Judges 4:4–5
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.
Greetings!
To my sister Bible class teachers!
I am so glad you stopped by!! I admire each of you who have taken on teaching a Bible class!
No matter what age we are teaching, we have a common thread of loving God, His Word, and those wonderful children! There are definitely challenges, and thinking of how to relate the lesson to a broad or particular age group is always a challenge.
I must confess at one point this quarter I was feeling somewhat discouraged and was having a struggle finding the drive I once had for developing my Bible lessons. Well, I got the lesson finished and went to class and I must say, by the end of class I was so very encouraged by my students I was once again on fire!! I had found that drive in the classroom, teaching God’s Word!
I hope you find this little article encouraging as I share some of my ideas about the lesson of Deborah that my students loved and I hope yours do too!
The book of Judges!
This defiantly is an action packed book to say the least! Sad to say, that time after time the Israelites had set themselves up to take the fall on many occasions for serving false gods and not trusting in God. If they just would have listened! The time old scenario of disobedience and consequences. Yes, it seems as though after going through so much they would finally learn and finally listen to God. But at this point, God is testing them to see if they will serve Him or not.
Judges 2:11-23
Studying the Text and Notes!
Of course as with any Bible lesson we must read, study words and such, and make notes. For me, the computer with my Logos Bible program comes in so handy and makes my prep time a lot easier. I love to copy and paste the Bible text onto a document and move the margin over to make room for my notes about the text. If I use power point with my lesson I add pictures and put them beside the appropriate part of text that goes with each one.
This time I took the text of Judges 4 (Deborah), copied it off, used it as a scrip, and marked off all the parts for my students to read the parts of the characters. Each student had a copy of the “scrip” with a name of the character they got to choose. Some of them had 2 parts. If you have more kids than characters you can always have several soldiers fighting or more of the children of Israel crying out for help. It was great! Masks or hats would also be fun!
Visual Aids!
When I think of teaching the judges I think of the word JUDGES displayed in large letters, names/pictures of each judge, a false god, a palm tree or two (click here to see how to make an easy palm tree), swords, a gavel, kings garments, chariots, a mural of a city or tent, Bible verses displayed having to do with the period, and pictures for the events in the lesson. The pictures for the lesson, weather to format and print to set on an easel or for power point I love to check out the site Free Bible Images!
On the poster of the Judges below, Abimelech is listed, but is listed as self-appointed.
I always put a caution sign up with his name on the wall for we need to be careful to follow the authority of God and not over step our place.
(To get the straight even lines on the poster, I actually pulled out my cutting mat for measuring from side to side and marked it across a straight
Below we were utilizing our magnet wall with Bible verses to unscramble under the Judges names and pictures.
The large wiggle eyes in the corner go along with the Bible verse, Judges 17:6
Maps!
I always love a good map that deals with our specific lesson.
This map shows the battle of Barak and Sisera. We actually have 2 maps of where the 12 tribes settled with the divisions of the promised land. One is a nice color map from Shaping Hearts product list and a puzzle map that I made that includes where the Levites lived and the cities of refuge. You can also buy a Conquer Canaan map puzzle with the 12 tribes from Teaching Them to Know God!
My 4-5th graders love a map!
Props!
Props are always fun.
We used this as Jael’s tent peg. You can purchase a similar nail here!
Singing About the Judges!
It is always good to have songs that fit the lesson! I have great little song book entitled Each Little Dew Drop. It had the best little song about the Judges and when I typed in the books name I found that this congregation had all the little songs free on line for anyone to listen to and use! What a great find!
You can find an optional Judges song at the Apologetics Press site in the curriculum section,
Application Corruption Blockers!
In all our discussion about the cycle of judges and how corrupt they had become, one of the things we go over each time is our Corruption Blockers! What is a corruption blocker? It is a Bible verse that can help us in our lives today from being corrupted by sin, (2 Peter 1:5-11).
I made a paper pouch for each word in the verse, (you could use an envelope). Then I wrote out the verse and cut it apart and added the book in one pouch, chapter and verse in another, and then each word in their own pouch.
Pass out the filled pouches to each student, (they may have more than one). Go over to the designated area and they all empty their pouches and try to put the Bible verse together without looking up the verse and then look up the Bible verse and check themselves. Talk about how the judges had become corrupt by forgetting God and what He wanted. We need to remember what God is telling us in His word today and use these verses as Corruption Blockers! I write these corruption blocker verses on the board and we go over them each week.
The next week we had Corruption Blocker #2 and so on.
These can be done as a review as well!
Speaking of Review!
Apologetics Press has some great review questions about the Judges all typed out for you and ready to print. Just go to their web site and log in for free. Once you are logged in click on “Curriculum” and then year 3. You will find the Judges Review questions in Old Testament 5, just click on Review. (I also love Apologetics Free Curriculum!)
Thanks for stopping by!!
You may also enjoy ideas from my personal blog,
Awakening – Teaching Bible to Children Oh the Possibilities!
https://myplacerealized.blogspot.com/?m=1
Proverbs 11:25b Whoever refreshes others will also be refreshed.
Gwen
She enjoys opening the Word of God with various ages, but children are one of her all-time favorites. Gwen has had the pleasure of putting the Word into the hearts of children for over 40 years and loves it still! Gwen also loves to conduct personal home Bible studies.
Gwen has been married to her husband Dan for over 45 years. He has been the pulpit minister at the Owasso Church of Christ in Owasso Oklahoma for over 26 years. They both love working with this congregation. They are richly blessed with 3 grown children who along with their spouses love and serve in the Lord’s kingdom in various ways. Gwen and Dan are even further blessed to have Jonathan, Matthew, Micaiah, Lydia, and Esther Rose join the ranks making them Grandma/Nina and Opa!
Gwen enjoys lectureships, outdoors, good movies, reading, crafting/sewing, organizing, pizza, and a comfortable chair.
She is the author of the book, Mary Rose & Me Learn Bible Truths Together! Mary Rose will help you love God, others, and yourself! Check it out at the link below!
https://www.amazon.com/Keaac-Womens-Pieces-Crewneck-Sleeve/dp/1943245150#customerReviews
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