Year B. Term 3. Lesson 2. Bible buddy - Samson

 Scripture: for teacher background:  Judges 13-16

Making contact: 

Arm wrestling. Have a small table with 2 chairs and ask for 2 children to arm wrestle.

They face each other, put right arms on the table and clasp hands. 

When they are given the signal they try and get the other person’s arm down to the table. Ask them who the strongest man in the Bible was.

Exploration:

After Gideon died things didn’t go well again in the land of Israel. 

The people sinned and disobeyed God and were worshiping Baals. 

This time it was the Philistines who had ruled over Israel for 40 years. 

There was a man named Manoah whose wife hadn’t been able to have children.

 One day an angel appeared and told her that she would have a baby, but he would be dedicated to God as Nazarite.

When he grew up he would rescue the people from the Philistines. 

To be a Nazarite meant the boy was never to cut his hair and not drink wine, bear or forbidden food. 

They offered a sacrifice to God to say thank you and while the flames were going up they saw the angel going up in the fire. 

When the boy was born they named him Samson. 

Samson grew up to with extra ordinary strength which came from God. We often see pictures of a huge man with tall muscles, but then that would be human strength. 

His was not human strength - it was God.

Samson was unfortunately not wise and often got into trouble because he always wanted his own way.

 He wanted to marry a heathen girl. When he came across a lion one day, he killed it with his bare hands.

 On the way to the wedding he saw a beehive in the carcass of the lion and at the wedding he told a riddle.

 He said if they guessed the meaning he would give them 30 sets of plain clothes and 30 sets of fancy clothes.  “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong one came something sweet."

The people tricked Samson’s wife into telling them the meaning. She cried all the way through the wedding until he gave in and told her. 

She told the men. They gave the answer. 

What could be stronger than a lion and what could be sweeter than honey. 

He was so angry that he went and killed 30 men so that he could give their clothes as a reward to the men for guessing the riddle. 

His wife was given to the best man at the wedding. To get even with everyone, Samson lit foxes tails with fire and let them loose in the cornfields. 

The Philistines wanted war with the Israelites.

The Israelites were so afraid of the Philistines that they promised to tie Samson up and hand him over. 

When they tried he just broke the ropes because God’s power made him so strong. He then found a jawbone of a donkey and went and killed a thousand men with it. 

Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. The Philistines begged her to trick Samson to tell her the secret of his strength. 

He said it was if he was tied up with 7 new bowstrings. 

They did this, but Samson just snapped them. He then said it was new ropes, but the same thing happened. 

Eventually he told her how he had been dedicated to God and mustn’t cut his hair. 

So she cut his hair while he was asleep and when the Philistines came they captured him easily because his strength had gone. They took his eyes out. He became their prisoner.

One day the Philistines were all worshiping their god Dagon in a huge temple. They sang that Dagon had triumphed over God. 

Samson was there chained to the great pillars. He asked God for strength just one more time and pushed on the pillars. The whole temple collapsed on top of everyone, killing himself and all the enemy.

Application

This Bible buddy is not a very good example. He had a bad temper and loved heathen women. He thought he could do what he liked.

He got drunk, slept around. 

A leader must obey God. Although he died because of his own stupidity, he brought down the Philistine nation with him.

Consolidation

There are pictures to colour in.

 A craft idea – the children can make a lion face using a paper plate. They can glue orange wool around the outside – cut it in short strips. Draw a lion face on the centre flat part of the plate. Holes can be made where the eyes are and elastic attached to make a mask.

Another craft idea is to make foxes using toilet roll insides. Legs can be made from packet ties and a head cut out of cardboard. A toothpick stuck in the back with red tinsel stuck on it represents the fire.

Memory Verse

" Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty." Zech 4:6