VERSES: 2 Samuel 1:1-27
MEMORY VERSE: 2 Samuel 1:10 "...I took the crown that was on his head..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Genesis. Write "Genesis" on slips of paper and hand out to students at the end of class. Tell them that this is the first book of the Old Testament.
PRAYER: We pray for forgiveness for when we disobey God and His Laws. Let us always try to do the best we can to serve the LORD, reading His Word every day to know how to please Him.
SPECIAL SONG: Be Patient And Kind (see April - Lesson - Joseph Meets His Brothers Who Hated Him on this blog)
VISUAL AID: Draw a picture on the whiteboard or on the chalkboard like the one in the Activity area below.
LESSON POINTS:
- After King Saul had died on the battleground with the Philistines, David had just come back from fighting the Amalekites and had stayed in Ziglag for two days. On the third day, a man who had come out of Saul's camp, came to Ziglag with his clothes torn and dirt upon his head. Do we know why his clothes were torn and why he had dirt on his head? What has that meant before in our lessons? That's right! He was sad! He came to David and bowed low before him. David asked him where he had come from and the man answered that he had escaped from Israel's camp. David asked him how things had gone with the battle. The man said there were people who had run away, people that were killed and dead. He said that King Saul and Jonathan, his son, had died, too.
- David asked the man another question. He asked him how he knew that they were dead. The man said that, by chance, he had been on Mount Gilboa where the battle was. He saw Saul had leaned on his spear and the Philistine chariots and horsemen were following close behind him. He said that when King Saul looked behind him, he saw him--the man telling the story--and called to him. The man ran up to the king. The king asked him who he was and the man said that he was an Amalekite. He said that the king asked the man to kill him because he did not want to fall into the hands of the enemy. The man said he killed King Saul and took his crown and his bracelet and brought them to David. This man, most likely, was looking for a reward from David for bringing him Saul's crown and bracelet, but the Amalekite man was very mistaken. (2 Samuel 4:10). He would get no reward from David for killing the LORD's anointed!
- David tore his clothes and the men that were with him did the same. They mourned and cried, and fasted until evening for King Saul and Jonathan's deaths and for all those of Israel who had died. It was very sad.
- Then David asked the man why he was not afraid to kill the LORD's anointed. David said that by the Amalekite man's own words, he had said that he had killed Saul. For many years, David had refused to kill King Saul himself because Saul was the LORD's anointed. Now, here was a man who was saying that he had killed Israel's first king. David was extremely angry and, as punishment, instructed one of his soldiers to kill the man who had said he killed King Saul.
- As angry as David was at the Amalekite man for claiming that he had killed Saul, David was just as sad that Saul and Jonathan had died. David instructed the men of Judah to teach the poem of the bow which was written in another book called Jasher. David then quoted the poem or song which was very beautiful and very sad.
"Older Student" Tips:
- We know by the lessons that we have read in the Bible that no one should have killed the king of Israel. David didn't and he would not allow any of his soldiers to do that terrible deed. This Amalekite man must not have known this or he didn't care about God's Laws because he certainly would not have walked up to David and wanted a reward for the king's crown or bracelet. This man cared more about money than killing the king and he paid for it with his own life. Greed killed this Amalekite man.
- As far as King Saul killing himself as stated in 1 Samuel 31:4-6, this account of the Amalekite is only what the Amalekite said to David. There is no actual reporting of what happened other than in 1 Samuel 31. We cannot take this man's story as a true story because was looking for a reward from David.
ACTIVITY: David And The Amalekite
Materials needed: 9" x 12" yellow construction paper, two 6" x 6" pieces of tan construction paper, two 3" x 3" white pieces of paper, glue, scissors, crayons and markers.
- Hand out yellow paper to students. This is the background.
- Hand out two pieces of tan paper.
- Draw one face on each tan paper.
- Cut out faces.
- Glue faces on yellow paper.
- Color faces. Don't forget to put 'dirt' on the Amalekite's head.
- Write "David" close to David's picture.
- Write "The Amalekite" close to the Amalekite's picture.
- Hand out white papers.
- Cut a large speech bubble out of each white paper.
- On one speech bubble, write "...I killed him...and took his crown and his bracelet and brought them back to you." Write in small letters, so they fit on the bubble.
- Glue the "I killed him" speech bubble coming out of the Amalekite's mouth.
- On the other speech bubble, write "Why were you not afraid to kill the LORD's anointed?"
- Glue the "Why were you" speech bubble coming out of David's mouth.
- Write "David And The Amalekite" and "2 Samuel 1, 20, 14" at the top of the yellow paper.
