Deborah Sunday School Lesson for Kids -
Deborah and Jael, Brave Women of God
from...
![]() |
Kindle $1.99, Print $4.99 |
Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to teach children how to be brave in the Lord, like Judge Deborah and Jael.
Needed: whiteboard or
blackboard or paper to write on, index cards with Faith or Fear written on them, drawing paper and crayons or
colored pencils
Intro Activity
Tell students, I want to play a game with you today. I want you to think of as many good men leaders in the Bible as you can. Whoever can think of the most good men leaders from the Bible wins. Ready, go! Shout them out! (Examples could include leaders like Joseph in Egypt, Moses, Joshua, King David, Solomon, Josiah, Daniel the prophet, Ezra the priest, Nehemiah the governor, Jesus, and the Apostles, as well as others. As students call out the names, write them on the board or on a piece of paper.)
Now, I want you to think of good women leaders
in the Bible. Go! (Examples could include Moses’ sister Miriam, Queen Esther,
and others. The point is that students should be able to think of more men
leaders than women leaders.)
Even though our list shows more men leaders
than women leaders, our story today shows that God can work through women just
as much as He can through men.
Say, When the judge Ehud died…
Who was Ehud? Do you remember? He was the man
who killed Eglon, king of the Moabites, by stabbing him in the stomach with his
sword and then, led the Israelites in battle and defeated the Moabite army.
You remember that God had let the Moabites
conquer Israel because the people of Israel had stopped believing in God and
were sinning. God let the Moabites conquer them as their punishment. But then,
when the Israelites started praying for God to help them again, He did help
them by making Ehud their leader and helping them to defeat the Moabites.
But when Ehud died, the Israelites started
sinning again.
How does God feel when we sin?
God was angry that the people were sinning
again, so He let King Jabin, King of the Canaanites, attack and conquer the
Israelites. King Jabin ruled over Israel for 20 years.
Then, the people started praying to God again,
and God heard their prayer. A woman named Deborah was the leader of Israel
after Ehud died. She was a prophet and a judge and one day, Deborah sent a
message to a man named Barak. She said, “Barak, God is ordering you to take 10,000
Israelite soldiers and go defeat the Canaanite army. God will make it so that
you will win the battle.”
But Barak said, “Deborah, you have to come
with me to fight the Canaanites, or I
won’t go.”
Why did Barak want Deborah to go with him when
he went to fight the Canaanites? (He was afraid to go by himself.)
Do you think Barak should have been afraid? (No,
he should have trusted that God would be with him and would help him. God
already said that He would make it so that Barak won the battle.)
So, Deborah said, “I will come with you,
Barak, but since you’re acting afraid, God will use a woman to win the battle
instead of you.”
Then, Deborah and Barak took 10,000 Israelite
soldiers and fought against the Canaanites. God made it so that the Israelites
won the battle, and all the Canaanite soldiers were killed.
But the leader of the Canaanite army, a man
named Sisera, ran away from the battle when he saw that his army was losing. He
ran to the tent of a woman named Jael because he knew Jael and wanted her to
help hide him. Jael saw him coming and told Sisera to hurry up and come into
her tent. Then, she hid him under some blankets so that the Israelite army
wouldn’t find him.
Do you think Jael will keep Sisera safe in her
tent?
Sisera fell asleep under all those blankets
because he was so tired from fighting in the battle and then, running away from
the Israelite army. While he was asleep, Jael took a hammer and a spike and
snuck up on Sisera. She hammered the spike right into Sisera’s head and killed
him underneath the blankets. So God used Jael, a woman, to defeat the leader of
the Canaanite army just like Deborah had said.
Barak was afraid to go to battle against the
Canaanites. Do you think we should be afraid to do something God has told us to
do?
It’s okay to be afraid, but we shouldn’t let
our fear stop us. We should trust that God will be with us and will help us do
whatever He asks us to do. We don’t have to be afraid if we know God is with
us. God can help us do anything.
Game: Faith vs. Fear
Print out or write the words Fear or Faith on a set of index cards. You should have an equal number of cards that say Faith as Fear.
Divide students into two teams, and have the
teams line up on separate sides of the room in single file lines. Mix up the
cards and give each student a card that says Faith or Fear. Set a timer for 3-5
minutes, depending on how many students you have. When you say Go! the first
two students run toward each and show each other their cards.
If one says Faith
and the other says Fear, the student with Faith scores a point for their team.
The person with Fear does not score. If both say Faith, both score a point and if both say Fear, neither does. Both
return to the back of their lines and trade their cards for a new card.
As soon as they leave the center, the second
two players run up and do the same thing. Play continues until the timer runs
out. The team with the most points at the end wins.
Craft: God’s Punishments
Give students drawing paper and crayons or colored pencils. Remind students that God let the Israelites’ enemies conquer them when they sinned against Him and that He helped the Israelites defeat their enemies when they prayed to them. Ask, how do you think God punishes us today? Draw a picture to show how you think God might punish someone today who wasn’t listening to Him.
When they’re finished, ask each one to share,
and briefly discuss it. Guide students into understanding that God can punish
in a variety of ways but that not everything bad that happens is God’s
punishment.
End by emphasizing that God never wants to
punish us. He only punishes us to help us remember Him, just like when God let
Israelites’ enemies conquer them so that the Israelites would remember to pray
to Him.
Closing Prayer
Lord, give us faith so that we can be strong for You like Deborah and Jael were. Whatever you tell us to do, we want to be brave for You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Recommended Extras
The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible – for
telling the stories with beautiful artwork and Biblical accuracy
![]() |
More info... |
The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Stories for Children
– for telling the stories to younger children
![]() |
More info... |
My Big
Book of Bible Heroes Devotional – a
devotional to recommend for families or older students
![]() |
More info... |
Bible
Fun Factory: The Book of Judges – additional or substitutional material for
your lessons
![]() |
More info... |
Deborah
- free coloring and activity pages
No comments:
Post a Comment