Key Verse
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4
Read the Key Verse with your class. Help your students understand the verse. Use the following meanings of the words from the memory verse to help you explain the gravity of this verse.
adulterers and adulteresses: one who is faithless toward God
friendship: causing the interests of the world to become your interests
enmity: enemy
friend: loved, befriended, kind
world: specifically the wealth and enjoyments of this world, this life’s goods
Keep this verse and the meaning of it in mind as we look at the last part of the book of Judges. This was the root of the problem – they chose friendship with the world (and the things of the world) over a relationship with God, thereby becoming God’s enemy.
Summary: Remember that the time of the Judges was a sad time in Israel’s history. The dominant theme within the book of Judges – 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Notice that it doesn’t say they did wrong, they thought what they were doing was right. Although it didn’t appear wrong to them, it was wrong in God’s eyes. They did not obey the commands God had given them. We see that the Israelites had rejected God as their king. They chose to be friends with the enemy nations. They also chose to continually turn to the enemy’s idol worship. We see how this made them God’s enemy, but we also see that God never left His people.
We saw last week they had begun a vicious cycle: the people forsook God, God allowed the enemy to oppress the people, the people cried out to God, and God sent a deliverer (a judge) to end the oppression. This cycle continued through the rest of Judges.
Encourage your students to bring their Bibles and use them!
Emphasis: The people in Judges had become like the people who lived in Canaan land, the people they did not completely remove from the land. When they became like them, their hearts were turned from God. As Christians, we cannot be a friend of the world and God. We must choose whether God is more important to us, or if it is the things of the world.
Optional Worksheets to be downloaded:
Lesson 30 – Volume 1 Children’s Worksheet 1
Lesson 30 – Volume 1 Children’s Reinforcement Worksheet 1
Lesson 30 – Volume 1 Children’s Reinforcement Worksheet 2
Ideas for children:
Stickers always work well with children. Often times I watch Wal-Mart or Oriental Trading Company for specials or deals on things I can use for crafts for Sunday School (i.e. foam sheets, Bible Story scene stickers, crowns, stick on jewels, construction paper, etc.). I keep a stash and when I need something, I go search in my stash! Pinterest always has great ideas!
You could have a coloring sheet that goes with the lesson.
One idea for today’s lesson: (See picture below). For today’s lesson we made a coloring book for each child. Because Samson is such another popular judge, there were many choices of coloring pages. I chose some that told the story of Samson’s life. I had a book of construction paper cut and stapled together for them to glue the different pictures into in the correct order. We colored some of the pictures in them with the time we had left. They were then able to take their books home to color the rest of the pictures as they had time, helping them remember what we had learned in class that day.
Mural idea:
Refer to the wall in your classroom that has become a mural.
By now your class should be in a groove as to the direction and areas in which they need to focus and work on to improve their Christian lives. Use this knowledge to help you address specific areas in each lesson that your class can discuss and share as you add new things to your mural. Continue to watch as your class grows in their knowledge of not only God’s Word, but areas in their lives that can be corrected, drawing them closer to the Lord.
Have them each add anything else they may have brought to add to the wall. Encourage everyone to participate.
