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Two books I have been reading recently have astonished me.
All Hell Let Loose by Max Hastings is a no-holds-barred history of the second world war that blew away any naive romanticism that I may have had about the gruesome realities of war. I have never had impressed upon me so forcefully the visceral horror and pervasive savagery of a world gone mad between 1939 and 1945. What astonished me most, however, was how the defeated Axis forces continued to fight for months after everyone admitted their situation was hopeless.
Faithful and fun retelling of Moses and the exodus from Egypt, for children 2-4 years old, showing how God rescues his people from slavery.
The second book is Exodus. Working through the familiar story with fresh eyes as I wrote Moses and the Very Big Rescue underlined again how bewildering it was that Pharaoh’s continued his stubborn resistance to God’s terrifying countdown to his disaster, and Israel’s rescue. In a series of telling phrases, we read how Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn, his heart was hard. Sometimes the text says he hardened his own heart, at other times that it was God himself who hardened Pharaoh’s heart; at other times it is stated as a bald fact—his heart was hard. He refused to listen. He pitched himself against the living God. And we all know what happens when people do that. They lose. Spectacularly.
But listening to God’s word is at the heart of this story. Moses heard God and, reluctantly at first, obeyed. Pharaoh heard God’s warning repeatedly, with accompanying signs and evidence of plague after plague, but could not find it in himself to do anything but oppose the Lord. By the time the climax of the story is reached, Moses' trust in God’s promises is so great that he exudes confidence to God’s people who were trapped in a completely hopeless situation. Their backs to the water. Without arms, armour or means of defence. A violent professional killing machine, enraged by the humiliations and pain inflicted on them by a subject people, is bearing down on them. And yet the day ends with unlikely and ecstatic victory as God works his miracle at the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s army destroyed. God’s people decisively rescued. God’s word of promise and the people who listen and place their trust in it are on the winning side. The powerful and wealthy are brought low.
Teach children that listening to God is always the very best thing to do with this fun retelling of the story of Deborah for 2-4-year-olds.
It’s a theme that runs through scripture from beginning to end. Deborah and the Very big Battle recounts similar themes. The monstrous army of Sisera with 900 Iron Chariots are faced by a tiny band of farmers led by Barak. They charge down the hill at the word of Deborah with nothing but the promise of God to energise them, and are miraculously victorious. It’s the equivalent of going up against tanks armed with pitchforks and cricket bats.
We spend a lot of time teaching our children how to listen. We warn about hot stoves, dangerous dogs and road crossings because it will save their lives. But learning to listen to God, and to trust his word over what our eyes seem to tell us is soul saving.
Writing these stories for small children is a challenge. How do you stay faithful to the Bible text, in a memorable way, without making it appear simple and easy? How do you avoid making these narratives into the kind of triumphalist war stories that I grew up on, and which fail to reveal the horrible realities of combat, and the truly astonishing thing it is to trust in God’s word when everything we see with our eyes suggests that we just run away?
We spend a lot of time teaching our children how to listen. We warn about hot stoves, dangerous dogs and road crossings because it will save their lives. But learning to listen to God, and to trust his word over what our eyes seem to tell us is soul saving. I pray that these two new books will be part of the way you are able to share these truths with the children you are connected to.
The Very Best Bible Stories series features fun and faithful retellings of classic children’s Bible stories for children aged 2-5. Find out more about the Very Best Bible Stories series.
Tim Thornborough is the founder and Publishing Director of The Good Book Company. He is series editor of Explore Bible-reading notes, the author of The Very Best Bible Stories series, and has contributed to many books published by The Good Book Company and others. Tim is married to Kathy, and they have three adult daughters.
