The Judges

Saturday, November 30, 2013
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/11/the-judges.html

Today's lesson is The Judges in the Old Testament. There are several options for this lesson, depending on how much prep time you want to do. There is also a bulletin board that can also be used as visuals.
http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/11/the-judges.html
This is an updated set of Judges Posters with Sweet Graphics.
Click here to download this set.
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/11/the-judges.html
The judges posters have been updated!
This set has key points for each person.

Today we are going to study the Judges found in Judges & 1 Samuel 4-7. They are found in the Old Testament in the book of Judges! The judges were people that God picked to take care His people when they were in trouble. They acted like military leaders guiding the people. The people would win a battle, then eventually stop following God's laws and start worshipping idols. The judges take place over 300 years. Find a more in-depth answer here.
http://distantshoresmedia.org/images/rg/07/07_Ju_02_02_RG.jpg
We studied Joshua last week, and the judges begin sometime after he died. He was the leader after Moses. Judges 2:16-19 tells us that while the Israelites were under the leadership of a judge, they were faithful, but when there wasn't a judge, they turned away from God and worshipped idols. Then, they cried to God to save them and He answered their cries with a new judge.
1. (Judges 3:9-11) The first judge was Othniel. He was Caleb's younger brother. He went to war for the people and they had peace for the 40 years he was a judge.

2. (Judges 3:12-30) When Othniel died, the people turned away from God and had to serve Eglon King of Moab for 18 years, they cried to God to deliver them. God picked Ehud and he was left handed. Ehud made a dagger and killed King Eglon. Ehud escaped and blew a trumpet in the mountains. He told the people to "Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies to you." They fought and killed about 40,000 men of Moab. They had peace for the next 80 years.
3. (Judges 3:31) Next is Shamgar and we only have one verse about him. Shamgar was the son of Anath, and he killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel. We are not told how long he was a judge for.
http://distantshoresmedia.org/images/rg/07/07_Ju_04_01_RG.jpg
4. (Judges 4-5) The next judge is Deborah. She is the only woman judge. She was a prophetess and was married to Lapidoth. Deborah would sit under a palm tree in the mountains and the Israelites would go to her. She sent for Barak and told him that the Lord said to take 10,000 men to fight Sisera and they would win. Barak told Deborah that he would only go if she went also. Sisera gathered up his 900 chariots and all his people. Barak and his people killed all of Sisera's people, but Sisera escaped. He hid in a tent and when he fell asleep, a woman named Jael shoved a tent peg through his temple! Deborah was a judge for 40 years.
http://distantshoresmedia.org/images/rg/07/07_Ju_07_02_RG.jpg
5. (Judges 6:11-chapter 8) The next is Gideon and he was a judge for 40 years. We are not going to discuss him today, because we will study him next week.

See below for Abimelech.
6. (Judges 10:1-2) Tola is next. We only have 2 verses that tell us that Tola was a judge. We are only told his parents' names and that he is from the tribe of Issachar. Tola was a judge for 23 years.
7. (Judges 10:3-5) Next is Jair. There are only a couple of verses for Jair. But, we are told that he had 30 sons, that rode 30 donkeys and they had 30 cities! He was a judge for 22 years.
8. (Judges 11-12:7) Jephthah was only a judge for 6 years. His brothers kicked him out of the house because of who his mother was. He fought a battle and won.
9. (Judges 11:8-10) Ibzan had 30 sons! And gave away 30 daughters in marriage! He brought in 30 women for his 30 sons! He was a judge for 7 years.
10. (Judges 11:11-12) Elon was a judge for 10 years. That is all we are told about him.
11. (Judges 11:13-15) Abdon is the next judge. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons! And, they rode 70 young donkeys. He was a judge for 8 years.
http://distantshoresmedia.org/images/rg/07/07_Ju_14_03_RG.jpg
12. (Judges 13-16) The next judge is Samson. He was a judge for 20 years and was the strongest man in the Bible. We will not talk about him because we have 2 lessons coming soon about him.
http://distantshoresmedia.org/images/rg/09/09_1Sa_02_01_RG.jpg
13. (1 Samuel 4:12-18) The next judge is Eli. Again, we will discuss Eli when we have our lesson on Samuel. Eli was a high priest and was a judge for 40 years.
http://distantshoresmedia.org/images/rg/09/09_1Sa_08_01_RG.jpg
14. (1 Samuel 7) We have Samuel as a judge. We are not told how long he was a judge for. We are having a lesson about Samuel, and Samuel will lead us into David.

Why isn't Abimelech listed as a judge in the printables?

After a lot of study on the judges, I did not add Abimelech as a judge. But decided to add this comment as to why, after I received several comments. My main reason is the Bible verse: Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Judges 2:16  God picked who He wanted as the judges, and the first couple of verses of chapter 9 tell us that Abimelech talked bullied his way into being a leader, and is made 'king' by the men of Shechem (9:6). In verse 22, we are told that Abimelech ruled for 3 years. Again, he was self appointed and considered himself a ruler. After a lot of time spent on this, I can't get past the fact that God didn't pick him to be a judge.

Something else to keep in mind, I was talking to a teacher about Jonah and explained that the Bible doesn't say whale, it is a mistranslation in one version. She said "But, I have always taught it like that!" And, I replied "But, that doesn't make it right." She agreed.

For more information, here is a fantastic bio about Abimelech written by Dave Rogers, the Minister at Fayetteville Church of Christ in Fayetteville, Georgia.
Abimelech (Judges 9) is never described in scripture as being one of the judges of ancient Israel.  One of Gideon’s many sons, he was born to the concubine (a kind of “second-class” wife) Gideon had married in Shechem (Judges 8:30-31), and he seems to have been Gideon’s only son by this particular woman.  (Note that Gideon had fathered some SEVENTY other sons, by the many other women he had married, Judges 8:30.)  Upon his father’s death, Abimelech solicited support from his mother’s family in a bid to become the ruler of Israel (Judges 9:1-3), presenting his lust for power as a stark choice between being ruled by himself (to whom they were related) or being dominated by his brothers, whom he essentially presented as “outsiders.”
With the financial backing of his mother’s kinsmen, Abimelech hired a group of thugs to assist him and then brutally executed all of his half-brothers except Jotham, who managed to escape.  Judges 9:22 says that Abimelech “reigned” (a word which means he exercised power, acting as a kind of “prince” or self-appointed “royal personage”) over Israel for three years, but it is important to note that the Bible never calls him a judge, nor does it ever imply that he acted with God’s authority.  In fact, the very opposite seems to be clear, since the account of his actions in Judges 9 makes it plain that God’s intentions for Israel were contrary to Abimelech’s ambitions (cf. Judges 9:23-24 & 56-57).
Thank you Dave Rogers for writing about Abimelech and permitting me to post it here.
http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-old-testament-judges-bulletin-board.html
Click on the above picture to view and download worksheets, a lapbook and printables for a bulletin board and /or visuals!


Bible Verse: Judges 2:16 

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission.
 

26 comments

  1. Thanks for this beautiful useful materials. I tried to open the lapbook/worksheets but it did not work.

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    1. Thanks for the comment! I really appreciate you letting me know that the link did not work! It is corrected. Sorry, I did not have internet access, so it took longer than usual to fix it!

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  2. I cannot get any of the links to work for me for Judges and Paul. I don't know about any of the others as I have not tried them, yet.

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    1. Sorry the links won't open for you. I have tried them, and they are working. I also asked others from different areas to try them and they are not having any problem with the links.

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  3. Apparently I am unable to get any of the items on your website to load for me. I am hoping you are able to fix this fairly quickly as I love your ideas and can use all the help I can get. I clip on the link and it goes to a page that says loading but never loads. I can sit there for a while and it never loads. I also have another friend in another state that has been trying to load and print the Paul stuff and has not been able to get it to do anything for her as well. So, I'm guessing it's on your end and not our computers. Sorry. But keep posting things we love your website and look forward to the issue being resolved. Thanks.

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    1. Sorry the links won't open for you. I have tried them, and they are working. I also asked others from different areas to try them and they are not having any problem with the links.

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    2. Is there a way for me to email you so that maybe you can email me back a document with some of these. Not sure why I am unable to open them. They go to the screen but just continues to say downloading and never changes/unable to download the documents. I really would like to use some of this. Help, please.

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    3. Anonymous, you can email me at djac12381@yahoo.com. No spam, please. I have asked others, and they are downloading for others. Usually when this happens to me at other sites, I click the arrow at the top to reload and it will load. As far as I know, it is a local internet problem. Please let me know exactly which files you would like and I will email them as soon as possible.

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  4. Hi Debbie. I just stumbled on your website, and I must say that I am very happy with all the info and visuals that you have provided. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this. I am wondering if you could give a link to the Abeka Bible cards that you refer to with the red letters/numbers on each printable. When I look on the Abeka site, I see a couple of different sets for the different grades. I appreciate your time.

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    1. Hello, they have a different set for each Bible lesson and some have more than one set. This link is for the Judges set to give you an idea. http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnline/BookDescription.aspx?sbn=158097

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  5. Hi Debbie. I love all of these resources for Judges. I was just wondering why Abimelech wasn't included in any of these? Was it because he misused his power?

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    1. Hello, this is an answer I added to the Judges blog post as to why I didn't add hi. There is more if you'd like to check the post, and in a couple of days, I will add more. Even though I didn't add him as a judge, I did change the bulletin board posters and lapbook to include him for those that feel he was a judge after studying the scriptures. I will try to add the worksheet also in a couple of weeks, as I am short on time at the moment.

      After a lot of study on the judges, I did not add Abimelech as a judge. But decided to add this comment as to why. after several comments. My main reason is the Bible verse: Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Judges 2:16 God picked who He wanted as the judges, and the first couple of verses of chapter 9 tell us that he talked his way into being a leader, and is made 'king' by the men of Shechem (9:6). In verse 22, we are told that Abimelech ruled for 3 years. Again, he was self appointed and considered himself a ruler. After a lot of time spent on this, I can't get past the fact that God didn't pick him to be a judge.

      Thanks for the comment, and I appreciate you stopping by!

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  6. Thank you again for all of your beautiful resources! I am having a problem trying to download and print the Bible Verse for the Judges. The link doesn't seem to work that will allow me to do this. Thank you!

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    1. Hi, Melanie, thank you for letting me know about the Bible verse not working. It is corrected. I appreciate it! Thanks for visiting!

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  7. May God continue to bless you Debbie in your online ministry with this website. We are a small Baptist church in Coolum Beach, Queensland on the east coast of Australia. As a whole church we embarked on a 12 week study on the book of Judges. We decided to link Sunday School so the children could go home and discuss their lessons with Dad and Mum. We discovered your website and loved the idea for the lapbook. Together with your notes and some visual aid help from Bim Bam (formally Godcast) The 4 utube clip series The book of Judges - Explained we managed to put together an 8 week really engaging program for our Primary School aged children which is made up of mostly boys! We loved your ideas and are really blessed by you sharing them. Many Thanks for over the Pacific Ocean from Australia xo
    Tara Carroll Coolum Beach Baptist Church

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  8. Great post! I am going to use the idea of the superhero trading cards. I also appreciate the discussion of Abimelech. I have just one correction to offer: Othniel was Caleb's nephew (son of his brother Kenaz) and also his son-in-law. (Joshua 15:17). Thanks for sharing your ideas with us!

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  9. Hi, I love your website! So many wonderful ideas and resources! I am preparing to teach a lesson on the judges and would love to use the posters but the link isn't working. Thank you!

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    1. Hello, thanks for letting me know. It has been corrected and here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/kt4eyut

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  10. hai this is a great website for my child thank you <3

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  11. I love using your materials!! I was wondering where the link was for the updated Judges posters; I thought there were two different sets similar to your trading cards.
    Thanks for your help.

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    1. Thank you! You can download the updated set @ http://tinyurl.com/yx9vpog8

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  12. All of the lessons i have clicked "free visual" links are coming up that the domain is no longer being used... I also can't access the originals...help?

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    1. Sorry, I haven't had time to update those links on all the posts. This one is updated now.

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  13. Hi Debbie, I just want to say thank you for taking the time to make these resources available! Me and my children were attending a weekly bible study on Judges and as you know with having to shelter in we had to stop going half way through the study...I am so glad I found your website now I can finish the study with my children! Thank you and God bless you!

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  14. I believed Othniel was not the younger brother of Caleb, he was his nephew, it was Kenaz the father of Othniel who was Caleb’s brother… Then he became Caleb’s son-in-law

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  15. Thank you so much for sharing all the material with so many. Your teaching material is so useful for the teachers at our church. God bless you in this ministry!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I appreciate it! They will be added as soon as they are approved.