One thing we have experimented with is encouraging our children to imagine themselves as characters in whatever story we are reading. This can obviously be overdone, to the point where you’re almost ignoring the story itself, but in moderation, it can be helpful. We have tried it with Bible, in particular. As theologian James Jordan points out, there really are not two “Testaments” (Old and New) in the Bible, there are four. These four “canons” or testaments, were books revealed and written during a span of time, and followed by a “silent” period, during which no new revelation was given:
First Canon: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. This Canon was completed in am (anno mundi, “year of the world”) 2553, with Joshua just a few years later. Following this was a gap of 350 Years.
Second Canon: Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Canticles (Song of Songs), Ecclesiastes. This Canon was written over about a century, from am 2905 to 3020. Following this was a gap of almost 200 years.
Third Canon: Isaiah, Kings, Jeremiah-Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, The Twelve (minor prophets), Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah (what Jordan calls Greater Chronicles). This Canon was written over 300 years. The following Gap was about 400 years, until around ad 30.
Fourth Canon: books of the New Testament.
During these “gaps,” where there was no new revelation, the only Bible the people of God had was whatever had come before. So we talk to our children in this way:
“Imagine yourself as a righteous priest in the days of the Judges. The people of Israel have turned away from God…again. You desire to turn back to the One who brought you and your people out of the land of Egypt. You search for him in the Scriptures, the Bible. But what is the Bible, to someone living during that time?”
“Or again, imagine you live during the time of the divided kingdom of Judah and Israel. What Bible would your people have?”
“Or if you lived during the 400-year ‘intertestamental’ period? What would be the Bible you would hear read on the Sabbath?”
Now as we do this, we don’t ignore the books that came later: after all, we are blessed with a complete Bible, and part of our teaching consists in showing our children how Christ is in all of Scripture. But it is interesting to think of going through the loss of a loved one without Psalm 23; or bringing up boys without the aid of Solomon’s Proverbs; or suffering persecution without the comfort of Revelation.
God’s revelation to us is progressive, and we are given what we need when we need it. Even today, the Church is not yet as wise in our understanding of the complete Bible as we will be some day. We live now with the insights that have been given, not those that will be given. If we remember our brothers and sisters from past ages who did the same, we will be encouraged, and our understanding of God’s Word will be deepened.
