One of my favorite things so far this summer break has been being able to do Bible Time with my boys again. We had largely gotten away from doing it with any regularity while school was in session. That school run in the morning just derailed the nice little time slot right after breakfast when we were used to doing it, and I never found another time that worked quite as well.

Now that school is out though, that nice little time slot is back, and so is our singing, verse-practicing, and story-reading.

On Friday morning every single boy helped sing “Jesus Loves Me.” Even Emmett sang, and there was nary a poopy chicken invoked. (See my post before last if you're confused--he's been known to throw a "poopy chicken" in wherever he thinks it fits.)

The big boys repeated after me the verses we’ve been trying to learn. I had read these verses in my own reading quite a while ago and ended up printing them off on a poster to put in the boys' room. They've been hanging there for months, maybe even a year, but the boys haven't really learned yet what they say.

“As for you, my son, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you.” (1 Chronicles 28:9, NKJV)

I took a few liberties with the verse on the poster, omitting the name of “my son” (Solomon) and not including the last part of the verse (“But if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever”), but when I read it in Chronicles so long ago, I just knew I wanted it to be on my boys’ wall, as a reminder for both them and me.

It’s about time they know what it says. 🙂

Then we dove back into Egermeier’s Bible Story Book and the first ten chapters of Leviticus. I know some people think you should primarily read the actual Bible with your children and not rely on Bible story books, but let me tell you this. I have read through the entire Bible more times than I can count, in several different versions, and I read something Friday morning in this very well-done Bible story book that I don’t remember ever reading before.

The children of Israel had just finished the tabernacle, and it was time to put it to use. The people were gathered before the door. God’s cloud was hovering over the holy of holies. The newly anointed priests were wearing their robes. The sacrificial lamb was on the altar.

And there stood Aaron the high priest.

Do you know what happened next? Did Aaron place fire on that sacrifice?

No.

God Himself sent down the fire from heaven.

Now this obviously wasn't the first time God had sent down fire from heaven, and it certainly wasn't the last, but there was something different about this fire.

This time the children of Israel were told to never let that fire go out.

A miracle from God that they were allowed to keep.

The Red Sea had parted before them, and they had walked across, and then the sea had closed behind them, leaving no trace of the monumental miracle. The water from the rock had spilled forth, and they had drunk their fill, and then they had journeyed on. The manna and the quail had come, day after day, and every day they had consumed it.

But the fire.

That they were allowed--no, commanded--to keep.

And not just for a night or two, but for years upon years upon years.

It would be no ordinary fire that burned the tabernacle sacrifices morning and evening. Every day, for years after, that fire was still the same fire from God.

Incredible.

I didn't do too much searching, but that same fire might've been kept burning until the time of the temple, when God again sent down fire from heaven to consume the initial sacrifice. (If anybody reading this actually knows right off the top of their head how long it was kept burning, I would love to know.)

I also got a little confused when I went to the actual first chapters of Leviticus and started “fact-checking” the Bible story book. It kind of sounds like there had already been some sacrifices made, in which Aaron was the one who started the fire, but whatever the case, when that first sacrifice for the people as a group was offered in the new tabernacle, God sent down fire and from then on, that was the fire they were to use.

Fire, not just for that sacrifice right then and there but for the many, many sacrifices to come. The same fire. Straight from heaven.

Amazing, like I said.

The other thing that was amazing to me was how Alec sat enraptured while I read a Bible story out of Leviticus. He had no idea that Leviticus was supposed to be one of the boring, hard-to-get-through books of the Bible. He was all ears, and it was so sweet.

Then Sebastian went and got another Bible story book to find a different picture of the tabernacle that was in it, and as he and Alec paged through it, they found other Bible stories they knew. “The boy who killed the giant.” (David and Goliath, via Alec) “The stones that God writed on.” (The Ten Commandments, via Sebastian) “The bad city.” (Jericho, via Alec) “The strongest man who ever lived.” (Samson, via Alec)

They were just breezing through, but I was so happy to hear that my years of reading Bible stories to them were actually seeping in, that they were retaining things even back when it was a fight to get them to sit still and listen at all.

I know as they grow up, we’ll veer more and more toward reading the actual Bible (there is SO much more than just the stories), but for right now, a solid Bible story book is a good fit for us, and I am loving this Egermeier’s that my grandma gave me from my grandpa’s collection.