Week 263 · about 45 minutes
Judges 11
Judges 11 · Memory verse Judges 11:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Judges 11), the matching word search and answer key (Judges 11 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Judges 11 in about four minutes, stopping at Judges 11:4: “After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Judges 11?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Judges 11 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.” Judges 11 opens with these words: “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah.” The line to keep is Judges 11:4: “After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.” Carry the word “children” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Judges 11:4: “After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Judges 11? Then try this: Read “After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Judges 11. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Judges 11:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Judges 11 and write Judges 11:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Judges 11:4
“After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Judges 11. Help us remember Judges 11:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.