Tobit
TOBIT
Objectives:
- Students should be able to identify the Apocrypha as books included in the Greek Septuagint but not in the Hebrew version of the Old Testament.
- Students should be able to tell the story of Tobit.
Possible Lesson Plan:
- Open with prayer.
- Tell the story of Tobit (use highlighted words for the game board):
During the sad days when the Jewish people were held as slaves by
the Babylonians, there lived a man named Tobit. Tobit had a son named Tobias. Tobit and Tobias, even though they were captives of the Babylonians, helped their fellow-Hebrews whenever they could. Because of this, the king Esarhaddon did not like Tobit and Tobias and made their lives hard. Finally Tobit became blind; he could not see at all. Life seemed hopeless, and Tobit prayed to God that he should die.
At the same time, in Ecbatana, there lived a Hebrew girl named Sarah. She was also praying to God. Seven times she was married; and seven times the demon Asmodaeus killed her new husband on their wedding night.
One day, Tobit sent his son Tobias to Media to collect ten silver coins; they needed the coins to live since Tobit could not work. He hired a man named Azariah as a traveling companion, but Azariah was really the angel Raphael, sent by God to heal both Tobit and Sarah. As they traveled by the river Tigris, Tobias caught a fish. Azariah told him to save the heart, liver, and gall of the fish. Soon Tobias arrived in Ecbatana. There he met Sarah. They were cousins! Tobias fell in love with Sarah and they decided to get married. On their wedding night, Tobias burned the heart and liver of the fish; the awful smell drove the wicked demon away to Egypt. Sarah and Tobias were saved!
Tobias returned home to his father. What rejoicing! He had been gone so long that Tobit had thought he had been killed. Tobias rubbed his father’s eyes with the gall of the fish. Tobit could see again! They thanked God for His faithfulness and goodness in sending the angel Raphael to help them.
- Learning Game: Make a game. Draw an S-shaped game path on a piece of poster board. Divide into spaces. On each space, write the name of a character, a place, or a thing from the story. Make a spinner from a small paper plate. Divide it into 3 sections. Label each section “people”, “places”, or “things”. Attach cardboard spinner with brad. When each player spins, he moves to the next space on the board of that category.
- Discussion: What is the Apocrypha? (books contained in the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, but not in the Hebrew. Why do some Christians include it in their Bible and some do not?
- Make “Tobias’s Fishing Rod”: Make fish and hook out of pipe cleaners and use yarn or thread or string as the line. Rod can be a twig or a brown pipe cleaner.
Close with prayer.