Day 1
We ended Genesis 14, and now we are starting Genesis 16! In preparation for the lessons to come, let’s read all of Genesis 16 to your Tiny Arrows!
Day 2
We just learned that despite having very little people to help, Abram rescued Lot from giant killers and warriors! Now God is telling Abram that He is his shield and his reward! Remember Abram did not take a reward from the king of Sodom. Let’s read Genesis 15:1 and color the coloring page!
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” – Genesis 15:1 NIV
Day 3
Abram wanted a son to give everything that God had blessed him with. To tell everything that God had done for him. Today let’s read Genesis 15:2-3 then talk. Tell your Tiny Arrow some of the blessings God had given you that they will inherit!
But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” – Genesis 15:2-3 NIV
Day 4
Do you remember how we talked about the Word of the Lord being powerful? How the Word of the Lord made the stars. The Word of the Lord spoke life onto Abram and told him he would have a son! Do you think the Word of the Lord is powerful enough to give Abram a son? Yes! When the Word of the Lord speaks to you, it is powerful! Today let’s read Genesis 15:4 then find three examples in the Bible where the Word of the Lord was powerful!
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” – Genesis 15:4 NIV
Day 5
God told Abraham he would have as many descendants as the stars in the sky! That’s a lot! Today let’s count! Grab some cereal or small toys, something you have a lot of, then have your Tiny Arrow sit in front of you. Read Genesis 15:5 then place one object in front of them. Ask them the name of Abram’s son—Isaac! Then place one more and ask him the name of Isaac’s son who inherited the blessings—Jacob! Now place 12 more objects down for Jacob’s 12 sons—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin! Now dump the rest of the objects down and tell them that God told Abram he would have so many descendants it would be hard to count!
He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” – Genesis 15:5 NIV
Day 6
After seeing all the stars in the sky, do you think Abram believed what God said? Yes! Even though he could not even count the stars he knew God’s Word was powerful! Today let’s make an award ribbon! Color and cut out the coloring page and hang it somewhere your Tiny Arrow can see!
Abram believed the Lord and it was credited it to him as righteousness. – Genesis 15:6 NIV
Day 7
We learned that the Lord was talking to Abram. God told Abram he would have as many children as the stars and Abram believed Him! Then God reminded Abram that He was the same one who brought him from his old home in Ur to the promised land! Sometimes it helps when we are reminded what the Lord has already done for us! Today let’s read Genesis 15:7 then talk about some things God has already done for you!
He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” – Genesis 15:7 NIV
Day 8
Abram believed God, but he also knew that since he wouldn’t live to see him having as many children as the stars, he might not live to see his family take possession of the promised land. So he wanted to make sure that he would gain possession of the land! Today let’s read Genesis 15:8 then draw! Let’s draw and color a beautiful place we would want to live in.
But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” – Genesis 15:8 NIV
Day 9
God told Abram to make a sacrifice to him and Abram did. But when Abram was waiting for God to tell him what to do next birds tried to take away his sacrifice! Today let’s read Genesis 15:9-11 then have you Tiny Arrow grab 5 “sacrifices” (toys/food/etc.) for God. Have your Tiny Arrow put them in front of him, then distract him with one hand and with the other try to take away a toy. Try to encourage your Tiny Arrow to pay attention and protect what he has given to God so you don’t grab it. Tell him Abram had to drive away birds to not get his sacrifice either!
So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. – Genesis 15:9-11 NIV
Day 10
As Abram was waiting to give his sacrifices to God, God came and told him that his children would be in a different country for 400 years and they would be enslaved! Today let’s read Genesis 15:12-13 then ask your Tiny Arrows if they can guess which country they would go to and who would enslave them. Egypt!
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.” – Genesis 15:12-13 NIV
Day 11
In the previous lesson we learned that God was telling Abram his family would be enslaved in a different country! They would be slaves in Egypt! God was warning him ahead of time what would happen! Abram knew that they would be enslaved, but God also told him that they would be freed! Because God told Abram this, the Israelites in Egypt knew they would be freed from their slavery! God had already told Abram it would happen! Today let’s read Genesis 15:14 and ask your Tiny Arrow who freed the Israelites in Egypt and what happened for him to do it—Moses and the 10 plagues! Then ask them if they know what they did with some of the treasure they got from Egypt—it helped build the Tabernacle and everything in it!
“But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions.” – Genesis 15:14 NIV
Day 12
We learned that God had told Abram what would happen to his children in the future. What would happen in Egypt. Even though Abram’s children would experience this, God told Abram that he would die in peace at an old age. Today let’s read Genesis 15:15. Even though Abram would not experience the slavery in Egypt he knew his children would. He could prepare them for what was to come. Today let’s think. Ask your Tiny Arrow if they knew their children’s future, how would they prepare them for it? How would you have prepared their children for 400 years in a different country—in Egypt?
“You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.” – Genesis 15:15 NIV
Day 13
In the previous lesson we talked about preparing for the future. Even though Abram’s children would be enslaved, God said they would come back to the promised land. Then He told them the people who lived there were sinful, but He was not ready to punish them yet. Today let’s color the measuring stick timeline and read Genesis 15:16.
“In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” – Genesis 15:16 NIV
Day 14
The sacrifices that Abram had given to God were going to be used to make a covenant or agreement between God and Abram. God used smoke and fire to represent himself making an agreement. Today let’s read Genesis 15:17 and put together the coloring page!
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. – Genesis 15:17 NIV
Bonus: God has used fire and smoke to represent him in the Bible! Let’s color in the coloring page of when He was represented by a pillar of cloud and fire and a smoking and burning mountain!
Day 15
God had promised Abram and his descendants a lot of land, but people already lived there! Today let’s read Genesis 15:18-21, color the coloring page of Abram then grab some string (or two blankets) and 10 toys (animals or figurines). Place some string on the floor representing the Euphrates River then some string below it representing the Wadi of Egypt. Then place all the toys scattered in between them. God told Abram that land was for his descendants. The land was made by God, and the land was God’s to give. Now place the Abram picture in the middle and read off the verse again. Each time you name a name or a people group, take one toy off until there are none left.
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” – Genesis 15:18-21 NIV
Day 16
Today let’s reread Genesis 15 and remember the activities and verses we learned!