The Story of Ruth

Central Truth: God protects those who are faithful.

Scriptures: Ruth

The events recorded in the book of Ruth occurred during the time of the judges. During a famine, an Israelite man named Elimelech took his wife and family from Bethlehem and moved to Moab. Elimelech’s sons marry Moabite women and, after some time, Elimelech died, leaving behind a widow, Naomi. Ten years later, the sons also died, leaving their widows, Orpah and Ruth. Naomi decided to return to her home in Israel and told her daughters-in-law to remain in Moab. Orpah remained behind, but Ruth remained with Naomi.

And Ruth said, “Intreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee:

for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:

thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God…

Ruth 1:16

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest. Since Naomi and Ruth were widows, they had no means of support and were poor. Ruth, therefore, went into the fields after the reapers to gather what grain was left in order to find food for Naomi and herself.  Ruth gleaned in the field belonging to Boaz, a relative of Naomi. He had been informed of Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi and treated Ruth kindly, giving her food, water, and protection. 

In Israel, the law required that the nearest relative of a dead man must buy the dead man’s land, provide for his family, and marry his widow. At Naomi’s direction, Ruth appealed to Boaz to fulfill his right as a near relative and marry her, but there was a relative who had a prior claim. When the unnamed man gave up his right to Boaz before witnesses, Boaz was free to honor the requirements of the law and marry Ruth.

Bible Scrapbook

Each week the children will be adding to their scrapbooks what they have learned during Sunday School. This week we learned the beautiful story of Ruth, a story of love, loyalty, and faith in God. We added a delightful three-dimensional picture of Boaz and Ruth in a field: 

Ruth and Boaz from My Little House.

Samson and Delilah: the Lure of Sin

The death of Samson (freebibleimages.org)

Central Truth: God would rather forgive than judge.

Scriptures: Judges 16

Samson loved another Philistine woman, Delilah. The Philistines offered her eleven pieces of silver to discover the secret to Samson’s strength. Four times, Delilah begged Samson to reveal the secret to his great strength. Each time he told her his “secret,” the Philistines attacked him only to be defeated until the fourth time. Samson told Delilah that he was a Nazarite and no razor had ever cut his hair. When he fell asleep, Delilah called for a man to shave the seven locks on Samson’s head. When Samson awoke, he did not know that he had lost his strength. The Philistines overcame Samson, put his eyes out, placed him in chains, and took him to the prison house to grind.

After some time, Samson’s hair began to regrow. The Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god, Dagon. When the Philistines had drank their wine, they called for Samson to be brought to them. They placed him between two pillars. Samson asked the boy who had brought him in to place his hand on the pillars. Samson called upon the Lord to restore his strength so he can avenge himself. God heard Samson’s cry and restored his strength. Samson then pushed the pillars with all of his might, killing all of those who were in the building, including himself.

Bible Scrapbook

Each week the children will be adding to their scrapbooks what they have learned during Sunday School. I have always been fascinated by the Nazarite vow, and the children had questions, so we made a list of the rules concerning the Nazarite vow along with the scripture referring to it in the Old Testament. 

Samson's Riddle and Revenge

Central Truth: Samson’s actions are destructive, but God’s will is ultimately done.

Scriptures: Judges 14-15

One day the angel of the Lord appeared to a certain woman and her husband Manoah of the tribe of Dan. The couple had no children, and the angel told them they would have a son. He said the child was to be consecrated to God as a Nazarite from the womb. An Israelite taking the Nazarite vow was prohibited from cutting the hair, eating or drinking the fruit of the vine, and eating or touching anything unclean. Men and women might take the vow for a specified time, but this child was to have the vow for life, and even his mother must observe the vow while the child is in her womb.

When Samson was born, he was extremely strong physically. Throughout his life, he encountered the Philistines but never led an army. He killed them single-handedly using his strength. Samson found a woman of the Philistines he wanted to marry, which made his parents unhappy because they wanted him to marry a woman from their tribe. On his way to Timnah, he came across a young lion. The Spirit of the Lord came over him and he killed the lion without using any weapons. On his return from Timnah, he found honey in the mouth of the lion and took it and ate it. 

At the wedding feast, he told a riddle. If any of the guests could declare the answer to the riddle within the seven days of the wedding feast, he would give them thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes. If they could not solve the riddle during that time, they would have to give Samson thirty garments and thirty changes of clothes. The riddle:

Out of the eater came forth meat

And out of the strong came forth sweetness 

(Judges 14:14).

On the seventh day, the guests still had not answered the riddle, so they threatened Samson’s bride. She went to Samson complaining that he did not love her because he has not told her the answer. Samson tells her the answer and she tells her people:

What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?

(Judges 14:18).

Samson was angry. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he went to Ashkelon and killed thirty men, taking their clothes and gave them to the guests who had guessed correctly. Samson was so angry at his bride that he gave her to his companion. When Samson went to visit his wife, he discovered that her father had given her to his companion. Samson then took 300 foxes, tied their tails together and put a torch to each tail. He then turned them loose in the wheat fields, destroying the crop. As revenge, the Philistines then burnt the woman and her family. Samson then took revenge and slaughtered the Philistines.

Bible Scrapbook

Each week the children will be adding to their scrapbooks what they have learned during Sunday School. We continued our character sketches with the lesser-known judges Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon mentioned in Judges 12:8-15 (Inspired by the Judges Lapbook found on Bible Fun for Kids website):

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon - Judges of Israel

We also included Samson in our character sketches:

Samson

I also brought My Creative Bible to demonstrate how to apply bible scrapbooking to a bible journal. I first practiced drawing in our notebook:

Directions to draw this lion can be found on Activity Village website.

And then I added my notes and drawings in my bible along with a honeycomb design (using a stencil of a hexagon and colored pencils):

A close-up of the lion (created using a sharpie pen and colored pencils). 

Jephthah

Jephthah

Central Truth: Because of his faith and obedience, Jephthah destroyed the enemies of Israel.

Scriptures: Judges 11

Again, the Israelites turned against God and worshiped foreign idols of Canaan, including Baal and Ashtoreth. This time when the Israelites cried out to God, he told them to cry to their false gods, but the Lord had compassion on them and sent Jephthah to save them. Jephthah was the son of Gilead and lived in a territory called Gilead, which is east of the Jordan River. The Ammonites claimed that Gilead belonged to them and attacked the Israelites. Jephthah was cast out of his family by his half-brothers and fled to the land of Tob. While there, Jephthah led a band of men who raided and pillaged.

When the Ammonites attacked Gilead, the elders asked Jephthah to lead the Israelites against the Ammonites. Jephthah made the elders of Gleaned agree to make him their chief if the Lord delivered the Ammonites not his hand. The Lord delivered the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hand, and he destroyed twenty of their cities.

Bible Scrapbook

Each week the children will be adding to their scrapbooks what they have learned during Sunday School.  This week we did a character study of Jephthah as well as the lesser-known Judges Tola and Jair (inspired by the Judges Lapbook found on Bible Fun for Kids website):

Jephthah, meaning "promise-keeper."

Tola, meaning "worm, grub, scarlet."

Jair, meaning "he shines."