Samson and Delilah (Judges16)

After Samson killed many of the Philistines, he went and lived in a cave just outside the town of Lehi where many of the Israelites lived. The Philistines wanted revenge on Samson and raided the town of Lehi. The Israelites cried out to the Philistine army. “Why are you doing this to us?”

 “We are looking for Samson. to pay him back for what he did to us!” The soldiers answered.

So three thousand Israelites went to the cave where Samson was living.  “The Philistines will continue to terrorize our town unless we tie you up and turn you over to them.” They said to Samson.
 Samson agreed to let them tie him up and hand him over to the Philistines. As the Israelites returned to Lehi, the Philistines cheered when they saw that Samson was tied up. Samson stood before the soldiers, then he broke free of the ropes that bound him. They snapped like they were made of paper. Samson found a donkey skull on the ground. He used the jawbone from the skull and killed 1,000 Philistines that day. Then he threw the jawbone away and that place was named Jawbone Hill from then on.

 One day the Philistines heard that Samson was spending the night in their town with a woman. They camped out by the city gates and planned on killing Samson when it got light the next morning. But Samson couldn’t sleep. He went to the city gate where the men were sleeping. He ripped the city gates right out of the ground! He carried them on his back all the way to a hill across town.


 Later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. The Philistines offered Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver if she would find out what makes Samson so strong. I guess Delilah didn’t love Samson, because she agreed.

 That evening Delilah asked Samson. “Tell me my dear, what would it take to tie you up so securely that you couldn’t break free?”
 “If I am tied with seven bowstrings that have not been dried, then I will be as weak as anyone else.” Samson answered.
 Delilah went straight to the Philistines and told them Samson’s secret. Delilah tied Samson with seven undried bowstrings and then called the Philistines that were hiding in another room. Samson jumped up and easily broke the bowstrings.
 The next evening, Delilah said to Samson. “You lied to me. Please tell me the truth this time.”
If I am tied up with rope that has never been used before, then I will be as weak as anyone else.
 So guess what Delilah did? yep. She went right to the Philistines. They provided her with brand spanking new ropes. She tied Samson with them and called the Philistines from the other room. When Samson saw the men, he jumped up and snapped the ropes like they were thread.
 Well you would think that Samson would start to catch on that Delilah didn’t have his best interest in mind. But no. The next night, Delilah begged Samson to reveal the secret of his strength, and how he could be subdued. Samson said. “If you braid my hair, and take seven of those braid and weave them into the fabric on your loom. Then I will be as weak as anyone else.”
So after Samson fell asleep, Delilah braided his hair. She took seven of the braids and weaved them into the fabric on her loom. Then she called out and the Philistines charged in. Samson jumped to his feet. He yanked his hair out of the loom and chased the Philistines out of the house.
 Now Delilah resorted to tears. “You have lied and made fun of me.” She cried. “Please, please, please, if you love me, tell me the secret of your strength.”Day after day, Delilah, cried, pouted and nagged Samson. Finally he said. “Ok, ok stop your whining! My hair has never been cut. I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me and I would be as weak as anyone else.” The Philistines hid in the other room as Delilah lulled Samson to sleep as he lay on her lap. Delilah was sure that Samson told her the truth this time. Next time we’ll find out if he did.

God warns us in the Bible about who we becomes friends with. Bad company corrupts good character. (1 Cor. 15:33) Which means if your best friends are not good, sooner or later, you’ll become more like them. The Bible also says not to marry someone who believes differently then you do about Jesus. (2 Cor.6:14) Because two people serving God together, gives Him glory. One serving and the other not serving Him is harder than one person serving God by themselves. I know what you are thinking... “well Jesus had dealings with a lot of bad people.” Yes that is true, but His friends were His apostles, Martha, Mary and Lazarus.

Samson the Lion and the Wedding (Judges 14)

 So Samson grew into a very strong young man. God had great plans for Samson. He was going to use Samson to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. Remember how God used Moses and his leadership skills to free the Israelites from the Egyptians? Now God was going to use Samson and his physical strength to free them from slavery again. This time from the Philistines.
 Samson travelled back and forth from his home to the city of Timnah. One day while in Timnah he saw a beautiful Philistine woman there. He went home and told his mother and father that he wanted that woman for his wife. Samson’s parents tried to talk him out of it because the Israelites were only supposed to marry Israelites. Especially since Samson was being raised as a Nazirite for God.  Some of the rules for Nazirites were 1. No alcohol. 2. Not to touch anything dead. 3. To never get a haircut. So Samson, being set apart for God, surely should not marry a Philistine woman, but his parents finally gave in and said yes.

 One day while Samson was going back to Timnah, a lion attacked him. Samson killed the lion with his bare hands! He continued to Timnah and talked with the woman that he wanted to marry. Things went well and Samson left with joy in his heart.
 Some time later, Samson’s parents were in Timnah making the final wedding preparations. As Samson was walking toward Timnah, he decided to check out the dead lion that he had killed. He noticed that bees had made some honey in the carcass. He stuck his hands into it and scooped out some honey and ate it. He brought some to his parents to eat, but didn’t tell them where he got it because he wasn’t supposed to touch anything dead.
 While Samson’s father was making some last minute wedding preparations, Samson decided to throw a party. He invited the 30 men in his wedding party. He told them a riddle. He made them a bet that they couldn’t guess the answer in seven days.
The men actually threatened Samson’s wife if she didn’t get the answer to the riddle and tell them. For seven days Samson’s wife cried. “If you loved me, you tell me the answer to the riddle. You must not really love me!”
 Finally, Samson gave in and told her the answer. She went right to the 30 men and told them. The next time they saw Samson, they answered his riddle. Samson was furious because he knew that he was tricked! He killed 30 Philistines. Then he left Timah and went to stay with his mother and father.







 After a few weeks, Samson cooled down and went back to Timnah with a young goat to make up with his wife. A young goat back then, was like a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. I don’t think a young goat would would melt a woman’s heart now a days.

 Samson knocked on his father-in-law’s door. His father-in-law answered and said. “I didn’t think that you were coming back so I gave my daughter in marriage to your best man.”
Now Samson was really mad! He burned the Philistine grain fields and the piles of grain that had been stored. He burned their olive trees and their grapevines.
 “Who did this?” The leaders inquired. “Samson!” The people replied. And so the leaders of the Philistines took Samson’s wife and her father and burned them to death. This is how the Philistines and Samson became bitter enemies. Samson was determined to get revenge. He went out and killed many of the Philistines.
 Do you see God working in this story? Even though Samson made many mistakes, God is using his mistakes to work out His plan of freeing the Israelites from the Philistines.. The word for this is God’s sovereignty. God has a perfect plan. We are not perfect, but He wants to use us anyway. Isn’t that amazing! Now I’m not saying that we can do as we please and God will use us anyway. There are consequences to disobedience as we will soon see in Samson’s life.
 A lot of people discover that God has a plan for their lives as they get older. Samson’s parents knew that God had a plan for Samson before he was even born. The fact is. God had a plan for you before you were born ... just like Samson. Discovering God’s plan for our lives is an exciting adventure!

The Birth of Samson (Judges 9-13)

Like we said last time, after Gideon died, the people went back to their old ways. They began worshipping Baal and living wicked lives. Why would the people worship a wooden statue? Because a statue doesn’t expect much. The people wanted to do their own thing and they knew that God would require obedience and sacrifice.  Here is an example of just how wicked their lives had become.
 Believe it or not, Gideon had 71 sons! After he died, the sons took over as the leaders of the Israelites. One of his sons, Abimelech, wanted to be the ruler all by himself. He went to the town that his mother was from (Shechem) and persuaded the people there that it would be better for them if he were their king. The people agreed. The town took up a collection from the Baal Temple for Abimelech and he spent the seventy silver coins that they gave him on some soldiers.
 Abimelech took his soldiers to his fathers house and killed sixty-nine of his brothers. One of his brothers named Jotham escaped.

 Jotham climbed to the top of a mountain and shouted to all the people of Shechem. “If what you did by making Abimelech your king, is pleasing to God, may you find joy and peace while he is your king. But if what you did is dishonoring to God and to the name of Gideon, who defeated the Midianites for you, then may your time under Abimelech’s rule be filled with sorrow, pain and unrest.” Then Jotham went and hid because he knew his brother wanted to kill him.

 After three years, God decided it was time to stir up some trouble between Abimelech and the town of Shechem. The whole town began to badmouth the Abimelech. But he had spies in the town. They reported back to him what was happening. Abimelech knew that it was a matter of time before the whole town would revolt against him, so he wanted to make the first move. He took his army and stationed them outside the Shechem city limits.  The men of Shechem were no match for Abimelech and his men and when they came out defend their city many of the Shechemites were killed. The rest ran back and told the people to hide in the temple. Abimelech told his men to gather some branches. They laid the branches at the base of the temple and burned it down, killing the people in it. The rest of the people ran to the center of town where there was a huge tower. They took refuge in it, but Abimelech told his men to get more branches. He laid the branches at the base of the tower and has Abimelech was leaning over to start them on fire, a woman dropped a brick off the roof of the tower. It landed on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
 Abimelech was barely alive. “Take your sword and kill me!” He told one of his soldiers.. “I don’t want it known that a woman killed me.” So the soldier finished him off.

 God punished Abimelech and the town of Shechem for murdering Gideon’s sons. (Judges 9:56&57)

The Israelites went through several more judges (rulers), but they continued to turn their backs on God. God grew angry and took His hand of protection off the Israelites and they fell into the hands of the Philistines and became their slaves for forty years. Do you realize that God’s hand of protection is upon you and me? Our lives are so fragile! God is the sustainer of all things. Which means that He keeps everything and everyone going.

 Well the Israelites finally realized how self-centered they had been living, and they cried out to God for help. God is so compassionate, caring and forgiving. He decided to raise up a judge that would rescue the Israelites from the Philistines.
 God sent His angel to the wife of a man named Manoah. The couple had not been able to have children, but the angel assured them that they would have a son. The angel also said that their son must be dedicated to God as a Nazirite. (Which meant that he could never get a haircut, never drink alcohol or never touch any dead thing).
 When their son was born, they named him Samson. God blessed him as he grew. His parents kept their part, and never gave him a haircut.

Gideon, the Rest of the Story (Judges 7 & 8)

So when we left Gideon and his servant, Purah, they had gone down into the valley where the Midianite army was camped. Gideon was amazed when he saw how many of them there were! But God had suggested that Gideon listen to some of the Midianites. God knew that Gideon would be encouraged when he heard what they were saying.
 Gideon and Purah reached one of the tents that was posted along the outside of the Midianite army camp. They could hear some men speaking, so they leaned in closer to listen. One of the men was telling his friend about a dream he had the night before. “ I had a dream that a loaf of barley bread came rolling down the hill and knocked a tent flat to the ground.” He said
 His friend said, “ Your dream can only mean one thing. God has given Gideon victory over the Midianite army!”
 When Gideon heard the dream and the interpretation, he thanked God and returned to his own camp.
“Wake up!” Gideon enthusiastically shouted. “The Lord has given us victory over the Midianites!”
Gideon divided his 300 men into 3 groups and gave each each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it. “Watch me and my group.” Gideon said. “As soon as we blow our horns, blow your horns and shout!”

 It was just after midnight when Gideon and his 100 men reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew their horns and broke their jars. They held up the torches in their left hands and shouted. When all 300 of Gideon’s men blew their horns, broke their jars, held up their torches and shouted, God confused the Midianite and they began to fight against each other!  Out of 120,000 soldiers in the Midianite army, only 15,000 survived. Gideon and his men captured them. The Israelites had won the battle! And there was no doubt that it was ALL God.
 When Gideon returned to the Israelites, the people began to shout to Gideon. “Be our ruler! Be our ruler!”
But Gideon declined the position. “ I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you! However, I do have one request. You have collected many treasures from the enemies after we defeated them. Can each of you give me one gold earring and toss it into this cloak that I have laid out on the ground?”
 “Certainly!" They exclaimed. “Gladly!” And each person tossed a gold earring onto the cloak. When the last earring was collected, it added up to 43 pounds. Gideon took the gold, melted it down and had it made into an ephod. An ephod is a protective garment, like a chest protector that the priests wore. Gideon wanted something to remind the people about the protection of God, but the Israelites began to worship the ephod instead of God. 40 years later, Gideon died and the people went back to worshipping Baal. Remember when we first began the story of Gideon? Baal was the god that the Israelites were worshipping. Gideon led the people away from Baal and toward God. But when he died. the people went back to their old ways. They were really following the leadership and confidence of Gideon, instead of really following God.

 God has put leaders in our lives. Preachers, pastors, teachers etc.... But they are just human beings. As we learned before, all human beings fall short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23) We should never be a “pastor follower” or a “teacher follower”. We should be a “Jesus follower” because he is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.(Hebrew’s 13:8)  He is without sin (Hebrews 4:15) and He loves us. (John 3:16)
 Here is an interesting fact about the Bible that is perfect for this lesson.
- Psalm 118 is in the center of the Bible. There are 594 chapters before it and 594 chapters after it. If you add them together, it comes out to 1188. The center verse in the Bible is Psalm 118:8. Isn’t that cool? And here is what that verse says. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put your confidence in men.”
 God works through people...so don’t stop listening to your pastor or learning from your Sunday school teacher. They are like signs along the road of life, pointing to God. They are not your heart’s destination. Jesus is :)

God gets Gideon ready for battle (Judges 6 & 7)

When we left Gideon, he was brought out into the streets where the people wanted to kill him because he destroyed the altar of Baal and the Asherah poles.
Gideon’s father spoke up.” Let’s let Baal punish him. After all it was Baal’s altar that was destroyed.”
 The Israelites agreed to leave Gideon in the hands of Baal. So what do you think happened to Gideon? That’s right. NOTHING. Because Baal is a made up God that the Israelites began worshipping, nothing at all happened to Gideon.
 In the meantime, the armies of Midian, Amalak and the armies from the east joined forces and began to move in toward the Israelites who were already living/hiding in caves because of recent attacks. The spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a ram’s horn. This was a call to the Israelite men to take up arms against the invading armies. 32,000 men showed up!

 Gideon wanted to make sure that he heard God correctly so he prayed. “God if you are really going to use me to rescue the Israelites, please give me a sign. I will put some wool on the ground. If I wake up in the morning and the wool is dry and the ground is covered in dew, then I will know that you will help me rescue the Israelites as you promised.
 God’s promises are rock solid. If God promised, He will do it! The Bible is full of God’s promises. (over 6,000 of them!) We don’t need to ask for a sign... God already gives us His word.
 But God gave Gideon his sign. In the morning the wool was dry and the ground was wet.
“Please don’t get mad at me God.” Gideon said as he felt the dry wool. “But could you give me another sign? This time let the ground be dry and the wool wet. Then I will know that you will help me rescue the Israelites.”

In the morning the wool was wet and the ground dry!  Gideon knew what God wanted him to do. The very next morning, Gideon and his army got up early and began to move toward the enemy armies. Then God spoke to Gideon. “Gideon, you have way to many men in your army. Call all your men together and ask them if any of them are afraid of the enemy armies. Send them home.”
 So Gideon called all his men together. “If any man is fearful of the battle before us, he may return to his home.” Gideon proclaimed. 22,000 men went home that day! Wow! That only left Gideon with an army of about 10,000 men. (Which was very little compared to the hundreds of thousands of men in the enemy army).
I’m sure Gideon was a little nervous. What was God up to? Guess what? god spoke to Gideon again. “You still have too many men in your army. Go down to the river so that the men can get a drink of water. The men who drink straight from the river like a dog lapping up water will be the ones you will send home. The men who cup the water in their hands and bring it up to there mouths will be your army.

 I’m sure when Gideon saw most of the men lapping up the water like dogs, he got even more nervous. 9,700 men were sent home. That left Gideon with an army of 300! Yikes! Why do you think that God wanted a smaller army? God wants us to know that He is the reason for victory. That is why He sometimes waits until the last minute, till all hope is lost before He pulls us through.
 By now the enemy army had moved in closer and they were camped in the valley just below where Gideon and his army of 300 stationed. God spoke to Gideon again. “ Gideon, I’m sure you are a little nervous about the battle tomorrow. Tonight I want to let you know that I have everything under control. Take your servant Purah and sneak into the enemy camp. What you hear will surely encourage you and make you eager to fight this battle. So Gideon took Purah and started down into the valley. From where they were perched, they could see all the camels that the enemy had. The camels looked like sand on the seashore! Way too many to count!  With lumps in their throat Gideon and Purah descended into the valley and made their way to just outside one of the tents. Two men were speaking inside. Gideon and Purah listened closely as one of the men shared his dream with the other man.
 Next time we will find out what the dream was. If it encouraged Gideon. And if Gideon and his army of 300 were able to defeat the vast armies that were moving in on them.
 God wants us to love Him, trust Him and obey Him.  Because He loves us. He is in control. And He wants the best for us.

Gideon Hears From God (Judges 6)

Today we begin another book of the Bible, Judges. Judges were God-appointed leaders that handled the disputes among the people and ruled according to God’s direction. Now that the Israelites had entered the promised land, everything was perfect. Right? Wrong! Hundreds of years had passed and the Israelites had turned their backs on God. They were even worshiping gods made of clay, wood and bronze.
 We can look at the Israelites and say to ourselves, “What is the matter with them? God delivered them from slavery and now they were sinning against God!”
 If we look at our own lives using the Israelites as an example (Which is what Hebrews chapter 4 says we should do), we can think of how the Israelites were freed from slavery, and how God freed us from slavery to sin when we accepted the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and made Him Lord of our lives.  Have you ever doubted that God wanted the best for you? I have. It’s hard when things are not going right. The Israelites doubted God and they ended up wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years. The promised land for the Israelites was a land of “rest”. We can find rest in Jesus. He even called us to lay down all the hard stuff and find rest in Him. (Matthew 11:28)  God loves when we believe Him and trust Him and find rest in Him.

 It’s also easy to forget what God did for us when things are going great. The Israelites were in a land that already had houses built and farms planted. When a new generation of Israelites came along, they took everything for granted. Have you ever just expected things to be good without thinking about God and thanking Him. It’s easy to do. So God let things get bad for the Israelites. Has God ever let things get bad for you so that you remember that He is control and that He alone should be worshipped.
 God provided judges to the Israelites to get them back on track. The Israelites would follow God’s leading for a while, but when a judge would die, the people would turn their backs on God again. This happened over and over for hundreds of years.

 Today we will be looking at Gideon. God called him to be the fifth judge. There were four judges before him and one was a woman named Deborah. In the days of Gideon, the Israelites were going through a rough time. God allowed the evil Midianites to ruin all the Israelite’s crops, steal their cows and goats and take over all their land. It was so bad that the Israelites had to hide in caves.
 Gideon was hiding from the Midianites while he was threshing wheat.  Suddenly an angel sat down and spoke to him. “Hello mighty warrior! God is with you.” (God knows who we can become with Him. Gideon was afraid and hiding from the Midianites. Far from being a mighty warrior!)
 "If God is with us then why isn’t He doing miracles like He supposedly did for our great grandparents.” Gideon snapped back.
 The angel didn’t answer him but instead told Gideon that God wanted him to save the Israelites from the Midianites.
 “Hold on!” Said Gideon. “ Our tribe is the smallest of all the tribes. My family is the poorest of all the families in our tribe. And I am the youngest member of my family! How am I supposed to save the Israelites?” Have you ever made excuses for not doing what God wants you to do? There isn’t an excuse in the world that God would accept.. God can use the smallest, the weakest or the poorest. (1 Corinthians 1:27-28) God can use you and He wants to use you. Don’t worry! He wants to bless you too.
 “God will be with you.” The angel answered.

 Gideon wanted to make sure that the message he was hearing was really from God. So placed some bread and meat in a basket on a rock. Suddenly the rock burst into flames. The meat and bread disappeared in the flames. Gideon looked up and the angel was gone. Gideon knew that the angel WAS from God. We don’t have to wonder if God is talking to us because we have the Bible. God speaks to us through the Bible.
 That night, God spoke to Gideon. “First I want you to destroy the altar that your father has built to Baal (a fake god that the Israelites were worshipping). Then I want you to use the rocks to build an altar to me. I also want you to cut down the Asherah poles (poles used in worshipping Baal) and burn them  on the altar". The next night Gideon did as the Lord had said. Gideon waited till it was late at night because he was afraid of what all the people would do to him if they caught him.

 The next morning, all the people saw that the altar to Baal had been destroyed. They knew it was Gideon! They wanted to kill him. They called him and his father out into the streets.
 Next time we’ll find what happens.

Winners of the 100,000 Visitor Giveaway!

100,000 visitors! Giveaway!

Thank you so much for everyone that has visited my blog over the last couple years! 100,00 visitors! I have been so blessed and encouraged by all the emails that I have received from kids, parents, churches, pastors and ministry leaders from all around the world. India, Bulgaria, Australia, the Philippines, Germany and the UK... and of course The USA. As a great big thank you, I am giving away 3 Mr.BibleHead t-shirts, a kid’s Message picture Bible, a 14X18 signed poster of Balaam and his Donkey and a Mr.BibleHead mousepad. Just leave a comment here or at my facebook page or follow this page or like the Facebook page between now and July 20 and you’ll be entered to win. If you do all 4 things, you’ll be entered 4 times. Thanks again everyone and God bless you!

As For Me and My House...(Joshua 9-24)

The next few chapters of the book of Joshua tell of all the armies that Joshua led the Israelites to defeat. (31 in all) However there was one army that tricked Joshua into signing a peace treaty with them. Here is what the Gibeonites did.
 The Gibeonites heard all about how the Israelites were conquering all the cities on their way to Canaan. (The promised land) They knew that they were in line to be conquered. So they took some moldy bread, dressed in worn out clothes and told Joshua that they had traveled from a far off land. “Look even our bread is moldy!” They said. “Sign a peace treaty with us so you will not conquer us like you did to Ai and Jericho.” Joshua believed them and signed the treaty. Then he found out that the Gibeonites were one of the armies that was on the way to Canaan. But since he signed the agreement, they let the Gibeonites live. However they did make the Gibeonites their servants.
 In chapter 10, the Amorite army was putting up a pretty good fight against the Israelite army. They were batting the Amorites in the city of Gibeon.
Joshua prayed: “ God, please let the sun stay up longer than usual so that we can finish defeating the Amorites this day.”
 God answered Joshua’s prayer and held the sun in the sky for as long as it took for the Israelites to win the battle! That is so cool! Sometimes I wish God would make the day last a little longer when I am doing something fun. How about you? Have you ever wanted a day to never end?
 After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites finally made it to the promised land! Chapters 14 through 22 are about how the land was divided up between the tribes of Israel. Then God gave the Israelites rest from their enemies for many years. Finally when Joshua was very old, he called all the leaders together.” I am very old and will soon be gone, but God has promised you more land just on the other side of the river. But you will have to defeat a few more armies. Remember what God told me when I first became your leader many years ago. ‘Be strong and courageous.' Now I am telling you to do the same.” Joshua continued. “Be faithful to the Lord, for He has fought our battles and He will fight yours if you be careful to follow all the instructions written in the Book of the Law of Moses. If you become disobedient, the Lord will not hesitate to remove you from this land.”

 Then Joshua reminded the people of their history. How God had promised Abraham that He would have many descendants and that they would live in the promised land. He reminded them of how God chose Moses to lead them out of Egyptian slavery. How God sent the plagues to change Pharaoh’s mind, then when the Israelites were trapped, God parted the Red Sea and let them pass through. How God provided manna every Morning for them to eat and even though they wandered for forty years in the desert, God made sure that their shoes never wore out. Joshua reminded them about how God parted the water of the Jordan river so that they could cross over into the promised land. He pointed to the twelve stone monument that they built by the river as a reminder of God’s faithfulness.Then he reminded them of all the battles that God had given them victory in as the entered the promised land.
 Joshua finished his speech saying, “So honor the Lord your God. Serve Him with your whole heart. Don’t ever go back to serving the idols that your grandparents and great grandparents served. Today you make a choice. Are you going to serve the God who did all these things for you that I have just mentioned, or are you going to turn your back on Him and go back to the idols of your grandparents.You choose, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” Those are some famous words spoken by Joshua. You may have heard them or seen them on a plaque.
 The Israelites shouted! “We will serve the Lord! We will serve the Lord!” So Joshua wrote up a contract between them and God and recorded it in the Book of the Law of God to remind the people of the covenant that they made with God. Shortly after this, Joshua died at the age of 110.

So what can we learn from Joshua and the Israelites?
   First of all, the Bible doesn’t say anything about Joshua praying while the Gibeonites were tricking him into signing a treaty. Sometimes we think that we don’t need to pray about certain things. God wants to be involved in our decisions and our circumstances. The Bible says “pray about everything and then don’t worry about it.” (Phil 4:6)
   Second, Joshua tells the people to be strong and courageous just like God told him. Being a Christian isn’t easy sometimes. We need to be strong (with God) and courageous (doing the right thing despite circumstances)
   Thirdly, Joshua reminds the people what God has done for them. When we are facing a tough decision or circumstance, remember how God has been with you through your troubles in the past.
   Finally, and this is the main theme of the last book of Joshua, God made us with free will. That means that we can choose things including whether or not to serve Him. Joshua tells the people that their grandparents had idols made of stone and wood. He told them that they had to choose. They could not serve God and the idols. (Mt 6:24) We don’t have stone and wood idols today. But we do have video games, TV, social media  etc. These things are not bad, unless they take more of our attention than we give to God. Then they become idols! Joshua calls the people to make a choice. He said that he had already made his choice. He and his family were going to serve the Lord. How about you? Have you made a choice to always put God first? and to serve Him?

Achan is Exposed (Joshua7)

So Joshua called all the Israelites out of their tents. He wanted to find out who committed the sin that caused 36 men to die in a battle that the Israelites should have easily won. Each family belong to a clan. There were many families in one clan and each clan belonged to a tribe. There were many clans in each tribe. There were twelve tribes. God told Joshua to begin with the tribes. Joshua called the tribe of Judah to come forward. This meant that the person who committed the sin belonged to this tribe. Achan probably got a little nervous, but there were very, very many people in the tribe. Then Joshua called the clan of the Zerahites to come forward. Achan belonged to this clan. He was getting a little more nervous, but there were still a lot of people in the clan. Then Joshua called out all the people in Achan’s family. Now he was getting really nervous! Joshua walked past Achan’s family members. God told Joshua to stand in front of Achan! Achan broke out in a sweat as Joshua spoke. “Give God the glory and confess to what you have done.”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! It was me! I saw the beautiful robe and the gold and silver. I wanted them so bad. So I took them and buried them in my tent! Joshua sent some men to dig up the items. They brought them back and Laid them out. Achan was put to death because he had caused the death of 36 men.

Achan’s sin followed a very common pattern that we can be aware of in our own lives. He said that (1) He saw it (2) He wanted it badly (3) He took it. First we see something or an opportunity. Then we think about it. Then we act on it. We think with our minds. We can stop that sin right in it’s tracks (2Corinthians 10:5) when we have our mind focused on God and not ourselves.(Hebrews 12:2) Achan thought that he would never get caught. That is not a reason to do anything. God loved us so much that he sent His Son, Jesus to die for us.(John 3:16) We should do what is right to show God that we love Him back. God doesn’t want us to do the right thing because we are afraid of getting caught or because we feel that we have to do what He expects. He says that if we love Him, we will obey Him.(John 15:15)  Do you love God? Here is an easy (and enjoyable) experiment. Go up to your mom, dad or grandparent and hug them. They hugged you back. Right? Now ask them why they hugged you. I’m sure they will say because they love you. The will NOT say “Because I thought you’d notice if I didn’t hug you back.” or “I thought you’d get mad if I didn’t hug you back.”or “Because I thought that’s what you wanted.” When God sent Jesus into the world, He was giving us a great big hug. When we obey Him, we are hugging Him back! Do you want to give God a hug? Next time you are tempted to do something wrong, think about God hugging you and hug Him back by doing the right thing.

The next morning Joshua led an army and conquered the city of Ai. (The same city that had defeated them the week before). Here is what he did. Joshua told a bunch of his soldiers to hide in the wilderness near Ai. Then he took some of his men and marched toward the city. When the city of Ai saw Joshua and his men they thought to themselves. “Here come those Israelites again. We will chase them back to the hills like we did last week.” So the Ai army charged Joshua and his men. Joshua and his men turned around and ran for the hills. Then the Ai army smelled smoke. They turned around and saw their city burning to the ground. Then Joshua and his men turned around and defeated the whole army. (About 12,000 men).
 Afterward, Joshua built an altar there and thanked God. He called all the Israelites together. He reminded them of God’s commandments and he read the first 5 books of the Bible to all the people. (That was all that was written so far) And the people praised and worshipped God.

Today we learned the pattern of sin.( 1)See it. (2)Want it. (3)Take it.
We also learned that God doesn’t want our obedience because we are afraid of getting caught or because it is expected. Our obedience is like a hug to God.
Finally we saw that Joshua built an altar to thank God. We should always thank God for what we have because “Every perfect gift comes from Him.”(James 1:17)

Here is a “Walls of Jericho” coloring page for you

The Walls of Jericho Come Tumbling Down!

The city of Jericho was terrified! Rahab and her family waited patiently as they were gathered in her home, which was built right into the wall, the red rope hanging from her window. On the seventh day, the priest gave a loud long blast from their horns and all the Israelites gave a might shout!.....And the wall that surrounded the city came crashing down! Unbelievable! I’m sure the Israelite army was so amazed at what God had done! 

 Joshua shouted out orders. “Leave everything in the city to be burned unless you find gold, silver, bronze or iron. Take these things to be put into the Lord’s treasury. Do not keep anything for yourselves!”  Then he told the two spies that had been hidden by Rahab (remember a few weeks back, Rahab hid the Israelite spies when they came to check out the city of Jericho?) to go and bring Rahab and her family to safety. 

But wait a minute! The wall came crashing down and Rahab’s house was built right into the wall. Surely her house and her family were destroyed when the wall came down. No. God miraculously spared Rahab and her family! The entire wall collapsed, but God honored the promise that had been made to Rahab for her protection by the two spies. She is even mentioned again in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews because of her faith. The two Israelites found Rahab and her family and brought them back to the Israelite camp. 

 Meanwhile, The Israelite army gathered all the Gold, silver, bronze and iron for the Lord’s treasury. Then they set fire to the city and burned everything in it. The people in Jericho were very bad people and God didn’t want any of them or their belongings around to corrupt the Israelites as they entered the promised land. Joshua led the Israelite army back to camp. All the gold, silver, bronze and iron was put into the treasury of the Lord. All but a brick of gold, 200 silver coins and a beautiful robe. One of the soldiers broke the law of God and kept some for himself. His name was Achan. While the rest of the Israelites were celebrating the victory, Achan was in his tent digging a hole. He buried the silver coins then the robe and then the gold brick. 

"How would anyone ever know?” He thought to himself. “There was more than enough for the treasury.” 

Sometimes we do something wrong because we know that there is no way we could be caught. But that is wrong thinking. For one thing, God sees everything. Even if our parents or anyone else doesn’t see us.... God does. Secondly, when we obey, because it is the right thing to do, it builds our character. The more we build our character, the stronger we get. The stronger we get, the easier it is to fight temptation and do the right thing. 
And thirdly, The Bible says that your sin will be found out sooner or later.

Everything was going well for the Israelites. A small city named Ai (even their name is small) was next between them and the promised land. Joshua sent only a few thousand men to defeat the city since it was so small. But Ai defeated the Israelites, killing 36 of them and sending the rest running back to camp. Joshua fell on his face before God and cried out. “Why God? We defeated the great city of Jericho without a single life being lost, then we lose 36 men to a small town! Why?”
 God answered. “It is because one of your men has sinned. He has taken some gold and silver from Jericho for himself. It is because of this that I was not with you in Ai.”

Joshua knew that he had to find out who did this thing that ended up killing 36 men so he called everyone out of their tents. All the soldiers and their families gathered before Joshua. He said that there was sin in the camp. That someone had taken some of the gold and silver instead of putting it in the Lord’s treasury. There were a lot of people there.  Achan probably thought to himself that they will never find him out. We will find out next time if he’s right.
 So we can see a couple of things. 
(1) God is faithful.(He protected Rahab and her family in a miraculous way.)
(2) God is all seeing. (He saw Achan stealing the gold and silver. He sees us when we do wrong or right)
(3) God desires our love and obedience. (Obeying God is how we tell Him that we love Him)

The Wall of Jericho (Joshua 5 & 6)

After all the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and the water flowed normally again, the Israelites stood on the outskirts of the promised land. They were amazed at all the fruits and vegetation as far as the eye could see! The next morning they woke up to gather the manna. Guess what? The manna stopped! After covering the ground every morning (except Sundays) for forty years, God stopped the manna. Why? Because the land was full of fruit, vegetables and wheat. The Bible refers to it as a land flowing with milk and honey. But now the Israelites were going to have to work for their food. They had to gather, chop, cut, mix, and cook. God gave them what they needed in the desert because they had nothing and could do nothing. Now He has blessed them, but He wants them to do for themselves what they can do.
 Have you every prayed for something and then waited for God to do it?  Maybe God is waiting for you. God gives us a brain and hands and feet for a reason. Don’t pray for answers to a test, when God gave you the ability to study. Pray about studying. Our ability and capabilities are God’s blessings. Do your BEST and then pray that God does the REST.
 So Joshua was leading the people toward Jericho when he was confronted by a man wielding a sword.
 “Are you a friend or an enemy?” Joshua asked.
 “Neither.” Answered the man. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army!”
At this Joshua fell on his knees to worship. He knew it was Jesus!
 Then the Lord told Joshua. “ I have already given you the city of Jericho. Do what I say and you will be victorious.” He continued. “ I want you to have your entire army march around the city every day for six days. Seven priests blowing horns and other priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant will lead the way. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times. Then the priests with the horns will give one long blast. At this point, have all the people shout! The walls will come down and you will be able to take the city. Just remember that all the silver and gold is to be taken and put in the Lord’s treasury.
 Do you think that this was an unusual way to capture a city? Me too! Why would God ask them to do something that sounded so crazy? A couple of reasons. (1) God wants everyone to know that He did it. (2) God wants the people to obey Him. (3) God wants the people to trust Him. Because when we trust God and obey Him, and see Him at work because of it, our faith gets stronger.
 So Joshua gathered all the people and told them what the Lord had said. He warned them about not taking any of the gold and silver for themselves. Joshua also told them to make sure that Rahab and her family were brought out safely. Remember Rahab? She was the lady that took care of the Israelite spies when they were hiding from the Jericho soldiers. The spies promised safety for her and her family when they took over, if she hung a red rope from her window. Joshua remembered the promise and reminded the Israelites to take care of her and any family members in her house.
 The Israelites were ready to go. They approached Jericho and marched around the wall with the Ark.  The priests with horns in the lead. The people were quiet. The sound of the horns was all that could be heard for six days as they marched around the city once a day.
 The Israelites got a pretty good look at the wall as they marched around it. The wall was 11 feet high and 14 feet thick! Once in a while, one of the people from Jericho would peek over the wall to see if the Israelites were still out there. The city of Jericho was terrified! Rahab and her family waited patiently as they were gathered in her home, which was built right into the wall, the red rope hanging from her window. On the seventh day, the priest gave a loud long blast from their horns and all the Israelites gave a might shout!
 Next time we will find out what happened. Would God keep His promise? Would Rahab and her family be safe? We will see.
 A few things we learned from these chapters.
(1) God wants us to do what we can do, the He will do what we can’t do.
(2) God works in unusual ways so that He gets the glory.
(3) God tests our obedience.
(4) God tests our faith
(5) God works through us when we obey and trust.
(6) When we obey and trust our faith gets stronger.

The Twelve Stones (Joshua 3&4)

The next morning after the spies returned home and reported that the people of Jericho were paralyzed with fear, Joshua led all the people down to the banks of the Jordan River. The promised land was on the other side of the river, just past the city of Jericho. The Israelites couldn’t wait to cross the river. However it was flood season. The river was higher than usual. The people were sure they could make it across, but they had to go right away because the river was getting higher and higher each passing day. But God told Joshua to wait three days!

 Have you ever prayed about a solution or an answer to a problem, but the thing you prayed about got even worse? God’s timing is perfect. Sometimes God allows things to get worse so that He can demonstrate His power even more, so that there is no doubt that it was Him!

 Three days later, the people stood at the banks of the much deeper and wider Jordan River. The only two people that were present when God parted the Red Sea were Joshua and Caleb. Everyone else had died in the desert. I’m sure the israelites heard about it from their parents and grandparents, but they were probably wondering if God would do the same for them.

 The Bible says that God is the same yesterday and today. (Hebrews 13:8) If your parents or grandparents are believers in Jesus, ask them what God has done in their lives. I’m sure He has done some amazing things. And I’m sure that they would love to tell you. Guess what? He can do the same thing for you too. God wants us to share our “God” stories.




 God told Joshua to choose twelve men to carry the Ark of the Covenant ( the gold trunk that held the Ten Commandments) to the edge of the river and then into the river. Imagine being the first two guys walking into the deep water of the Jordan River! They had to have faith that God was going to do something! And God did! The moment the men touched their feet to the river’s edge, the waters parted! The twelve men with the Ark of the Covenant stood in the middle of the river bed while all the Israelites crossed over on dry ground.
 When all the people were across the river (all two million of them) God spoke to Joshua and told him to choose twelve more men and have them each take a large stone from the middle of the river near the Ark of the Covenant and bring it to the bank of the river where the people crossed and put them in a pile.

Now why did God want them to do that you may ask. Well, God tells us why in the Bible. In Joshua chapter 4, verses 6 and seven,  He says. “Do this as a memorial so that, in the future, when your kids ask you what those stones mean, you can tell them how I did an amazing miracle.”

 While the men were building the memorial, Joshua went and built his own memorial right in the middle of the Jordan river. You are probably wondering what good that will do. Right? Since as soon as the water flowed back into the river, the memorial would be under water. That is true, but during a draught, when the water level was low, the memorial would be visible. Then the people could remember that God controlled nature when he parted the river. He controls the rainfall as well. God likes us to remember what He does for us. He likes us to remember the past so that we can trust Him in the present.
 When Joshua was done building the memorial, the men with the Ark of the Covenant crossed the river.
Then the water flowed back and filled up the river.

I like to write down on little pieces of paper the things that I am praying for, and when God answers the prayer. I put it in “the answered prayer jar.” It really builds my faith when I look at that jar filled up with all those answered prayers! It’s a great way of remembering what God has done for me.

 One week from today is the Thursday before Easter. It is the night that Jesus had the last supper with His apostles. The reason I mention this, is because Jesus took the bread and gave it to the apostles and said “Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus wants us to remember that He suffered and died to pay the price for our sins. This Easter remember what Jesus did and have a Happy and blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Rahab Hides the Spies (Joshua 2)

So now Joshua is leading the Israelites into the promised land. The Israelites are camped out on the other side of the Jordan river. The city of Jericho is standing between them and the promised land. The king of Jericho can see all the Israelites on the other side of the river and he is a little nervous. After all, the Israelites have been conquering every city in their way. God has given them victory after victory.
 So Joshua picks two men to secretly cross the Jordan river and spy out the city of Jericho. The two spies need a place to hide, because somehow the king heard that they were there checking out Jericho. The spies came to the house of a woman name Rahab. Her house was built right into the wall that surrounded the city. Rahab was a woman who had a bad reputation. She did a lot of bad things, but now she was trying to turn her life around. The city of Jericho had turned their backs on God and Rahab didn’t even know where to turn to get her life right with God. When the Israelite spies showed up at her door, it was her opportunity to do the right thing.

 Have you ever got yourself into a lot of trouble when you disobeyed or lied? Sometimes it just seems like it keeps getting worse and worse. God wants us to think about doing the next right thing. One right thing and then another. God will give us opportunities to do the right thing. If we do, He is faithful and He will bless you. (James 1 22-25)

 Rahab hid the spies because the king’s men knew that the spies were seen at her door.  The soldiers searched Rahab’s house but didn’t find the men. Rahab had hidden them on her roof under some hay.
 “I didn’t know that they were Israelite spies.” Rahab said. “They left and went toward the hill country. The city gate is just about ready to close. If you hurry you may be able to catch them.”

 The soldiers bolted to the hill country. They made it to the city gate just before it closed for the night. Then Rahab went up to the roof to check on the two Israelite spies.
 “I know that God has promised you this land. The people in Jericho have all heard about how you crossed the Red Sea on dry ground and how you defeated armies that were larger than you.” Rahab continued. "The people are so terrified of you that they freeze at the mention of your name!”
 The two spies asked her why she helped them. Rahab answered. “I know that it was your God who parted the Red Sea and defeated the armies. Your God is powerful and mighty. I am hoping that by helping you now, you will spare me later when God gives you this city.”

 Rahab was smart. She saw God working in the Israelites. She wasn’t afraid of the people. She feared God. The bible says that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)  Have you ever
done something so that someone will like you, even though you knew it was wrong. I have too. When we do that, we are more afraid that someone won’t accept us than we are afraid of God’s anger. That is not too smart.

 Rahab hung a rope out the window so that the two spies could escape. Before they left, they assured Rahab that she and her family would not be harmed if she gathered them all in her house and hung this red rope from her window. So she let the spies down with the rope and they hid in the hills for three days and returned to Joshua telling him that the people in Jericho were terrified of them.

 The red rope hanging from Rahab’s window was a symbol of how Jesus’ blood saves us! Jesus shed His blood to save us from the punishment of sin, if we trust in Him. (1John 2:2)  Rahab trusted that the red rope would save her and her family.

 Have you trusted your life to Jesus? Have you asked Him to come into your heart and be your Lord and Savior?  If you say a prayer something like this (and mean it in your heart) God WILL save you:

 Father God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that you sent Jesus to suffer and die for my sins. I  make Jesus the Lord over all my life and I accept Him as my Savior. Thank you God. Amen
 If you prayed a prayer like that and meant it in your heart...Guess what? The angels are celebrating in heaven because someday you will be joining them up there...FOREVER! (Luke 15:10)

Joshua Becomes the New Leader (Joshua 1)

Right before Moses died, God told him that Joshua was to be the next leader of the Israelites.  Moses announced to all the people that Joshua would be taking over soon. He didn’t want the people to fight over who would be the next leader after he died.

So now we begin the book of Joshua. (The sixth book of the bible) God spoke to Joshua and told him that now that Moses was dead, the time had come for him to lead the people of Israel. I’m sure that Joshua was sad about losing his friend and teacher, but he had millions of people depending on him to lead them into the promised land.
 God spoke, “In three days you will cross the Jordan river. The promised land is just on the other side. There are men there that will not want you there, but I do. I will be with you so no man will able to stand against you. Be strong and brave. You will lead all the Israelites into the land that I promised to your father, your grandfather and his father. So be strong and brave.”
 Did you notice that God said “be strong and brave” twice?  The bible repeats itself when something is very important. Jesus does this all the time. God told Joshua to be strong and brave while crossing the Jordan River and then again while being a leader. Let’s take a look at those two words.
 STRONG is not how much weight you can lift. STRONG is standing up for what is right. In other words.....standing for God.




 BRAVE is not without fear. BRAVE is doing something even though it scares you. Here is an example. Billy loves to climb trees. Joey is afraid of heights so he stays on the ground. One day Billy climbs a tree and tells Joey to come on up. Joey is shaking with fear as he reaches for branch after another until he his sitting high above the ground with Billy. Who was braver? Billy who had no fear and climbed the tree? Or Joey who, despite being afraid, climbed it?

 Have you ever been in a situation where you had to be Strong (Stand for God) and Brave?  God told Joshua how to do it and He tells us too. First of all God told Joshua His plan. This is God’s will. He tells us His plan too in the Bible. We are all a part of God’s plan and we have a part in God’s plan. Secondly God gives Joshua his promises. God told Joshua that He would be with Him. God has given us over 3000 promises in the Bible! Finally in Joshua 1 verses 7, 8 and 9, God tells Joshua to read the bible, to study it, to meditate on it (which means to stop and think about what it says) and to obey it. Then God gives Joshua a promise of success if he does these things and tells him one more time to be STRONG and BRAVE! (Wow! that’s three times!)
Right away Joshua told all the people that they were to start packing because in three days they were going to cross the Jordan River into the promised land. Then he told them to be STRONG and BRAVE because God was with them.


It is important for us to obey God right away, because if we wait til later, we may forget exactly what we are supposed to do or we may keep saying later I will, but later never comes. Have you ever put off something that you were supposed to do, only to never get around to it? (like cleaning your room) When we put off what God wants us to do, it is disobedience.
The Israelites told Joshua that they would do whatever God told them They knew that God was speaking through Joshua because he spoke with confidence. (strong and brave)
 Then Joshua called two men aside and directed them to go check out the land first, he didn’t want any surprises. Next time we will follow the journey of these two men.


So today we found out a few things.
 God wants us to stand STRONG for Him and to be BRAVE for Him when we feel afraid.
 God tells us how to be STRONG and BRAVE (1) Know God’s will (2) Know God’s promises and (3) Know God’s word (the Bible) read it, study it, think about it and obey it.
The biggest thing God wants from us is to trust Him. Trusting His will, trusting His promises and trusting His Word. If we don’t trust Him in these things ..... we can never really be STRONG and BRAVE.

Mr. BibleHead Coloring Pages

I’ve had some recent requests for more coloring pages, so before we begin the book of Joshua, I wanted to post some coloring pages from the first five books of the Bible.(and one of me :) 

From now on,  I will try to post some coloring pages every couple of posts to correspond to the story we are in. Thanks for your emails and your support. 

May the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

    

Balaam, Balak and Moses (Numbers23-Deuteronomy 34)

Hi guys! I’m back to finish the story of Balaam and myself. So where did I leave off?...Oh yeah...

...So when Balaam and I finally arrived, king Balak asked, “Why did you turn me down the first time Balaam? Didn’t my men tell you that I was going to make you rich if you would just curse the Israelites? Well at least you are here now. Tomorrow we head up to the top of Bamothbaal . We can see all the Israelites from there and you can curse them there.”

 Balaam remembered with fear the angel and the sword, and how the angel told him to do only what God told him to do. “I can only do what God tells me to do and speak what He tells me to speak.” Balaam said to king Balak.
 The next morning we headed up to Bamothbaal where we could see all the Israelites below.  Balaam had the men build 7 altars there and he made a sacrifice to God on each altar. “Let me go to the top of that hill and see what God wants me to say.” Balaam requested.
 So we went up the hill and God spoke to Balaam. When we came back Balaam told king Balak what God had said and the king was not very happy! God told Balaam that the Israelites were his chosen people and that they were set apart for God’s purposes. And that they would become more numerous than the stars in the sky.
 King Balak turned bright red! “I asked you to curse my enemies and you blessed them instead!”
 “I tried to tell you that I can only speak what God wants me to speak.” Balaam replied.

 King Balak took Balaam to another place where we could see about half of the Israelites. “At least curse half of my enemies.” King Balak said. But again God told Balaam to bless the Israelites. So the king took us to another place and the same thing happened. King Balak was furious. He shouted at us. “I asked you to curse my enemies three times, but all three times you have blessed them instead! Get out of here! I am not going to pay you a single penny! God has just stopped you from becoming a very rich man!”

 Balaam responded to king Balak’s ranting and raving. “Even if you gave me all the gold and silver in your kingdom, I could only do what God wanted me to do and speak what God wanted me to speak. We will go now, but God wants me to say one more thing before we go.... 'The Israelites will conquer many nations on their way to the promised land. The nations will be destroyed by God’s mighty hand including this one!"  Then we left king Balk there and headed home.
 Balaam was right. The Israelites, led by Moses, continued to win one battle after another on the way to the promised land. They took all the gold, silver and animals from each nation that they conquered. Balaam was killed in one of the battles and the Israelites took me and 61,000 other donkeys back to their camp. Moses had divided the Israelites into 12 tribes and then divided all the gold, silver and animals among God and the twelve tribes. God got the first of everything. One tribe took care of God’s stuff. That was the tribe of Levi. I ended up in the tribe of Judah. ( The ancestors of Jesus!)
 Moses called all the Israelites together. He told them that he was 120 years old and that he wouldn’t be with them for too much longer. He appointed Joshua to be the next leader to take the people into the promised land. Then Moses wrote a song about how God had freed them from slavery and all the things that He did for them along the way. The song of Moses is recorded in the Bible in Deuteronomy chapter 32. He wanted everyone to learn the song and teach their children and grandchildren the song so that they would never forget how God freed them, saved them and loved them.  Then Moses blessed the people. After that Moses went to a the top of Mount Nebo where God showed him the promised land. Then Moses died on top of the mountain.
 “There has never been another prophet like Moses whom he Lord knew face to face. The Lord sent Moses to perform miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and the entire land. And it was through Moses that the Lord demonstrated His mighty power and terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.” (Deuteronomy 34: 10-12)  

Two lessons we can learn today. One: That God has a big plan (His sovereign plan) and nothing or no one can stop it. He also has a small plan (individual plan) for each of us. This is where we can choose to do the will of God or not. God’s small plan for us is part of His big plan. If God can’t use us because we choose not to, he will make life hard for us or find someone else. Either way we lose out on the blessing that God has for us when we do follow Him.
 The second lesson is that God wants us to remember what He has done for us. Moses wrote a song so that the Israelites would never forget. Stop and think about all the great things that God has done for you and has given you. Then thank Him every day.

Some interesting facts about Moses:
 (A) Moses was 120 years old when he died. His life can be broken into three forty year segments. (1) 0-40 He was raised as the son of the Egyptian king. (2) 40-80 He spent these years in the desert after he killed an Egyptian. (3) 80-120 He was the leader of Israel, leading them out of Egypt and to the gate of the promised land.
 (B) Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. They are called The Pentateuch.
 (C) Moses was buried by God on the mountain and no one has ever found his body.
 (D) “Moses” means “taken out of the water"