Lesson 78: Judges 10–21
Old
Testament Seminary Teacher Manual, 2014
Introduction
Despite
Israel’s mistakes and sins, the Lord raised up judges to deliver the Israelites
from their oppressors. One of these judges, Samson, was blessed with tremendous
physical strength but failed to fulfill his divine calling because of selfish
choices.
Suggestions
for Teaching
I.
Judges
10–21
The
Lord calls other judges, including Samson, to deliver the Israelites from their
enemies
---Before
class, write the following question on the board:
What are some things you feel Heavenly
Father would like you to accomplish in your life?
---As
students enter the classroom, invite them to write their responses to this
question in their class notebooks or scripture study journals.
---After
sufficient time, invite several of them to read their responses aloud to the
class. Their answers may mention serving the Lord and others; receiving
essential ordinances and covenants; creating an eternal family; receiving an education; developing skills, talents,
and divine attributes; or living worthily to return to Heavenly Father’s
presence.
---You
may want to testify of students’ divine potential.
---
Invite students to look for truths as they study Judges
10–21
that will help them understand what could prevent them from accomplishing the
things Heavenly Father desires for them.
---Consider
displaying the diagram titled “Cycle of Sin and Deliverance in the
Book of Judges”
from lesson 76.
---Summarize
Judges 10–12 by explaining
that after the Israelites again began to worship false gods, they were
afflicted by their enemies, the Ammonites. When the Israelites turned to the
Lord, He raised up a judge named Jephthah to deliver the Israelites from their
enemies.
---Invite
a student to read Judges
13:1
aloud looking for what the Israelites did after they were delivered from their
enemies.
---What kind of leader did the
Israelites need to help them be permanently freed from their enemies?
(A
righteous spiritual leader who could help them forsake their sins.)
---Invite
a student to read Judges
13:2–5
aloud looking for special characteristics of the new leader whom the Lord would
send to help the Israelites.
---What special characteristics
did this new leader have?
---What does it mean that the
child would be a Nazarite?
---Remind
students that Nazarites were those who vowed or covenanted to dedicate
themselves to God for a period of time. During the period of their vow,
Nazarites promised not to drink wine, touch any dead thing, or cut their hair.
---Refer
again to the diagram “Cycle
of Sin and Deliverance in the Book of Judges.”
---How might the Israelites be
blessed by a leader whose life would be dedicated to God?
(This
new leader would have the potential to help the Israelites break their cycle of
sin so they could be delivered from their enemies.)
---Summarize
Judges
13:6–23
by explaining that the angel reappeared to the woman and her husband and
repeated the message about their son.
---What did Samson desire?
---What was wrong with this
desire?
(The
Lord had commanded the Israelites not to marry those who were not part of God’s
covenant people, for such marriages would result in sin and destruction [see Deuteronomy
7:3–4].)
(Samson
placed his own desires ahead of the Lord’s will.)
---Write
the following incomplete statement on the board:
If we place our own desires ahead of the
Lord’s will, then …
---Invite
students to consider how they might complete this statement as they learn about
Samson’s choices.
---Read
Judges
14:5–6
aloud looking for what Samson did as he traveled to marry the Philistine woman.
---What do these verses teach us
about Samson’s physical strength?
---Explain
that today when we speak of someone having the Spirit of the Lord, we are
usually referring to someone who is faithful and obedient and therefore close
to God. However, as used here, referring to Samson (see Judges
14:6, 19;
15:14), the phrase
seems to acknowledge Samson’s remarkable physical strength, which came as a
gift from God. The scriptures give credit to the Lord, the true source of
Samson’s gift, by saying “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him,” but
this does not necessarily mean that the Lord prompted or approved of Samson’s
actions. Sometimes Samson used his gift of strength properly, and sometimes he
did not.
---Summarize
Judges
14:7–15
by explaining that when Samson returned from Timnath, he found that bees had
formed a hive within the carcass of the lion he had killed. Samson used this
experience to create a riddle to challenge the Philistines. When the
Philistines could not discover the answer to the riddle, they threatened
Samson’s wife and convinced her to obtain the answer from Samson. This led to a
series of conflicts between Samson and the Philistines.
---Provide
copies of the following handout to students.
---Ask
them to write next to each summary the desires or emotions they think motivated
Samson. Students may work alone, with partners, or in small groups.
What
Motivated Samson?
1.
_________________________ After Samson’s wife reveals the riddle’s answer to
the Philistines, Samson separates himself from her (see Judges
14:16–20;
15:1–2).
2.
_________________________ When Samson learns that his father-in-law, a
Philistine, gave Samson’s wife to another man, Samson burns the Philistines’
crops (see Judges
15:1–5).
3.
_________________________ The Philistines seek revenge against Samson by
burning his wife and father-in-law. Samson responds by smiting the Philistines
“with a great slaughter” (see Judges
15:6–8).
4.
_________________________ The Philistines come against Samson to bind him and
“do to him as he hath done to us.” Samson responds, “As they did unto me, so
have I done unto them.” He slays one thousand more Philistines (see Judges
15:10–16).
---What desires or emotions do you think
motivated Samson’s actions? (You may want to point out the words anger in Judges
14:19
and avenged in Judges
15:7.)
---How did Samson’s choices to
act in anger and seek revenge affect him and his family? (The cycle of revenge
resulted in the deaths of Samson’s wife and father-in-law.)
---What principle can we learn
from Samson’s actions about the consequences of choices that are based on anger
or vengeance?
(Students may use different words, but they
should identify the following truth: Anger and vengeance can lead us to make
choices that hurt others and ourselves.)
---Read
Judges
16:1
aloud looking for evidence that Samson continued to place his selfish desires
ahead of the Lord’s will.
---How did Samson continue to
place his selfish desires above the Lord’s will?
---Summarize
Judges
16:2–14
by explaining that the pattern of conflict and revenge between Samson and the
Philistines continued. The Philistines decided to bribe a Philistine woman
named Delilah to discover the source of Samson’s physical strength. They hoped
to use this information to defeat Samson. On three different occasions, Delilah
tried to persuade Samson to reveal his source of strength, but each time he
lied to her.
---Take
turns reading aloud from Judges
16:15–20
looking for what happened when Delilah spoke to Samson a fourth time about the
source of his strength.
(“The Lord was departed from him.” You might
want to suggest that students read Doctrine
and Covenants 3:4,
which gives some insight into Samson’s case.)
---Point
out that Samson’s hair was not the source of his strength. Rather, it was the
symbol of his covenant relationship with God, who was the
source of Samson’s strength.
---In what ways had Samson
broken his covenants with the Lord?
---From Samson’s experience,
what principle can we learn about the results of breaking our covenants?
(Students may use different words but should
identify the following principle: If we break our covenants with
the Lord, then He will withdraw His Spirit from us.)
---When the Lord withdrew His
Spirit from Samson, Samson lost his gift of physical strength. What blessings
or abilities might we lose when the Lord’s Spirit is not with us?
---Summarize
Judges
16:21–27
by explaining that the Philistines captured Samson, put out his eyes, and made
him a slave. In time, they held a celebration claiming that their god had
delivered Samson into their hands. During the celebration, Samson asked a boy
to lead him to the pillars of the building so that he could lean on them.
---Remind
students that the Lord had called Samson to dedicate his life to Him so the
Lord could deliver the Israelites from the Philistines.
---Refer
again to the diagram “Cycle of Sin and Deliverance in the
Book of Judges.”
Summarize Judges
17–21
by explaining that after Samson’s death, the Israelites continued to sin
against the Lord and suffer afflictions from their enemies (see Judges
17:6;
21:25).
---How well do you think Samson
accomplished the Lord’s will in his life?
---Help
students understand that although Samson killed many Philistines, he did not
help the Israelites turn to the Lord and forsake their sins, which was
necessary for them to be truly delivered from their enemies (see D&C
3:4).
---Refer
to the incomplete statement you wrote on the board earlier.
---Based on what you’ve learned
from Samson’s example, how would you complete this statement?
(Using
students’ words, complete the statement on the board. It may read like the
following principle: If we place our own desires ahead
of the Lord’s will, then we will not reach our divine potential.)
---How could Samson’s life have
been different if he had sought to do the Lord’s will rather than his own?
---Conclude
by testifying of the blessings of seeking the Lord’s will. Invite students to
refer back to what they wrote in their scripture study journals.
---Ask
them to write on a piece of paper one thing they will do today that will help
them fulfill their divine potential and accomplish what Heavenly Father would
want them to do. Invite them to carry this piece of paper with them throughout
the day as a reminder of their goal.
Commentary and
Background Information
Judges 11:34–40.
“She returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he
had vowed”
“Many
have supposed that Jephthah offered his daughter as a human sacrifice, and a
literal reading of the text may support that view. But if that is true, some
difficult questions are raised. Jephthah was regarded as a great hero and
deliverer of Israel, and even his sacrifice of his daughter is treated in a way
that suggests the author of Judges viewed it as a commendable act. In Hebrews
11:32–35
Jephthah is used as one of the examples of great faith. Would this case be true
if he had engaged in human sacrifice, an act viewed as one of the greatest of
abominations in ancient Israel? Why does Jephthah’s daughter ‘bewail her virginity’
(Judges
11:37)
rather than mourn the approaching loss of her life? After Jephthah had
fulfilled his vow of sacrificing his daughter, the text states that ‘she knew
no man’ (v. 39)” (Old Testament
Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, 3rd ed. [Church Educational System
manual, 2003], 256).
It
is widely accepted by most Biblical scholars that Jephthah’s vow was fulfilled
by committing his daughter to a life without marriage and children, hence the
phrase “she knew no man.” This would have been devastating indeed, for in that
day marriage and children were critical parts of a woman’s life. Likewise, it
would have been devastating for Jephthah, as she was his only child and he
would have no more posterity because of his rash vow.
Judges 14:4. “His
father and his mother knew not that [the marriage] was of the Lord”
This
statement does not mean that the Lord approved of Samson’s marriage to a
Philistine woman. The Lord had expressly forbidden the Israelites from marrying
outside the covenant (see Deuteronomy
7:3–4).
Nevertheless, the Lord used this marriage, even though it was contrary to His
will, to further His purposes in delivering Israel from Philistine bondage.
Judges
17–21. “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes”
“In
the closing chapters of Judges the writer turned from stories of Israel’s
heroes to two incidents that illustrate the low state of religion and morality
in the days when Israel forsook her covenant with the Lord and everyone ‘did
that which was right in his own eyes’ (Judges
17:6;
21:25).
“The
stories of Micah the Levite and the Danite migration, in chapters
17
and 18, and the account
of the rape of the concubine at Gibeah and the subsequent punishment of the
Benjamites, in chapters
19–21,
are samples of Israel’s worst days. Nothing in the stories show the Israelites
doing what was right” (Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, 3rd
ed. [Church Educational System manual, 2003], 261).
Supplemental
Teaching Idea
Judges 14:19–15:6.
Anger and vengeance
After
students identify the truth that anger and vengeance can lead us to make
choices that hurt others and ourselves (see Judges
14:19–15:6),
consider asking them to ponder situations in which they have seen how choices
based on anger or vengeance hurt others, including themselves.
You
may want to invite students to read 3 Nephi
11:29
silently. Then invite students to read the following statement by President
Thomas S. Monson. (You may want to prepare this statement as a handout.)
Ask them to identify a phrase that can help them refrain from making choices
based on anger.
“I
ask, is it possible to feel the Spirit of our Heavenly Father when we are
angry? I know of no instance where such would be the case. …
“To
be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan. No one can make us angry. It is
our choice. If we desire to have the proper spirit with us at all times, we
must choose to refrain from becoming angry. I testify that such is possible” (“School Thy Feelings, O My Brother,” Ensign or
Liahona, Nov. 2009, 67, 68).
---What phrases from this
statement can help you refrain from making choices based on anger? How can remembering
this teaching help you?
VIDEO CLIP:
Prophets and apostles speak about our divine potential as children of God. Consider using this video as part of the beginning of the lesson to help students consider their divine potential.
When
waiting for responses or providing students a moment to ponder, don’t be afraid
of silence. At times students need an opportunity to reflect on what they have
been asked and how they might respond to a question. Such reflection can
facilitate instruction by the Holy Ghost, and students can feel encouraged and
strengthened in their resolve to live according to the laws of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment