Memory Verse: “The Lord says, “This day is like the time of Noah to me. I promised then that I would never flood the world again. In the same way, I promise I will not be angry with you or punish you again. The mountains may disappear, and the hills may come to an end, but my love will never disappear; my promise of peace will not come to an end,” says the Lord who shows mercy to you.” Isaiah:54-9-10 (NCV).
Materials needed to create A Promise of Peace quiet book page:
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket.
Add two grommets to the top right and top left of the Betty Lukens page. I went through both the pocket and background page together (you will still be able to open the pocket. You can google how to do this - it is not as scary as it looks!
Thread the elastic through the grommet from the back of the page and thread on some pony beads in rainbow order (I used two beads per colour), followed by the word 'promise' using your alphabet beads, and then more rainbow beads in reverse order. Thread the elastic back through the other grommet and tie it off through a button at the back (like I did on the Leviticus 25 - Jubilee Calendar Quiet Book Page). This is to prevent the knot coming through the grommets to the front of your page.
Pop the animal pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page! Grommets are not as intimidating as they appear. Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Isaiah 54 - Learn about the Covenant of Peace promised by God
Imaginative Play - position the animals around Noah's ark and remember God keeps His promises - just like He kept His promise to never again flood the entire Earth like He did in the days of Noah
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Whilst Isaiah was speaking to the Israelites about the captivity and those that God would bring back afterwards, they prefigure the goodness God will bring upon all believers in the covenant of peace made with blood in the previous chapter (prophesying Jesus' death). This covenant is certain because it is not built on our merit, which is a changeable thing, but on God's mercy, which is from everlasting to everlasting.
In Leviticus chapter 25, God explains the Jubilee cycle.
Memory Verse: "‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family." Leviticus 25:8-10 (NKJV).
Materials needed to create the Jubilee Calendar quiet book page:
42 wood coloured beads, 7 blue beads, and 1 yellow/gold bead - I bought these (not an affiliate link)
small flat button
Punch holes and insert grommets in your background sheet using the template as a guide (where the x's are marked) - see the video tutorial in the difficulty level section below.
Thread the black elastic through the holes in rows, adding beads as you go. The beads should be in seven rows of seven beads (six wooden and one blue for the six working years and the seventh year of rest) followed by a single yellow/gold bead to represent the Jubilee year. Since I wanted to save elastic, I threaded the elastic through the nearest hole rather than going to the start of the next row. That meant I had to add every second row of beads in the reverse order.
Ensure the elastic is pulled so it is not too loose on the front and cut it to the appropriate length to allow you to tie it off nicely. Thread the elastic ends through the button and tie them together in a tight knot to prevent the knot from moving to the front of the page.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sewing involved.
A very easy quiet book page!
You can watch the below video by Irina Sorokina from My Craft / Quiet books to see how to install grommets.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Leviticus 25 - the Jubilee year represents Eternity and what God is going to do for us - set us free, restore us to our families and give us our land back
Counting - count seven lots of seven years until the 50th year - the Jubilee
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
The Jubilee is such good news! I believe it represents eternity on the New Earth, when we will all be released from slavery, returned to our families and given land to inherit. The Jubilee year follows seven lots of seven year "weeks", where the land was given a rest every seventh year. It was not to be sewn and grape vines were not to be pruned, etc. This would rejuvenate the land, and God promised that if they would keep the Sabbath rest for the land every seventh year, that He would bless the harvest in the sixth year so there would be enough to feed everyone for three years (which would of course last until the harvest came in in the first year of a new Jubilee cycle, with a Jubilee resulting in two Sabbath years rest for the land in a row). This was reported to have occurred during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:29).
Although the first day of the seventh month (on the religious calendar) is New Year's day on the civil calendar, the Jubilee is not announced until Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), which is ten days later. I'm not quite sure why that is yet, but I'm sure there is a reason. Nevertheless, I can certainly see the contrast the God is intending announcing a Jubilee celebration on a day of traditional fasting. And He does state that the four major fast days will be turned into joyous occasions (Zechariah 8:19) - and what more joy could you have than when set free from slavery, returned to your family, and given an inheritance?
Most people would have only experienced one Jubilee in their lifetime, at least only one that they remember. It is the countdown to restoration. Ultimately, the land belongs to God, and He divided the land between the tribes of Israel. Because the land belongs to God, it was not allowed to be sold permanently. At the Jubilee, if you had sold your land sometime during the 49 years, you would get it back. The price of the sale was to reflect the amount of time remaining until the Jubilee (if there were many years, the sale price would be more than if there were only a few years left). The family that the land had been given to always had the right to buy their land back (called redeeming it), with the price again reflecting how many years were left until the Jubilee. An example of this might be the story of Naomi and Ruth, where Naomi's husband sold his land because of a drought, and when Naomi and Ruth returned, Boaz became their Redeemer. Not only did he have to marry Ruth, but I imagine he would have paid the price due on their land.
It seems that Sabbath rests for the land were not often kept, since the children of Israel were required to go into captivity for 70 years to allow the land to have it's rest (2 Chron. 36:21)!
Often I have ideas brewing in my head for a long time. I've been thinking about the Jubilee Cycle for quite a while now, but when I saw this How the Church tells time post pinned on Pinterest, it immediately sparked the idea to make a floor or coffee-table sized Jubilee Bead Cycle.
In Bible terms, years are measured in seven year blocks called weeks. The seventh year in each block was to be a Sabbath for the land - it was not to be ploughed or planted. Seven lots of seven year blocks (49 years) was followed by a 50th year known as the Jubilee (Yovel in Hebrew). This was a complete cycle. The Jubilee was supposed to see any slaves go free and land sold during the 49 years return to the rightful owners as it was granted to by God after the conquest of Canaan. It is also a picture of what will happen on the New Earth.
I think this could be an appropriate craft for either Rosh Hashanah / Feast of Trumpets or Yom Kippur / Day of Atonement. The civil New Year starts on Rosh Hashanah, but a Jubilee Year is not formally announced until ten days later on Yom Kippur. And whilst Yom Kippur is generally not a fun holiday but rather a solemn fast, when a Jubilee is announced, it cannot help but be celebrated - slaves were to go free, land and property returned to the original owners as given by God, and families were reunited. I believe Jesus is coming again to announce the ultimate Jubilee.
How to make a Jubilee / Yovel Bead Cycle
I bought a large pack of 25mm round wooden beads - you will need 50.
Paint seven beads in one colour to represent the Sabbath years and paint one bead in another colour to represent the Jubilee year. I threaded them onto skewers and cut a 'v' shape into cardboard boxes to lay them in whilst painting and drying them. Round things can be tricky to paint and dry without getting them stuck or the paint uneven.
You can use polish or varnish to seal your beads if you like. I chose to leave mine so I can write Bible references on them if I want to later (which I have talked about at the end of this post).
Once dry, thread them on to a long piece of 2mm elastic in the following order:
6 plain wooden beads, 1 painted Sabbath bead
6 plain wooden beads, 1 painted Sabbath bead
6 plain wooden beads, 1 painted Sabbath bead
6 plain wooden beads, 1 painted Sabbath bead
6 plain wooden beads, 1 painted Sabbath bead
6 plain wooden beads, 1 painted Sabbath bead
6 plain wooden beads, 1 painted Sabbath bead
1 painted Jubilee bead
Tie the ends of the elastic together and trim.
Finished!
Of course, we are also planning to make a quiet book page out of this idea too...
So we have made a practice one already.
Some people believe that the Jubilee year was actually the same year as the last year of the 49th year, or it overlaps the last half of the 49th year and the first half or the 1st year. They think the Jubilee disrupts the seven year Sabbath cycle and interpret Jesus' parable of the fig tree to relate to Israel in the last days and the dating of the last seven years of Daniel's prophecy which they believe have been cut of and delayed until just prior to Jesus' second coming.
I disagree because:
The Bible specifically says "the fiftieth year"
Pentecost follows a similar pattern, with the celebration occurring on the fiftieth day following a period of seven weeks
The meaning of the word Jubilee relates to a period of 50 years. The Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee did not mean she had been ruling for 49 years!
Jesus' parable of the fig tree related to the dating of the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, which I hope to discuss in further detail in a future post
The last week of Daniel's prophecy was not cut off, it was an accurate prophecy of the Death of Jesus our Messiah (who was the one cut off - not the week). This is the historical view of this prophecy if you want to look it up in the mean time, but it should also be the topic of a future post.
Including a fiftieth year into a cycle also rounds the seven year cycles up so that they continue to fit nicely into thousand year blocks, ensuring that sets of years remain fitting within a millennium. It is also consistent with the Millennial Day Theory where each day of creation represents a millennium of Earth's history. As Peter says - one day is like a thousand years to the LORD. It allows even measurements of years throughout the ages (an age is 2000 years). There are three ages, then the Sabbath millennium.
I believe the Jubilee follows the Sabbath and interrupts the Sabbath Year Cycle in order to represent Eternity
We also made a Jubilee Bead Cycle bracelet, which could be used as a follow-up craft for a Bible Class after the kids see the larger version for the story. I panicked a little when I took this photo because I thought for a moment that I had put the beads on in the wrong order. I didn't, it just needs to be flipped over! And the elastic to be trimmed...
I am thinking of writing Bible verses on each wooden bead which can be talked about in order when showing the kids (and adults). I think us adults learn through visual stimuli just as much as the kids...
There are so many examples of seven year periods in the Bible:
Jacob working for Rachel, Leah, and his flocks
Pharaoh's dreams of the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine
Solomon's Temple took seven years to build
The wicked queen Athaliah reigned six years and they were set free from her on the Sabbath
Daniel's seventy weeks (works out to 10 Jubilee cycles)
Hezekiah records a harvest lasting three years (probably over a Jubilee)...
and I haven't looked into events that might have lasted 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 or 50 years yet!
In Genesis chapter 40, Joseph correctly interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's Chief Baker and Chief Butler.
Memory Verse: “Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.” Genesis 40:21-22 NKJV.
Materials needed to create the The Baker's and The Butler's Dreams quiet book page:
felt in dark brown, yellow, white, mint, light blue, mauve, light tan and tan
wadding scraps
gold grommets and tool set - I used 3mm inside diameter (perhaps 5mm height)
1mm elastic in mint, purple, and yellow - I bought these (not an affiliate link)
vine leaf beads
grape cluster beads
colourful bird beads - I bought these (not an affiliate link)
three small buttons
material suitable for the white baskets (don't choose anything too thick or it will be difficult to sew)
sewing threads to best match the page
hot glue and glue gun
scissors!
Cut all the pattern pieces (you can use these to help with positioning pieces later).
Use the template to help you position your pieces before sewing
Cut and sew down these pieces in the following order using matching thread - benches, butler's rear leg, butler's front leg, baker's legs, butler's head, dream circles, butler's outstretched arm, butler's torso, butler's bent arm, baker's torso with arms, baker's head, side loincloths, middle loincloths, pharaoh's cup (in butler's hand), and vine.
Draw basket outlines onto the wrong side of your basket material. Sew a very tight zig zag stitch along the top edges of all three basket outlines (excluding the basket base). Cut out the baskets, being careful not to cut any of the stitching. Sew the base basket onto the baker's dream circle using a very tight zig zag stitch along the top edge only. Lay the largest basket and top of the basket base and sew both edges down with a tight zig zag stitch till just below where the next basket's top edge will sit. Lay the next basket on top and repeat this process. Lay the smallest basket down and sew all the way around with a tight zig zag stitch from one side to the other, catching all the baskets along the bottom edge.
The material I was originally using was rather thick so I did a test to see if my machine could handle all the layers. It could, but to my dismay I read the story again and discovered that the basket was white!
I had to change my basket fabric... thankfully everyone on my Facebook page comments liked the white baskets better. That was encouraging because I liked the look of the dark basket better, but I do like to get all the details as correct that I can. Although the baskets being white may imply contents of white bread... but scholars are not sure, and I had already made the bread (including some white bread).
I also tried a quilted calico fabric but I think it would have been too thick
Use the pattern pieces to mark where you need grommets and install them (see video below).
Tie a grape cluster bead to the end of some green elastic and thread on a couple of leaves. Thread the elastic through the horizontal grommets along the vine adding beads to the elastic as you go. Finish by tying the end to the last bead. The elastic end should look like a tendril. Repeat this process with another length of green elastic along the vertical grommets of the vine.
For the birds eating the bread, thread three coloured elastics through the grommets from the back on one side of the baskets, adding a bird bead before re-entering the same hole. Continue threading the elastic through an opposite hole on the other side of the basket and add another bird before re-entering back through the grommet. Thread both ends of each elastic onto a button and tie the ends together. The button will prevent the knot from being pulled through the grommets and onto the right side.
To make the dark rye bread rolls, cut out the top pieces and sew onto tan felt around the slits. Cut them out and sew to another dark background then cut them out again.
Repeat this process in a similar fashion for the oval bread and pie. For the pull-apart rolls, cut out the top and sew down onto another piece of felt with a piece of smaller wadding in between. Add stitching down the long centre and two lots of stitching down the shorter part to add the 6-pack detail, then cut them out.
For the croissants, cut out the top pieces and sew them onto another piece of felt and cut them out. Roll them up using a small amount of hot glue to keep them in place.
Of course the baker would have been anticipating Pharaoh's birthday and have made him a cake. So cut out two cake pieces and sew the icing pieces on. Hot glue the cake together along the sides and top edges, leaving the bottom edge open to form a finger puppet.
Fill the baskets with the baked goods.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Intermediate
The hardest part of this page is sewing the basket. It's not that bad!
Installing grommets looks difficult and scary, but once you try, they are easy and make you very satisfied with your efforts! The following YouTube tutorial by Irina Sorokina from My Craft Quiet Books should help.
Eyelets and grommets - My Craft Quiet Books
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Genesis 40 - this page is all about faith versus works
Imaginative play - squeeze the grape clusters into Pharaoh's cup
Pull-string - help the birds peck the bread from the baskets
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Whilst researching and making this page, I learnt something exciting and amazing.
As a child I had thought the point of this story was to show Pharaoh that Joseph's dream interpreting skills could be trusted. But now I could tell something strange was going on in this chapter.
When morphing text into an image, I find myself asking lots of questions. One simple question I never thought to ask when reading this story before was "What kind of bread did the baker have in his basket?"
There are two kinds of bread in the Bible - flatbread and leavened bread. And since leaven (or yeast) is used to represent sin due to it's ability to puff something up (like pride), and flat bread was used as an offering, I thought it was important to know which kind of bread featured in the baker's dream. Can you guess?
I looked up the Hebrew word used for bread and discovered that actually there was no word for bread. The bread was implied and used in the translation, but was not used in the original. Originally, the baker filled his basket with "deeds". When translated, his deeds were assumed to be bread (I guess it follows since he was a baker). As I mentioned above, the fact that the baskets were white may imply that the bread they were filled with was white too, although this is speculative. I also did a little research on the kinds of bread that ancient Egyptian bakers made - and discovered that they often shaped it into a crocodile. This led to the discovery that Sobek bread is so-called after the Egyptian crocodile god Sobek because the pull-apart bread buns resemble a bumpy crocodile's back - so I made sure to include a 6-pack bread bun in the basket.
Having grown up on a farm with an orchard, I knew that grapevines are grown on a trellis, with branches being trained to grow opposite each other in straight lines. So when I envisioned how to draw a vine for the butler's dream, it quickly occurred to me that this vine was growing in the shape of a cross! Imagine a smaller grapevine growing on the trellis below - it has only reached the second wire and the branches being trained on the first wire are still quite short.
Image Source - Grape Vine Trellis by Deep Green Permaculture
Even after these discoveries it still took me a little while to understand properly, and I'll admit a little googling did help. There was bread and there was wine, a cross-shaped vine and death on a tree... but what exactly was the hidden story in the dreams?
Herein is the answer:
1. The butler's dream represents FAITH in the saving blood of Jesus
2. The baker's dream represents WORKS because he relies on his own deeds
The results are not realised until the third day, which is also no accident. Of course Jesus rose on the third day, but I think this relates more to the Millennial Day Theory - where each day of creation represents a thousand years of Earth's history. I have given a summary of what I think the days represent in the devotional on my Genesis 1 - Days of Creation Quiet Book Page. The death of Jesus happens toward the end of the fourth millennium, and this seems to start a second way of counting the days. You can either count from one to seven, or you can count from one to four and then start again from four and count another three days. I believe this is what Hosea 6:2 is referring to "After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." Three millennial days after Messiah's death on day 4 will be the resurrection and restoration. And this is prefigured by Pharaoh's birthday gesture to the butler on the third day - he lifts up his face and restores him to his former position. Of course, those who rely on their deeds will be destroyed just as the butler was by Pharaoh also on the third day.
Concept drawing
The fact that it was Pharaoh's birthday is also interesting, although it was likely his inauguration/rebirth day which was shared by all Pharaohs and not a birthday as we would celebrate.
There is a Jewish tradition that a groom is a king for his wedding day (and the bride a queen). Whilst many Jews did not recognise Jesus as the Messiah at His first coming, Christians believe this may be because He came the first time as the Suffering Servant (similar to the Jewish Messiah ben Joseph - see Isaiah 53 - Messiah ben Joseph Quiet Book Page) and will not show Himself to be King Messiah (Messiah ben David) until the second coming - just like the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph did not reveal his true identity until the brother's second visit to Egypt. We believe that Jesus will be crowned King around the time of the Second Coming, and this concept is also portrayed in the story of the Song of Songs where Solomon is crowned king on the day of his wedding (Song of Songs 3:11).
Who would have imagined that the age-old debate of faith versus works would be found explained in the book of Genesis?!! Like the butler, I definitely choose faith in the blood of Jesus rather than relying on my yeast-filled deeds like the baker.
Although PanPanic ensured there was no Easter Hat Parade at school this year, they still held an Easter Hat Slideshow.
And we did our own parade at home.
Why we made the Butterfly Resurrection Easter Hat
As always we take the opportunity to both learn about Jesus' sacrifice and develop faith-sharing skills. I think it is important to practice sharing your faith from a young age. There are too many who shy away from proclamations - but I want to make sure Tahlia grows up to be bold and unashamed of the Gospel.
This year our Easter bonnet featured an empty tomb with a myriad of butterflies. Butterflies have long been a symbol of the resurrection because caterpillars seem to die in their cocoons and emerge shortly thereafter possessing a far superior body. We included so many butterflies as Jesus' resurrection gives us the reassurance that He is able to do the same for anyone who places their hope and trust in him.
Inside the tomb we see what Mary saw described in John chapter 20. I have heard that the angels sitting at either end of the stone where Jesus had been laid are supposed to remind you of the Ark of the Covenant which had two angels on top with their wings touching each other. On top of the ark between the angels was called the Mercy Seat and this was where the Shekinah Glory of God's presence shone. We tried to emulate this in a way, but the light was also supposed to give the impression of angels rejoicing and reflecting the angel-party mood I imagine was going on in Heaven despite the disbelief and grief on Earth.
How we made the Butterfly Resurrection Easter Hat
Two of my favourite butterflies
This video gives the basic gist of how we made the base of our butterflies from pipe-cleaners, although we did make a few changes. Next we wrapped the wings in lace and secured it with hot glue. We also added beads to the ends of their feelers. I knew we would need a lot, so we started making these well before Christmas, but even so we did get a bit of help from some friends to make so many. Tahlia hot glued all bar one of the little ones in place and did an excellent job don't you think?
We had one little one left over so she did wear it as a ring.
The large butterfly on top was also made from pipe-cleaners and wrapped in lace.
We started the layers from the outside edges first so that each layer overlapped the next without getting in the way.
This hat is the third in a series where we have re-used the same paper mache hat we made in Kindergarten. After removing last years beautiful felt flowers we gave it a quick vacuum to remove the dust and debris.
This year we enclosed the arch/doorway from the last two years to form the empty tomb. We marked where we wanted the tomb to go to and used plastic shopping bags to pack the space to be filled. Then we covered that section with three or so more layers of paper mache before removing the shopping bags and covering from the inside as well.
We also marked the edge of the entrance to the tomb on paper and formed a base for the stone out of cardboard cereal box. This got covered with layers of paper mache too.
The tomb and stone were painted inside and out in white by Tahlia, and I touched up the sky and grass after the damage done by removing the felt flowers from last year.
I had been hoping to find a frosted plastic box in a jewelry store but had no luck. Happily, and perhaps Providentially, we attended a wedding a few weeks before the hat had to be finished. The wedding favours came in a perfectly sized white box with a transparent lid. I managed to take a photo for you with one chocolate left in there before they all got demolished. Each box had two chocolates inside originally!
After removing the divider, three LED rings fit exactly inside the box - we bought this 6 pcs LED Rubber Rings from AliExpress (not an afiliate link). I bought extra in case some did not work and I'm glad I did as all the rest broke very quickly. The box is fixed in place with blu-tak so it can be removed to allow the rings to be turned on and off.
The angels were bought from a craft store but I have seen similar in dollar stores too - they were hot glued in place.
