Samson part 1 of 3
Judges 13 to 16
re-told by Debbie Dunn
Story highlights:
* God allowed barren couple to give birth to boy with superhuman strength
* Samson was dedicated to God as Nazirite who must follow 3 rules
* 3 Nazirite rules: don't drink-don’t cut hair- don’t touch dead
Bible tale:
Can you believe it? The Israelites have done it
again!
CHANT LEADER: What have they done?
[Group
repeats]
Okay, do you remember
that for 40 years, while Deborah was the judge of Israel, the Israelites
worshiped God?
CHANT LEADER: Yes, because God is worthy!
[Group repeats]
But after Deborah died,
the Israelites seemed to forget all about God and began worshiping idols again.
CHANT LEADER: Sigh! That was so wrong!
[Group repeats]
Then, for the 40 years
Gideon was the next judge of Israel, they wisely worshiped God again.
CHANT LEADER: Hooray for worshiping God!
[Group
repeats]
But, ..., after Gideon
died, guess who the Israelites went back to worshipping.
CHANT LEADER: Oh, no!
[Group
repeats]
Did they worship idols again?
[Group repeats]
They sure did! And this
pattern repeated itself over and over again.
While a judge was
alive, the people worshiped God.
But after a judge died,
they sinned against God by once again worshiping idols.
CHANT LEADER: Boo-Hiss!
[Group repeats]
That is so wrong!
[Group repeats]
So sadly, because the
Israelites kept doing this evil thing, God allowed the next set of 'bad guys'
in the Bible to overpower Israel for 40 years.
CHANT LEADER: 40 years - Yikes!
[Group repeats]
What were these ‘bad guys’ called?
[Group repeats]
The 'bad guys'
were called the Philistines. They did all kinds of horrible things to the
Israelites. They also tried to convince them that worshipping idols was a smart
idea.
God Almighty, in His
great wisdom, realized He was going to have to choose a very different kind of
judge to save Israel.
God was going to have
to create a man, kind of like a superhero, who had superhuman strength. In
fact, this man, in real life, was among the strongest men who have ever lived.
CHANT LEADER: What was this
strong man's name? [Group
repeats]
His name was Samson.
His 'bad news' girlfriend was named Delilah. Many movies have been made
about this famous couple.
In the next couple of
weeks, we'll hear about how greedy Delilah tricked Samson. But right now, let's
go back in time to just before Samson's birth.
You see, his parents
had been married for many years without being able to get pregnant.
But one day, God sent
the Angel of the Lord to the wife and said:
ANGEL OF THE LORD: Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become
pregnant and give birth to a son.
The wife was so
excited! She asked if there was anything special she was supposed to do.
ANGEL
OF THE LORD:
Yes. While you are pregnant, do not drink wine or
eat unclean food. As for your son, you are to dedicate his life to serve God as
a Nazirite. To please God, your son must follow three rules. As long as he does
that, he will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.
The wife asked,
"What are these three rules?"
ANGEL OF THE LORD: Rule #1 is that he should never drink wine or alcohol. Rule #2 is that
he should never cut his hair. Rule #3 is that he should never touch a dead
animal or a dead human.
The wife was so
excited! She ran to her husband to tell him the good news.
When their son was
born, they named him Samson.
Throughout Samson's
childhood, they would quiz him to remind him of those three special rules he
must always follow.
His parents would ask,
"Samson, what are the three rules God wishes you to follow?"
Faithfully, Samson
would state:
SAMSON: 1st, I will not
drink wine or alcohol. 2nd, I will never cut my hair. And 3rd, I should not
touch dead animals or a dead human.
Because Samson faithfully obeyed God's 3 rules when he was younger, the Lord blessed Samson as he grew up.
Question: What mistake did the Israelites make again and again?
Answer: They neglected to worship God. Instead, they worshiped idols.
Question: What is an idol?
Answer: A carved statue that people mistakenly worshiped as a god
Question: What three rules did Samson have to follow?
Answer: 1st, don't drink wine or alcohol. 2nd, don't cut your hair. and 3rd, don't touch dead animals or dead humans.
Question: Who is the only one you should worship?
Answer: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit
Question: Any questions or comments?
Are you a Bible enthusiast or do you lead a Youth Group or Family Bible Study? To get a FREE PDF download of this story, click on this link below:
Free PDF download of Samson part 1 of 3.
Do you want more stories about the 12 Judges of Israel? If so, visit the 12 Judges of Israel chapter from my EXPLORE BIBLE STORY dot org website.
Click here to get more stories about the 12 Judges of Israel.
My ever-expanding Explore Bible Story dot org website includes Bible stories and Biblical Family Trees about
- Creation, Adam, & his Descendants
- Noah, the Ark, & the Flood
- Abraham & Sarah
- Isaac & Rebekah, Esau & Jacob
- Jacob & his 4 wives
- 12 sons of Jacob who became known as the 12 Tribes of Israel
- Moses who was from the line of Levi
- Joshua who became leader of Israelites after death of Moses
- 12 Judges of Israel including Deborah, Gideon, & Samson
- Kings of Israel including Saul, David, & Solomon
- 4 Major Prophets of Israel: Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
- 12 Minor Prophets of Israel
- More Prophets of Israel: Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, & Elisha
- Women from Old & New Testament
- Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Lord, Savior, & King of king
- 12 Disciples of Jesus
- Apostle Paul & other Significant Followers of Christ
- Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
- The Free Gift of Salvation & The Sinner's Prayer
- About Website: Explore Bible Story.org
- About the author: Debbie Dunn
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