jael

Deborah and Jael

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! Today’s story is from Judges 4-5. Last year’s lesson and craft can be found HERE.

deborah

So the Israelites needed a leader. God was giving them judges (people who help make decisions) to help lead the people and remind them of God’s laws. When the people had a judge, they obeyed God. When a judge got old and died…the people would disobey God again until He gave them a new judge.

One of those judges was named Deborah. She was very wise and the Bible says she would give advice and teach the people outside under some palm trees.

The Israelites had been disobeying God so they were now working for the Canaanites (the people who lived in the promised land that they were SUPPOSED to defeat before but hadn’t). The people complained and asked God for help. Deborah told Barak (the leader of the Israelite army) that God said he should lead the army to face the Canaanite army leader. She said God would help them defeat Sisera (the leader) and his army.

And big, strong Barak said….”ummm only if you go with me??” He was too scared to go alone!

Deborah said “Yes, I will go with you…but because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will give Sisera into the hands of a woman.” (A woman will defeat Sisera and not you!)

So off they went. They met Sisera and his army and Deborah was not afraid. “Go! God is with you!” she said. And the Israelites defeated the Canaanites. Only Sisera was still alive and he ran and ran until he came to a tent.

There was a woman there named Jael.

Jael said  to Sisera “Come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

“I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” So she gave him a drink, and covered him up so he could take a nap.

“Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

But instead, while he fell asleep, Jael killed him.

Just then Barak came by looking for Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera–dead.

Deborah sang a song of praise to God for helping them defeat their enemies.

God used two women, Deborah and Jael in His big plan. Barak was scared to go without Deborah, but we never have to be afraid to follow God. Deborah and Jael were brave and they trusted God to help them.

We can always trust God to help us do the things He asks us to do. And no one can ever tell you that you can not be a leader for others. No one can say “because you are a girl, or a kid, or have brown skin, or white skin, or are too short, or too tall, or have curly hair, or wear glasses you can’t be a leader.” God can use ANYONE He wants to be a great leader! Let’s trust God to use us to do big things and not be afraid to follow Him always!

THIS is the link to the BrickTestament retelling of the story (a LEGO version).

THIS is a video by BimBam (formerly G-dcast).

And THIS video is a song about Deborah posted by sheilahamil. (While admittedly, it’s not the best quality video…it is full of truths that could be adapted to your own home or Sunday school lesson).

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

A Tale of Two Women

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hello again!

We have arrived at the book of Judges (Judges 4 specifically today).

So Joshua had been leading the people into the promised land and then he died. The Israelites (God’s chosen people) had not defeated EVERYONE like they were supposed to, and the people who were left got them to worship other statues and idols (fake Gods).

God was not happy that His people were disobeying and as a bad consequence, they now had to work HARD for the Canaanites that were left.

God put Judges in charge of His people. A judge is someone who makes decisions. That person would be in charge and would remind the people of how to follow God. They would also settle arguments if two people were fussing. When Israel had a judge, they would obey God…when that judge died, they would forget again and make bad choices, until God gave them a new judge.

One of the judges God gave the people was a woman named Deborah. During this time, she helped the people make good choices and she encouraged them (helped them feel better) because they were working so hard for the Canaanites. It was supposed to be a wonderful land God had given them, but since they made bad choices, they now had to work really hard there.

But God told Deborah to call Barak, a man who could lead the Israelites’ army and they could fight Jabin the king and Sisera, his army leader.

Barak came, but you know what? He was too scared to fight! And asked Deborah to come with him. Deborah said she would, but since he was too scared, that God would let another woman defeat the king, not Barak. But Deborah was a good leader, and when there was a dangerous job to do, she was willing to help.

So the army went to fight and they fought and fought and all the Canaanites ran away. Even the king ran away…to a house where he thought he’d be safe. The mommy there was named Jael. She invited him in, but she knew God wanted him defeated and after he laid down to hide, she killed him.

After that, the Israelites were able to defeat Jabin and the Canaanites. Because two women obeyed God, the Israelites were able to be free in the promised land once again.

For our craft today, I had each child draw a woman’s face, then we cut them in half and glued taped them together, to make two women. Deborah on one side, Jael on the other.

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Next time, we’ll learn about Gideon. Thanks for joining us today. Love to you all!