lesson 5.1: gideon and the midianites

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Lesson 5.1: Gideon and the Midianites (Judges 6:1-16 and 7:1-22)Episode 5 – True heroes [Timing: 0:00 to 13:10]

Objective• To explore the fact that ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they follow God’s calling.

Summary of resources required this lesson• Friends and Heroes Episode 5• DVD player• A balloon and a pin• A take-home prayer card for each child (Printable Resources – pages 7 and 8)• Pens and pencils

Summary of Friends and Heroes storyCaleb and Aaron have turned out not to be Judean rebels after all. Instead they are common thieves. They plan to escape from Alexandria with the loot they have taken from the Governor’s palace, and with some silver from Samuel. They capture Portia, Macky and his family and force them to help them get away. However, they are thwarted by the Governor closing all the city gates. Macky suggests they should fight their way out, but Samuel reveals that he has a boat hidden near the lighthouse. On the way to the harbour Caleb tells Macky that there were too many Romans to fight. Macky responds by telling the story of Gideon.

Prepare yourself – Remember to pray first!Watch Episode 5: In this lesson we are going to focus on the fact that Gideon thought he was a

“nobody”, but nevertheless God wanted him to lead the Israelites. In the end he took up the challenge, and with God’s help and direction he

defeated the Midianites in the most extraordinary way.


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Starting off

Surprise, surprise!

Materials• DVD player and Friends and Heroes Episode 5• A balloon and a pin

Preparation

Out of view of the children, inflate and tie the balloon so that the surface is reasonably taut when touched. This will ensure a loud bang when you pop it later. Hide it in a place, from where you will be able to retrieve it quickly when the children are positioned in the middle of the room with their eyes closed (see below).

Watch the first part of Episode 5 together, up until when Leah spots the lighthouse, shortly after the Gideon story (end point = 13:10).

Briefly remind the children of the Gideon story which Macky told, including

• how Gideon received a message from God;• how he didn’t think he was good enough for what God was asking him

to do; and• that, when he rose above his reservations, accepted God’s calling and

did everything in the way God asked him, the result was extraordinary.

Now, ask your children to lie or sit on the floor, in a group in the middle of the room. Tell them to close their eyes and pretend they are asleep (just like the Midianites were asleep when God helped Gideon and his small band of men). As soon as everyone is properly settled and restful, quickly pull out the inflated balloon and burst it with a pin.


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After the reaction to the bang has died down, get the children to describe how they felt when the balloon exploded. Did they expect it? What did they expect, if anything? Explain that the Midianites, when they were surprised by God’s plan, did not expect anything. The loud trumpets and lights suddenly appearing all around their camp (when the Israelites smashed their jars) must have been really startling. No wonder they were confused, especially as they had been properly asleep as well. Get the children to imagine how they would have felt just now if they had actually been asleep when the balloon exploded.

After your discussion, emphasise to your children that God brought the Israelites a success that they thought they would never have against the Midianites. They could have simply fought them in their own strength and with a normal-sized army, but God had a better way! He challenged Gideon to do something, and (after some hesitation!) Gideon bravely and obediently responded. We too may be challenged one day by God to do something that we might never have imagined before. As Macky suggests, (and as it says in Romans 8:31!) you can never be outnumbered with God on your side! So when that happens, will we be prepared to listen, be brave and do everything God’s way? It is always better than trying to do it your way and as Macky learned, even when there’s “no way out of here”, God can provide the way.


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In deeper

DVD Scene Selection – 7: Gideon and the Midianites

Materials• DVD player and Friends and Heroes Episode 5

Sometimes when we are faced with a problem the answer seems easy. Macky, although he knew that there was “no way out”, thought that fighting the Romans was the answer. Samuel had a different plan and one that was much more likely to succeed when they were outnumbered so heavily by the Roman guards. Samuel knew something that Macky didn’t – he knew that he had a hidden boat. God can always see the big picture when we can see only a small part and so his way forward will always be successful! But like Gideon we need to accept his solution, follow his plan, and then we will be victorious.

Tell the children that you are going to replay the opening section of the Gideon Bible story. Ask them to concentrate on what Gideon thought he could do and what he thought he could not do.

Now replay the Gideon Bible story up to when Gideon decides he can do what God has asked him. (Select scene 3 from the scene selection menu and stop playback at 12:00.)

Afterwards ask the children the following questions:

• What did God’s messenger tell Gideon he could do?• What was Gideon’s first reaction?• Why did he change his mind later?

The points to bring out are that Gideon was told he was “a born leader”, but he thought he was a nobody. He later changed his mind because, as the messenger had told him, God would help.

Then go on to tell your group that God’s help was very surprising at


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first, even to Gideon. Gideon’s army started out with 32,000 people. But God said that was too many! So he told Gideon to make the number smaller. When the army was reduced to 10,000, God still said that was too many. It was only when there were 300 left that God said that was right. Even though to most people 300 would seem too few for what had to be done, Gideon accepted it without question – because he knew with God’s help they could not lose.

To help the children get a true understanding of the numbers involved here, ask them to come up with ideas of large groups of people – and give them feedback as to how close they are to 30,000, 10,000 and 300. Useful areas to explore may be the attendance at major and minor league football stadiums, or population of towns and villages; and for the small numbers at the end, you might be able to make comparisons with local churches, schools or clubs.


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Prayer time

Materials• Take-home Prayer Cards (Printable Resources – pages 7 and 8)• Pens and pencils

Preparation

Print and cut out enough take-home cards for each child in your group to have one. Try to use as stiff a paper stock as your printer will manage. Print out the cards so that you have the picture on one side of the paper and the words on the other.

Distribute the cards to your children. Get them to put their names on their card and finish the sentence “When I grow up I want to…”

When they have done this they should put their card, picture side up, on a table. The cards should be laid out randomly, but so they don’t overlap. Now slide the cards around, so that whose card is whose becomes confused. Again, when this shuffle is complete, the cards should not overlap.

Once this has been done, pray the following prayer, or something similar:

Father God

You know each one of us. Often you know us better than we know ourselves – just as you knew Gideon was a great leader, but he thought he was a nobody.

You know which of these cards belongs to each person. You know the wish we have put on the other side. And you know what we are truly capable of.

Guide us to hear your voice, when you suggest what we should do and where we should go. With you we are capable of so much. Without you we will never realise how extraordinary we are.

Bless our ambitions, our thoughts and desires; and help us focus them on the right way ahead… for us and for you.

Amen

You can now let each child in turn guess which card is theirs: one guess per child until each card is back with its author.


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Printable Resources Lesson 5.1 – Take-home Prayer Cards (Front)

With God’s help anything is possible









• Print this page and the next one on the front and back of a single piece of stiff paper. • Cut out the take-home cards for use in Prayer time.


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Printable Resources Lesson 5.1 – Take-home Prayer Cards (Back)

When I grow up I want to …



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David, a boy with no military training

Mary, a teenager from a poor family

Peter, a fisherman without much education

Josiah, a child whose dad died when Josiah was young

Moses, a man with a stuttering problem

Esther, an orphan who was a minority in her country

Nehemiah, a captive in a foreign country

God has a history of choosing people who thought they were nobody special and using them for big purposes – that’s what happened to me and my friends! Take a look at these people from the Bible, and see if you can match the names (on the left) with the exciting things God did through them (on the right). If you have time, you can also look up the verses to find out more about each story.

a. became king at eight years old! (2 Kings 22:1)

b. helped establish the Christian church as we know it! (Matthew 16:18)

d. defeated his country’s most feared enemy—who was more than nine feet tall! (1 Samuel 17)

e. led a construction project to rebuild the Temple (Nehemiah 2)

c. became the queen of Persia and later saved her people! (Esther 7:3)

f. chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah! (Luke 1:46-55)

g. spoke to the Egyptian king and eventually led the Israelites out of slavery!

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Extra, extra!Lesson 5.1 – Small People... Big Plans

1d 2b 3g 4f 5a 6c 7e

Answers:

lesson 5.1: gideon and the midianites

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