With the kids back in school, it’s fun to go back in time to Bible days and see how our children were educated during the time of Christ.

In the Old Testament, you’ll find lots of references regarding how people felt religious training was important, so the primary purpose of education among the Jews was the learning of and obedience to the law of God, by studying the Torah, generally referring to the first 5 books of the  Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Of course, the secondary purpose in educating the young was to teach the practical lessons for everyday life, which meant a trade for the male and the care and feeding of the household for the female. Think of Jesus apprenticing under Joseph for carpentry. 

And the blessed virgin learning from her mother and relatives all about the dietary laws, how to make the home ready for special holidays and Sabbath, and important skills like weaving, spinning and my favorite, making home remedies! 

Did they have proper establishments like schools that are common today?

Home was considered the first and most effective way to teach, and parents were considered the best teachers. 

That responsibility is expressed in Genesis 18:19 where God states his expectation that Abraham will train his children and his household to walk in the ways of the Lord.

You see the same thing in Proverbs 22:6 for parents to teach their children according to the way of the Lord.  But the synagogues were places of teaching, weren’t they?

Yes, they provided additional education for Jewish males who started studying there quite young, around the age of 5, for perhaps a half a day, six days a week for about 5 years. Reading, writing and arithmetic were also taught. The synagogue spread rapidly and developed into an important educational institution along with home teaching. When they weren’t at synagogue, again, the males were home learning a trade from their father. 

In the New Testament, Christian teaching was regarded as a primary function of the pastor and churches met in the homes of members.

CHUNKY GRANOLA

Makes a nice chunky granola, but remember, you will always have some flaking. Be careful when breaking apart. 

Ingredients

Mix together:

4 cups old fashioned oats

1-1/2 cups sliced almonds or favorite nuts

1 cup mixed seeds: your choice of sesame, flax, millet, chia,

or sunflower seeds (see tip)

Coating

Whisk together and add the smaller amount listed at first, then taste and add more if you like.

1/2 to 2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup honey 

2-3 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325. Put a piece of parchment on large cookie sheet . Spray parchment.

Pour coating over oat mixture. Pour onto pan and pat down evenly and firmly. This is important to make the granola chunk up later. 

Bake 25–35 minutes. Don’t overbake, remember granola crisps up more as it cools. Let cool and break into chunks. I use an offset spatula.

Tip:

• You can use any combo of seeds, even all sunflower. 
• Millet gives a delicious crunch and contains protein and iron. 
• Chia, like flax, is a great source of Omega 3’s.

GRAIN FREE GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE GRANOLA BARS, NO BAKE!

Daughter-in-law Jessie shared this recipe from Joyful Abode site a while back. I followed the recipe – no changes needed. Really yummy!

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups assorted nuts and seeds
• 1 cup dried fruit
• 2 cups shredded coconut 
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• splash of vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• generous sprinkle of cinnamon
• some more cinnamon

Roughly chop 1 cup of the nuts and seeds. Place in a bowl.

Use your food processor to pulse the other 1.5 cups of nuts and seeds into a finer “chop.” Add to the bowl.

Add your fruit.

Stir in the dried coconut.

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine oil, honey, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Cook until the mixture bubbles, then pour over the fruit/nut mixture.

Stir to combine completely.

Press your mixture into a parchment-lined pan of some sort. Press HARD.

Cool 2-3 hours, then remove from the pan and cut into bars. The bars cut best when completely cool.

Note: If you want your bars to be crunchier, cook your honey mixture a bit longer before mixing it into your fruit and nuts.