I draw all the time in class. This is a relatively tidy board, so it makes a good example of how the drawing flows along with the lesson plan. Last night class started with some closing discussion of the Golden Calf, and finished with Samson collapsing the roof.
Here’s the board at the end of the 10/19 class; some stuff has been erased to make room for new stuff. It’s not a very big board, so sometimes a entire board’s content has to be erased to make space for another round of picture-drawing. I’m going to comment mostly about what’s in this picture, not the stuff that was erased.
1. The Golden Calf prodded final discussion of idol-worship, with blue squiggles showing the drunken Israelites misbehaving. The kids knew that nobody nowadays would worship a calf statue, and suggested other types of idols that people put ahead of God. Money was first, which led to other possessions, and ultimately to the idea of self-worship. This led to discussing how babies only think of themselves, and that life is a process of becoming more other-oriented and less self-oriented. During that conversation I drew a squalling baby (erased) to the upper left of the Calf, and the man on the upper right. That was to illustrate the growth of each person from baby to adult. I explained to the class that when I was 30 and single, I had made idols out of cars; being so self-oriented I was essentially a 30-year-old baby.
2. At this point we were discussing this handout from left to right:
Once we got into the Holy of Holies, I drew the Ark of the Covenant while reading parts of Exodus 25:
“They shall make an ark of acacia wood; two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold… 12 And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark by them. (I don’t tell the kids what the poles are for. I make them tell me)…16 And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. (The kids help decide what goes into the Ark, and as each item is named, I draw it in.) 17 Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.”
The squiggly red line indicates that God’s presence descends from Heaven to hover over the mercy seat. To give a rough sense of scale I draw a high priest in a special outfit.
1a. Now we discussed different types of Levitical sacrifice. To introduce the topic, I read and acted out Moses’ (pre-Levitical) sacrifice in Exodus 24:
“[Moses] rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8* And Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” We re-imagined the Golden Calf sketch as Moses’ sacrifice as I added in the blood and the basin.
3. Here we were discussing the story of Manoah and his wife, from Judges 13. This picture illustrates the moment that the sacrifice and the angel ascend to heaven, which will figure prominently in our Eucharistic Prayer class in the Spring:
“So Manoah took the kid with the cereal offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD, to him who works wonders. 20 And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.”
Through discussion, the kids figure out that Manoah isn’t making an atonement sacrifice for sins, but a thanksgiving sacrifice for his wife’s pregnancy. Next week we’ll review this a bit, connect it to thanksgiving sacrifices by Abel, Melchizedek, and Moses, and introduce the Greek word Eucharisteo.
4. God had told Manoah’s wife, “Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore beware, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for lo, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth.” The kids figured out what “no razor shall come upon his head” implies, and then named the long-haired man that was Manoah’s son: Samson. The kids can tell the Samson story, so I don’t need to draw. But I do list the the things that make Samson dedicated and separated. Next week I’ll explain what a Nazirite is, and connect that term to the concept of dedication & separation, which will repeatedly come up during the rest of the year.
