One of the most difficult things about homeschooling is trying to find really good scriptural, Torah and Gospel friendly resources for High School students (believe me, I have two of them). Especially in the field of Ancient Near Eastern and First-Century context, the materials are either inaccurate or too advanced even for most adults to tackle (believe me, I struggle with a lot of the books out there and this is what I do day in and day out). So how do you find something to both instruct and challenge your high school students without discouraging them, or treating them like babies? How do you find clear, foundational teachings based on the latest findings of archaeologists and historians – yet presented from the point of view of the Bible being absolutely true? That the Messiah of Israel has come and will return soon to claim the Kingdoms of the earth? How do you give them a starting place so that they can go on to advanced studies on their own?
King, Kingdom, Citizen: His Reign and Our Identity was written in order to present some of the hottest topics in Biblical context in an easy to read, logical and down to earth manner. I wrote this book at a level that is accessible to almost any High School student. I produced it in response to the problem of so many of our young people going off to college and falling for the lie that the Bible is a bunch of made up stories with no historical accuracy whatsoever – resulting in their walking away from the faith or, even worse, denying our Messiah entirely.
King, Kingdom, Citizen will introduce your student to:
Suzerain-Vassal Treaties – Why didn’t God react to the transgression in the garden until Adam sinned?
Why were the Ten Commandments written on two tablets?
What did the pillar of cloud mean to the Egyptian army?
What is the Land Grant Covenant and why is it important today?
What did “justice and righteousness” mean in the Ancient Near East and why was that an important sign of the Messiah?
What is the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven?
Where did John come up with the idea of the “Word of God” and how do we prove that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah of Israel?
What was the importance of Messiah’s role as the Royal Messenger?
How do we reconcile a first and second coming of Messiah in the Jewish expectation of a suffering servant and a conquering King?
Why is it vitally important to understand Ancient Near Eastern and First Century Adoption laws?
Where is the Name of Yeshua (Yehoshua) as the Name of the Messiah revealed in the Old Testament?
What are Patrons and Clients in the ancient world and why is this understanding vital to grasping Messiah’s role as mediator?
Who were the main players in the First Century world of Yeshua (Jesus)? What were the controversies – and why were Gentiles still being kept out of the Kingdom until a decade after Yeshua’s resurrection?
What would the Acts 15 case look like if it were portrayed as a literal modern court case? How would your understanding of the council change if you knew all the backstories?
Who were the strong and the weak in the book of Romans? What was the controversy there and what does it have to do with being a good citizen?
What was and was not happening in Galatia? I go through the chapters verse by verse, proving that the controversy was about Kingdom Citizenship and not about the law. Why was Paul forced to fight for the rights of uncircumcised converts?
Of course, King, Kingdom, Citizen is for adults too. It’s just written at a level that is uncomplicated – just because I have to read words like apposite, adumbrate and others, doesn’t mean that I think this information has to be presented that way. Context is the key to unlocking the beautiful, and yet often confusing stories of the scriptures. For too long we have read right over the things we don’t understand – sometimes making up spiritual stories in order to make sense of them – but over the last 150 years incredible discoveries have been made that have truly opened up a treasure trove for us. Knowledge in indeed increasing, and we have the opportunity to look into the lives of the Bible characters as they were – real people who lived lives that were incredibly different from our own. We can prove that these “stories” were actually histories.
I hope that you will allow me to share this exciting world of context with your family.
My book can be found at
http://hebrewrootsteachings.com/product/king-kingdom-citizen/
and
If you want to order in bulk for group study, please get in touch with me at thebestoftimesisnow@yahoo.com
And keep your eye out for my upcoming series designed to teach context to Elementary school students.
