Judges Came Alive In 6th Grade

I explained to my 6th grade class that Judges shows Israel’s failure and God’s faithfulness. I drew the cycle diagram for them telling how they were bad, then bad things happened to them, then they cried to the Lord, and the Lord had compassion on them…and around and around they went.

Sit in on our class to hear how God pricked the students’ hearts:

Christy: “Why did God keep having compassion on them?”

Mrs. Becker: “Good question, Christy! That’s exactly it—they did not deserve it, but it is because of who God is…the same is true for us…”

Lindsey: “You’d think they’d learn!”

Mrs. Becker: “Why do you think they didn’t learn?”

Lindsey: “Because they didn’t tell the next generation” (Exactly what I’d taught during our Deuteronomy study! She’s catching on!)

Mrs. Becker: “Why else do you think Israel didn’t learn from their mistakes?”

David: “Because humans are imperfect but God is perfect”

Mrs. Becker: “Exactly! Okay, class, think of a time when your parents told you something but you disobeyed and were punished. Did you do that thing again?”

(The students all nodded). “Who can share an example?”

David: “One time my dad told me to only spend 20 Pesos but I spent 100 Pesos, so he took my allowance for 5 months…but the next time I did it again.”

Mrs. Becker: “O.K., so you had a consequence but you still did it again…that is what happened to Israel; they kept doing it over again.”

David: “OH, but one time…”, David loves to tell stories, “…I lied to my parents so I wasn’t allowed to have a birthday party so this year I remembered and I didn’t lie, so I get to have a birthday party.”

Mrs. Becker: “Great, David! So, unlike Israel, you learned from the consequences. David, that is very wise. You are learning!”