Next up.... Moses

 I hope you enjoyed and learned something from the series on Joseph.
He is one of my all-time favorite Old Testament characters. There is so much to learn from his life. (Genesis 37:1-50:26)                                                                    

    Let’s review some of the lessons that we took away from studying Joseph’s life and other Bible passages that go along with what we learned.

 1: Jealousy is a sin. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and it lead to other sins.

 Let us behave decently, not tearing each other down or with jealousy.   Romans 13:13 



2: We can choose the right thing (God’s way) or the wrong thing. Joseph chose to do the right thing.

Hate what is evil and cling the what is good. Romans 12:9



 3: Always do our best at everything we do. Joseph was the best slave EVER!

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord.   Colossians 3:23



 4: Sometimes doing the right thing causes problems, but God has a plan. Joseph ended up in prison .
    
Blessed is the man, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good rather than for doing evil.   1 Peter 3:17
 

 5:Trust God and obey Him... He is working behind the scenes. Joseph became head of the prison.

Blessed is the person who hangs in there during hard times because God promises a crown of glory to those that love Him.   James 1:2



 6: Be patient. God’s time is not our time. Sometimes it takes a while. Joseph was in prison for 13 years.

“I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Says the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11


7: God does far more than we can imagine! Joseph became head of Egypt.

God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or even imagine.   Ephesians 3:20



8: God can change a heart! Judah, (Joseph’s brother who sold Joseph into slavery) became loving and compassionate.

 I will remove from them, their heart of stone, and give them a soft heart of flesh.   Ezekiel 11:19



 9: God is in charge... so don’t take revenge. Joseph could have had his brother’s thrown in jail or killed.

 Don’t seek revenge for yourself, but let God do what He sees fit.   Romans 12:19



10: God forgives us and He wants us to forgive others. Joseph forgave his brothers.

Forgive us as we forgive others.   Matthew 6:12                                    

MOSES

 Next time we will be looking at Moses. Most everyone knows about Moses and the ten commandments and  that he was found in the Nile river as an infant,
 but there are a lot of things that I found out about him. We’ll be looking as some very interesting things in the life of Moses in the upcoming weeks!
God bless you!

Joseph is freed from prison (Genesis 41)

So, last time we left off, the cupbearer, who promised to put in a good word for Joseph to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, forgot all about Joseph. Joseph spent two more years in prison.

 One night, Pharaoh had two dreams. He called his wizards. He called his magicians. He even called his cupbearer to see if anyone could interpret his dreams, but no one could.  Finally the cupbearer remembered Joseph!

"Remember when you were displeased with me, oh king, and you had me thrown into prison for three days?” The cupbearer asked and the king nodded yes. “Well, I messed up big time. I should have told you about him sooner, but there is a man named Joseph that I met in prison. The baker and I both had dreams the same night and Joseph told us what they meant. He was right both times. I was restored as your cupbearer, and the baker.... well let’s just say that you made sure that he won’t be baking any more bread ever again, just like Joseph said!”

 "Bring him to me at once!” The king demanded.

 Joseph was given clean clothes and shaved before he was brought before Pharaoh. The king told Joseph about both of his dreams. “Can you tell me what they mean? The king asked.

 “No, I can’t” Replied Joseph, much to the dismay of the king.... and the cupbearer. “But God can!”

 “Your dreams are about a seven year abundance. During this time everyone will have more than enough food. Those seven years will be followed by a seven year famine. During this time your kingdom and surrounding countries will not have enough food. If you do not find a wise man that will store up five percent of the food for the first seven years so that you will have enough during the next seven, your kingdom with perish.” Joseph advised the king. 

 The king could see that God was with Joseph. He trusted Joseph’s words and his heart.  Can people see God at work in you? Do they trust you because they know that you are a Christian? We should always live our lives so that people will see God’s goodness and His love in us. That is living for God’s glory!

 The king not only freed Joseph from prison, but he put him in charge of his whole kingdom! The king put a royal robe on Joseph and a gold chain around his neck. He even put the governor’s ring on Joseph’s finger. Joseph had his own personal chariot! Would’t that be cool?  Nothing was done in the kingdom without Joseph’s approval. During the first seven years while Joseph was in charge, there was an abundance of food, just like God had said. Joseph saved some food in storehouses for the famine he knew that was coming. At this time, Joseph married one of the Egyptian official’s daughters and had 2 sons.

 During the famine, people from other countries would travel to Egypt to buy food. Egypt was the only place that had food. Because God was with Joseph, and Joseph obeyed God, Egypt was not only spared disaster from the famine, but it flourished, selling the extra food that they had stored up!

 Joseph’s father Jacob and his brothers were living in Canaan and struggling to eat. “Go to Egypt and buy us some food before we all starve to death.” Jacob told his sons. “But leave Benjamin here.” Benjamin was the youngest. Jacob thought that Joseph had died in the desert and he didn’t want the same thing to happen to Benjamin.

 The brothers left their father and Benjamin behind and went to Egypt and guess who they had to kneel before to ask for food?! Yep, Joseph! Their little brother that they had sold into slavery 13 years ago was now in charge of who gets food and who doesn’t. Joseph recognized them right away, but the brothers didn’t recognize Joseph.

 What do you think Joseph did? What would you have done? We will find out next time :o)

Joseph, from slave to official to prisoner (Genesis 39 &40)

 Hey guys! Joseph was such an interesting guy. Wasn’t he? Let’s do a quick recap of his life so far.
He was sold as a slave by his brothers who told their father that Joseph was dead. Joseph loved God and did was was right and became the best slave ever! Potipher, a big shot in Egypt, saw that God was with Joseph and made him head of his household and put him in charge of everything he owned. Potipher trusted Joseph.

  Potipher’s wife liked Joseph (a little too much) and tried to kiss him on several occasions. Joseph tried to keep his distance from her. When we left off last time, Potipher’s wife tried to make a move on Joseph again, but Joseph ran out of the house so quickly, that he left her holding his cloak. Potipher’s wife was mad! She called her servants and said, “ That slave boy snuck in here and tried to force himself on me! When I screamed, he left in such a hurry that he left his cloak. See!” and she held up Joseph’s cloak.Word got back to Potipher about what Joseph had (supposedly) done.

”How could he do this to me? After I trusted him with all I own?” Potipher asked himself.  He had Joseph thrown into prison!

 Joseph looked around his prison cell at the four gray walls that surrounded him.  Joseph did what was right by running from Potipher’s wife, but he still ended up in prison! That doesn’t seem fair, does it? It seems like God should have shown Potipher the truth. Then Joseph would have been rewarded and Potipher’s wife thrown in prison. But God’s thoughts and his plans are way higher than our own. (Isaiah 55:9) Joseph trusted that God knew what he was doing and he still loved God and became the best prisoner ever!

 Have you ever done the right thing and no one noticed? Or even worse something bad happened to you because you tried to do the right thing? I have. Once when I was in school, someone tried to give me the answers to a test. I didn’t take them and did poorly on the test while most of the class did great because they had the answer sheet. It is hard to do the right thing sometimes, but God wants us to.

Because Joseph was a model prisoner, he became head of the prison. (God is planning something) A short time later, the king threw two of his royal officials into prison with Joseph. One was the king’s personal baker and the other was his cupbearer. The cupbearer would taste the king’s food before the king to make sure that it wasn’t poisoned. I don’t think I would like to have that job!

One night, the baker and cupbearer both had dreams. They told Joseph that they were sad because there wasn’t anyone who could tell them what the dreams meant.
Joseph said that God could tell them what the dreams meant.”Tell me your dreams.” He said.
When the cupbearer finished telling of his dream, God revealed to Joseph what it meant.

“You will be given your job back.” Joseph told the happy cupbearer.
The baker was excited to tell Joseph his dream after hearing the cupbearer’s good news.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.” Joseph said to the baker. The baker’s smile turned to a frown. “Your dream means that the king is going to execute you.” Yikes! That is bad news! The sad baker turned and walked away. Then Joseph said to the cupbearer, “When you get your job back and you are speaking with the king, put in a good word for me.”

“Oh I surely will! Right away! When the king hears how you were wrongly imprisoned, he will have you released . I’m sure!" Said the cupbearer. But three days later the cupbearer got his job back and forgot all about Joseph. Joseph was left in prison for years and years but he continued to love God and obey Him.

 Sometimes being a Christian is not easy, but God has a plan and His plan is much bigger than us. As we go through Joseph’s life, we can see God’s plan working. It is a lot harder to see God’s plan in our own lives, especially when things are not going too well. Trust and obey God and leave the rest up to Him.

Joseph Becomes a Slave (GN 37 & 39)

Poor Joseph! Sold to the Egyptians as a slave! Could you imagine being free to do whatever you want one day and being a slave the next?

Now the brothers had to go face Jacob, their father. What do you think they told him?

Here’s what the brothers did. They took Josephs colorful coat that his father gave him and sprinkled it with blood. Then they gave the bloody coat to their father.                                                                

“We found this on the way back home father.” one of the brothers said. “It looks like some kind of wild animal tore him to shreds!” They continued.

Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son so he was very upset. He screamed and tore his clothes. ( in those days when you tore your clothes on purpose, it was a sign of sadness and hurting). if we tore our clothes on purpose.... we’d get grounded!

Jacob’s sons all tried to comfort him, but he was too upset. “Leave me alone! My son favorite Joseph is dead!” Jacob cried.                                                                                                                                        

 Meanwhile Joseph was sold by the traders that bought him to a very important man named Potiphar.

Potiphar was one of Pharaoh’s main guys and Pharaoh was the king. Even though Joseph was in a bad spot, he never stopped loving God or never stopped trusting Him. Sometimes when things go wrong, we start doubting God and His love. We should be like Joseph. He became the best slave ever! Potiphar saw that God was with Joseph in all he did. Potiphar trusted Joseph and made him head of his household and he put him in charge of everything he owned. Joseph even got to live in Potiphar’s very expensive home.

  Everything was going pretty good for Joseph for a couple years. As time went by, Joseph got older and more handsome. One day Potiphar’s wife was alone with Joseph. She tried to kiss Joseph, but Joseph backed away. “Potiphar has put me in charge of everything. He trusts me and I’m not going sin against him or God by kissing you!” Joseph told her and he left.                                                                                  

  As time passed, Joseph kept his distance from Potiphar’s wife. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened before. But Potiphar’s wife made sure that Joseph would be alone with her again. When she got him alone, Potiphar’s wife snuck up on Joseph and gave him a hug and tried to kiss him. Joseph took off so fast, that he left Potiphar’s wife holding his cloak!          

 In hard circumstances, we always have a choice. Most of the time it is easy to see what God would want us to choose. Joseph made Godly choices when he decided to be the best slave that he could be and when he didn’t kiss Potiphar’s wife (and the Bible says that she was very beautiful!)        

We have to remember that God has a plan. Sometimes our life gets a little harder for a while so that God’s plan could work. Hard times make us a better person, and the better person we are, the more God can use us. We should obey God and we have to trust God! Do you think God knows what he is doing? Me too!

Isaac Gives His Blessing (GN 27)

You thought the story of Esau and Jacob and the soup was crazy... wait till you hear this one!

So Isaac,(Jacob and Esau's father) was getting very old. He couldn't even see anymore. He knew that he had better give his son his blessing before he died. The blessing put one son in charge of everything after the father died. The blessing was a big deal!

"Esau!" Isaac called.

"I'm here father."

"Take your bow and go into the fields. Bring back something and cook it up just the way I like it!" I'm getting old and I want to give you my blessing before I die." Isaac said.

Isaac's wife Rebekah was listening at the door.

Rebekah called to her other son Jacob. "I overheard your father tell Esau to hunt some food, cook it and bring it to him, and he will give him his blessing! Hurry Jacob! Run out to the barn, grab a nice fat goat, and I will cook it just the way your father likes it. Then you can bring him his favorite meal and he'll give YOU his blessing!"

The funny thing was that God had already told Rebekah that Jacob was going to be in charge of everything! She lied and cheated to make something happen that God was already planning to do! Do you think that was right? She didn't trust God. She trusted her own lies and tricks more.

The Bible says that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Have you ever put yourself first instead of waiting for God? The Bible says to give and you will receive. Have you ever kept something for yourself because you didn't trust God enough?

"It's not going to work mother!" Jacob said. "Esau is hairy! I am smooth skinned! For sure my father will want to hug me during the blessing and know that I tricked him! My father will curse me.... not bless me!"

"Just do as I say!" Replied Jacob's mother. "I'll take the curse if my plan doesn't work!" With that, Jacob ran out to the barn. He brought back a nice fat goat and Rebekah cooked it up just the way Isaac liked it!

Rebekah had already laid out Esau's clothes for Jacob to wear. After getting dressed, Jacob's mother took the goat's skin and wrapped it over Jacob's arms and hands so that he would feel hairy like Esau.

...........see if you can come up with something funny that Jacob is saying to his mother.............

Jacob took the meal to his father. "I'm back father and I've done just as you asked me. " Jacob handed his father the food.

"How did you hunt it and cook it so fast my son?" Isaac asked.

"With the Lord's help." Jacob quickly responded.

"Come closer so I can smell you and touch you my son." Isaac said. "You sound just like Jacob!

"Ah but you ARE Esau... you smell and feel like Esau." Isaac ate the food and gave his blessing to Jacob, who he thought was Esau! The blessing is in Genesis 27:28-29.

As soon as he got the blessing, Jacob took off. A few minutes later Esau showed up with some food. "Here is your favorite meal just as you had asked father." Easu said with a smile. He couldn't wait for the blessing and handed Isaac the bowl.

"What is going on? I just gave Esau the blessing. who are you?" Isaac asked

"I AM Esau, your oldest son, father."

Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. "Your brother tricked me into giving him my blessing!"

"Bless me too father." Esau begged. "There must be some blessing left over!"

"No, I'm sorry son. I made Jacob ruler over all, including you and your servants. There is nothing else." Isaac said.

"Please father! Anything! Something!" Esau was crying like a baby.

"There is nothing I can do, you will serve your brother." Isaac said as Esau lowered his head and left with tears in his eyes.

The twins- Jacob and Esau Genesis 25

When Isaac grew up, he married Rebekah. One day Rebekah told Isaac that she was going to have twins. She knew this because God told her so. God told her that her two sons would become two nations. He also told her that the older son would serve the younger..... which was not the usual way in Rebekah's time.

When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, she did have twins, just like God said. The first baby was very hairy and the second was not. The funny thing was that the second baby was holding the heel of the first baby when they were born!

Here is a coloring page for you. Click on picture and print.

God made us all different. You are not exactly the same as your brother or sister. How did God make you different? Why does God make us different? Because we all have a different purpose. We all have a special job that God has planned for us to help Him build His kingdom.(Eph.2:10)

Isaac and Rebekah named the twins Esau (which means hairy) and Jacob ( which means heel).

The twins grew up and Esau became a strong hunter. Jacob was a quiet stay at home kinda guy. He liked to cook with his mom.

One day Esau came back from a day of hunting. He smelled something delicious. Jacob was cooking up some of his famous Red Stew. " Give me some of that stew my brother!" Esau said

Jacob replied, "If you trade me your birth right, you can have all the stew."

Even though they were twins, Esau was born first, right before Jacob, so he got all the special favors, rights, blessings and inheritance. This is called the birth right.

Are you a twin? or the oldest in your family? or do you like to cook? do you love the outdoors?

Esau thought to himself, "I am starving to death, what good is the birthright if I'm dead!" So he traded his birthright to Jacob for a big bowl of red stew.

Have you ever done something without really thinking, and then regretted it later?

The Bible says that we should wait on the Lord.(Isaiah 30:18) Pray and ask God for guidance. (Psalm 27:11) We don't have to have everything we want right away. If we learn to be patient and persevere it builds our character.(Rom.5:3-4)

Abraham Passes the Test (GN22)

Sometimes God asks us to do hard things. God asked Abraham to do a very hard thing.

"Abraham, I want you to sacrifice your son, Isaac, to me on a mountain that I will show you." God said.

Wow! God will never ask us to hurt anyone. He may ask us to give up a favorite toy or do things that we don'y want to do, but He won't ask us to hurt anyone... ever.

The next morning, Abraham took his son, Isaac and a few servants and headed toward the mountain.

Remember how long Abraham waited for a son? 100 years! He must have been brokenhearted as they walked up the mountain. But Abraham trusted God. He trusted that God would keep His promise. Remember that God promised Abraham that he would have lots and lots of grandkids and great grandkids and great, great grandkids. (more than the stars in the sky) Abraham didn't know what God had planned, but he knew that he should obey God.

About halfway up the mountain, Abraham told his servants to stay there until he and Isaac came back. A little farther up the , Isaac asked Abraham, "We have the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"

"God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice." Abraham answered. He kept remembering God's promise.

When they got to the top of the mountain, Abraham tied Isaac to the alter and raised a knife above him. "Stop! Do not harm the boy!" a voice said. It was God. "Now I know that you trust me and believe me." God said. "I will bless you!"

Just then Abraham saw a ram caught in a thorn bush. God had provided a sacrifice! Abraham named that place: God Will Provide.

God wants us to realize how hard it must have been for Abraham to sacrifice his son so that we can appreciate how hard it was for God to sacrifice His son, Jesus for us.

God provided the ram in the thorn bush to save Isaac. Jesus is the lamb (with a crown of thorns) to save us! God has PROVIDED!

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed! (Gn 19)

"I am Going to send fire down from the sky and destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah!" God told Abraham.

"Please, God." Abraham pleaded . " My nephew Lot is a good man. He and his family are living in Sodom. I ask you to spare the city."

"There is just too much evil there. I cannot spare the city. But I will save Lot and his family." God answered.

The next evening, God sent a couple of angels to the city of Sodom. They found Lot sitting at the gate of the city. Lot saw the men/angels and knew they were special. "Come home with me for the night. I will give you a hot meal and a bed." Lot said. At first the men said no, but Lot insisted and they agreed.

"You have to get you family together and leave this evil city." One of the angels told Lot after they had gone back to Lot's house. Lot's wife and his two daughters were there and heard as the angel continued. " Sodom is an evil city and is has been marked for destruction by God himself. If you have any other family members, like sons or son-in-laws..... let them know!"

Lot's wife said, " Be careful and hurry back." as Lot ran off to tell his sons-in-law about what God had in store for the city of Sodom. When Lot returned home he told his wife and daughters that he couldn't convince the sons-in-laws to leave Sodom because they thought he was joking.

One of the angels shouted, "OK, well it's time to get going!" But Lot and his wife started to look around at everything they had. Lot was rich and they would be leaving a lot of stuff behind.

" I can't believe it! You guys are worried about what you are leaving behind! If we don't leave right now...." The angel said as they grabbed Lot and his wife by the arm."... you will be burned up with all your stuff! Just start running toward the mountains and whatever you do, don't stop and don't look back!" The angels had to pull Lot and his family out of the house.

"There is a small city named Zoar." Lot told the angels. " The mountains are quite far and it would be hard to live there. Can't we just go as far as Zoar and stop there?"

"OK." said the angel, " Zoar will be spared and you can start a new life there. But get there quickly, because as soon as you get to Zoar, fire will fall from the sky and destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah!"

Lot, his wife and two daughters ran a fast as they could, remembering not to stop and not to look back. As soon as they reached the city gates of Zoar, Lot and his family could see the sky brightening and they knew that fire was falling from the sky behind them. Lot and his two daughters continued to head into the city and not look back, but Lot's wife stopped and looked behind her. and she became a pillar of salt!

Abraham got up early the next morning and stood on top of a hill. He looked down toward Sodom and saw very thick smoke coming from where the city once was. He knew that his nephew was safe, because God promised to spare him and God always keeps his promises.

Wow! What a story! We can learn a few things from Abraham, Lot and Lot's wife.

1. Abraham was asking God to spare his nephew's life. We can talk to God! Isn't that amazing that we can talk to the same God that Abraham talked to. The same God that created the earth!

It's called PRAYER. When we are praying, we are talking to God. When we are talking to God, we are praying. We can pray for other people. God wants us to pray for others.

2. Lot's son-in-laws didn't believe Lot. Why? Probably because Lot had not told the truth all the time. We have to be careful not to lie. Because then people won't believe us when we tell them the truth.

3. Lot and his wife almost didn't get out in time because they were looking at everything that they were leaving behind. Because we are in God's family now, we can't live the same way that we did before.

4. Lot's wife looked back and she became salt. She looked back with her eyes and her heart. This word looked means "longed for". She wanted what she left behind. If we keep looking back at what we can't do or can't have now that we are Christians... we will miss what God want for us and what purpose He has for our lives.

TRY THIS: Put a penny on the floor at the base of a wall. Now you to the opposite side of the room. Start walking toward the penny, but look at something on the wall behind you. ( a picture of a clock etc...) Now try to pick up the penny while you are still looking backwards. How did you do?

Abraham believes God

After God confused the language of the men building the Tower of Babel, the people moved to different lands. Hundreds of years later, God talked to a man named Abram. (God changed his name to Abraham .. we'll find out why later)
So God told Abraham to gather up his family and all his belongings and go. He didn't tell Abraham where he was going, He just said to head east. So right away, Abraham took his wife, his nephew Lot, his servants (Abraham was pretty rich) and all his stuff. Wow! Abraham really obeyed God! It was probably pretty hard leaving the place where his father had made a home for them. Abraham was 75 years old when he left his home. He followed God for hundreds of miles to a place called Canaan. When they arrived, God told Abraham, "See all this land, I will give it to you and your children and their children." But Abraham didn't have any children. But he didn't question God, instead he built an alter to thank God for all the blessing in his life.

Abraham couldn't stay in the land however. It hadn't rained for a while and it was hard to find food. So Abraham took his family and all his belongings to a place a couple of hundred miles away along the Nile river where there was plenty of food. When food became a little easier to find back in Canaan, Abraham took his family again and headed back toward the land that God has promised.

So let's see. God tells Abraham to leave is comfortable home and travel for months to a place where there is no food. So Abraham has to travel for a few more months to a place where there is food.... then he has to travel for a few more months back to the place that God promised to Abraham's kids... and he doesn't even have any kid's. On top of that, Abraham is about 80 years old! If I was Abraham, I'd be thinking " God... are you sure?"

We are so blessed that we get to see the whole story in the Bible. We know that God ALWAYS knows what He's doing. He ALWAYS keeps His promises and He's ALWAYS good and he ALWAYS will be good.

Ok back to the story. Remember that Abraham took his nephew Lot along with him. Abraham took him along because Lot's father, Haran, had died and Abraham had taken care of Lot as he was growing up. Well Lot was a man now, and as Lot and Abraham headed back to the promised land, they realized that they had to go their separate ways. It was too hard to travel together since both men were very rich and had a many cattle and sheep. Abraham gave Lot a choice and Lot decided to go toward the best looking land, so Abraham headed in the other direction.

Sometimes the best looking things are not really the best. That's why we should pray about our choices. We see the outside but God sees the whole picture. He knows best. As it turned out, the land that Lot chose was full of a lot of evil men. Also there was a war going on there and Lot was taken prisoner. Abraham was living peacefully with his wife Sarah when he heard about what happened to Lot. Abraham got 318 of his men together and they rescued Lot and all the other people that were taken prisoner. Abraham gave God all the credit and the king praised God. We should always give God the credit. That's called glorifying God and then other people may realize what great things that God does and give Him the credit too.

So Abraham went back home. He was living just outside of the land that God promised. There were people living in the land at the time. Finally Abraham asked God. "Remember when you said that this land would be my children's and their children's? Were you saying that I am going to have children? Or did you mean my servant's children?"

God answered Abraham by taking him outside. "Look up at the stars Abraham." God said. " If you could count every star, it still would not be as many as your own descendants." Abraham believed God and because he believed, Abraham was now in God's family.

We can learn a lot about trusting God, following God and believing God from Abraham. The Bible is God's word. First we have to trust what He says in His word. Second we have to do what He says in His word. That's what following is all about. Finally God want's us to believe that he sent His son Jesus to die for our sins so that we can spend eternity in heaven with Him. When we believe Him, we become part of God's family... just like Abraham.

Next time we will find out how long Abraham had to wait for a son and why God changed his name from Abram to Abraham.

Adam Gets a Job

In the beginning God created the earth. Then he put a man named Adam on the earth. Did you know that Adam means "man"? Do you know anyone named Adam? You can tell them what their name means.
God didn't want Adam to be lazy so he put him in charge of the garden. Have you ever worked in a garden? It is fun!
Then God gave Adam another job. He told Adam to start naming all the animals. God had created the animals but he let Adam name them. Wow! There are a lot of animals in the world! That must have taken a long time! Adam probably had fun naming the animals. He gave some of them short names like--- cow, pig, dog and cat. He gave some of them long names like--- elephant, hippopotamus and rhinoceros. Some he gave funny names like walrus, ostrich and aardvark!
Here is a contest for you. Let's see who can come up with the funniest name for this animal I made up. He has the ears of a bunny, the tail of a cat, the body and legs of a bird and the nose of a pig. He is also a coloring page. Have your mom or dad print out the animal and you can color him.
The story about Adam naming the animals is in the first book of the bible called Genesis. It is in the second chapter. Next week, Adam gets so tired after naming all the animals that he falls into a deep sleep and God does something amazing while Adam is asleep!