Sunday Youth Recap: The Bible in 2 Years for Teenagers – Blog #2 The History Books

Next are the 12 historical books, Joshua through Esther, which reveal God’s purpose to rescue the world. These accounts tell the tale of an extended courtship between a Sovereign God and his rebellious children.

Following the exodus and the birth of the nation of Israel, we read of the dynasty of David and the kingdom of his son, Solomon, the splitting of the nation in two as a result of civil war, with the Northern Kingdom eventually being destroyed by the Assyrians and the Southern Kingdom being taken captive by the Babylonians for 70 years; a major event in Israel’s history. All the while, God is working in the lives of his people as they repeatedly turn away from him and he calls them, in compassion and love, to return to him. These books point to the Messiah, our kinsman redeemer, whose appearance in the New Testament is the central event in all of history.

Joshua through 2 Chronicles are pre-exile books, while Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther are post-exile.

In the book of Joshua, we read how Joshua succeeded Moses, led faithfully and conquered Canaan. Then came the 300 years known as the period of the Judges. During this time, a brief 4-chapter book, called Ruth, was written, which illuminates the book of Revelation for us.

The Judges are followed by the records of the kingdom itself;

- in 1 Samuel, the birth of the kingdom;

- in 2 Samuel, the reign of King David;

- in 1 Kings, the kingdom divided after David dies, the death of Solomon and the civil war which divided the kingdom permanently;

- in 2 Kings, the history of the divided kingdom;

- in 1 Chronicles, the reign of King David;

- and in 2 Chronicles, the history of the Southern Kingdom.

The post-exile history books;

- Ezra, the return from the Babylonian captivity;

- Nehemiah, the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem;

- and Esther, the escape from extermination under the Persian Empire.

If you missed this series, which started on 7th March 2021, you can click on the links below to access a short overview of the lesson, a relevant worship song, a video, a memory verse and a daily application guide. In addition, questions are included for Connect Group discussions as well as conversation starters on the topic for parents to engage with their children and teenagers. Please feel free to use the material provided.

Lesson OT6 Joshua – God's Plan is Unpredictable

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Download PDF • 580KB

Lesson OT7 Judges – God’s Plan is Awesome

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Download PDF • 557KB

Lesson OT8 Ruth – God’s Plan is an Adventure

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Download PDF • 585KB

Lesson OT9 1 Samuel – God’s Way is Best

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Download PDF • 546KB

Lesson OT10 2 Samuel – Keep Accountable

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Download PDF • 561KB

Lesson OT11 1 Kings – Obey God’s Commands

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Download PDF • 629KB

Lesson OT12 2 Kings – Jesus Provides

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Download PDF • 745KB

Lesson OT13 1 Chronicles – Jesus has a Plan for You

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Download PDF • 566KB

Lesson OT14 2 Chronicles – Jesus’ Answers are Best

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Download PDF • 545KB

Lesson OT15 Ezra – Committing to Truth

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Lesson OT16 Nehemiah – Propelled by God’s Power

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Download PDF • 559KB

Lesson OT17 Esther – Say Something

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For any assistance, please contact myself (email: youth@proteavalleychurch.org) or any of the Protea Valley Church youth leaders. We love partnering with you in discipling your children to love and follow Jesus.

Linda Bischof

email: youth@proteavalleychurch.org

YouTube: Protea Valley Flavoured by Faith

Instagram: flavoured_by_faith

Sunday Youth Recap: The Bible in 2 Years for Teenagers - Part 1: The Pentateuch

God has a way of igniting a passion for Scripture in us. It’s a flame that cannot be lit by ourselves, yet we have a role to play in fervently and prayerfully digging into Scripture. As we do that, we stumble across the truths that lay open on the page yet hidden from our understanding until the Holy Spirit reveals them to us, one onion-layer at a time. We can spend a life-time studying the Bible and still never exhaust its message and meaning.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 [NIV]

In the same way that most adults find the Bible intimidating, teenagers often have a desire to get to know the God of the Bible, but they don’t know where to start.

Our goal over 2 years, 2021 - 2022, is to use the LIVE curriculum to guide teenagers into a deeper friendship with Jesus as we explore how the world, the Scriptures, and our faith began. We hope that by the end of the 2 years, they will find the Bible more approachable, they will have the tools to appreciate it and they will spend time in independent reading, reflection and application for the rest of their earthly lives, not because it’s a fascinating read, but because it will affect their eternal destinies.

Our approach is to step through the Bible, one book per week, introducing that book to teenagers. It would not be possible to cover a book it its entirety so, after providing an overview of the book, we touch on a specific passage from that book in a one-hour interactive discussion at Striders and Eagles on Sunday mornings.

Our first series as we step through the Bible is the Torah, also known by its Greek name, the Pentateuch, which includes the first five books of our modern-day Holy Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The timeline starts at creation and the fall of man, and spans thousands of years of history. Major events on the timeline include the flood of Genesis, (the name of the first book itself means “the beginnings”), then the call of Abraham, then the Exodus from slavery in Egypt and the birth of the nation, Israel. Leviticus details the laws of that nation. Numbers tracks the wanderings in the wilderness for forty years before the new nation was able to enter the land that God had set aside for them. Lastly, Deuteronomy is a review of the laws, and a book that Jesus quoted from often. The Torah was sacred to the Hebrews, is pivotal to everything that follows in the Bible and is essential reading even for us today.

If you missed this section which started on 31st January 2021, you can click on the links below to access a short overview of the lesson, a relevant worship song, a video, a memory verse and a daily application guide. In addition, questions are included for Connect Group discussions as well as conversation starters on the topic for parents to engage with their children and teenagers each week.

Lesson OT1 - Genesis - God Our Creator

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Download PDF • 198KB

Lesson OT2 - Exodus - God Our Deliverer

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Download PDF • 196KB

Lesson OT3 - Leviticus - God Our Redeemer

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Download PDF • 219KB

Lesson OT4 - Numbers - Choosing to Trust God

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Download PDF • 220KB

Lesson OT5 - Deuteronomy - Remembering God

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Download PDF • 212KB

Please feel free to use the material provided. For assistance, please contact myself or any of the Protea Valley Church youth leaders.

We pray for your families regularly and would love to partner with you in discipling your children to love and follow Jesus.

Linda Bischof

email: youth@proteavalleychurch.org

YouTube: Protea Valley Flavoured by Faith

Instagram: flavoured_by_faith