Worksheet - Judges 12 - 14

Apply 1 (mini lesson)  From reading Judges 12 - 14 Study Questions:   1.  Why were the men of Ephraim upset with Jephthah after his victory over  the sons of Ammon across the river Jordan?  Judges 12:1 -   2.  What reason did Jephthah give the Ephraimites for not calling them to go with him to battle?  Judges 12:2-3   3.  Jephthah and the men of Gilead fought against Ephraim and defeated them.  They captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim.  How did the men of Gilead kill 42,000 men (refugees) of Ephraim at the fords of the river? Judges 12:4-6 4.  How long did Jephthah judge Israel before he died?  vs. 7 -   5.  Who judged Israel after Jephthah and for how long? vs. 8-10   6.  Who judged Israel following him and for how long? vs. 11-12   7.  After this, what judge followed and for how long did he judge the sons of Israel?  vs. 13-15     *** This is a good time to review the judges that Israel has had up to this point.  Make a list of them and how long each one served as judge, beginning with Othniel in Judges 3 and stopping at the 12th one in Judges 12.  *** 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6). 7). 8). 9). 10). 11). 12). 8.  Why did the Lord give Israel into the hands of the Philistines?  How long did they serve them before the Lord delivered them?  Judges 13:1 -   9.  This time, the Lord chooses a couple to give a baby boy to that He will set apart inside the womb to be a Nazirite to Him and the one that will begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. (Judges 13:5).  This will be the man Samson.  What do we learn about his father and mother?  Judges 13:2 - 10.  Who appeared to the mother of Samson when she was barren and what did he say to her? Judges 13:3 - 11.  What instructions did the Lord give concerning Samson when he was still in the womb; in fact before he was even conceived in the womb?  Judges 13:4-5 12.  When Samon's mother-to-be shared with his father-to-be (Manoah) about the man of God that visited her, what did she tell him about the man she saw and about his instructions to her?  Judges 13:6-7 13.  When Samson's father-to-be (Manoah) heard that his wife had been visited from a messenger of God concerning a son they would have, he wanted to hear from him also to verify what was said and what would happen.  What was Manoah's prayer to the Lord concerning this and how did God respond to his prayer?  Judges 13:8-9 14.  Finally, Manoah returned with his wife, and was able to communicate with the messenger from God.  He wanted to know what the boy's mode of life and vocation would be.  All the messenger told him was for his wife to pay attention to all that he had already told her about the boy being a Nazarite, meaning separated to God for his life's call, and that she should observe all that he told her while the baby was in the womb and beyond that.  Manoah asked that he stay and allow them to prepare him something to eat.  What did the messenger tell Manoah at that time?  Judges 13:16 - 15.  Manoah did not realize that this was the angel of the Lord he was speaking to.  He asked him what his name was and how they could honor him when his words came to pass.  What did he say back to them? Judges 13:18 - 16.  What did the angel of the Lord 'do' as Manoah offered the goat and a grain offering on the altar to the Lord in his presence?  Judges 13:19-20 17.  What did Manoah and his wife do when this happened before their eyes and what did Manoah fear might happen because of this awesome experience?  Judges 13:20-22 - 18.  Manoah's wife, Samson's mother-to-be,  believed that God would not kill them since He had given them this word about having a son and what to do concerning their son.  When the woman gave birth, they named him Samson.  As he grew up, the child was blessed by the Lord.  What happened when he came into manhood and he was in the camp of Dan between Zorah & Eshtaol according to Judges 13:25 ? 19.  Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman there from the daughters of the Philistines.  He came back and told his parents that he wanted to have her for a wife.  His parents could not understand why he could not find someone from their own people for a wife rather than from the "uncircumcised Philistines".  What did his parents "not" realize?  Judges 14:4 Many times, we do not understand things that are happening, but one thing we can know as believers, what is God going to do with them in our lives?  Romans 8:28 - 20.  When Samson and his parents went down to Timnah, as they arrived at the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came toward Samson!  What did Samson do to the lion and how did he have this kind of strength to do it?  Judges 14:6 21.  What did Samson find later when he traveled to Timnah to take this woman for his wife?  What did he do with what he found?  Judges 14:7-9 22.  Samson made a feast for his wedding as the young men customarily did.  They brought 30 men to be companions with him at the feast.  Samson proposed a 'riddle' to them based on what had happened to him, knowing that they would not be able to guess it.  He told them if they could figure it out by the end of the 7th day, the final day of the feast, he would give them 30 wraps and 30 changes of clothes, but if they couldn't figure it out, they were all to give him that same thing.  All agreed to this.  What was the riddle he gave them? Judges 14:14 - 23.  The 30 Philistine companions that wanted to solve Samson's riddle made a threat to his new bride if she didn't get the answer for them from Samson.  What did they say they would do to her and her father's house? Judges 14:15 - 24.  Samson's new wife pressed him each of the three days left and he finally told her the answer to the riddle on the seventh day, the final day of the feast, and then she told the sons of her people that had threatened her.  Consequently they told Samson the answer to the riddle and he told them they would not have known without "plowing with his heifer" - (I find that an amusing statement - lol) - vs. 18... What did the Spirit of the Lord enable him to do in order to get the 30 changes of clothes he owed the men who had solved the riddle?  Judges 14:19 - 25.  While Samson was out fighting to get those changes of clothes for the men who had solved the riddle, what happened concerning his new wife that he hoped to come home to? Judges 14:20 Apply 1:  Why do things not always happen like we think God will cause them to happen?   Read & comment on: Judges 14:4  - Compare and comment on: Job 26:14 - Isaiah 55:9 - Proverbs 16:4 - Micah 4:11-13 - Romans 11:33 - Romans 8:28 - Ephesians 3:20 -   How can you apply this to your life? ...    Your summary of all of today's lesson:        Your prayer for today:       The purpose of the Apply 1 mini lesson is ..... to help you focus on at least "one" thing that you can apply to your life from the chapters read today.  It would be great to take the time to look up the verses and answers the short survey each day.  I think this will be a great guide to helping you journal your thoughts.  Usually once you begin to open up on a subject, more things come to your mind to say or pray about.  Love you, Brenda