12 BOOKS OF HISTORY

 Puppet: (enters waving banner) See my banner, this is a symbol of victory. The first book of history is Joshua. It tells all about (show banner) the victory and rest that God gave Israel. God gave Joshua the secret to success- Meditate on the Word. Joshua records their entrance into Canaan, the division of the land and it's conquest. 

Bear: (enter chanting and holding a gavel or show a picture of a gavel) Here comes da Judge. Here comes da Judge! Dats 'cause Judges is the name of our next book. It's like an all day sucker, cause the book lasts a long, long time. I don't mean it takes a long time ta read it, but Judges takes place over a period of 490 years. That's all da way from da first leader after Joshua to da berry last one before King Saul. (Make voice sound sad.) It's a sad story of da nation of Israel turning away from God. I think Samuel musta wrote this book. There was thirteen Judges, and one of them was a girl. God used these Judges to make all da bad "Ines and Ities" leave them alone. I didn't say "ines and outtes," or "ines and outs," I said "Ines and Ities." You know about those "Ities and Ines."  Oh, sure you do the "Ities" and the "Ines." The Moabites, The Emphraimites, the Midianites they were the Ities. The Philistines were the Ines. God sent the Judges to get rid of the "Ities" and the "Ines".

 Girl Puppet: (wheat) Oh, I just love the book of Ruth. It's so romantic. (giggles) But more than just romantic, it tells the story of God's provision and love. I think Samuel wrote Ruth, yeah, I think so. Ruth is one of only two books named after a girl. Ruth means friend and she lived during the time of the Judges. Matthew lists her in the direct lineage of Jesus Christ, although she was a Moabite. Bye!

 Duck Puppet: (mouth) Quack! Quack! Furst Samuel is witten by Mister Samuel. It tells all about Mister Samuel's life. Quack! Did you know dat Samuel became da priest 'cause Eli's sons were so bad. He was a good priest for a long time, too. Quack, Quack! Den da people wanted a king, so God said O.K! Samuel anointed their very first king by pouring oil all over his head. (giggle) I sure wish I could've seen that. But da new king wanted to, Quack, please people more than he wanted to please God. The rest of dis story is no quack up believe me, cause King Saul and his good son Jonathan died on da battlefield. Ain't dat sad. Quack, quack!

 Sheep: (harp) Baaa! Baaa! I w-w-wanted to tell you about II Samuel c-c-cause it's the h-h-history of Da-a-avid, the great sheph-er-er-erd King. It rec-or-or-ords the full establishment of Jerusalem as the re-re-religious and po-li-li-litical center of I-I-Israel. In this boo-oo-ook we cle-ar-ar-arly see the c-c-coming of the Mess-i-i-iah from the fam-am-ily of D-D-David. B-b-bye!

 Boy: (crown) Boy, it would be great to be a real live king. I guess the next best thing is reading about them in Kings and Chronicles. The prophet kept records of each of the kings. These records were later compiled by Jeremiah to make Kings and Ezra to make Chronicles. Kings is considered the political history, while Chronicles is the religious history. These both were originally one book, but the translators separated them into two books each. The books close with both Israel and Judah in exile and slavery. Do you wonder how I know all this stuff? Aristo Rat told me.

 Bro. Gray: (temple) Well, Glory! Glad to be with you today. I here to tell you about a great man and book in the Bible. Yes I am! Praise, the Lord. That book is . . . a . . . Ezra. That's right. Amen Let me get my notes. Now Ezra, Hallelujah! is all about tomatoes, ketchup, no that's my grocery list. Ezra was a preacher, well they called him a priest in the Bible, but it's the same thing. He was a writer too, cause he wrote all about Israel's return to their homeland after 70 years of exile. Hallelujah! It covers a history of about 80 years. Being the good preacher he was, he helped the people rebuild the temple and re establish worship. Hallelujah, it's time to go.

Puppet: The puppet should have the hiccups.(wall) Nehemiah means comforter. He held an important position as the king's cup bearer. He asked for a leave of absence and financial assistance to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He was a tremendous organizer, with the commitment to match the arduous task. Nehemiah was a man of prayer.

 Star: (star) Esther means star. She was a beautiful orphan that became the queen used by God to save Israelites from annihilation. The name of God is not mentioned once in this entire book.  The books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther are contemporary. That means they all took place around the same time period. Don't mix in the crowd, you can be a shining star by obeying God's Word.

 Aristo: In all the books of history we see that although leaders failed and people failed, God's Word never failed. He kept a careful watch over his Word to fulfill His Word, when His people met the conditions. God's love is never ending. God's faithfulness is limitless. He remained faithful despite their faithlessness. You are writing the history of your life everyday. Are you writing a story of commitment to see God's promises fulfilled in your life? You make the choices. You hold the pen, the future depends on your obedience to God's word.