the painting the garden is shown extending to the\nleft and rear, and the angel is standing under the trees at some distance\nfrom Mary. It is evidently the consensus of opinion that the presence\nof the angel weakens the picture artistically, as it certainly does in\nteaching power, for most of the reproductions leave out that feature of\nthe original. After the picture has been fully discussed and the story\ngiven by the children, have the memory text recited and ask how many read\nthe Christmas story from the Bible. Give to each child a white strip to\nmark the place of the Christmas Story and another for the Song of Mary.\nSee how many know the reference for the Christmas Story and drill upon it.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON 13\n\nReview\n\n\n=Teacher\u2019s Theme.=\u2014Walking with God. Genesis 6:9; Proverbs 3:5, 6. See\nalso Genesis 5:21-24; Isaiah 30:21; Amos 3:3; Hebrews 11:5; 1 John 1:6,\n7; 2:6; Revelation 3:4, 5.\n\n\nLESSON PREPARATION\n\nRead over at one sitting, if possible, Genesis chapters 6-18, with the\ntheme of this lesson uppermost in the mind. The story of Enoch has been\nused for the pupil\u2019s book because it fits in so well with this theme, and\nbecause it is a name and a story that all children should know. It need\nnot be introduced into this review, of course, but the reference is given\nas part of the study because Enoch is such a notable example of those who\nwalked with God.\n\n\nLESSON PRESENTATION\n\n(Draw on a large sheet of paper a road with another branching off from\nit. Begin your lesson by telling of two persons starting out to walk\ntogether.) When they come to the parting of the roads one says, \u201cI am\ngoing this way.\u201d The other says, \u201cI cannot go that way, for this is the\nonly road that leads to the place to which I wish to go.\u201d What must they\ndo if they are to keep on walking together? Two cannot walk together\nunless they agree and are willing to go the same road. If one of the two\nmust take this road and the other can take whichever he chooses, it is\nquite certain that the one who can choose will go with his friend if he\nreally loves him and wishes to be with him.\n\nDo you remember what the Bible says about Noah? Noah walked with\u2014whom?\nLet us see what that means. What is the road that God walks? It is\nthe way that leads to heaven. It is the way of love, goodness, joy,\nkindliness, obedience, trust, patience. Noah walked that way, but the\nother people were filled with violence and their thoughts were evil.\nThere are no such things as violence and evil in the way that God walks,\nso people who love those things are not walking with God. What do you\nthink of Abraham\u2014did he walk with God? Why do you think so? (Get from the\nchildren the story of his obedience to God\u2019s call and the memory text\nfor that lesson; his giving Lot the first choice and the Golden Rule;\nhis unselfish risking of his life to rescue Lot, showing that he was\na true friend and brother, and his kindness in entertaining those who\nhe thought were strangers. Call for the memory texts for both of these\nlessons by subjects and read or recite to the children Hebrews 13:16.)\nHow splendidly Abraham did these things! What name did he earn by his\nobedience and love?\n\nWhat story have we had about a woman who walked with God? Does any one\nwalk with God in these days? Can boys and girls as well as men and women\nwalk with God? Certainly, anyone who loves the Lord may walk with him,\nand he loves us so much that it grieves him when we choose to go the\nother way. In his Word we are told, \u201cIn all thy ways acknowledge him, and\nhe will direct thy paths.\u201d Have you ever heard what seemed almost like a\nvoice inside of you saying, \u201cThat is wrong, do not do it\u201d? That is the\nvoice of God speaking to you, for he has said, \u201cThine ears shall hear a\nword behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to\nthe right hand, and when ye turn to the left.\u201d So that the voice that you\nhear, which we call conscience, is God\u2019s voice trying to keep you from\nturning away from him and walking in evil ways. What does our text for\nthis year say? (Luke 11:28.) Is it easy to keep the word of God, to walk\nhis way? No, it is not easy but he has promised to help us and he will do\nso always if we ask him. Do you talk to your heavenly Father every day?\n\n(Ask how many use the prayer, \u201cNow I lay me down to sleep,\u201d and how many\noffer some other prayer, not committed to memory, but their own? Ask\nhow many pray in the morning, and show them how much they need care and\nguidance through the day, and ask them each morning to use this prayer:\n\u201cO, Lord, help me to walk with thee to-day in loving obedience.\u201d When\nchildren have reached the age of nine they should be led to see that\nthe mere recitation of a memorized verse is not talking with God. Many\nparents teach the child some simple prayer when he is about four years\nold, and give no further help nor instruction on the subject of prayer\nfrom that time on; and for this reason a heavy responsibility rests\nupon the Sunday school teacher. It is essential that the child shall\nunderstand that talking with God is as real as talking with anyone whom\nhe can see; that God hears and answers always, but does not always answer\nyes; that we need always to pray for help to do right and for forgiveness\nwhen we do wrong; that we should talk with our loving heavenly Father\nabout everything that interests us. This note is put here because it is\nimportant that teaching on prayer and suggestions concerning it should\nbe put in all through this course at any time when it comes in naturally\nwith the lesson.)\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] George Albert Coe, Ph.D., Education in Religion and Morals.\n\n[2] Telling Bible Stories, Louise Seymour Houghton.\n\n[3] See explanation, pages 24 and 25.\n\n[4] The Christian View of the Old Testament.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIXES\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX A\n\nMEMORY WORK FOR THE QUARTER\n\n\nREQUIRED\n\n\nMEMORY TEXTS\n\nJunior Motto.\u2014Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only. James 1:22a.\n\nVerse for the Year.\u2014Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep\nit. Luke 11:28.\n\nLesson 1.\u2014In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis\n1:1.\n\nLesson 2.\u2014And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of\nEden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15.\n\nLesson 3.\u2014Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see\nhim? saith Jehovah. Jeremiah 23:24a.\n\nLesson 4.\u2014Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not. 1\nCorinthians 13:4a.\n\nLesson 6.\u2014Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did\nhe. Genesis 6:22.\n\nLesson 7.\u2014I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a\ncovenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13.\n\nLesson 8.\u2014By faith Abram, when he was called, obeyed; and he went out,\nnot knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8a, c.\n\nLesson 9.\u2014As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them\nlikewise. Luke 6:31.\n\nLesson 10.\u2014A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for\nadversity. Proverbs 17:17.\n\nLesson 11.\u2014Forget not to show love unto strangers; for thereby some have\nentertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2.\n\nLesson 12.\u2014And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit\nhath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:46, 47.\n\n\n_Correlated Lessons_\n\nThe Bible\u2014two parts, Old Testament and New Testament; 66 books in all.\n\n Old Testament\u201439 books.\n New Testament\u201427 books.\n\nMeaning of the word Genesis\u2014Beginning.\n\nName of the division in which Genesis is found\u2014Books of law.\n\nReferences for:\n\n The Love Chapter.\n The Faith Chapter.\n The Christmas Story.\n\nName of the first division in the New Testament\u2014Gospels.\n\n\nHYMN\n\nOPTIONAL\n\n Once in royal David\u2019s city\n Stood a lowly cattle shed,\n Where a mother laid her Baby\n In a manger for his bed.\n Mary was that mother mild,\n Jesus Christ her little Child.\n\n And, thro\u2019 all his wondrous childhood,\n He would honor, and obey,\n Love, and watch the lowly maiden\n In whose gentle arms he lay.\n Christian children all must be\n Mild, obedient, good as he.\n\n And our eyes at last shall see him,\n Thro\u2019 his own redeeming love;\n For that Child so dear and gentle\n Is our Lord in heaven above,\n And he leads his children on\n To the place where he is gone.\n\n\nPRAYER\n\nO Lord, help me to walk with thee to-day in loving obedience. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX B\n\nBOOK LIST\n\n\nTHE EXPOSITOR\u2019S BIBLE. Rev. W. R. Nicoll, editor.\n\nTHE NEW CENTURY BIBLE. W. H. Bennett, editor.\n\n These are both commentaries, though the first, as the name\n implies, gives an exposition of the truth rather than an\n explanation of the text. The New Century is a small volume. The\n Expositor\u2019s Bible is larger. For these lessons one would need the\n volume on Genesis.\n\nTHE ONE VOLUME COMMENTARY. Rev. J. R. Dummelow, editor.\n\n This is a most remarkable one-volume commentary containing 1,092\n pages, and any teacher who cannot gain access to one having a\n volume for each book should by all means get this one if possible.\n\nOLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. Cunningham Geikie.\n\n These are well written character studies and will be a help in\n getting in mind a rounded picture of the various characters.\n\nA DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. One Volume. James Hastings, editor.\n\n A Dictionary of the Bible is well nigh indispensable for a Sunday\n school teacher, and this is as complete as one could be made\n within the limits of a single volume.\n\nHISTORY FOR GRADED AND DISTRICT SCHOOLS. Ellwood W. Kemp.\n\n Besides the chapter referred to in Lesson 8 the one on \u201cHow the\n World Came to have Books\u201d and many other stories would be helpful\n to a Sunday school teacher.\n\nPSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION. Herman H. Horne.\n\n The section on Religious Education, pages 333 to 527, is worth\n the price of the book.\n\nTALKS ON PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE\u2019S IDEALS. William James.\n\n The chapters on Laws of Habit, Association of Ideas, Interest,\n Attention, Memory and the Will are specially valuable.\n\nSTORIES AND STORY TELLING. Edward P. St. John.\n\n The best Sunday school teachers in the Junior and younger grades\n are those who know how to tell stories well. This little book\n will be a great help if carefully studied, and its precepts\n practiced.\n\nTHE UNFOLDING LIFE. Antoinette A. Lamoreaux.\n\n It is impossible to teach effectively unless one knows his\n pupils. This book will be an aid to the teacher not only as it\n outlines the characteristics of the period, but as it presents\n the attitude which every teacher should have toward his work.\n\nA CHART OF CHILDHOOD. E. P. St. John.\n\n In this chart the main characteristics of the different periods\n are concisely stated and carefully grouped.\n\nTHE PUPIL AND THE TEACHER. Luther A. Weigle.\n\n This book should be owned and read by every Sunday school\n teacher. It is not a large volume, but there is a great deal of\n information in it. The teacher who studies it cannot fail to\n understand his pupils better and teach them more effectively than\n he otherwise would.\n\nTELLING BIBLE STORIES. Louise Seymour Houghton.\n\n This book is written primarily for mothers, but is of equal value\n to teachers. It is written \u201cin the light of to-day\u2019s science\n and exegesis,\u201d and shows how the children may be helped to get\n the great truths of the Old Testament Stories without learning\n anything which must later be unlearned.\n\n\nBOOKS FOR JUNIORS TO READ\n\n Sunday-school teachers are often asked by parents to suggest\n gift books for the children at Christmas time. The following are\n all books that Juniors will find pleasure in reading, and will\n delight to own:\n\nTHE OTHER WISE MAN. Henry van Dyke.\n\nTHE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE. Henry van Dyke.\n\nTHIS WAY TO CHRISTMAS. Ruth Sawyer.\n\nJOEL, A BOY OF GALILEE. A. F. Johnson.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX C\n\nLIST OF STEREOGRAPHS\n\n\nLESSONS 1 TO 7. No Stereographs.\n\n\nLESSON 8\n\n\u201cFOUR THOUSAND YEARS UNCHANGED; PATRIARCHAL LIFE IN PALESTINE TO-DAY\u201d\n\nThis big, grassy plain is in a part of Galilee which Abraham and his\nemigrant party probably crossed when they were moving into Palestine.\nThese people whom we see now are Bedouins. They live in almost the same\nway as Abraham\u2019s family, moving from one place to another, wherever they\ncan find plenty of pasturage for their animals. The Bible tells (Genesis\n12:16) how Abraham owned camels like these. Abraham\u2019s wife, Sarah, used\nto spin coarse yarn out of the wool of her sheep and the hair of her\ngoats, and then weave the yarn into cloth for clothing and tents. These\ntents before us were made in that way by Bedouin women. In the nearest\ntent we can plainly see a piece of striped cloth hung up so as to divide\nthe tent into two rooms. Abraham\u2019s camp home was like that, and one of\nthe two rooms was specially for Sarah. The clothes of these Bedouins are\nmuch like the ones that Abraham and his men wore. Notice how each Bedouin\nhas, instead of a hat, a large piece of cloth to protect the top of his\nhead and the back of his neck from the hot sun.\n\n\nLESSON 9\n\n\u201cHEBRON, THE HOME OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB\u201d\n\nThis town whose little stone houses are crowded so close together is the\nplace which the Bible calls Hebron. It was an old town even when Abraham\nfirst came here. Abraham settled down near the village, and his cattle,\nsheep, and goats were pastured on hills like those we see beyond the\ntown. We can read in our Bibles all about how Abraham bought a certain\npart of this very land that we see now, and how he paid for it in silver\n(Genesis 23:3-20). Look in the part of Hebron which is farthest toward\nyour right hand, and you will see a tall stone tower. The field that\nAbraham bought of Ephron is around where that tower now stands. Part of\nit has been built upon since Abraham\u2019s time. The trees between us and the\ntown are olive trees.\n\n\nLESSON 10\n\n\u201cTHE JORDAN\u2019S MAIN SOURCE, AT DAN\u201d\n\nThis is up among the hills in the northern part of Palestine. A high\nand beautiful mountain stands close by, though we cannot see it in the\npicture; those trees are in the way. Over beyond the trees there is a\ngreat spring, where clear, cold water comes pouring out of an opening in\nthe earth at the foot of the mountain. These bubbling, splashing waters\nare hurrying away from the spring to make room for more that rush out to\ntake their place. When Abraham and his men chased the robber chiefs to\nrescue Lot and save Lot\u2019s property, they came away up here. They found\nthe camp of the robbers on a hill beside this stream, and attacked the\nenemies in the night. Here they set Lot free, and here they recovered\nthe stolen goods\u2014probably things like silver and jewels, woven cloth and\nleather bags full of olive oil. All such things were very valuable. Here\nthey packed the property in bundles, ready to be carried home again on\nthe backs of camels and donkeys.\n\n\nLESSON 11\n\n\u201cANCIENT TREE, TRADITIONALLY KNOWN AS ABRAHAM\u2019S OAK, NEAR HEBRON\u201d\n\nThis is a very old tree. It is a kind of oak different from those that\ngrow in America. There used to be groves of such trees in Palestine long\nago, but now they are very rare. It was near a big tree of this sort that\nAbraham pitched his tent when he first settled down to live near Hebron.\nThe Bible story (Genesis 18:1-8) tells how three visitors once came to\nsee him, and how he asked them to rest \u201cunder the tree\u201d while Sarah\ngot dinner ready. And the Bible tells also (Genesis 15:5) how God one\nnight called Abraham to look up into the sky and see the countless stars\nsparkling and twinkling there. It may have been near this very tree that\nAbraham looked up that night.\n\n\nLESSON 12\n\n\u201cCHURCH OF THE NATIVITY AT BETHLEHEM, BUILT WHERE JESUS WAS BORN\u201d\n\nThis open space where the men are standing and talking is Bethlehem\u2019s\nmarket square. For hundreds and hundreds of years men who have had barley\nor wheat, sheep or donkeys or cloth or firewood to sell have brought them\nhere to find customers. It was so at the time when Joseph and Mary came\nto Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. That big stone building at the farther end\nof the square (it is really a church, though it does not look much like\nour churches) had not then been built. The ground where it stands was\nthen a \u201ckhan\u201d or camping-place, with a wall around it, where strangers\ncould rest over night and feed their tired camels. When Joseph and Mary\nreached this khan (which our Bibles call an \u201cinn\u201d) it was so full of\ntravelers that they could not find a good, comfortable place, but had to\nstay in a part of it which was meant only for animals. The place where\nthe Child Jesus was first laid to sleep is now under that stone church.\nPeople from all parts of the world make journeys to Bethlehem, on purpose\nto pray here where our Lord was born.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX D\n\nAIDS FOR SUPERINTENDENT AND TEACHER\n\n\nJunior Worker and Work\n\nThis book is of value to both superintendents and teachers. In it\nthere are seven chapters that deal with various phases in the life of\nthe junior child, at home, at school, at play, in the Sunday school\nand church. There are nine chapters that are concerned more or less\ndirectly with the teacher\u2019s work in the school and between Sundays,\nsuch as: A Graded Course of Study, Correlated Lessons, Methods of\nTeaching, Story Telling, the Value of Handwork and Connecting Truth with\nLife. The superintendent will find help for problems of management,\ngrading, organization, equipment, the department service of worship, the\ncelebration of special days and in guiding the play life of the pupils.\n\n\nRainbow Bookmark\n\nOne of the first and most difficult of the tasks that a junior must\nperform is learning the names of the books of the Bible and its\ndivisions. The bookmark, which has a ribbon for each division, is a help\nto the child, and it is of special value to the superintendent in varying\nthe department drills and making them attractive.\n\n\nJunior Badge\n\nThe open book, which is the form of the badge, suggests the Bible,\nand the words \u201cHear\u201d and \u201cDo\u201d bring to mind the junior motto, \u201cBe ye\ndoers of the Word and not hearers only.\u201d The badge is silver enameled\nin the junior colors, blue and white. It is mentioned as an aid to\nsuperintendent and teacher because it has proved to be so great a help to\nthe child in his character building. It appeals to his love of insignia;\nit enables him to show his colors without phariseeism, and is a silent\nmonitor of great value in times of temptation.\n\n\nRecord of Credits\n\nThe average junior child must be stimulated by incentives if he is to\nform and fix in his life those habits which lie at the foundation of\nChristian character. Commendation for work well done is the highest type\nof reward, and to this reward every child who does good work is entitled.\nIn order to be perfectly certain that credit is given where credit is\ndue, an accurate record is necessary, and with this loose leaf record\nplan it is easy to keep accurately the credits of each pupil as well as\nof the class as a whole. Each leaf furnishes space for the pupil\u2019s record\nfor a year. Every class should have one leaf for each member and one for\nthe record of the credits earned by the class. The leaves are so dated\nthat the year\u2019s work begins the first of October.\n\n\nHonor Roll\n\nIn order that the boys and girls who are entitled to honor shall receive\npublic recognition, a wall roll upon which the names may be posted\nevery month is most desirable. It is possible to write the names on\na blackboard or on a sheet of bristol board and so bring them into\nnotice, but it is much better to add to the beauty of the room and at\nthe same time make the honor seem more worthwhile by having the names\ninscribed in a framed Honor Roll, with the name and design attractively\nlettered and colored. In the best of these rolls the mat carries the\nname and decoration and this is fastened to the frame while the back is\ndetachable, and there are many extra sheets provided so that a new one\nmay be inserted whenever it is necessary to change the roll.\n\n\nPromotion Certificates\n\nThe last day in September is always a promotion day for each pupil in\nevery thoroughly graded school. In some cases the promotion is from one\ngrade to another within a department, but it is quite as important that\nthe fact of such progression should be noted as it is to give a diploma\nto the child who completes the junior course. A different card has been\nprepared for each year, with place for noting whatever honors have been\nearned in addition to the required work.\n\n\nDiplomas\n\nIt is difficult for adults to realize how much a diploma given by the\nSunday school is valued by the child who has earned it. The pupil who\nis honorably promoted from any one department of the school to the next\nshould be given a diploma duly inscribed, rolled and tied with the\njunior colors, and publicly presented by the pastor of the church or the\nsuperintendent of the Sunday school. It is quite essential, where honors\nare given for extra memory or handwork, that these should be noted on the\ndiploma. On some of the recent diplomas certain honors are designated\ngiving an opportunity to star those that have been won by each pupil.\n\n\nTemperance Pledge Wall Roll\n\nEvery Junior Department should have a wall roll upon which to place the\nnames of the children who sign the temperance pledge. A wall pledge\nreproducing the wording of the Declaration of Independence pledge can be\npurchased from the National Temperance Society and Publication House in\nNew York City. The Methodist Book Concern issues a pledge roll which has\nthe name in a colored design and the portraits of Frances Willard and\nJohn B. Gough at the sides.\n\n\nBirthday Cards\n\nThere are few ways in which the junior superintendent and teacher can\ncreate so close a personal tie with the pupils as by noticing birthdays\neither by letters or birthday cards. Beautiful birthday cards have been\nprepared for the four junior years. In the first year there is but one\ncard intended for both boys and girls. These cards were designed and\ndrawn by well-known artists, and are printed in attractive colors. The\nsentiments are such as will appeal to the junior children.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX E\n\nCOURSE IV\n\n(Approximate age of pupils: Nine years)\n\n\nGENERAL AIM\n\nTo help the child to become a doer of the Word, and to lead him into\nconscious loyalty to Jesus Christ.\n\n\nSTORIES FROM THE OLDEN TIME\n\nAIM\n\nTo awaken an interest in the Bible and love for it; to deepen the impulse\nto choose and to do right.\n\n\nI. STORIES OF THE BEGINNINGS\n\n1. In the Beginning.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 1:1 to 2:3.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 1:1-5.\n Memory Text: Genesis 1:1.\n\n2. The Garden of Eden.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 2:4-25.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 2:9, 15-25.\n Memory Text: Genesis 2:15.\n\n3. Hiding from God.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 3:1-24.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 3:1-15.\n Memory Text: Jeremiah 23:24a.\n\n4. Cain and Abel.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 4:3-15.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 4:3-15.\n Memory Text: 1 Corinthians 13:4a.\n\n5. Review.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis, chapters 1 to 4.\n Pupil\u2019s Work: Answering questions and reading Genesis 4:20-22.\n\n6. The Building of the Ark.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 6:5 to 7:5.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 6:5, 9, 14-22.\n Memory Text: Genesis 6:22.\n\n7. The Flood and the Rainbow.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 7:6 to 8:22; 9:12-17.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 7:6; 8:6-20; 9:12-17.\n Memory Text: Genesis 9:13.\n\n\nII. STORIES OF THREE PATRIARCHS\n\n8. The Call of Abram.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 11:27 to 12:9; James 2:23.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 11:31 to 12:9; James 2:23.\n Memory Texts: Hebrews 11:8a, c.\n\n9. Giving Lot the First Choice.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 13:1-18.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 13:1-13, 18.\n Memory Text: Luke 6:31.\n\n10. Abram\u2019s Rescue of Lot.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 14:1-24.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 14:8-24.\n Memory Text: Proverbs 17:17.\n\n11. Abraham Entertaining Angels.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 15:1-6; 17:1-8; 18:1-33; Hebrews 13:16.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 17:1-5, 15, 16; 18:1-8; Hebrews 13:16.\n Memory Text: Hebrews 13:2.\n\n12. The Song of Mary (Christmas Lesson).\n\n Teaching Material: Luke 1:21, 22, 26-55.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Luke 1:26-28, 46-55.\n Memory Texts: Luke 1:46, 47.\n\n13. Review.\n\n Teacher\u2019s Theme: Walking with God. Genesis 6:9; Proverbs 3:5, 6. See\n also Genesis 5:21-24; Isaiah 30:21; Amos 3:3a; Hebrews 11:5; 1 John\n 1:6, 7; 2:6; Revelation 3:4, 5.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 5:21-24.\n\n14. Ishmael in the Wilderness.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 16:1-15; 17:15-21; 21:1-20; 25:8-10.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 21:8-20.\n Memory Text: Genesis 21:20.\n\n15. Rebekah at the Well.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 24:1-67.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 24:1-27.\n Memory Texts: Proverbs 3:3a, 4.\n\n16. Isaac the Peacemaker.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 26:12-33.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 26:12-15, 18-22.\n Memory Text: Matthew 5:9.\n\n17. How Esau Lost His Birthright.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-40.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 25:27-34; 27:1-17.\n Memory Text: 1 Corinthians 12:31a.\n\n18. Jacob\u2019s Vision of a Ladder to Heaven.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 27:41 to 28:22.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 27:43-45; 28:1, 2, 10-22.\n Memory Text: Genesis 28:15a.\n\n19. The Meeting of Jacob and Esau.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 32:1 to 33:20.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 32:3-21; 33:1-4.\n Memory Text: Proverbs 24:29a.\n\n20. Review.\n\n\nIII. STORIES OF JOSEPH\n\nMemory Work for the Period. Psalm 121\n\n21. Joseph Sold into Egypt.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis, chapters 35 and 37.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 37:12-36.\n Memory Texts: Psalm 121:1, 2.\n\n22. Joseph and the Butler and Baker.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 39:1 to 40:23.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 40:1-23.\n Memory Texts: Psalm 121:3, 4.\n\n23. From Prison to Palace.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 41:1-57.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 40:23; 41:1-16, 25-32, 41.\n Memory Texts: Psalm 121:5, 6.\n\n24. Joseph\u2019s Brothers Visit Egypt.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 42:1 to 45:8.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 42:6-16; 43:16-34; 44:3-17; 45:1-7.\n Memory Text: Psalm 121:7.\n\n25. The Family of Israel Move into Egypt.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 45:9 to 50:26; Revelation 3:21; John 14:2.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 45:9-13 (optional 16-20); 46:1-7, 28-34;\n 47:7-10; 50:15-21; Revelation 22:1-5.\n Memory Text: Psalm 121:8.\n\n26. Review.\n\n Teacher\u2019s Theme: Romans 8:28.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 39:2; 41:38-40; Isaiah 26:3, 4.\n Memory Text: Romans 8:28a.\n\n26. The Resurrection.\n\n Teaching Material: Matthew 28:1-10.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: John 20:11-18.\n Memory Text: 1 Corinthians 6:14.\n\n\nIV. STORIES OF MOSES AND HIS TIMES\n\n27. The Early Life of Moses.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 22:16-18; 26:3, 4; 28:13, 14; Exodus 1:1 to\n 2:15, 24.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 1:8-12, 22; 2:3-15, 24.\n Memory Text: Exodus 2:24.\n\n28. The Burning Bush at Horeb.\n\n Teaching Material: Exodus 2:16-25; 3:1-14; 4:10-23.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 2:16-25; 3:1-14.\n Memory Text: Exodus 4:12.\n\n29. Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh.\n\n Teaching Material: Exodus 4:27 to 6:1; 6:28 to 9:35.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 2:23; 6:28 to 7:25.\n Memory Text: Psalm 32:10.\n\n30. The Passover Night.\n\n Teaching Material: Exodus 10:1 to 12:36.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 12:21-36.\n Memory Text: Exodus 15:2a.\n\n31. The Crossing of the Red Sea.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 50:25, 26; Exodus 12:37-51; 13:17 to 15:21.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 50:25, 26; Exodus 13:19; 14:5-31.\n Memory Text: Exodus 20:2.\n\n32. Manna in the Wilderness.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 15:22 to 16:36.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 16:1-31.\n Memory Text: Exodus 15:11.\n\n33. The Giving of the Law.\n\n Teaching Material: Exodus 19:1-20; 20:1-21; 31:18 to 32:20; 34:1-9, 28.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 19:1-6, 16-20; 20:1-20 (optional Psalm 19).\n Memory Text: Psalm 19:7.\n\n34. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness.\n\n Teaching Material: Exodus 25:1-7; 33:7-11; 35:4-29; 36:2-7; 40:17-38.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 33:7-11; 40:17-38.\n Memory Text: Exodus 25:22a.\n\n35. The Report of the Spies.\n\n Teaching Material: Numbers 12:16 to 14:38.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Numbers 13:17-33; 14:1-10, 26-35.\n Memory Text: Numbers 13:30b.\n\n36. Troubles in the Wilderness.\n\n Teaching Material: Numbers 20:1 to 21:9; Psalm 107:4-6.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Numbers 20:2-13; 21:4-9 (optional 1 John 1:9; John\n 3:14-16).\n Memory Text: Psalm 107:6.\n\n37. Baalam and Balak.\n\n Teaching Material: Numbers 22:3-7, 11, 17, 18, 21-39; 24:1-9.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Numbers 22:3-18, 21-34; 24:5-7, 9.\n Memory Text: Numbers 22:18b.\n\n38. How God Honored Moses.\n\n Teaching Material: Numbers 27:15-20; Deuteronomy 32:48-52; 34:1-12;\n compare Luke 9:28-36; Revelation 15:1-4.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Numbers 27:15-20; Deuteronomy 32:48, 49; 34:1-12.\n Memory Text: 1 John 2:17b.\n\n39. Review.\n\n Teacher\u2019s Reading: Psalm 107.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Psalm 107:4-6, 14, 15.\n\n\nV. PARABLES OF JESUS\n\n40. The Parable of the Sower.\n\n Teaching Material: Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 8:1-15.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Luke 8:1-15.\n Memory Text: James 1:22a.\n\n41. The Good Samaritan.\n\n Teaching Material: Luke 10:25-37.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Luke 10:25-37 (optional Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus\n 19:18).\n Memory Text: Luke 10:27.\n\n42. The Prodigal Son.\n\n Teaching Material: Luke 15:11-24.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Luke 15:11-24.\n Memory Text: Luke 15:18.\n\n43. Earning the Right to Rule.\n\n Teaching Material: Luke 19:11-13, 15-26.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Luke 19:11-13, 15-26.\n Memory Text: Luke 16:10a.\n\n44. The Two Foundations.\n\n Teaching Material: Matthew 7:16-29; Luke 6:46-49.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Matthew 7:16-29; 1 Corinthians 3:11.\n Memory Texts: Matthew 7:24, 25 (optional verses 26, 27).\n\n45. The Wise and Foolish Virgins.\n\n Teaching Material: Matthew 25:1-13.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Matthew 25:1-13.\n Memory Text: Mark 13:37.\n\n46. A Parable in Action.\n\n Teaching Material: Luke 22:7-13, 24; John 13:1-17.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Luke 22:7-13, 24; John 13:1-17.\n Memory Text: John 13:15.\n\n47. The Last Judgment.\n\n Teaching Material: Matthew 25: 31-46.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Matthew 25:31-46.\n Memory Text: Matthew 25:40.\n\n48. Review.\n\n Teacher\u2019s Reading: Matthew 7:28, 29; Luke 4:22; John 7:46; 2 Timothy\n 4:7, 8.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Luke 4:22; 2 Timothy 4:7, 8 (Review Luke 10:25-37;\n Luke 15:11-24 or Matthew 25:31-46).\n\n\nVI. STORIES RETOLD\n\n49. Story of Abraham.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 12:1-9; 13:1-18; 14:8-24; 17:1-8; 18:1-8;\n Hebrews 13:16.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 12:1-9; 12:3-13; 17:1-5; 18:1-8; Hebrews 13:16.\n Memory Texts: Hebrews 11:8a, c; 13:2; Luke 6:31; Proverbs 17:17.\n\n50. Story of Joseph.\n\n Teaching Material: Genesis 37:12-36; chapters 39 to 50 in brief outline.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Genesis 37:12-36; 39:1-6, 20-23; 40:1-23; 41:1-14,\n 25-43.\n Memory Texts: Psalm 121:1-8; Romans 8:28a.\n\n51. Story of Moses.\n\n Teaching Material: Exodus 1:1 to 2:15, 24; 3:1-10; 5:1, 2; chapters 5\n to 14 in brief outline; chapters 19, 20; Deuteronomy 34:1-12.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 1:1 to 2:15, 24; 3:1-10; 11:1-10; 12:29-36;\n 14:1-25; 16:1-3, 11-15; Numbers 20:2-13; 21:4-9.\n Memory Texts: Exodus 2:24; 4:12; 15:2a; 25:22a; 1 John 2:17b.\n\n52. Story of Joshua.\n\n Teaching Material: Exodus 17:8-13; 24:12-18; 32:15-20; Numbers 13:1 to\n 14:10; 27:15-23.\n Pupil\u2019s Reading: Exodus 17:8-13; Numbers 13:17 to 14:10; 27:15-23.\n Memory Text: Numbers 13:30b.","title":"Stories from the olden time: Teacher's text book, course IV, part I","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":36819}