More for Kids

The Leviticus system has five basic offerings. Below I use the more literal translations of the Hebrew terms that I’ve used for years: What’s usually called the “whole burnt” offering is better translated as “ascension” offering; the word for “grain offering” really mean “tribute”; I retain the traditional “peace” offering; as Jacob Milgrom has argued, “purification” is better than “sin” offering; and I retain “trespass.” The offerings can be taught with these chants, the offerings in the order they appear in Leviticus 1-7:

As cen sion, tri bute, peace (a grunt here punctuates the chant nicely) pur ifi ca tion, tres pass (these work best in the chant if the vowel in “tres” is lengthened)

Each offering has a distinctive rite or purpose. The entire ascension offering is burned (apart from the skin); the tribute offering is not animal but grain; the peace offering is the one offering that the worshiper eats; the purification rite emphasizes the spreading of blood; and the trespass offering is for “robbing God” or sacrilege, so it involves compensation to God. These can be summarized in the following Levitical “catechism”:

What is the ascension offering? T he whole as cen sion of fering is burned (pronounce “offering” as “off’ring)

What is the tribute offering? The tri bute of fering is made of grain (slight pause after off’ring)

What is the peace offering? The peace of fering is what you eat (slight pause after “peace” and “off’ring”)

What is the purification offering? Pur ifi ca tion is done with blood (slight pause after “purification”)

What is the trespass offering? The tres pass of fering pays God back (slight pause after off’ring)

I haven’t yet come up with a good way to summarize Joshua, but I’ve worked out a way of teaching the cycle of Judges (recorded in Judges 2). Israel repeatedly worships idols, comes under oppressive Gentile rulers, cries out to God until God raises a judge to deliver them, and they remain faithful until the judge dies, at which time they turn again to idols and the cycle begins again. It’s a repeated exodus story. To teach this, I have the children walk in a circle. Each of the stations on the cycle is signified by actions and sounds:

Station 1: Child bows and says “ohm” (false worship)

Station 2: Child takes a step and makes a “witchee” sound like a whip snapping, and a whip-snapping motion (oppressors)

Station 3: Child raises hands and cries (prayer and repentance)

Station 4: Child jumps into a martial arts pose and says “Hiya!”; perhaps makes a kick and a karate chop (Yahweh raises butt-kicking judge)

Station 5: Child lolls heads to the side and sticks out his tongue (judge dies)

Then back to station 1 and start all over again. Israel needed a judge who would never die, like Jesus the Judge.