FAMILY GUIDE
Engage
Find a picture on your phone or computer. Zoom in on it and then ask everyone what they see. Now zoom out so they can see the full picture. Did they guess correctly?
Explore
Give each family member a copy of The Story of Exodus and read the following:
Last week, we explored how the Israelites relived the Story of God, Humanity, and Creation in the Wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. Except unlike Adam and Eve, they didn’t even make it into the Garden before they decided to define good and bad on their own instead of trusting God. Knowing the bigger picture of the Story of God and Israel’s Family helps us understand what we are looking at when we zoom into the story-within-the-story.
This week, we want to zoom in on Mt. Sinai. The Israelites spent a whole year with God at Mt. Sinai before He led them to the Promised Land, and a lot happened there.
In fact, they act out the entire Story of God, Humanity, and Creation in just a few short weeks. Yes, there’s a Garden in middle of this wilderness, and it’s an important one. In fact, it’s so important that it’s a traveling Garden.
To help us illustrate this storyboard, we’ll watch a video on the second part of the book of Exodus. As you watch, pay attention to what this traveling Garden is called. Also see if you can notice where the Israelites define what is good in their own eyes instead of trusting God. 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 Exodus. when they lived in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. This storyboard doesn’t include everything that took place at Mt. Sinai, but it helps us see the pattern of what took place there.
- You illustrated the first four boxes last week. Guide your family in illustrating the last five boxes (see notes below).
- If you are compiling a Bible Binder, this page goes in the Torah section.
Notes for each box:
Garden
- After the people of Israel agree to partner with Yahweh, Moses goes up Mt. Sinai to meet with Him, and the cloud of God’s glory covers this mountain like a fire. God’s presence makes Mt. Sinai a place where heaven meets earth – like the Garden of Eden.
- On the top of the mountain, Yahweh also gives Moses instructions on how to construct the tent that Yahweh will move into to live among the people. We call this tent the tabernacle. Every part of the tabernacle and everything inside of it is patterned after the Garden of Eden. Even before bringing the Israelites into the garden-like land, Yahweh has plans to “plant” the new Garden and live in the middle of their camp.
Choice
- While Moses is on the mountain, the Israelites get tired of waiting for him. They ask Aaron, who Yahweh has just appointed as high priest, to make a statue of Yahweh for them to worship. This was the first thing Yahweh had told them not to do if they wanted to be His covenant partners.
- Not only does Aaron agree to it, he makes a statue of a calf and says that it rescued them from Egypt.
Reveal
- Yahweh tells Moses to go down the mountain immediately because of what the people were doing.
- Moses sees that the people are acting in ways that even the nations who didn’t follow Yahweh would whisper about.
Promise
- Because of the Israelites’ choice, Yahweh tells Moses that He won’t go with them into the garden-land He promised Abraham. However, after a conversation with Moses, Yahweh says, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses replies that it is Yahweh’s presence that will make the Israelites different from all other people on earth.
- God’s presence and rest are two things that marked life in the Garden of Eden, and they are two things that will make life in the new land different from life everywhere else.
- “I will give you rest” is a phrase that Jesus later tells his students.
Out of the Garden
- When God comes to rest in the tabernacle, Moses isn’t able to come in. Remember that God presented the tabernacle as a new Garden of Eden. Why can’t Moses enter it? God is now living among the people of Israel, and Moses represents the people. God is reminding them that their rebellion is still keeping them out of the Garden. Something will have to happen that will allow them to enter. This is what the book of Leviticus is about.
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
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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