MEMORY VERSE: 1 Samuel 7:15 "And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review, once again, all the books of the Old and New Testaments. Try singing The Books of The Old Testament and The Books Of The New Testament on this blog.
PRAYER: Let us always remember that when God says something, He means it! May we always do the LORD's commands and shine our lights to tell others.
SPECIAL SONG: This Little Light Of Mine (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 on this blog.)
VISUAL AID: Whiteboard or Chalkboard Drawing of the Acvtivity (see below)
LESSON POINTS:
- The ark of the covenant had been in the country of the Philistines seven months when the Philistines called for their leaders and priests to tell them what to do with the ark of the covenant. The Philistine leaders and priests told the people to make an unusual gift: five tumors and five mice made out of very valuable gold. They made a brand new cart, hooked two milk cows that had never been yoked together and tied them to the cart. They took the ark of the covenant and put it in the new cart and placed their golden gifts inside the ark of the covenant. Then, they said, "Let's watch to see if the cows go up on their own by way of the coast to Bethshemesh. If they do, then we will know that the LORD of the Israelites made all these bad things happen. But, if not, then we will know that this was just a happening." So that is what the Philistines did with the ark of the covenant.
- Right after they were finished with the ark, they let the cows go and the cows traveled up the coast to Bethshemesh and went along the highway, mooing loudly as they went. They did not turn to the right or to the left, but went straight and the Philistines followed them to the border of the city.
- The people that lived in the city were reaping wheat in the valley and when they looked up, they saw the ark coming to them and they rejoiced and were happy! The cart stopped in a field where there was a great stone and the men stopped and offered a burnt offering to the LORD. The men of Bethshemesh looked inside the ark and saw that there were golden gifts inside. God has always been very specific in what He wanted (He still is!) and we remember that God had specific rules concerning the ark of the covenant. Because the men of Bethshemesh looked inside the ark of the covenant, they and 50,070 additional men died because of it. The people of Bethshemesh were afraid of the ark of the covenant and did not was to touch it or go near it, so they sent messengers to a city named Kirjathjearim to come and get the ark of the covenant.
- The men of that city came and took the ark of the covenant to the house of Abinadab. It stayed there twenty years which was a long time and all of the people of Israel lamented after the LORD.
- Samuel told all of the Israelite people that they should return their hearts to the LORD and not to worship strange gods or idols. Samuel said if they only served the LORD, then He would deliver them out of the hands of the Philistines. So, the children of Israel threw away their idols and only loved and served the LORD. After the people fasted or ate no food that day to show that they were sorry they had disobeyed God so many times, they said out loud that they had sinned against the LORD.
- Samuel judged the people who lived in Mizpeh. When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were all gathered together at Mizpeh, then the leaders of the Philistines came to fight the Israelites. The Israelites were afraid and told Samuel. Samuel offered an offering to the LORD and the LORD was pleased. God thundered a great thunder that day and it scared the Philistines, so the Philistines were defeated by the Israelites that day.
- From that time on, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days that Samuel lived. All of the cities that once had been the Israelites, but were captured by the Philistines were restored or given back to the Israelites. There was peace in the land between the Israelites and the Amorites after this. Perhaps the Amorites were a little afraid of anyone who could defeat the might Philistines.
- Samuel judge Israel all the days of his life.
"Older Student" Tips:
- Take a look at Bethshemesh on a map. Notice the distance from the Ashdod and Gath and Ekron, Philistine cities.
- The reason that the cows were mooing all the way to Behshemesh was because the Philistines had locked up their baby calves (1 Samuel 6:10).
ACTIVITY: 2 Milk Cows And The Ark Of The Covenant
Materials needed: 4" x 6" dark brown construction paper,, 3" x 3" dark brown construction paper, 6" x 8" light brown construction paper, 12" string, glue, scissors, marker, crayons.
- Hand out 3" x 3" dark brown paper.
- Round corners of 3" square dark brown paper so it resembles a circle. This is the wheel.
- Glue wheel on 4" 6 " dark brown rectangle.
- Draw lines on rectangle to resemble wood. This is the wagon.
- Glue Wagon on right side of paper.
- Hand out light brown construction paper.
- Fold light brown paper in half.
- Draw a cow. (Remember a cow is a cow if everyone says it is a cow. Student may write "cow" on drawing if need be.
- Cut out cow out of paper, cutting through two pieces of light brown paper at the same time. When cut, there should be two cows looking a lot like each other.
- Glue cows in front of cart.
- Wrap string around the necks of both cows.
- Optional: String may be glued.
- Draw eyes and mouths on cows.
- Write "Moo!" around the cows.
- Write "2 Milk Cows And The Ark Of The Covenant" and "1 Samuel 6, 7" at the top of the paper.
- Draw triangles for spokes inside wheel.