Use this Judges’ children’s Sunday School lesson to teach kids how they can be strong for God and resist temptation.
Needed: drawing paper, crayons or colored pencils
Intro Game: Resisting Temptation
Divide students into two teams for a slightly modified game of Red Rover. The teams line up facing each other on either side of your play area. They link hands with the students next to them.
You’ll call the name of one of the students on Team A. That student must then break away from his team and try to break through the linked hands of two members of Team B. If that student breaks through, they get a point for their team. If Team B resists the charging student, Team B gets a point.
Next, call a student from Team B to try to break through Team A’s line.
Play as long as time permits, alternating which team is charging and which is defending.
At the end, explain to students that a member of the opposite team is like a temptation trying to get into our hearts. The devil sends temptations toward us all the time because he wants us to do something wrong. But we have to be strong and resist those temptations. We can’t let them break through.
Lesson
Say, Last week, we talked about a man named Samson. Remember that before Samson was born, God let the Philistines conquer the people of Israel as a punishment for the Israelites’ sin. The Israelites had been worshipping fake gods and not listening to the real God.
But then, God did a miracle and let a man named Manoah and his wife, who couldn’t have kids, have a baby. They named that baby Samson. God told them that Samson would be the one who would grow up and defeat the Philistines. The only thing was that Manoah and his wife had to raise Samson in a special way.
Do you remember what some of the rules were that God gave Samson and his parents to make Samson special? (Samson could never drink alcohol or eat bad foods or cut his hair.)
(Summarize Judges 16 with the following story, asking the included questions as you read.)
After Samson had been the leader of Israel for 20 years, he fell in love with a Philistine woman named Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to Delilah and said, “See if you can find out the secret of why Samson is so strong. He keeps beating us when we try to kill him. If you can find out and tell us how we can kill him, we’ll give you a lot of money.”
Do you think Delilah will try to help the Philistines kill Samson?
Delilah said to Samson in her nicest, sweetest voice, “Samson, tell me the secret of how you’re so strong and how someone can beat you.”
Why is Samson so strong? (Because he’s a special follower of God. Because he never drank alcohol or ate bad foods or cut his hair, God gave him special strength.)
Do you think Samson should tell Delilah why he’s so strong? (No. If he does, she’ll tell the Philistines, and they’ll try to kill him.)
Samson said, “If someone ties me up with seven new strings, I won’t be strong anymore.”
Do you think that if someone ties Samson up with seven new strings that he won’t be strong anymore?
So, one day, when Samson was taking a nap, Delilah tied him up with seven new strings and let some Philistine soldiers into the room. Then, she yelled, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!”
Samson woke up and broke the strings right off. He was just as strong as always.
A little while later, Delilah said, “You lied to me about the secret of how you’re so strong and how someone can beat you. Now, tell me the truth. Tell me the secret of how you’re so strong and how someone can beat you.”
Samson said, “If someone ties me up with new ropes, I won’t be strong anymore.”
Do you think that if someone ties Samson up with new ropes that he won’t be strong anymore?
So, one day, when Samson was taking a nap, Delilah tied him up with new ropes and let some Philistine soldiers into the room. Then, she yelled, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!”
Samson woke up and broke the ropes right off. He was just as strong as always.
A little while later, Delilah said, “You lied to me about the secret of how you’re so strong and how someone can beat you. Now, tell me the truth. Tell me the secret of how you’re so strong and how someone can beat you.”
Samson said, “If someone braids my hair and ties it into some cloth, I won’t be strong anymore.”
Do you think that if someone braids Samson’s hair and ties it into some cloth that he won’t be strong anymore?
So, one day, when Samson was taking a nap, Delilah braided his hair, tied come cloth into it, and let some Philistine soldiers into the room. Then, she yelled, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!”
Samson woke up and pulled his hair right out of the cloth. He was just as strong as always.
Then, Delilah said, “You don’t really love me, Samson. You won’t even tell me the secret of how you’re so strong and how someone can beat you.” And she kept bugging him day after day to tell her his secret.
Finally, Samson told her the truth. He said, “God gave me some special rules when I was born. He said I was never allowed to drink alcohol or eat bad foods or cut my hair. If I follow God’s rules, I’m strong. But if someone cuts my hair off, I won’t be strong anymore.”
What’s the secret of why Samson is so strong? (He’s strong because he follows God’s special rules and God makes him strong. If he breaks God’s special rules, God won’t make him strong.)
So, one day, when Samson was taking a nap, Delilah cut all his hair off and let some Philistine soldiers into the room. Then, she yelled, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!”
Samson woke up and was going to fight the Philistines, but this time, he wasn’t strong anymore, and the Philistines beat him. They tied him up and cut out his eyes. Then, they made him be their slave in prison.
The end.
That’s a very sad story, isn’t it?
It is sad, but I was just kidding. That’s not the end of the story. Here’s the real end of the story.
While Samson was in prison, his hair started to grow back, and he started to get stronger again.
Then, when the Philistines were having a holiday to their fake god, Dagon, the Philistine rulers told the jailers to bring Samson out of the prison so that they could make fun of him. Samson stood in their big building where they were having the celebration and leaned up against the building’s pillars. The pillars are the poles that hold the roof up.
Samson prayed, “Lord God, give me the strength to do just one more thing.” Then, God made Samson strong, and Samson pushed on the pillars and knocked them over. The roof of the big building crashed down and killed Samson and 3,000 Philistines who were at the celebration.
How did Samson get strong again? (His hair started growing again. He was obeying God’s special rules not to cut his hair and so God made him strong again.)
Samson was strong and was able to defeat the Philistines because he listened to God’s special rules. What special rules does God give us? (Lead children in naming some rules that God has for us today.)
Where do we find all those rules? (Lead children into understanding that we know God’s rules because they’re in the Bible.)
So, Samson was strong and was able to defeat the Philistines because he listened to God’s special rules. If we will listen to the rules that God gives us – the rules He gives us in the Bible – then we will be strong in our spirits, and we will be able to defeat the temptations that the devil throws at us, just like Samson defeated the Philistines.
Our spirits will be strong to stand up to and resist the bad things the devil tempts us to do. Follow God’s rules, and He will make you strong in your spirit.
Craft: Becoming a Judge
Hand out drawing supplies and tell kids that you want them to draw themselves acting like a new Judge in Israel. They can draw themselves in a single scene or in a comic strip.
Remind them of the Judges you’ve studied so far to give them ideas of what they could be like as a Judge. Say something like,
Ehud was sneaky when he told King Eglon he had a special message for him.
Deborah was brave when she led the Israelites in battle against the Moabites.
Gideon had to rely on God to help him defeat the Midianites with only 300 men.
Samson listened to God’s special rules, and God made him super strong.
What would you be like if you were a Judge? Draw a scene or a comic strip of what you would do and how God would help you.
When students are finished, have each of them share their drawing.
Game: Resisting Temptation
Play the intro game again, reminding students that we have to be strong in our spirits to resist the devil’s temptations.
Closing Prayer
Lord, You have given us Your rules in the Bible, and You’ve said that if we follow Your rules, You will make us strong against the devil. Help us to study what the Bible says and follow Your rules so that You can make us strong. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
You can also find this lesson for Kindle or in print in my book, The Judges and Ruth Children Sunday School Lessons.