SEARCHING OUR MEMORY:

1. How do you remember Jephthah?
   1. as a mighty warrior
   2. as an outcast son of a prostitute
   3. as a man who made a rash vow
   4. as a great judge of Israel

2. Discuss what you chose to do from last week's Searching our Lives.

SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURE: Read Judges 13-14

3. Why did God deliver the Israelites to the Philistines?
   How long did this last?

4. How did Manoah, the Danite, and his wife learn they were to have a child?
   1. To whom did the angel first appear?

   2. Why did the angel appear a second time?

   3. What did Manoah want to be taught?

5. What restrictions were placed on the wife while she was pregnant?

6. It was possible to take a Nazarite vow for a short time (See Numbers 6:1-21).
   1. What great work was this son going to do? (13:5-7)

   2. How long was he to be a Nazarite?

7. In 13:16, what did the angel request instead of food?

8. Did the angel tell them his name?
   Why?

9. How did the angel leave?

10. When Manoah realized he had seen an angel, what did he fear?

    Who had this same fear in a previous lesson? (Judges 6:22-23)

11. What reasoning did his wife use to reassure him?

12. The woman gave birth to a ______ and called him ___________. He ________ and the Lord ______________ him. The __________ of the Lord began to _________ him while he was camped in Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

13. What did Samson request (or demand) from his parents?

14. Why were his parents hesitant?

15. Samson knew what he wanted. The parents knew what Samson wanted, but they did not know what God wanted. What was God seeking?

16. What did Samson meet when he and his parents were going to Timnah?
    1. Where did Samson get his power?

    2. What was his weapon?

    3. Did he tell his parents what happened?

17. Samson saw the young lady and liked her. Later when he was going down to marry her he took a short detour.
    1. What was he looking for?

    2. What did he find?

    3. What two things did he do with the honey?

    4. What did he keep secret?

18. Samson was given "groomsmen."
    1. How many?

    2. What riddle did he tell them?

    3. What was the deadline for their answer?

    4. What was the reward for the answer?

    5. What was the loss if they could not answer?

    6. How long did they try to figure it out before seeking help?

19. What request and what threat were made to Samson's wife?

20. How did Samson's wife learn what she wanted from her husband?

21. What did Samson tell the men when they gave him the answer?

22. Where did Samson get the garments to pay the groomsmen?

23. Read Numbers 6:1-21. What do you notice from Samson's actions that appear to be in conflict with verse 6?

24. Samson was burning with anger, or you might say "as mad as fire" and he went home to his parents. What happened to his wife?

We will continue studying Samson next week…

SEARCHING OUR HEARTS:

25. Manoah and his wife saw someone who:
    1. Knew their private lives
    2. Predicted their future
    3. Looked like an angel
    4. Talked like an angel
    5. Ascended in smoke
    Yet only when he didn't reappear did they believe it was an angel of God. Do you think we are ever that "dense" in seeing God or His Son? Do many just look at what Jesus says as something just said by a "man" and never recognize he is from God?

26. Why were Samson's parents worried about him taking a Philistine wife? Do you understand that worry? Have you ever had similar concerns for your own children?

27. Have you ever used the same tactics that Samson's wife used to get your way?

28. How did God succeed in getting Samson angry enough to fight the Philistines?

29. What are some of the wedding customs seen in this lesson?

30. In trying to see this lesson as real people and not just a story, to which of the following can you most easily relate and why: Samson, his mother, his father, his wife, or the 30 men?

31. Each time Samson's strength is seen it says the "Spirit of the Lord" gave him power. Do you pray for power as you face the ‘lions' of your life?

    What are some of those "lions"?

SEARCHING OUR LIVES: (choose one to discuss next week)

1. Samson's marriage was short and unhappy. If you have a happy marriage, write your husband a note this week and tell him so.

2. Samson killed a lion with his bare hands. Make a list this week of things you do with your bare hands.

3. We have a tendency to focus on the negative. Read the story of Samson in a couple of children's books. Tell the class what positive things you learned from this reading.