God's love through the Bible

We FINALLY finished our timeline study with the kiddos (it kind of felt like it was in real-time because we wanted to make sure we weren't over their heads), and after a short "break" to study the book of John that we are memorizing for Pew Packers, we have started a new study.   We are currently studying "God's Love through the Bible."  Our daughter has extreme difficulty understanding the concept of "love," so we have been working hard with her on the different types of love (eros, phileo, agape) found in Scripture.  She still struggles, so we have started going through each book and finding evidence of God's love.  We had planned to do summaries of each book of the Bible, but instead we have gravitated towards discussing examples of love.  So far we are through Joshua, and it seems to be making an impact, albeit slight, in how she comprehends love.   She is so analytical that the concept of feelings is hard for her.  She is afraid to say she "loves" or even "likes" anything because it is not something that can be quantified.  We have talked quite a bit about how sometimes love doesn't "feel" good.  Sometimes, you do something loving just because it is what is right, not because it's "ooey gooey, mushy gushy," as she says. :)

Here is a peek into our topics covered thus far:

Genesis:  Kids had to mention any and all examples of love (God's or people's) in Genesis.  Some were obvious:  Jacob and Rachel, Jacob and Joseph, etc.  Surprisingly, they also pulled out a few gems like Joseph loving God enough to flee from Potiphar's wife, God loving Adam and Eve (and us!) enough to create the world, and so on.   We talked about these for a couple of days because there are SOOOO many stories in Genesis, and it was a good foundation for our study.  My husband pulled out selected verses and passages to support the study.  He also brought up that God's plan for man's salvation began in the garden and was evidence of his endless love for mankind.

Exodus:  Here they had to find examples of love as well, but it was harder!  We mostly focused on God's love for His people.  The kiddos had to really dig deep into what they knew about Moses!  We talked about Miriam, Jochebed, God protecting the Israelites during the plagues, crossing the Red Sea, etc.  Again, we read selected stories and passages.

Leviticus:  The only story the kids knew from Leviticus was Nadab and Abihu, so this book was a little challenging.  It's not much of a "story" book, but we talked about how God gave the Israelites rules to help them be the special, "set apart" people he wanted them to be.  We also talked about how many of the laws He gave were for their good, even though they didn't yet know it!  We talked about unclean foods and hygiene laws that showed God's loving care for His people.  Little Miss LOVED this study, I think because it was so matter-of-fact and practical.

Numbers:  Our focus was on the spies and their lack of faith in God's love and how He kept the faithful few to continue the existence of His people.

Deuteronomy:  Summarized our first few studies and pointed out that when God gave the law again to this new generation of people He was reiterating His love for them.

Joshua:  Focus here was on obedience and how, when God's people were obedient, He fought for and with them (Jericho).  However, when they were NOT obedient (Achan and Ai), He did not fight for them.  He has great love for His people, but he demands obedience from them to show their love for Him.