Gideon and the Fleece – Judges 6 - Part 1 of 2

Gideon and the Fleece – Judges 6 - Part 1 of 2

Sometimes, we label ourselves. We might say, " Because of this, I'm just THAT. "

Sometimes, other people label us. They might say, " Because of this, that person is THAT. "

On the other hand, God labels us in a wonderful way. God will say:

Father God: YOU are my beloved child! YOU are the one I love! I have created YOU to do something very special! I have big plans for each one of YOU!

A few years after Judge Deborah died, the Bible tells us about a man named Gideon.

Gideon labeled himself in this way.

GIDEON: I am just a poor farmer.

His big brothers labeled Gideon in this way.

OLDER SIBLINGS: Gideon, you're not worth much because you are the youngest brother.

Many people from the other tribes of Israel labeled all of Gideon's tribe in this manner.

OTHER TRIBES: You are part of the weakest tribe of all the 12 Tribes of Israel.

But one day, an Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon. The angel sat down in the shade of a large tree and said:

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Gideon, you are a mighty hero.

GIDEON: Say what?!!! Me? A mighty hero? I'm just a poor farmer. I'm the youngest brother. I'm also part of the weakest tribe of all the 12 Tribes of Israel.

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Gideon, the Lord is with you.

Gideon thought about this for a minute. Then, Gideon said:

GIDEON: Now you're saying the Lord is with me??? How can you say that? The Lord used to do all kinds of miracles back when Moses was alive. Nowadays, we have to deal with those thousands of mean Midianites. They destroy and steal our crops and animals. They have made our lives absolutely miserable!

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Gideon, you ARE a mighty hero! The Lord has chosen you to rescue your people from the Midianites.

GIDEON: Me? Rescue Israel? I don't think so!

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Gideon, because the Lord is with you, that will make all the difference.

You may be wondering why the Midianites had spent the last 7 years causing trouble for the Israelites.

Sadly, the Israelites brought it on themselves because, after Judge Deborah died, they forgot all about God. Instead, they carved a bunch of statues and began worshiping them.

But finally, after seven long years of starvation and fear, the Israelites finally remembered God. They humbled themselves and called out to Him. Repeat after the CHANT LEADERS as they pray.

CHANT LEADER: Please God! (Group repeats.)
Save us from the Midianites. (Group repeats.)

So, first, God sent a Prophet. As a spokesperson for God, the Prophet told them:

PROPHET: You are not supposed to worship carved images and call them gods. You are only supposed to be worshiping the one and only true God!

Next, God sent one of His angels to visit Gideon. For even though Gideon did not think very much of himself, God knew that Gideon was just the right sort of person to become the next hero of Israel.

But Gideon was scared. He said:

GIDEON: Lord, if you really mean that I am supposed to lead the Israelite army, please provide me proof. Tonight, I will lay a sheep-fleece rug on the ground. Early in the morning, if the rug is wet from dew but the ground is dry, I will agree to lead the Israelite army.

The next morning, the ground was dry, but the rug was soaking wet.

Gideon still felt scared. He said:

GIDEON: Lord, please don't be mad. I need one more sign of proof. I will lay out that rug again. In the morning, let the dew fully wet the ground, but keep the sheep-fleece rug completely dry.

The next morning when Gidion got up, he saw that the ground was wet, but the rug was dry. Feeling more confident, Gideon said:

GIDEON: Okay, Lord. I agree. I will lead the Israelite army to victory against the enormous Midianite army. I will even destroy two of my tribe's idol statues.

Question: What are idols?

Answer: People worship a carved image as a false god.

Question: What is a prophet?

Answer: A spokesperson for God

Question: How did Gideon label himself?

Answer: Poor farmer. Youngest brother. Part of weakest of 12 tribes.

Question: How did God label Gideon?

Answer: As a mighty hero

Question: What did God want Gideon to do?

Answer: To rescue Israel. To fight against the Midianites.

Question: Why was it a sure thing that Gideon would win the fight against the Midianites?

Answer: Because God was with him.

Question: Any questions or comments?

Please note: These are Bible stories we use with the girls at our Wednesday night Youth Outreach program sponsored by West Highland Baptist Church in Athens, Alabama. The pastor uses his own material when working with the boys. I also use these Bible stories with the Youth Sunday School class I co-teach.

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to Bible books about Jesus, middle school anti-bullying curriculum books, plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle).

It will open up in a new window.

• Author’s Page on Amazon.com

Here is my website: https://bible-books-for-his-glory.com/index.html. It describes which stores you can order any of my 7-book series called "Bible Books for His Glory."

It will open up in a new window.

• Bible Books for His Glory 7-book series

Judge Deborah – Judges 4 to 5

Judge Deborah – Judges 4 to 5

This next story is about an amazing woman from the Bible named Deborah. She lived about 1200 years before Christ Jesus.

Deborah was a judge. She was also a female prophet.

Question: What is a prophet?

Answer: A spokesperson for God

Deborah lived long after both Moses and Joshua had died.

Sadly, without their strong leadership, the Israelites seemed to have forgotten about God. Not Deborah! Never Deborah! But a bunch of the rest of them were actively worshiping idols.

Question: What are idols?

Answer: People mistakenly worshiped a statue or carving (i.e., golden calf, etc.) instead of God.

Deborah chose a palm tree with plenty of shade where the Israelites could come and sit with her daily.

She was a very wise mother whom the Israelites could talk to, tell their problems to, and ask for prayers and advice.

As a judge, Deborah would help the Israelites solve their problems. She would also help them to settle arguments.

As a female prophet, called a prophetess, Deborah would pray to God and reveal to the people what God willed for their lives.

The Israelites really needed somebody like Deborah, as they had been suffering from the cruelty of a very bad king from Canaan for 20 years. His name was King Jabin [Jay-bin].

His Canaan commander, Sisera [SIS-uh-ruh], was even worse. For 20 miserable years, he, along with his enormous army and 900 iron chariots, did all kinds of horrible things to the people of Israel.

The Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

One of the ways God answered their prayers was by setting up the motherly Deborah as their Prophetess and Judge.

One day, Deborah sent for Barak [BAIR-uhk], the military commander of the Israelite army.

Deborah told him:

DEBORAH: Barak [BAIR-uhk], this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you to do. Gather 10,000 warriors. You will fight against Sisera [SIS-uh-ruh], the commander of King Jabin's [Jay-bin's] army. There, God will give you victory over him.

Barak nervously declared:

BARAK: Deborah, I will go, but, ..., only if you go with me.

DEBORAH: Very well. I will go with you. But know this. The Lord's victory over Sisera [SIS-uh-ruh] will be in the hands of a woman and not with you.

So, Deborah went with Barak as he gathered his army of 10,000 Israelite warriors. Then, she announced:

DEBORAH: Get ready! On this day, the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.

Sure enough, when Deborah's army attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. As the Israelite army killed every single one of the bad guys, Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot.

Sisera ran and ran until he came to the woman's tent belonging to Jael [Jay-uhl], the wife of Heber [Hee-bur]. Sisera said:

SISERA: Phew! I found Heber's wife's tent. Due to the peace treaty he has with my king, I know I will be safe.

The woman, named Jael [Jay-uhl], went out to meet Sisera. She invited him into her tent and hid him under a blanket.

SISERA: Woman, please, give me some water. I'm so thirsty.

Jael gave him milk instead of water.

JAEL: [Whisper this to the audience] As tired as Sisera is, this milk will help him sleep. Hee! Hee! Hee! ... Shhhhh! Don't tell.

Worn out, Sisera said:

SISERA: Stand at the door of the tent. If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone here, [YAWN], say no.

Then, the cruel commander fell fast asleep.

Very quietly, Jael grabbed an extra tent peg and her hammer. She sneaked over and hammered that cruel commander's head into the ground. And so, after 20 years of cruelty, Sisera died.

Later, when Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael showed him his dead body.

So, Prophetess Deborah was correct. The Lord's victory over Sisera happened at the hands of a woman and not a man.

After that, under the motherly guidance of Deborah, there was peace in the land of Israel for 40 years.

Question: What do you call a female prophet?

Answer: Prophetess

Question: What was the name of the female prophet in this story?

Answer: Deborah

Question: How did the cruel commander die?

Answer: Jael hammered his head into the ground with a hammer and a tent peg.

Question: Any questions or comments?

Please note: These are Bible stories we use with the girls at our Wednesday night Youth Outreach program sponsored by West Highland Baptist Church in Athens, Alabama. The pastor uses his own material when working with the boys. I also use these Bible stories with the Youth Sunday School class I co-teach.

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to Bible books about Jesus, middle school anti-bullying curriculum books, plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle).

It will open up in a new window.

• Author’s Page on Amazon.com

Here is my website: https://bible-books-for-his-glory.com/index.html. It describes which stores you can order any of my 7-book series called "Bible Books for His Glory."

It will open up in a new window.

• Bible Books for His Glory 7-book series

Balaam and the Talking Donkey – Numbers 22 to 24

Balaam and the Talking Donkey – Numbers 22 to 24

Balaam was a prophet who lived during the time of Moses.

Question: What is a prophet?

Answer: A spokesperson for God

Balaam wasn't the good kind of prophet. He was the bad kind of prophet because he was greedy and sometimes used magic to go against God's will.

King Balak was terrified when he realized that thousands upon thousands of Moses' Israelite army was heading toward his country of Moab.

Why was King Balak so scared? He heard that the God of Israel helped the Israelites win the fight with the Amorites by sending down gigantic icy hailstones to crush the heads of a bunch of them. God also allowed the sun to shine extra long so the Israelites could see to kill many more of those Amorites.

That frightened king decided, "I'd better send for Balaam, that prophet-for-hire. I will pay him lots of money to curse the Israelite army for me. That way, I have a better chance of beating the Israelites in a fight. "

Greedy Balaam tried to say no, but King Balak refused to take no for an answer. Finally, Balaam said:

BALAAM: Okay, I will saddle up my donkey and set out on my way.

There was a huge problem. God was angry with Balaam for agreeing to go. He sent an angel, holding a sharp sword, to block Balaam's path.

Balaam could not see the angel, but his female donkey could.

To avoid the angel killing Balaam, she ran from the road into the field. Balaam beat her.

When she saw the angel blocking the way between two stone walls, she tried to squeeze by and accidentally crushed Balaam's foot. Balaam beat her again.

When she saw the angel blocking a narrow path, she lay down and refused to get up, even though Balaam beat her a third time. Suddenly, God allowed that female donkey to speak out loud. She said:

DONKEY: Balaam, Hee-haw, what have I done to you that deserves you beating me 3 times?

BALAAM: You have made me look like a fool! If I had a sword, I would kill you!"

DONKEY: But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life. Have I ever done anything like this before?

BALAAM: No, you have not.

At that moment, God opened up Balaam's eyes. When he saw that angel holding a very sharp sword, he fell to the ground in fear.

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Balaam, why did you beat your donkey 3 times? Look! I have come to block your way. If your donkey hadn't protected you, you would be dead right now.

BALAAM: Oh, Angel of the Lord, I have sinned. I didn't realize you were there, blocking my path. I will return home if you are against me going.

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Go with these men. But you are ONLY to say what I tell you to say.

When Balaam reached the country of Moab, King Balak impatiently said, "Balaam! I need you to curse the Israelite army for me so I have a better chance to beat them in a fight and drive them away from my land. " Balaam said:

BALAAM: King Balak, even if you offer me a palace full of silver and gold, I can only speak the message that God puts in my mouth.

Three times, Balaam told King Balak to build 7 altars. While he sacrificed a young bull and ram on each altar, Balaam would go to a lone hill to speak to God.

Each time, Balaam felt forced to bless the Israelite army rather than curse them. King Balak yelled:

BALAK: Balaam, I called you to curse my enemies! Instead, you have blessed them three times. Now get out of here! Go back home! I promised to reward you richly, but the Lord has kept you from your reward.

Before returning home, Balaam prophesied that the future Messiah would be born to the Israelite people.

Question: Who was the Messiah?

Answer: Jesus

Question: here is only one other Bible story with a talking animal. What was that animal?

Answer: Snake aka Serpent

Question: Who did that animal talk to?

Answer: Eve and Adam

Question: What was the name of the garden where Eve and Adam originally lived?

Answer: Garden of Eden

Question: Are there any questions or comments?

Please note: These are Bible stories we use with the girls at our Wednesday night Youth Outreach program sponsored by West Highland Baptist Church in Athens, Alabama. The pastor uses his own material when working with the boys. I also use these Bible stories with the Youth Sunday School class I co-teach.

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to Bible books about Jesus, middle school anti-bullying curriculum books, plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle).

It will open up in a new window.

• Author’s Page on Amazon.com

Here is my website: https://bible-books-for-his-glory.com/index.html. It describes which stores you can order any of my 7-book series called "Bible Books for His Glory."

It will open up in a new window.

• Bible Books for His Glory 7-book series