The Secret of the Missing Scrolls – Part 2

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DEAD SEA SCROLLS ADVENTURE THEME FOR KIDS

This free printable theme is a fun and exciting apologetics adventure for kids, bringing history to life while confirming that God says what He means and means what He says. This will be a long series and it’s a bit hard to know where to start… so how about back-to-front this time? Yeah, I think we’ll do the sample letter first. That will give you a bit more of an theme overview too. This is the letter that I sent to my kids. You are more than welcome to download it. It is available in English and French… just insert your child’s name; add a short personal note and a pic if you wish, and then sign it. Letter done.

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THE SECRET OF THE MISSING SCROLLS ~ SAMPLE LETTER / STATIONERY FOR KIDS ~ FREE PRINTABLE

Dear (insert your child’s name)

To the east of the city of Jerusalem, the mountains plunge 1200 metres to the Dead Sea. It is the lowest point on Earth. For thousands of years this desert has held many secrets buried in its sands. Your assignment today is to uncover them. Some of the most dramatic stories from the Bible took place here, among the rocky caves and intense heat of the barren Judean Desert. Before David became king, this is where he came to seek refuge in the desert mountain caves while fleeing from King Saul. It is where Jesus stood firm against the temptations of the devil. Your adventure—which will be both dangerous and exciting—begins at a little place called Qumran, near the Dead Sea. It is 13 miles (about 17 km) south-east of Jerusalem. Apart from your imagination, here is everything that you will need. 

1. Your first task requires skill. The year is 125 B.C. You will be assisting the scribes at Qumran to prepare new scrolls. They expect the Messiah to come at any time. There is much to be done.

2. Next, you will zoom ahead in time—nearly 200 years—to 68 A.D. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, has come and gone. It has now been 36 years since His resurrection. You are again at Qumran with the scribes, but today there is a great panic. Everyone is in immense danger. The Roman soldiers are coming! Your task is to help the scribes hide all their precious scrolls in caves and then help them escape. There is not much time. Your mission is incredibly dangerous. Your own life is at great risk, however I know that God will give you the help and strength you need to be brave and courageous as you care for others. I am confident that you will succeed.

3. After that, you will abruptly zoom ahead in time, all the way to 1947 A.D. You suddenly find yourself following a Bedouin shepherd. Where is he going? All you know is that he must not see you. You are trying not to stumble as you carefully find your way around the crumbling limestone cliffs of the Dead Sea. It is hot and dusty. You notice that he has left his flock of sheep and goats. He seems to be busy searching for a stray. You do not immediately recognise the area as being Qumran. The shifting sands of the desert have changed the area much in the last 1900 years. Look! He has discovered a cave! It is tucked into that crevice over there in the steep rocky hillside. Intrigued, you hold your breath as he throws a rock into the mysterious darkness. Who knows? Maybe it will be full of treasure. Startled, you jump back. Was that the sound of pottery breaking?

4. You abruptly find yourself in 1948 AD—roughly one year later. You witness a dangerous and secret meeting at the Jerusalem border. Tensions in the area are high. Your task this time is to stay silent and watch. On one side of the border wire, you recognise Professor Eliezer Lipa Sukenik from the Hebrew University. On the other side, is an antiquities dealer who is holding an ancient fragment of antique leather through the wire for the professor to examine. What are those marks on it? It looks like ancient writing. They talk in hushed tones about ‘The Dead Sea Scrolls’. The professor is eager to see more. You follow them at a safe distance.

The professor carefully takes a scroll and opens it. It was 1,000 years older than any others he had seen. Later, you see him write in his diary: “My hands shook as I started to unwrap one of them. I read a few sentences. It was written in beautiful biblical Hebrew. The language was like that of the Psalms, but the text was unknown to me. I looked and looked, and I suddenly had the feeling that I was privileged by destiny to gaze upon a Hebrew Scroll which had not been read for more than 2,000 years.” You ponder all you have seen and wonder if it has anything to do with the cave at Qumran.

5. It is now 1949 A.D. You are surprised to discover that you are again back at Qumran, this time working with an archaeological team. As your team searches the desert for treasure, Archaeologists Roland De Vaux and Gerald Lankester Harding inspect a photo of some pottery jars. You look up. In the photo, you can clearly see the jars have been broken and glued back together. You smile as you remember that day in the desert. It was the sound of pottery breaking that you heard! A sound which echoed around the world! The area at Qumran is now buzzing with excitement. Everyone is talking loudly and openly about ‘The Dead Sea Scrolls’. What the shepherd thought was nothing but old scrolls—some wrapped in linen and blackened with age—turned out to be the greatest find of the century! And you were there to witness it! It was nothing short of a miracle!

We hope that you enjoy your archaeological adventure with us today.  Greetings to your family and friends in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We love you and are praying for you. 

Signed……… (by you)

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PHOTO SUGGESTIONS  (add a photo if you wish, using this easy tutorial as a guide)

• Great sunset image of the jars from inside the cave, waiting to be discovered (crop the writing off)
• An original pottery jar (complete with cracks)
• A small Dead Sea Scroll
• Dead Sea Scroll fragments

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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS  (not necessary for this package, but just for your own personal interest… fascinating)

Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library (Leon Levy Collection) at the Israel Antiquities Authority Jerusalem
The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Shrine of the Book where the actual physical scrolls are kept at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

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RELATED LINKS

The Secrets of the Missing Scrolls – part 1 – part 3 – part 4 – part 5 – part 6 – part 7 – part 8

Bible Treasure Theme 1 – part 1 – part 2 – part 3  (including another sample letter)

Older Boys

Does archaeology support the Bible?  (Answers in Genesis)

Google meets Qumran – Times of Israel.com – Dead Sea Scrolls describing the ultimate treasure hunt to piece together and photograph thousands of fragments of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls – God’s Word – and put them online so that everyone can see them for themselves. Written 2,000 years ago and first discovered at Qumran on the Dead Sea in 1947. These high-resolution images of 950 different manuscripts, are made using special imaging equipment first developed for NASA. The hi-tech cameras have made visible sections of parchment that were previously indecipherable. The actual Dead Sea Scrolls can be found here: deadseascrolls.org.il/

Discover the location of the most important Biblical discovery ever made  check out this cool drone footage over Qumran (3 mins); Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947-1956, extensive excavations have taken place in Qumran. Nearly 900 scrolls were discovered. Most were written on parchment and some on papyrus. Cisterns, Jewish ritual baths, and cemeteries have been found, along with a dining or assembly room and debris from an upper story alleged by some to have been a scriptorium as well as pottery kilns and a tower

Sample Letter – Keep the Faith

Sample Letter – Stretch your Wings

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And when you write to your Compassion child, don’t forget to tell them whose words were ‘God-breathed’ onto those scrolls all those centuries ago. The God of the Old Testament is the same Lord Jesus who walked the streets of first century Israel, who died to pay the penalty of our sins and then rose again…

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