Words for Wednesdays
Sometime Bible characters get stuck in the Bible and all lumped together. When we imagine the Israelites in the wilderness, we smash them into one person, as though with a single voice they cried out, “We want meat!”
We forget that they were people, just like us, with individual minds and choices and lives and actions.
That’s probably why I loved the book Tirzah so much.
I read it to my children as a part of our history of Ancient Times, and through it, we were able to step into the shoes of a young Israelite girl as her people were freed from slavery in Egypt and began their hike to the Promised Land. We experienced the excitement of the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea. We felt the immense disappointment when they learned that they would not enter the land… yet.
We were all inspired by God’s great love in spite of our own failures. It also reminded us that Bible characters were people with daily lives, like us.
This is an excellent read-aloud for younger children or a read-alone for upper elementary and above. I highly recommend it!
Becky,
Our family just recently finished reading Tirzah as well. We loved it! I was actually crying at the end – relating so well to the sense of knowing we have also sinned against God, but His deep love, compassion, and forgiveness was poured out through the death of His Son. We were all drawn into the characters’ lives. Our oldest even thinks there should be a sequel written to see what happened to Tirzah and the younger generation. Great book!
Oh, wouldn’t a sequel be great? Maybe it’s 40 years later, and they’re entering the land?