Samson Is Born Judges 13

Lesson 064 Samson Is Born Judges 13

MEMORY VERSE JUDGES 13:24 S o the wom an bore a son and called his nam e S am son; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. WHAT YOU WILL NEED: A large dark-colored cloth and a small doll. As many 3 x 5 cards as the number of children in your class, stickers, rubber stamps or markers. ATTENTION GRABBER! Walking Freeze Tag Play a game of Freeze Tag. Explain to the children that they will have to walk and not run. Have one person be the freezer and another the un-freezer. The freezer will go around the class freezing children. The children must remain frozen after being tagged. But the un-freezer will also be going around the room un-freezing the children. Explain to the children that the freezer is like our enemy who tries to cause problems in our lives. The un-freezer represents the Lord who delivers us.

LESSON TIME! God has given mankind a choice as to whether or not he would like to follow Him. Because of the wickedness of man s heart, man has chosen to follow his own ways rather than God s ways. Yet because God loves man so much He is willing to deliver man out of his sin. God provides salvation for us today through His Son Jesus Christ. God will always deliver His children. In the Old Testament God would use different men and women to deliver His people from their enemies. This served as a picture to God s people of the coming savior, Jesus. God demonstrates in the Bible over and over His desire to deliver His children. If we will only turn to him and forsake our own ways He is always there to deliver us. Of course, as we mentioned above, the greatest deliverance He ever provided for us is the deliverance found in His son Jesus. We will learn more about this deliverance in today s lesson. J U D G ES 13:1 Agai n t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l d i d e v i l i n t h e s i gh t o f t h e L O R D, an d t h e L O R D d e l i v e r e d t h e m i n t o t h e h an d o f t h e Ph i l i s t i n e s f o r f o r t y y e ar s. The children of Israel chose to do evil instead of walking in the ways of the Lord. God allowed the Israelites to be delivered to the Philistines because of their wickedness. The Philistines were the people that the Israelites were supposed to drive out of the land with the power of God. But because of their unbelief and disobedience they now became the slave of the Philistines. It is the same for us if we serve sin. We think it may be fun, or we are enjoying it, but the reality is that we will become slaves to sin if we give it any place in our lives.

Yet we will see that even while the Israelites were disobedient, God loved them and made a way of deliverance for them. Through God comes salvation and deliverance for His children. Even if we have turned away from God He still loves us. In fact Romans 5:8 says that while we were still in our sin and rebellion that God showed His love towards us through His son dying on the cross for us. Isn t it great to serve such a wonderful God who came searching for us and provided a way for us to have a relationship with Him? J U D G ES 13:2-5 N o w t h e r e w as a c e r t ai n m an f r o m Z o r ah, o f t h e f am i l y o f t h e D an i t e s, w h o s e n am e w as M an o ah ; an d h i s w i f e w as bar r e n an d h ad n o c h i l d r e n. An d t h e An ge l o f t h e L O R D ap p e ar e d t o t h e w o m an an d s ai d t o h e r, " I n d e e d n o w, y o u ar e bar r e n an d h av e bo r n e n o c h i l d r e n, bu t y o u s h al l c o n c e i v e an d be ar a s o n. " N o w t h e r e f o r e, p l e as e be c ar e f u l n o t t o d r i n k w i n e o r s i m i l ar d r i n k, an d n o t t o e at an y t h i n g u n c l e an. " F o r be h o l d, y o u s h al l c o n c e i v e an d be ar a s o n. An d n o r az o r s h al l c o m e u p o n h i s h e ad, f o r t h e c h i l d s h al l be a N az i r i t e t o G o d f r o m t h e w o m b; an d h e s h al l be gi n t o d e l i v e r I s r ae l o u t o f t h e h an d o f t h e Ph i l i s t i n e s. " God chose to bring deliverance to His people through the birth of a man named Samson. God chose obscure Danites to be the parents of the future deliverer. Samson would be consecrated to God, separated unto Him for His purposes.

God used these two Danites as parents who were faithful to Him. So many times in the Bible God will find ordinary people who love Him and are willing to obey Him to do great things. Samson s parents probably never dreamed that their son would be used so greatly in the nation of Israel. Maybe God wants to use some of us for great things. Unfortunately, Samson would not be obedient unto God. But God would still use him to begin to deliver His people from the Philistines. He will also teach all of us great lessons through the life of Samson. We don t have to look to an ordinary man for our deliverance. While Samson failed in many areas, our deliver (Jesus) never fails. We suffer the consequences and torment of sin just as the Israelites did but our deliverer is much mightier than Samson. God will always deliver His children. J U D G ES 13:8 T h e n M an o ah p r ay e d t o t h e L O R D, an d s ai d, " O m y L o r d, p l e as e l e t t h e M an o f G o d w h o m Y o u s e n t c o m e t o u s agai n an d t e ac h u s w h at w e s h al l d o f o r t h e c h i l d w h o w i l l be bo r n. " After Manoah s wife told Manoah of the message she received he prayed for God s guidance. He believed the word of God completely and asked to be taught. He trusted in the will of God and desired to obey and do his part in God s plan. Manoah was faithful and obedient. He is an example to us when we are asked by God to do a task. We should seek the Lord s guidance and desire to obey His commands. J U D G ES 13:9-14 An d G o d l i s t e n e d t o t h e v o i c e o f M an o ah, an d t h e An ge l o f G o d c am e t o t h e w o m an agai n as s h e w as

s i t t i n g i n t h e f i e l d ; bu t M an o ah h e r h u s ban d w as n o t w i t h h e r. T h e n t h e w o m an r an i n h as t e an d t o l d h e r h u s ban d, an d s ai d t o h i m, " L o o k, t h e M an w h o c am e t o m e t h e o t h e r d ay h as j u s t n o w ap p e ar e d t o m e!" S o M an o ah ar o s e an d f o l l o w e d h i s w i f e. Wh e n h e c am e t o t h e M an, h e s ai d t o H i m, " Ar e Y o u t h e M an w h o s p o k e t o t h i s w o m an?" An d H e s ai d, " I am. " M an o ah s ai d, " N o w l e t Y o u r w o r d s c o m e t o p as s! Wh at w i l l be t h e bo y ' s r u l e o f l i f e, an d h i s w o r k?" S o t h e An ge l o f t h e L O R D s ai d t o M an o ah, " O f al l t h at I s ai d t o t h e w o m an l e t h e r be c ar e f u l. " S h e m ay n o t e at an y t h i n g t h at c o m e s f r o m t h e v i n e, n o r m ay s h e d r i n k w i n e o r s i m i l ar d r i n k, n o r e at an y t h i n g u n c l e an. Al l t h at I c o m m an d e d h e r l e t h e r o bs e r v e. " God listened to Manoah and granted him his request. God hears our prayers and honors the cries of a pure and humble heart. Manoah and his wife welcomed the deliverance the Angel of the Lord told them of. So must we accept the deliverance God has provided for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. To reject the deliverance of Jesus is to accept death and judgment. When we accept Jesus as our Savior we have God s favor and the forgiveness of our sins. God will always deliver His children. House On Fire Let the kids act out a daring rescue. Make a house by placing a dark cloth over a table. Hide a doll inside the house. Have a child

volunteer to be the fireman. Blindfold them to get ready to make the rescue. With the class making siren, bell, and cries of help noises, let the blindfolded fireman go inside the house and rescue the baby. Explain to the children that when we are in danger our Heavenly Father will always come to our rescue. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:11). God will always deliver His children. J U D G ES 13:15 T h e n M an o ah s ai d t o t h e An ge l o f t h e L O R D, " Pl e as e l e t u s d e t ai n Y o u, an d w e w i l l p r e p ar e a y o u n g go at f o r Y o u. " God did a miraculous thing before Manoah and his wife. They were both awe-stricken to find that the Angel of the Lord Himself had come to them. While Manoah feared, his wife reasoned truth with him. She reminded Manoah that God s favor was upon them and that He had great plans for their lives. We must always remember that God is on our side and does not desire evil for His children. If God has forgiven us for our sins and delivered us from His judgment why should we fear anything wicked? Through God comes salvation and deliverance for His children. J U D G ES 13:24, 25 S o t h e w o m an bo r e a s o n an d c al l e d h i s n am e S am s o n ; an d t h e c h i l d gr e w, an d t h e L O R D bl e s s e d h i m. An d t h e S p i r i t o f t h e L O R D be gan t o m o v e u p o n h i m at M ah an e h D an be t w e e n Z o r ah an d Es h t ao l.

God was faithful to His word and provided Samson to begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. Yet God has provided an even greater deliverer for those who seek Him. Through belief in Jesus we can be delivered from our enemies: self, sin, and death. But not only are we delivered from those things which seek to destroy us, but we are brought into new life through Jesus Christ and are given the promise of eternal life with Him. How great is the love of God that He would desire to deliver us! God will always deliver His children. Mailman Game What does it mean to deliver? Our closest example is the modern day mailman. He takes our letters to the place we want them to go. When God delivers His people He takes them to the place where He wants them to go. Let your class deliver letters that you have pre-addressed on 3x5 cards. You can pre-address the letters to your regular attendees in your class, but make sure to leave some extras for visitors (Put their names on the cards when they arrive, don t give them an blank card). Let them decorate their letters with stickers and or rubber stamps before delivery. Shuffle the cards and hand out one to each child. Make sure that each child gets a different card than their own. This will help the children to learn each others names. Older kids may write a short note to someone in the class and each person send and receive a note through the real mail. PRAYER Lead the children in a prayer of thanksgiving for His faithfulness in providing a deliverer for us, Jesus. If there are any children who have not yet responded to the gospel, give them opportunity to do so. s