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BIBLE GUESSES.

38. Tell a Bible story, or review one of the object sermons, omitting the names of characters or objects. Without warning, the one reciting the story stops, and the next player carries on the story if he has been able to guess the omitted names, without mentioning them. If he has not discovered or guessed the right story, the next player takes it up, and so on until the story is completed and everyone knows it.

39. One of the children goes out of the room and the others decide on some object used in a sermon, or a certain thing mentioned in the Bible, which is to be described. For example: A watch, telescope, or the Ark, Joseph's coat of many colors, etc. Upon entering the room, the child may ask all manner of questions which can be answered by "yes" and "no". When the right thing is guessed, another goes out of the room and the game is repeated. Two or more children, or groups, may be the guessers at the same time.

40. The game of thinking is equally interesting. The leader thinks of some character, place or object in the sermons or mentioned in the Bible. The "thinker" then says—"I am thinking of some thing (person or place) and the name begins with 'C' (or the initial letter)." Each of the other players asks a question in turn, that can be answered by "yes" or "no". The questions are continued until some one guesses the name. The one who first guessed the name becomes the leader.

41. Make word pictures by describing persons and scenes without mentioning names. The others are to guess what it is. For example: The leader may say—"I see some ladies walking beside the water. Suddenly they stop and listen. Then one of them wades into the water and finds something," etc. If the picture is not promptly guessed, the story or picture of Pharaoh's daughter finding the baby Moses (Ex. ii: 3) is further described, until the picture is made known. Other stories may be used in the same manner.

42. One or two players go out. The others sit in line and choose a well known proverb, Bible verse, or sentence from the object sermon, having as many words as there are players. Each player having made certain what his word is, the others are called in. It is their duty to put the sentence together. They ask each player in turn a question on any subject, and in answering the player must use the particular word given him. The questions may be continued, and the word must always be used in the answer, until the one guessing has discovered the particular word that player has, and so on until all the words in their order are guessed and the sentence or proverb discovered.

In the same way, instead of the questions, the particular word may be acted, as charades, until the person guessing has discovered each word and at length composed the complete sentence.

43. Distribute paper and pencils. Let a single letter be selected and have each child write down the names of characters, objects and places mentioned in the sermons, or the Bible, that have the same initial letter. For example: The letter "A" may be selected, then would follow "Apple", "Adam", "Apostles", "Angels", "Army", "Asia", etc. Other initial letters may be selected and the game continued.

44. Have some one call out and write down a Bible name beginning with "A", as "Abram". The next one is to think of a name beginning with "B", as "Benjamin". "C" would come next, as "Caleb", then "David", "Eli", etc. The object is to see how many letters of the alphabet can be used and how often without repetition. Also names of places, objects and titles may be used.

45. Ask the children to write down as many as they can of trees, or stones, flowers, birds, instruments, animals that are mentioned in the Bible.

46. Bible geography can be made interesting and profitable. Get a shallow box and fill it with fine sand. Cities and countries may be wonderfully made. A small pile of the sand will represent a mountain, strips of blue or white paper can be used for rivers and lakes. Use small blocks and spools for houses and temples, small pebbles for roads. The people can be represented by matches and trees by tiny branches or leaves. When Palestine, for instance, is to be studied, small pieces of paper may be laid on the sand for the cities; the names or initials of the cities should be written on the pieces of paper.

47. Maps may be drawn and colored crayons used to show the roads, water, cities, buildings, etc.

48. From one of the sermons or a Bible story, select the name of a person, place or thing. Have each player write a sentence with the selected name embodied in it. When the sentences are read aloud, it will show quite original uses made of the name.

49. To supply missing letters is an easy, simple game. Write names of sermon objects or Bible characters with letters omitted. The children will enjoy supplying the missing letters necessary to complete the name. Sentences and Bible verses may be used with missing words for the children to supply.

BIBLE DRILLS.

50. Bible drills are entertaining and especially valuable to children old enough to read and commit the lessons to memory. By a simple method the children can figure out the books in the Bible and their classifications. By pursuing the studies, the names of the books will soon be learned and in their regular order.

51. Have the children count the letters in "Old" (3) and "Testament" (9). Place them together (39) and it gives the number of books in the Old Testament.

52. Now multiply these two figures (3 × 9) and the result will give the number of books in the New Testament (27).

53. Add together the two sets of figures (39 plus 27) and you will find the whole number of books in the Bible (66).

54. The figure "6" is found in the number of books in the Bible (66), the number of known authors or writers of the books (36), and the number of years during which the Bible was written (1600).

Thus we have 36 authors, 66 books, 16 centuries.

55. The books of the Old Testament may be divided into five groups: as the Pentateuch (Books of Moses), History, Poetry, Major Prophets and Minor Prophets. Have the children trace the outline of a hand on paper and the thumb and fingers will represent the groups. Thus, the thumb will represent the Pentateuch; the first finger, the History; the second finger, Poetry; the third finger, Major Prophets; and the fourth finger, Minor Prophets.

56. The New Testament may also be divided into five groups and represented by the other hand in the same manner. The five groups are Biography, History, Pauline Epistles (or Paul's Letters), General Epistles (or letters), and Prophesy.

57. The number of books in each group of the Old Testament are: 5 plus 12 plus 5 plus 5 plus 12—equals 39 books. In the New Testament, the five groups are made up of 4 plus 1 plus 13 plus 8 plus 1—equals 27 books.

58. The name of each group with the number of books in the group, may be written on separate cards. The cards are shuffled and the children sort them and place them together in their proper order, forming the Old Testament, then the New Testament.

59. The names of the different books which make up the groups are looked up and written under the name of the group. Take the groups in their regular order. Thus, group one would be Pentateuch, 5 books: Gen´e-sis, Ex´o-dus, Le-vit´i-cus, Num´bers, Deu´ter-on´o-my. The second and fifth groups, where there are twelve books each, may be subdivided into threes and fours for greater ease in committing to memory.

60. If the proper spelling of the names has also been committed to memory, or learned, then a regular spelling-bee may be held and the names of the Bible books used for the test words. The same tests may be made with the spelling of names of persons, places and things mentioned in the Bible.

61. After the books of the Bible, in their order, have been learned, open the Bible and call out the book at which it is open. Name another book and ask which direction (toward the front or back of the Bible) shall the pages be turned to find that book. Many other test questions may be asked, such as: "What book is between Job and Proverbs?" "In which group is Lamentations to be found?" "Between what books is that of Luke?"

62. Arrange the children in a row, or let them take their places in tents as shown on page 60, and then, as in a spelling-bee, ask the preceding or the following questions, or any other Bible questions that would be suited to the age of the children. When one fails to answer he loses his place and the child who gives the correct answer moves forward. The element of play is thus maintained.

BIBLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

63. Who was the first man? Adam.

Who was the first woman? Eve.

Who was the first murderer? Cain (Gen. iv: 8).

Whom did he kill? His brother Abel.

Who went to Heaven without dying? Enoch and Elijah.

How old was Enoch "when God took him"? 365 years (Gen. v: 23, 24). The same number of years that there are days in a year.

Who was the oldest man? Methuselah.

How old was Methuselah when he died? 969 years (Gen. v: 27).

Who built the Ark? Noah (Gen. vi).

How many persons were saved in the Ark? Eight (Gen. vii: 7). Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives.

How old was Noah at the time of the Flood? 600 years (Gen. vii: 6).

Who had the coat of many colors? Joseph (Gen. xxxvii: 3).

How many brothers did Joseph have? Eleven (Gen. xlii: 3, 4).

What did they do with Joseph? Cast him into a pit and afterwards sold him to the Ishmaelitish merchantmen (Gen. xxxvii: 28).

Where did the Ishmaelitish merchantmen take Joseph? To Egypt.

To whom did they sell him? Potiphar (Gen. xxxix: 1).

Who lied about Joseph and had him cast into prison? Potiphar's wife.

Who were in the prison with Joseph? The king's chief butler and chief baker (Gen. xl: 1, 3).

Who was King of Egypt at the time Joseph was in Egypt? Pharaoh.

Why did Pharaoh make Joseph ruler? That he might gather the grain during the seven years of plenty to lay up in store against the seven years of famine.

What did Pharaoh dream? About seven fat kine, or cows, and seven lean cows (Gen. xli).

What did Joseph do with the grain he gathered during the seven years of plenty? Put in great store houses.

Why did his brothers come to Joseph in Egypt during the famine? That they might get food (Gen. xlii).

Did his father, Jacob, and family go to live in Egypt? Yes.

How old was Joseph when he died? 110 years (Gen. l: 26).

How long did Jacob's descendants remain in Egypt? A little more than two hundred years.

Why did they desire to leave Egypt? Because of the oppressions and cruelty of Pharaoh (Ex. i: 8, 14).

Whom did God raise up to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt? Moses.

How long did they wander in the wilderness? Forty years.

Was Moses permitted to enter the Promised Land? No.

Who led the Children of Israel into the Land of Canaan, which was the Promised Land? Joshua.

How did the Children of Israel cross the Red Sea and the Jordan? The waters were divided and they crossed "dry shod."

Who was the strongest man? Samson.

Who was the meekest man? Moses.

Who, as a ruler, was a man after God's own heart? David.

Who built the Temple? Solomon.

Who went to Heaven in a chariot of fire? Elijah.

On whom did the mantle of Elijah fall? Elisha.

Who was swallowed by the great fish? Jonah (Jonah i: 17).

Who destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem and carried the Children of Israel into captivity? Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24, 25).

Where did he take them? To Babylon (2 Kings 25).

How long were they captive in Babylon? Seventy years.

Who interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream? Daniel.

How did Nebuchadnezzar reward Daniel? Made him ruler over Babylon (Daniel ii: 48, 49).

What were the names of Daniel's three friends? Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

What heathen names were given them instead? Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego (Daniel i: 6, 7).

What befell the three friends of Daniel? They were cast into the burning fiery furnace.

Why were they cast into this furnace? Because they refused to fall down and worship a great golden image which Nebuchadnezzar, the King, had set up in the plain of Dura.

Were they consumed in the furnace? No, God delivered them (Daniel iii).

What befell Daniel years later, when Darius was King? He was cast into the den of lions (Daniel vi).

Why was he cast into the den of lions? Because he prayed to the true God.

Did the lions harm Daniel? No, God stopped the mouths of the lions and delivered Daniel.

The author's intense interest in the safeguarding and saving of the boys and girls from the evils which have wrought the ruin of such countless multitudes, prompts in connection with this introductory word, to call the special attention of the parents to an advertisement which has been placed at the close of this volume.