Strange Little Leather Boxes

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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 65-6

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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
  Gods laws, written on strips of parchment.
  These were rolled up and tied with the white
  hairs of a calfs or a cows 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.

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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.

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More Facts, Please!

• When Jesus was on earth, there was a group of
  religious leaders called Pharisees. They taught
  Gods 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
  didnt 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.

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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 didnt 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 -----.