Samson
Dear Parents,
Samson
was the last of the major judges of Israel. He was born to parents who
dedicated him to the Lord as a Nazirite after the Angel of the Lord announced
that Samson would be born to save the Israelites from the power of the
Philistines. Samson grew up, and God blessed him with great strength. But when
Samson requested to marry a Philistine woman, his parents were confused. Samson
was supposed to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. Why would he want
to marry one of them? But God had a plan in all of this. (See Judg. 14:4.)
As
Samson prepared ...
Gideon
Dear Parents,
Last
week, your kids learned about Deborah and Barak. This week, Judges 6 starts out
in a familiar way: “The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”
The period of Judges was not a good time for the Israelites. Their cycle of
sin, bondage, deliverance, and peace clearly showed the law alone could not
save them from sin.
The
Israelites were oppressed by the Midianites, and they cried out to God for
help. God chose a man to save them, and his name was Gideon. Gideon was an
unlikely leader, and he knew this. Gideon said, “Please, ...
Deborah and Barak
Dear Parents,
This week, kids learn that the time of the judges
continued after the death of Ehud. The Israelites fell into a continuous cycle
of sin, bondage, deliverance, and peace. Every judge was imperfect, yet God
worked through the judges. At the time when the Israelites were oppressed by
the king of Canaan, Deborah was the judge of Israel. Deborah sent for Barak and
encouraged him to take up an army and fight the army of Canaan and its leader,
Sisera.
Deborah reminded Barak that God would hand
Sisera and his troops over to him. (Judg. 4:6-7) Barak agreed to ...
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
Dear Parents,
Thank
you for choosing to use the Gospel Project for Kids. Following Joshua’s death,
the Israelites were without a leader. They fell into a cycle of sin that can be
seen during each reign of the judges. The cycle is marked by an A-B-C-D-E
pattern. Let’s look at the first judge, Othniel, to see this pattern.
First,
the people fell into Apostasy. They
turned away from God and served other gods. (Judg. 3:7) Next, they experienced
a period of Bondage. God was angry
with the Israelites, and He gave them into the hand of the king of Aram. (v. 8)
Third, ...
Taking the Land
Dear Parents,
Last week, kids learned that God fought for His people
at the battle of Jericho. When Moses was the leader of Israel, God gave His
people instructions about entering the promised land. Among those instructions
was the command to drive out the nations living in the land of Canaan. (See
Deut. 7.) These nations were corrupt, and God would judge them for their sin.
(Lev. 18)
In the first battle, Israel marched around
Jericho and the Lord gave them the city. As Israel moved to take the rest of
the land, God pledged His presence to Joshua and reminded Israel ...
Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection
Dear Parents,
This week, kids learned that the events leading up to
Jesus’ death were terrifying for the disciples. Judas, their supposed friend,
betrayed their Lord. Jesus was arrested, beaten, and killed. Though Jesus had
plainly told the disciples that He would die and rise again on the third day,
they did not understand. In fact, they were afraid to ask about it. (See Mark
9:31-21.) They had believed that Jesus was the One who would rescue God’s
people, but how could He if He was dead?
Then, on the third day, Jesus rose from the
dead. When Mary Magdalene and ...
The Battle of Jericho
Dear Parents,
The Lord brought His
people into the promised land. Now they had a task set before them: conquer the
people living in the land. Before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River,
Joshua—in the way Moses had done decades before—sent scouts into the land. (See
Num. 13:2-3.) The first city the Israelites came to was Jericho. God told
Joshua that He had handed the city over to Israel.
The Lord’s reputation
went ahead of the Israelites, creating fear in the people of Jericho. With the
exception of one woman, the people of Jericho wanted nothing to do ...