Strange Little Leather Boxes

1. Strange Little Leather Boxes “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” Deuteronomy 6:5-6

2. The Facts, Please! • The strange little leather boxes were called phylacteries. These boxes were usually 1 ½ inches square. They were made of the skin of a sheep or cow. Inside the boxes were some of God’s laws, written on strips of parchment. These were rolled up and tied with the white hairs of a calf’s or a cow’s tail. Through a flap in the box, a very long leather strap was passed. Jewish men used the straps to fasten the boxes to their foreheads and to their left arms, near the heart. They wore the boxes during their morning prayers.

3. More Facts, Please! • Why did the men wear the boxes? They thought they were obeying what God said about tying his Word to themselves. There was nothing wrong with doing this, but what God really wanted was for them to love him with all their hearts and to remember his laws and obey them always.

4. More Facts, Please! • When Jesus was on earth, there was a group of religious leaders called Pharisees. They taught God’s laws and tried to get people to obey them. Some Pharisees loved and obeyed God. Other Pharisees told people to obey the laws, but they didn’t do it themselves. They prayed long prayers on street corners to be seen by men. They wanted people to praise them and call them “master.” They wore extra large phylacteries to try to show that they were better than other people.

6. Fill in the Blanks! • The strange little leather boxes were called ------------. • These were worn on the arm and on the --------. • A very important religious group of Jews was the. --------- • Many Pharisees seemed good, but they didn’t love ---. • One who love God and came to see Jesus one night, was named ---------. • The difference between the good and the bad Pharisees was the condition of their -----.