Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

in the law, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month. So according to the law the people went and brought branches of trees, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts. And there was very great gladness. And also day by day, from the first day to the last day, Ezra read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance. And with much prayer and penitence they established the law. And the people said, We make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites and our priests placed their seal to it. And the names of those who placed their seals on it are given in the tenth chapter of Nehemiah. Nehemiah 8; 9; 10.

Texts. (a) So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half the height thereof; for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah 4: 6.

(b) And they read in the book, in the law of God distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading. Nehemiah 8: 8.

Conclusion. Nehemiah knew the importance of his mission. The wall must be built and the law established before Israel could command respect.

A How did the enemies try to prevent the building of the wall of Jerusalem? What changes did this make necessary in the work?

B What two other schemes did the enemies try? How did Nehemiah make answer to the first? To the second?

C When the wall was finished, what could be done with the law? How did the people attend to the reading? What feast did they find in the law? What covenant did they make?

At home read Nehemiah 5 to 13.

Take the next period for a review of the last eight les

sons.

EIGHTH GRADE

FOR TEACHERS OF EIGHTH GRADE.

Teaching directions have been largely omitted from the Eighth grade lessons, and therefore a word should be given to teachers who begin with this grade, not having used this method before. The general plan of teaching is for the pupils to come without previous assignment or preparation of lesson. The teacher has thoroughly mastered the narratives for the day, and tells the story to the class, substantially as given in one of the paragraphs. Then a pupil is asked to tell it in the same way, as nearly as may be. There will be hesitation; help will be given by the teacher; points will be omitted; and on the whole the result will seem poor. Another pupil is called upon to do the same. It is desirable that the paragraph should be given several times. The next paragraph is taken in the same way. See the section on "The Oral Method of Bible Teaching Summarized" (page 23).

After each paragraph has been reproduced, there are several things which may be done to fix the result. The "Points" are set down in the book simply as a help for the teacher in mastering the story, and then as helps which the teacher can more readily give the pupils as they hesitate in the telling of the story. Where a "Text" is given, it should be memorized as a class drill exercise. There are two ideas in this: one is, that the text contains a chief point in the paragraph-the grain of wheat in the mass; the other is, that it is a passage of scripture which ought to be made familiar for its own sake, and this is the best chance that will ever come to some of these young people to make it so. After the work on a paragraph has been finished, it is a very valuable exercise to have them choose a name for it, not giving them the name in the book; then when the paragraphs of the lesson are finished, some one will tell them all in a continuous narrative, and then let

them choose a title for the whole. These titles written in a notebook will make an outline of the course. References, texts, and conclusions, maps and pictures should be added. The story may be written with more or less fullness according to the ideas of teacher and class. But time for this cannot usually be spared in the class period. The success of the course depends on the telling of the stories by the pupils.

The story of Jesus and his Disciples as here presented corresponds somewhat to the order of events followed in Stevens and Burton's Harmony of the Gospels. The nine principal divisions given in that and other similar works are named and numbered below, together with the sections of the following story which correspond to each division.

I. The thirty years of private life, from the birth
of Jesus until the coming of John the Bap-
tist

II. The opening events of Christ's ministry, from the coming of John the Baptist until the public appearance of Jesus in Jerusalem... III. The early Judean ministry, from the public appearance of Jesus in Jerusalem until his return to Galilee....

1-3

4-12

13-19

IV. First period of the Galilean ministry, from the return to Galilee until the choosing of the twelve....

20-31

V. Second period of the Galilean ministry, from the choosing of the twelve until the withdrawal into northern Galilee...

VI. Third period of the Galilean ministry, from the withdrawal into northern Galilee until the final departure for Jerusalem..... VII. The Perean ministry, from the final departure from Galilee until the final arrival in Jerusalem..

32-54

55-67

68-101

FOR TEACHERS OF EIGHTH GRADE

VIII. The Passion Week, from the final arrival in Jerusalem until the Resurrection.........102-129

IX. The forty days, from the Resurrection to the

Ascension

...

130-140

Memorize the above outline as the course proceeds, and stop after each part for a review of the sections contained in it. Assuming that the review habit has been established in the former grades, the directions have been omitted from the daily lessons; but if the reviews are neglected, the work will be lost. This review of recent work is a separate thing from the cumulative review of the former grades. The first should be done in class; the other is better done in extra sessions of the class, but it may be done privately, and tested and checked up by the teacher. Seven years' work have now been passed over by those who have followed the course from its beginning. If the reviews have been properly kept up, it will not be difficult now to plan for this eighth year a complete review of the first seven years. The importance and value of it will be appreciated best by those who do it. If it is done thoroughly it will never be lost, and it will constitute a mastery of the concrete parts of the Bible unsurpassed as a basis for the spiritual life, and for the further intensive study of the Bible.

The home work will consist as in former years, in the reading of the scripture passages from which the sections are taken, the rehearsal of their contents in story form, reviews, memorizing of texts and choice passages, writing up notebooks, maps, geography, chronology, references to the library, and special assignments of work asked for by the teacher.

Much of the New Testament material is omitted, but references are given after each section to where it may be found. The first reference is the one followed most closely in the book. Former graded stories should be reviewed wherever they are referred to.

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES.

8 1. THE CHILDHOOD Of Jesus.

1. His First Enemy. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And he gathered together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, and inquired of them where the Christ should be born. And they said, In Bethlehem of Judea; for thus it is written by the prophet. Then Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search carefully for the young child, that I also may come and worship him. And when they came where the child was they worshiped him, and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and then they went home another way.

Then an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was angry, and sent forth, and slew all the male children in Bethlehem of two years old and under. Matthew 2:1–12. 1 9, 10, 11, 12. Tissot, N., 3, 4, 6; Wilde, 26.

2. Returning to Nazareth. When Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead that sought the young child's life. And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. when he heard that Herod's son reigned in his stead, he was afraid to go there; and being warned of God in a dream, he withdrew into Galilee, and came and dwelt in Nazareth

But

« FöregåendeFortsätt »