Stories of the beginnings

Preface

The Westminster Textbooks of Religious Education are planned to meet the needs of churches seeking to unify their educational program. The informational, devotional, and expressional phases of religious education have been, hereto¬ fore, to a large extent, independent of one another. This lack of correlation has been detrimental to educational effi¬ ciency. Time and effort have been lost through duplication. Valuable information has failed to register itself in conduct because of the lack of suitable opportunities for expression. Many of our churches have been feeling their way toward better educational standards. It is in response to the re¬ quests and needs of these churches that the series of lessons has been undertaken.

These textbooks are planned for church schools having a Week Day Session, a Sunday Session, and an Expressional Session meeting either on Sunday or on a week day. An absolute differentiation of the three phases of the educative process is neither possible nor desirable. The lessons are so arranged, however, that the Week Day Session is mainly informational, the Sunday Session more largely devotional, and the third session of the week largely expressional.

Since the course is a unity, it is not necessarily confined to the plan suggested. It would be equally suited to a week¬ day church-school system having three sessions a week and unrelated to the Sunday-school program of the community. The course could be adjusted to any local condition, pro¬ vided the sequence of the lessons were maintained.

Forty-two lessons of three sections each are provided for each grade, or year. It is thought that this will furnish ma¬ terial for a church-school program with three sessions per week throughout the public-school year. It is also- believed that many schools will find the material sufficient for the use of the Sunday Session during that part of the year when Week Day Sessions are discontinued. Much of this sum-

IV

PREFACE mer season might be spent in a rapid review of the work covered during the other part of the year. No exact adjust¬ ment to any particular circumstances is attempted because of the fact that church schools differ widely in the matter of their summer sessions. Some are practically closed all summer; some continue on as extensive a basis as during other parts of the year. The whole matter of adjustment is best left to the local church-school administration. If a church school practically closes at the beginning of summer, it would be well for the authorities of that school to plan for a completion of each year’s course at that time. If the school runs on through the summer with undiminished at¬ tendance, more time may be taken for the lessons, a part of each book being left for completion in the summer ses¬ sions. Where this is done, the section intended for the week-day lesson may be taken on one Sunday of the summer period, the Sunday lesson related to this week-day lesson for next Sunday, and the expressional lesson on a third Sunday.

Chapter I Week Day Session “ In The Beginning ”

Genesis 1:1-19 The Memory Verse

“ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

—Genesis 1:1.

The most wonderful book that has ever been known is the Bible—the Book in which God has given to his people in the world the record of what he has done for us. It is the source of our knowledge of what he wants us to believe and of how he wants us to live. The Bible has come down to us through many generations. Its writers were inspired by God. It has been preserved in miraculous ways from the hands of those who would have destroyed it forever.

The Bible is one Book, but it is made up of sections, which we also call “ books.” The first of these sections, or books, which you will find in your copy of the Bible, is Genesis.

If you will look in the dictionary, you will find that the word “ genesis ” means “ the origination or coming into being of anything,” which is, of course, the same as “ beginning,” and that is what the Bible book, Genesis, is—the story of the beginnings of things, as men inspired by God have writ¬ ten them down for us. Many men have studied the book of Genesis; many times they have said that the accounts of things given there could not be true. But as our knowledge increases, as men grow to know more and more of what hap¬ pened in the past, they come to see more and more clearly that the Bible is true, and that those who thought it was wrong were themselves mistaken.

Look at the first words of the first verse of Genesis—

“ In the beginning/’ That is the way in which our Bible commences. “ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” What existed before that time, we do not know, except that there was God—the Creator of our world and of all that is in it; the Creator not only of our world, but of all the universe.

At first the earth was waste and without form. There was no light. A great expanse of water stretched every¬ where, and the Spirit of God moved over it. And then God spoke, “ Let there be light,” and there was light. Day and night were created, evening and morning, though as yet there were no sun, no moon, no stars—just light and dark¬ ness. And all this God did in one day. (But we must re¬ member that there was as yet no sun to rise and set—just light and darkness— and so “ the day ” was not measured as we measure our time.)

God spoke again, “ Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters.” The firmament is the heaven above, into which we look at night. But not even on that second day were there sun or moon or stars, such as we see when we look up into the skies.

On the third day God spoke again. He commanded that the waters be gathered together, and that dry land appear. God called the gathering together of the waters “ seas,” and the dry land he called “ earth.” You see God was planning to make a home for the people whom he was going to create. The next command that he gave was that there should be on the earth grass and herbs and fruit trees—food for the living things for whom he was preparing a home.

And next he set the lights in the sky—the sun to rule by day, the moon by night, and all the stars—the lights which divide the day from the night, and regulate the seasons and the years.

So the end of the fourth day came. The earth was pre¬ pared as a home for living creatures. Can you picture it as it was in those days ? There were the sun and the moon and the stars; there were great stretches of sea and land cov¬ ered with grass and plants and trees of all kinds. There was everything beautiful to look at—but no one to see, no one to hear. There was not a fish in the sea, not an animal in the forest. No sound was heard, for there was no living ear to hear the lapping of the waves against the shore, or the whisper of the winds in the branches of the great forest trees. All God’s creation was ready and waiting, but as yet there was no living thing to enjoy the good gifts which God had made ready in his world.

If you have a sand table in your classroom, make a sand picture of the drawing which you are asked to make for the fourth day in the Notebook Work. Make a flat circle of sand as large as your table will allow. Divide this into sky, sea, and land. Make sun, moon, and stars from paper or tin foil to set in the sky; use twigs for trees, and small stones for rocks. Make the scene as complete as possible. Leave it for your next session, as you may wish to add to it then.

You are beginning a new book of lessons about the begin¬ nings of the history of the world. If you can, get a new, loose-leaf blank book. On the first page put your own name and address, and the name of your Sunday school and class. Leave the second page blank. On the third page write a title, “ GOD CARING FOR HIS PEOPLE.” Underneath this write in smaller letters, “ Stories of the Beginnings.” On the next page write the title of this first chapter, “ In the Beginning.” On the line beneath this, write the words, “ God the Creator.” Then put the various “ days ” given in Gen¬ esis 1 :1-19.

Day 1. God created light and darkness.

Day 2. God created-

Day 3. God created-

Day 4. God created-

Perhaps you will like to represent these things by pictures. If you do, draw a series of five circles. Above them, write the words, “ In the Beginning,” “ First Day,” “ Second Day,” “ Third Day,” “ Fourth Day.” Leave the first circle blank. Divide the second circle, above which you have written “ First Day,” into halves by a vertical line. Make one side dark, and leave the other side light. Divide the third circle by a horizontal line. This will indicate the making of the firmament. In the fourth circle draw a horizontal line as in the third circle. Then from this line down to the circum¬ ference draw a wavy line to show the separation of the waters from the land. Make your fifth circle like the fourth, but put in the part above the horizontal line sun and moon and stars, to show that on this day God created the lights of heaven.

God prepared a beautiful world for his children. Can you not help this week to make the world more beautiful for some one else by doing a kind act, or by saying a pleasant word, or by helping in some way? At least you can keep from being cross or disagreeable.

Learn the words of the following hymn. It was written in 1712 by Joseph Addison, a great writer of English prose and poetry.

The Spacious Firmament

The spacious firmament on high,

With all the blue, ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim.

The unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator’s power display,

And publishes to every land The work of an almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail,

The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth;

Whilst all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn,

Confirm the tidings as they roll.

And spread the truth from pole to pole.

Sir Edward Burne-Jones

What though In solemn silence all Move round this dark, terrestrial ball ? What though nor real voice nor sound Amidst their radiant orbs be found?

In reason’s ear they all rejoice,

And utter forth a glorious voice;

For ever singing, as they shine,

“ The hand that made us is divine.”

THE CREATION OF LIFE Genesis 1:20 to 2:3 The Memory Verse

“ And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”—Genesis 1 :31a.

The world which God had created was ready. The time had come for the creation of living things, and so, on the fifth day, God created the fish—at first the smaller fish, and then the great sea monsters. All the birds were made, from the smallest to the largest, at his command. As God looked upon them he saw that, all that he had done was good—earth and sky, sun and moon and stars, land and water, birds and fish. He blessed them all.

On the sixth day, God commanded that the land bring forth living things—cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth. And again God saw that all was good.

And then, last of all, on the sixth day, God created man— man, made in his own image, for whom he had planned all the other good gifts, the world and its blessings, the grass and the flowers and the trees; the birds and the animals and the fish. To man he gave dominion over all the fish and the monsters in the sea; over all the birds in the air; over all the beasts of the field. He gave to him every herb, and all the fruit of the earth. He made him master of the world.

Then, after the work of creation was finished, God saw that it was good. On the seventh day he rested from all his work which he had made. And so “ God blessed the sev¬ enth day, and hallowed it.” And because God rested on the seventh day, he has given to his followers in the world the command for all time, “ Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hal¬ lowed it.”

God made man in his own image. He made him master in a beautiful world, where every good gift belonged to him. The animals obeyed his word. The trees gave him fruit of all sorts for food. Everything belonged to him. Do you not think that that first man should have been completely happy in the beautiful world which God had given him? Do you not think that you would have been happy? But the great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world is as beautiful and won¬ derful now as it was in those first days. Man is the master now, as he was in those first days, for he is the only living being whom God has created in his own image. Do you not think that we and all the human beings in the world should be grateful to him for all the blessings that he has given to us—for all the marvelous gifts which he has provided for his children ? Let us thank him for all the blessings which he has given to the world—to the first man and to all man¬ kind since those first days.

The: World

Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world. With the wonderful water round you curled, And the wonderful grass upon your breast— World, you are beautifully dressed.

The wonderful air is over me,

And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree, It walks on the water and whirls the mills, And talks to itself on the top of the hills.

You friendly earth! How far you go,

With the wheat fields that nod and the rivers that flow, With cities and gardens, and cliffs and isles,

And people upon you for thousands of miles!

Ah! You are so great, and I am so small,

I tremble to think of you, world, at all;

And yet when I said my prayers to-day,

A whisper inside me seemed to say:

“You are more than the earth, though you are such a dot; You can love and think, and the earth cannot! ”

—William Brighty Rands.

God made man in his own image. We must remember that we are created in his likeness, and try to make ourselves more and more like him.

We can become more and more like God the Father by trying to live according to the rules which Jesus gave to the world in the New Testament.

God has given to human beings very many wonderful gifts. We must show our thanksgiving to him by obeying him, by going to church, for instance, by praising him, by telling of all his wonderful works in all the world.

God created the world and all that is in it. He is our Father who loves those whom he has made, to whom he has given many good gifts. In return we should thank him for all the good things that he has provided for us, and praise him with all our hearts.

Learn part of the old chant, which has been sung for many centuries in many churches. It is called the “ Benedicte, Omnia Opera Domini,” the words with which it begins in Latin:

“O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord;

Praise him and magnify him forever.”

You will find it in the back of your hymn book, number 740. Count how many of God’s creations are named, and how many times the words “ Bless ye the Lord ” are used.

The; Story or the; Cre;ation as Told by Another Nation

Many stories of the Creation have been told by the other nations of the world, but none of them is so beautiful as that given in Genesis, the story given to us in God’s Book.

One of the old stories is that of the Babylonians, who lived at the same time as the Hebrews of the later part of the Old Testament. This story has some parts which are very much like the account of the Creation which is given in Genesis.

It was not until 1875 that this story was deciphered by men working in the British Museum. It was written in queer, wedge-shaped letters on clay tablets discovered not very many years before in the library of the great Assyrian king named Ashurbanipal, who lived in Nippur, in Assyria, in 668-626 b. c. This story tells of a great god named Bel, or Marduk, who fought with a goddess named Tiamat, and killed her. From her body he made the heavens and the earth.

Though this is foolish, there are other parts of the story much like Genesis, which show that the people of Babylonia and Assyria had passed down to them part of the story in the true form, though they did not know the true God. This is the account of the creation of the stars and the moon as it has been translated for us:

“ He made the stations for the great gods;

The stars, their images, the constellations he fixed.

He ordained the year, and into sections he divided it; The twelve months he fixed by three stars.

the Moon God he caused to shine forth; the night he in¬ trusted to him.

He appointed a luminary for the night, to determine the days;

Monthly, without ceasing, with the disc he fashioned it, saying:

At the beginning of the month, as thou riseth upon the land,

The horns are to announce the fixing of the six days.”

The account of the creation of man, too, is interesting:

“ When Marduk heard the words of the gods,

His heart prompted him, and he devised a cunning plan.

He opened his mouth and . . . spoke, . . .

* My blood will I take and bone will I fashion;

I will make man . . .

I will create man who shall inhabit the earth,

That the service of the gods may be established and that their shrines may be built! ’ ”

You can see from these two fragments that the Babylonian story of the Creation is something like the account given in Genesis. And for that reason it is worth knowing and worth studying about. The foolish parts we know must have been added by ignorant people, but the true parts show how a memory of the true story was handed down even by those who had forgotten the true God.

THANKING GOD FOR HIS GOODNESS

As we look about us on this beautful day, we see so many things for which we want to thank God. We want to thank him for all the beauty of the earth, for all the wonderful gifts of sun and rain, of winter and summer, and of food and drink. We want to thank him for our parents and our friends and teachers; we want to thank him because we live in a civilized land. We want to thank him, too, that he made us in his own image. But especially we want to thank him for the greatest gift which he has given to mankind—the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our Father in heaven, we want to thank thee for our creation and preservation and for all the blessings of this life. But especially we want to thank thee for the greatest gift of all those that thou hast given us—the gift of thy Son.

Bless us and help us to be his loyal followers to-day and every day. We ask in his name. Amen.

“ From All that Dwell Below the Skies.”

“ Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.”

“ The Spacious Firmament on High.”

“ My God, I Thank Thee, Who Hast Made.”

“ God Is Working His Purpose Out.”

“ This Is My Father’s World.”

1. What did God create on each of the six days?

2. Over what things is man to be the master?

3. Name some of the fish, birds, animals.

4. What are the first words of the Apostles’ Creed?

5. What is God’s command in regard to the seventh day, or the day on which he rested after creating the world ?

6. How can Juniors thank God for his goodness to the people of the world ?

1. How Man Differs from God’s Other Creatures.

2. The Greatest Honor Which Man Has Ever Received.

3. The Babylonian Story of the Creation.

4. Why the Creation Stories of Other Nations Are Not so Wonderful as the Bible Story.

5. The First Day of Creation.

6. The Second Day of Creation.

7. The Third Day of Creation.

8. The Fourth Day of Creation.

9. The Fifth Day of Creation.

10. The Sixth Day of Creation.

11. The Seventh Day.

Some Thoughts About the Topic

Man’s chief glory is that he was made in the image of God.

We should try to keep ourselves as much like our Father as it is possible for us to be.

Man is greater than any other of God’s creatures because he was made in God’s image.

God gave to man dominion over all his creatures. We should try in every way to use wisely and well the powers which God has given us.

God’s good gifts are for all his people everywhere. We should share with others, and try to help them to enjoy all the blessings which are around us all.

We must give praise to God for his goodness to us and to all men everywhere. Tet us thank him by trying to obey him in every way.

CHAPTER II WEEK DAY SESSION THE GARDEN OF EDEN Genesis 2 :4-20 The Memory Verse

“ And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”—Genesis 2:15.

The first chapter of Genesis, which was your last lesson, says that God created man in his own image. In the chap¬ ter which is our lesson for to-day there is given more about the creation of man, for verse 7 says, “ And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

This is all that we know about the creation of man from the Bible. God does his miracles in wonderful ways that are far beyond man’s understanding, and though people have thought and written much about the Creation, we do not understand very much even now about it. We do not know how God made man from the dust of the earth, nor how he gave him life, and made him a “ living soul.” But we do know that we ought to give him thanks in that he has made human beings in his own image, with souls that make us different from the other creatures that he has made, and that he loves us more than all the other creatures in the world.

One way in which God showed his love for the man whom he had created was by giving him a wonderful home. God “ planted a garden,” in which man was to live. This Garden is called “ Eden,” a name which means “ pleasantness.” Another name by which we call it is " Paradise,” which means “ a park.”

We do not know exactly where the first home of man was, but the Bible tells us, Genesis 2 :8, that it was “ eastward ”; that is, eastward of Palestine. We know, too, that a river flowed from the Garden, and divided into four branches— the Pishon, the Gihon, the Hiddekel, and the Euphrates. Though we do not know now what rivers were meant by the first two of these, we do know that the Hiddekel is the river which we now call “ the Tigris,” and that the Euphrates is still called by that name. These rivers are in Asia. We know, too, where the land of Havilah, mentioned in verse 11 is, and the land of Cush, verse 13, for both places were familiar in Bible times. Havilah was a part of Arabia, and Cush was the land of the people called “ Cushites,” at this time the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

So, if you look at the map in your school geographies which shows Asia, and find the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, you will know something about where the first home of man was. You will not find the other places given on the nowa¬ days maps in your geographies, for they are called by other names.

The home which God gave to man was very beautiful. There were all sorts of fruit and shade trees in it. Beautiful flowers bloomed everywhere, and there were pleasant streams along which the first man, Adam, could walk. There were all sorts of animals, too, and God brought them to the man one by one, large and small, and to each he gave a name. He named all the birds, too, and all the creatures everywhere.

Adam’s life must have been very busy. There were so many things to learn, so many things to do. For we must not think that all Adam’s life was play. We must remember that God created man in his own image, and that almost the first words of the Bible show that God worked. He “ created the heavens and the earth.” So, when he made Adam he put him in a Garden which he was to tend and to keep in order. Genesis 2:15. He had to use his hands. When he named the animals he had to use the brain which God had given him. He was busy and happy. But he was lonely. The animals were friends to him, but there was no other human being in the world—no other creature made in God’s image. And so God planned to create a helpmeet for Adam, who would be his wife.

The: Geography op the: Lesson

Havilah. A district of Arabia, rich in gold, aromatic gums, and precious stones.

Cush. A territory in the great basin drained by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Hiddekel, or Tigris. This river rises in central Armenia. Its whole course to its junction with the Euphrates is eleven hundred and forty-six miles. In ancient times it flowed into the Persian Gulf.

Euphrates. This is one of the greatest rivers in the world. Its length is about eighteen hundred miles. The He¬ brews called it “ the great river,” or simply “ the river.” It was considered a boundary between east and west, between Egypt and Assyria-Babylonia, each power desiring to pos¬ sess the country between the Euphrates and the Nile.

Make a garden as beautiful as possible on your sand table. Use bits of glass as lakes and ponds, and indicate rivers and streams. Use twigs as trees and bushes, and make flowers of bits of bright-colored paper. What should you put in the very center of the Garden? Genesis 2:9. You will learn more about the trees mentioned in this verse in Chapter III.

At the top of the page of your notebook write the chapter number and the title of this lesson. Then write the Memory Verse. Try to find the picture of the most beautiful place that you can—a picture showing a river and trees and flowers. Paste this in your notebook, below the Memory Verse, to make you think of the Garden of Eden. Under it write the words of Genesis 2:9, “ And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.”

Draw a map showing the position of the Tigris and Eu¬ phrates Rivers, and put in the Pishon and the Gihon as you imagine them to have been. Draw the rivers that you know about with solid lines, and the rivers that you imagine with dotted lines.

Try this week to thank God in some way for his good gifts. Particularly you can thank him for his gifts of food and drink. At mealtime say the grace given below in the Memory Work.

a grace: to learn, to say at the: table:

Lord Jesus, be our holy Guest,

Our morning Joy, our evening Rest;

And with our daily bread impart Thy love and peace to every heart.

—The Book of Common Worship.

ADAM AND EVE IN THE GARDEN Genesis 2:21-25 The: Memory Verse

“ Thus saith Jehovah ... I have made the earth, and created man upon it.”—Isaiah 45:11, 12.

God saw that Adam, the man whom he had created, was lonely without other human beings, even in the beautiful Garden of Eden, and so he made for him a helpmeet, a woman, who, because she was to be the mother of all living people, was called “ Eve.”