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What do you think of when you think of a desert or a wilderness?
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Give each family member a copy of The Story of God and Israel’s Family (Part 1) and read the following:
Part A: The Exodus from Egypt
We’ve been exploring how God and His human partners keep reliving the Story of God, Humanity, and Creation.
In the Story of God and Abraham’s Family, God shows Abraham a new Garden. He promises to live with Abraham’s family there and partner with them to bless the rest of the world. But at the end of the story, Abraham’s grandson’s family – the Family of Israel – is living in Egypt instead of the Garden. This family follows their own desires over and over again.
In the next part of the story, we discover that Israel’s family has been “fruitful and multiplied” in Egypt. However, they are also slaves. God rescues them from slavery in order to finally bring them to live with Him in the new Garden.
But first, they spend a lot of time in the wilderness. The wilderness is a place of transition. There isn’t enough food or water there for the Israelites to survive, so they have to learn to trust God.
To illustrate this storyboard, we’ll watch two different videos. The first video covers the first half of the book of Exodus. As you watch, pay attention to the parts of the story that follow the pattern of wild places, passing through water, and blessing. Notice that the next part of the story focuses on covenant.
Practice
- Jesus lived out the Bible’s story. One way we practice the way of Jesus is by learning to find ourselves in the Bible’s story as Jesus did.
- This week’s worksheet is a storyboard of the the Story of God and Israel’s Family when they lived in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. This storyboard doesn’t include everything in this story. In fact it doesn’t even include all of the parts of the story that repeat the Story of God, Humanity, and Creation. Rather, these patterns repeat over and over again during this period of time. We’ll explore this more next week.
- Guide your family in illustrating the first three boxes (see notes below).
- A list of important words appears on the right-hand side of the page. These words are important because they appear in many other Bible stories.
- If you are compiling a Bible Binder, this page goes in the Torah section.
Notes for each box:
Wild Places
- Egypt is a place full of disorder and violence. It shows us what it looks like when a human (Pharaoh) rules over earth while following our own desires instead of partnering with God. The Israelites are slaves to Pharaoh’s desires. He expects them to do whatever he wants.
- In Genesis 1, God created by speaking ten times. In Exodus, God sends 10 plagues that reverse His words of creation. (For example, in Genesis, God separated light from darkness. In one of the plagues, God fill the day with darkness.) Exodus really wants us to see how Egypt is the opposite of everything God has planned for His world. When God brings the Israelites out of Egypt, He rescues them from a wild place.
Through the Waters
- Just as God brought Noah through the waters, He brings the Israelites (and the Egyptians who came with them) through the waters. We should see this as an act of creation. God is creating a new people when He brings them through the Sea.
Blessing
- The Israelites were “fruitful and multiplied” in Egypt. God didn’t wait to bless them. After He rescued them from Egypt, He gave them gifts of food and water.
Part B: In the Wilderness
In the next part of Exodus, God makes a covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai. This part is so important that we’ll zoom in on it next week. This one frame covers an entire year. It’s one of the those places where the pattern starts repeating inside the bigger story. For now, note that God invited the Israelites to be His partners and they agreed.
After God invites people into a covenant, we know to look for a garden. Sure enough after their year at Mt. Sinai, God brings the Israelites to a new Garden. This is the land He promised to Abraham. The story picks back up in Numbers.
Remember that there isn’t enough food or water in the wilderness for the Israelites to survive without God’s help. So God teaches them over and over again that they can trust Him. This was a big issue when Adam and Eve made their choice in the Garden of Eden. One thing we are watching for in this story is if the Israelites will trust God or if they will choose their own desires like Adam and Eve did.
As we watch the video on Numbers, pay attention to the parts of the story that follow the pattern of garden, choice, reveal, promise, and life outside the garden.
Practice
- Guide your family in illustrating the remaining boxes (see notes below).
Notes for each box:
Covenant
- God invites the Israelites to be His covenant partner. When He tells them how to be His partner, they agree. God asked them to make a special tent for Him, and He moved into that tent. They spend the next year learning to live with God.
Garden
- After a year at Mt. Sinai, God leads them to the Garden He promised Abraham. Moses sends twelve spies into the Garden and tells them to report what they see.
- Milk, honey, and fruit are all words that describe a Garden that is full of life.
Choice
- Notice the words good and evil here and remember the choice at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God called this land good. Two of the spies see its goodness and trust God. Ten of the spies take what God says is good and they give an “evil report” about it.
Reveal
- The Israelites don’t trust God that the land is good. In fact, they reveal that they would rather go back to Egypt.
- During the rest of the book of Numbers every group of people (including Moses and Aaron!) are revealed as not trusting God.
Promise
- God wanted to bring the Israelites into the Garden so He could partner with them in blessing the whole earth. Did their refusal ruin God plan? No! God says that nothing will stop Him from filling the earth with His goodness.
Out of the Garden
- The Israelites spend the next forty years outside the new Garden and wandering in the wilderness. No one who was over the age of 20 when they left Egypt will enter the Promised Land (except Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who trusted God.)
Note: The boxes for each scene are well-suited for Instagram stories and reels. We’d love to see your students’ illustrations! If you’d like to share them, use the hashtag #onestorybible. You can find us on Instagram at @onestory.bible.A
Keep Exploring the Story
Choose the path that’s the best fit for your family:
This worksheet is part of our upcoming Giver of Rest homeschool curriculum. If you want to follow this path, we recommend you start with our free Teach Us To Pray homeschool curriculum. This 32-lesson course will take your family on a journey through the biblical story as you explore the rich meaning behind the Shema, the Jesus Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer.
This worksheet is included in OneStory’s family guides for BibleProject’s Understanding Biblical Narrative course. This six-part course builds on the foundation of the Intro the Bible course.
The Story of God and Noah’s family is the fourth story in our Story of the Week series. Each week, we’ll zoom into one section of the storyline and email resources to help you explore this story with your family. You can also follow along with our Story of the Week journey on facebook and Instagram. Sign up to the receive the Story of the Week below.
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