I am excited to bring you Part 2 of Drawing the Bible. If you missed Part 1 (Genesis through Deuteronomy), please check it out.
Materials: a white board, or something to draw on; the Awana lesson that goes with each picture {The links for each are with the explanation of the picture(s) they match.}
Drawing the Bible: Joshua Through Esther
After the Israelites wandered in the desert, they crossed the Jordan River on the right side of the land.
Joshua, with the help of the Lord, conquered the land by splitting it in half…
…then conquered the north…
…then conquered the south.
The twelve tribes divided up the land, even though not all of the people (Canaanites) had been defeated.
Joshua died leaving no earthly leader for the Israelites. God raised up judges to help the Israelites whenever they were oppressed and cried out to Him. The judges did not unify the tribes. They only led a few tribes at a time.
The people did what was right in their own eyes, which is why God allowed them to become oppressed over and over again. There was gross immorality and idolatry.
But there is always a remnant!! Ruth returned with Naomi to Bethlehem. And because of her faithfulness to Naomi and the Lord’s provision, Ruth married Boaz. She would become the great grandmother of a boy named David.
The final judge was Samuel; and through his efforts, all of the tribes are unified.
When Samuel was very old, the people come to him and ask for a king. God allowed for Saul to be the first king. King Saul ended up having no heart for the Lord.
Samuel is then led to anoint David as king. David was a man after God’s own heart and had a whole heart for God.
David’s son, Solomon, became king. Because of the idols and gods of his many wives, Solomon only had half a heart for the Lord.
At this point, God has brought about 2 parts of the promise He made to Abraham: Land! and a Great Nation!
When Rehoboam took over Solomon’s kingdom, the nation divided. The northern kingdom was called Israel. The southern kingdom was Judah. Israel had 19 kings and all of them did evil in the sight of the Lord. Judah had 20 kings. Of those kings, only 8 served the Lord.
Because of the sins of Israel, God allowed the Assyrians to attack and scatter the people across the nations. Judah stayed a kingdom a little while longer because of the loyalty of the faithful kings.
Israel was gone. Then Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians.
The Jews were dispersed throughout the known world.
The Persian Empire took over Babylon. King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Only a small group of Jews returned. Ezra rebuilt the temple and Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. Esther pleaded for the lives of Jews everywhere.
God became silent. The Greeks conquer the Persian Empire and demand all people to speak one language. The Romans eventually conquer the Greek Empire and build roads for travel. The Old Testament is over.
Is God at work? Absolutely!!
