Archive for the ‘Judges’ tag
June 27, 2010: God Answers Gideon’s Prayer with Dew
The text for this lesson is Judges 6:36-40
Discussion Points
- Why was it important that there be only three hundred people?
- Who chose the three hundred men?
- How do you think Gideon felt?
- What was their battle cry?
- Describe the battle.
- What was the outcome?
- How did God use the dew to calm Gideon?
- How did God use the natural element (dew) to bring about His plan of salvation for all humankind?
- How does this story illustrate the Gospel?
November 9, 2008: Samuel
The text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 1:1—3:21.
Key Points
- For the sake of Christ, God, who is ever eager to forgive us and grant us His grace, calls all to repentance through preachers such as Samuel.
- Law: The Lord’s holy people often appear to out-sin the most ungodly pack of sinners imaginable. There is more than a little of Eli and his sons in all of us. Time and again, selfishness suffocates sanctity.
- Gospel: The Lord’s people are holy because they are the Lord’s. Holiness is not an achievement but an endowment. He calls all to repentance through preachers such as Samuel, ever eager to forgive for the sake of Christ, who was born of a woman very much like singing Hannah of old.
October 26, 2008: Samson
The text for this lesson is Judges 16:1–16:31.
Key Points
- Jesus, the greater and perfect Samson, repeats and completes Samson’s deeds of deliverance for us and for our salvation. When we are weak, then He is strong!
- Sin weakens me, making me a target for the devil’s temptations and bringing me guilt and destruction. God loves me, a sin-weakened wretch, and puts on me Christ’s strength and victory over sin, death, and the devil.
- Law: No man has only one chink in his armor, a single Achilles’ heel. Bull’s-eyes for the devil are painted all over us. Satan knows every one of those weaknesses, as he did Samson’s. Whether it be vanity, pride, bigotry, laziness, or all these plus more, the tempter is well-aware. Gleefully he uses them to his advantage and our guilt and destruction.
- Gospel: Enslaved, eyeless, and mocked though he be, Samson is nevertheless loved by God. This man is more than a tool that Christ uses and disposes. Warts and all, he is a beloved child of heaven. The Father hears his prayers, as He hears ours, for we too are the apple of His eye, chosen in Jesus to be forever His.
October 19, 2008: Gideon
The text for this lesson is Judges 6:11–7:25.
Key Points
- Christ, the light of the world, overcomes the darkness of sin and death, even as God overcame Israel’s enemy while the light streamed from the lamps of Gideon’s men.
- Sin darkens my heart so that I love the things of darkness and I love to hide my sin in darkness. Christ is the light of the world who exposes and overcomes the darkness of sin and grants me salvation.
- Law: Darkness is the sinner’s friend. Sinners love it, as Jesus says (John 3:19). We do things at midnight we would never dare do at midday. As we do, spiritual darkness envelops us, cutting us off from Him who is Light of Light.
- Gospel: Light is good, for it chases away the darkness, revealing and enlivening. The new Jerusalem, says St. John, never sees darkness (Revelation 22:5). Christ, the light of the world, overcomes the darkness, even as Gideon overcame the enemy with the light streaming from the lamps of his men. The Good News of Christ’s salvation, trumpeted forth, illumines our darkened hearts so that we might see Him who is life and light and love.
October 12, 2008: Deborah
The text for this lesson is Judges 4:1–5:31.
Key Points
- Through the unlikely acts of Deborah, Barak, and Jael, God brought about victory for His people and freed them from tyranny. Through the unlikely virgin birth and Christ’s death on the cross, God brought about our victory and freed us from the tyranny of hell.
- Law: Sin always leads us to slavery, and ultimately death, trapping me under its control.
- Gospel: Christ rescues me from the oppression of sin so that in Him I might have ultimate freedom.
- Bible Words: Romans 8:2.
- Faith Words: judge, retribution, justice, rebellion.
- Hymn: “Lord of Our Life” (LSB 659; LW 301; TLH 258)
- Catechism: The First Commandment, The Lord’s Prayer: Third Petition
