One of the main ways that we teach the Bible to children is to tell them all about the heroes and villains found within its pages. We teach about the shepherd boy who became king, or the girl who saved her people with bravery and a party. We teach how God saved a family from a flood or shut the mouths of lions. We talk about the miracles of Yeshua and His sacrifice.
One by one, we plop little drops of knowledge into a bucket of understanding, hoping that our children will make connections and draw forth wisdom. But if all they know is the various characters of the Bible stories, they can't focus on the true protagonist: the Creator Himself.
When the Pieces Don’t Come Together
It’s for this reason that our ministry works so hard to introduce children to the God of the Universe before ever meeting His creation. Our goal is always to demonstrate His character, not the caricatures that the known heroes of faith can become. The idea that the Bible is God's story isn't a new one. But all too often, this concept is reserved for adults while we let our children learn bits and pieces—hoping that when they're older, the pieces will all snap together like a puzzle and they'll see the bigger picture.
Unfortunately, this fails a majority of the time. How many young people do you know today that spent their entire childhood at Shabbat School, youth group, or vacation Bible schools and now want nothing to do with the faith that they were raised in? Personally, I know hundreds. And part of the reason for this is the holes that were left in our knowledge of God from the time we were little. Those holes get bigger and bigger over time, widened by experiences and let-downs throughout a lifetime, until the entire picture falls apart.
Watching my peers abandon their faith has always been a point of sorrow for me. But to see their children now growing up with nothing? That's an even bigger heartache.
Starting at the Beginning
So how do we fix it? How do we use what God has given us to change the trajectory of generations to come?
We start at the beginning. We start building the puzzle one sequential piece at a time.
Studies show that learning is done best by repetition and continued exposure to the concepts or ideas. So, if we can grow in the knowledge of the Lord by repeatedly visiting His Word in the same order over and over again until we grasp the full picture... why wouldn't we do it?
A Pattern That Has Worked for Generations
The Jewish people have been employing this method for hundreds of years. It’s a reading cycle known as the Parsha readings. Each week, every Jewish person around the world focuses on the same part of the Torah. This communal, cyclical routine creates an ingrained sense of understanding about the God of our forefathers. The same sections over and over again, demonstrating God's eternal faithfulness.
More Than Stories—The Big Story
So, one day, I took out a bunch of “storybook” Bibles from the library, trying to understand what they were imparting. And no matter what, the contents focused on the people of the Bible—not its Author. Which is when we here at the Bible Society made it part of our mission to promote biblical literacy and comprehension from a Jewish perspective—teaching parents and families the value of the Big Story.
We want you to learn how to dig into the Word. We want you to learn how to glean from the same Scriptures over and over again. We want you to teach your children how to find God in every situation. That’s why we first created the TLV Bible: Young Readers Edition↗️ —with 52 full-color guided readings designed to introduce children to the grand narrative of Scripture from the very beginning.
A Pathway for the Rest of Us
But what about those who didn’t grow up that way? What about teens, young adults, and even adults who are still trying to piece the story together?
That’s where TLV Bible Pathways ↗️ comes in.
The Biblical narrative is more than a collection of stories—it is the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan across time, revealed through His Word and ultimately through the life and words of our Jewish Messiah, Yeshua. TLV Bible Pathways was created to help bring that narrative into focus—guiding readers through 100 carefully selected Scripture readings from Genesis to Revelation, alongside the complete Tree of Life Biblical Art collection. Together, they form a clear, sequential journey through the Scriptures, helping you see the full picture unfold and recognize God’s faithfulness across every generation.
