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“A New King Over Israel”

n this Level of the Children’s BibleLessons, we will read about prophets and

kings, warriors and battles, young men andgiants. We will learn about how God bless-es and protects those who obey Him. Wewill also read about God’s Plan for you,your parents—and the entire world!

You may have never thought of this, butthere is a reason why you were born. Thereis a purpose for human life today, and mostpeople, including your teachers and friendsat school, do not know what this reason is.

How many times have you opened a newgame or electronic gadget, and saw that itcontained an instruction book? This bookgives important information you need inorder to use the item correctly. Well, theBible is God’s Instruction Book for people.It gives guidelines, laws and examples onhow to obey God, and how to achieve ahappy and successful life. Most important-ly, it helps you to understand God’s pur-pose—and His special calling for you!

In this Lesson, we will learn how Godalso had a special plan for his servant,Samuel the prophet. Samuel was to find ayoung person, much like yourself, whomGod had chosen for a special calling: Thisyoung man was to be anointed as the newking of Israel!

Samuel—A Man of God

One day, God called for Samuel: “You areto go to the tribe of Judah, and visit Jessethe Bethlehemite. Take your oil for anoint-ing, for I have chosen one of Jesse’s sonsto be Israel’s new king.”

But Samuel was worried. “If King Saulhears of this,” Samuel said, “He will haveme killed.” Samuel did not say thisbecause he intended to disobey God.Samuel was very obedient. But, as withmost people, he allowed his fears to get thebest of him for a brief moment.

Samuel remembered the last time he hadmet with King Saul. Because of Saul’s rebel-lion and sin, God had rejected Saul as king!Samuel knew that sin is disobeying God’slaws, and that sin hurts the person who com-mits it. Just as it is a crime to break one ofman’s laws, SIN is breaking God’s laws!

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“A New King Over Israel”

1 CHILDREN’S BIBLE LESSON

ABOUT OUR COVER:

David cared for his father’s flock of sheep, which looked toDavid to feed, guide and protect them.

Illustrations by Paula Rondeau

Because of Saul’s sin, God had rejectedhim, and was sending Samuel to anointanother king to replace him. This time,God had chosen a young man who wouldfully obey Him, and not rebel as Saul did.

In I Samuel 16:2-3, God told Samuelwhat to do. As you read the verses, fill outthe missing words to better understand thescripture. Remember to use the New KingJames Version of the Bible. (If you areunsure which version this is, ask your par-ents to help you find one.): “Andsaid, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears it, he willkill me.’ But the LORD said, ‘Take a heifer[calf] with you, and say, ‘I have come to______________ to to the LORD.’ Then______________ Jesse to the______________, and I will show youwhat you shall do; you shall______________ for Me the one I________ to you.’”

Samuel understood that with God pro-tecting him, there wasn’t anything Saul oranyone could do to hurt him. So Samuel didnot question God, but did exactly what Godtold him to do. He took his best calf and hishorn of oil, and went to Bethlehem. Oncethere, he would invite Jesse and his sons tothe sacrifice, and meet the young man whowould replace Saul.

The Shepherd Boy

Meanwhile, in the town of Bethlehem, ayoung man was herding a flock of sheepowned by his father, Jesse. This youngshepherd boy, named David, was theyoungest of eight sons, and often had to do

some of the jobs his older brothers didn’twant. He knew what it meant to be pickedon by his older brothers, yet he alwaysrespected them, and made sure that he fol-lowed through with whatever he was askedto do.

As a young shepherd, David also hadmany responsibilities to his father and hisflock. He protected and cared for the harm-less and delicate sheep, who looked to himfor guidance. Not only did David care forthem, he often had to fight off wild animalswho tried to eat them!

David thought back to one time when hefought and killed a bear, or when he slew alion that was trying to kill his father’s sheep.David understood that he had not killedthese animals because of his physicalstrength or speed. In fact, David was fright-ened when the lion and bear attacked theflock. But, he realized that God protectedhim from these vicious animals. He wasable to kill these deadly beasts because healways prayed and relied on God to watchover him.

David remembered the many stories hisfather taught him about God, and how, inthe Garden of Eden, God created all the ani-mals to be kind and gentle.

But this soon changed. In fact, one eventchanged everything—including the natureof the animals. This event changed the lifeof every human who would ever exist.

The Creation Week

Genesis 1:1-2 reads, “In the___________________ God created the

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______________ and the _____________.The earth was without ____________, and____________; and _____________ wason the face of the deep. And the Spirit ofGod was ______________ over the face ofthe __________ __________.” These vers-es show God, at the beginning of the cre-ation week, looking on the devastatedearth, which was once beautiful and lush.God had placed the archangel Lucifer, apowerful angelic being (who was third incommand under God), to rule the earthwith one-third of the many millions ofangels.

Lucifer was a very talented spirit beingwho, unlike David’s thankful and humbleattitude, began to think that he was special.Instead of thanking and obeying God,Lucifer became jealous of God, and sinnedagainst Him. Lucifer then led a rebellionagainst God, but was quickly defeated byGod and His holy angels. In a hateful rage,Lucifer, now called Satan the devil,destroyed God’s beautiful physical cre-ation.

This is how the earth became devastated,as we read in Genesis 1:1-2. But God wouldsoon recreate and beautify the face of theearth.

On the first day of the Creation Week,notice what God said in Genesis 1:3: “Letthere be _________’; and there was__________.” On this day, God, through thepower of His Holy Spirit, removed some ofthe smoke, gases and vapors covering theearth’s surface. This allowed sunlight toreach the earth.

On the second day, God removed someof the water that was covering the entireearth, and caused it to form clouds in theatmosphere.

On day three, dry land appeared again.God also formed the rivers, streams, creeks,lakes and oceans.

On the fourth day, God removed thefinal layer of dusts and gases, revealing thetwinkling stars in heaven and the moon.

On the fifth day, God created sea ani-mals, and made the birds of the air.

On day six, God made all land animalsand man.

The universe, with its many planets andstars, is only one aspect of God's creationand His Plan for mankind.

On the seventh day, God stopped working,and rested. God didn’t rest because He wastired. After all, God is Spirit, and does notneed physical food, drink or rest for energy.God is made of life and energy—perfect inevery way! God rested on the Sabbath day,and taught the first man and woman—Adamand Eve—that they must also rest on this day.

Mankind was commanded for all time toobserve this weekly reminder that God isour Creator. We are to put aside all forms ofwork and entertainment (such as televisionprograms, video games, movies, etc.), anduse this day to learn about God and His wayof life. Through obeying this command,man is intended to remember that God is theProvider and Source of all that we have, andthat we should never rebel against Him asSatan did.

Just as Jesse taught many things to David,God taught Adam and Eve important knowl-edge they needed to correctly live. But soon,man rebelled against God, just as Luciferhad. With this, mankind became cut off fromGod and His ways, and would remain thisway for 6,000 years under Satan’s reign.

Under the influence and rule of the devil,the world became filled with violence andhate. Rather than following God’s laws,which lead to peace and prosperity, man dis-obeyed God and learned the ways of unhap-piness.

Test Your Memory:

1) Who led the rebellion to overthrow God? __________________________________

2) What did God create on the sixth day of creation? ______________________________________________________________3) What did God do on the seventh day? __________________________________4) What does the Sabbath day mean for ustoday? _____________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

The Great Flood

Many years after Creation, God chose aman named Noah to carry out a special pur-pose. You see, mankind became evil andcorrupt. Noah was the only person on earthwho obeyed and trusted God. Everyone elsecontinuously sinned, ignored God’s laws,and lived miserable lives.

Because of this, God decided that Hewas going to drown mankind with a greatflood. Yet, because of God’s mercy, Hewould use Noah to (for about 120 years)warn all people of the coming Flood.During these years, Noah and his sons builta giant ship, called an ark. This ark wasabout three stories high and 450 feet long.God sent every type of animal to come tothe ark. With these animals, God would pre-serve the different animal species. Godwould use the ark to save Noah and his fam-ily, as well as the animals.

In Genesis 7:2-3, God said, “You shalltake with you __________ each of everyclean animal, a male and his female;________ each of animals that are unclean,a male and his female; also __________each of birds of the air, male and female, to

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keep the species alive on the __________ ofall the earth.”

Noah understood and obeyed God’s lawof clean and unclean animals. These laws areexplained in Leviticus 11:1-23. On a separatesheet of paper, write out these verses. Thiswill help you remember which animals areclean, and which are unclean to eat.

Noah fully trusted in God, and wasgoing to completely obey His commands.He collected all the animals as God com-manded him. He built the ark exactly asGod told him. He warned the people of theimpending flood for 120 years. Noah evenput up with people laughing at him andteasing him and his sons for building thisark in the middle of dry land.

Seven days after Noah, his family and allthe animals went into the ark, the first few

drops of rain began to fall, and the laughtersoon stopped. As the rain continued, peoplebegan beating on the ark’s doors, pleadingfor Noah to save them. But the doorsremained closed. The rain continued forforty days and forty nights. Only Noah andhis family survived the Flood.

How difficult it must have been for Noahto ignore the cries of the people. Whilesome may think that the Flood was a cruelway to deal with people, God was mercifulto them. Since they were living a wayagainst God, they had completely lost sightof His laws—and were living lives full ofviolence, hate and sin. They were livingmiserable and unhappy lives!

Nimrod—and the Tower of Babel

After the rain stopped andthe flood waters disappeared,Noah freed all the animals,and his family left the ark.Noah was thankful for God’sprotection, and that God keptevery single promise He hadmade to Noah.

Notice what God thenpromised Noah, in Genesis9:8-11: “Then _______spoke to _______ and to hissons with him, saying: ‘Andas for Me, behold, I___________ My covenantwith ______ and with your_____________ after you,and with every living

In Genesis 7, God directed Noah to gather a certain number ofclean and unclean animals. Soon after the animals entered theark, the Flood began.

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For forty days and forty nights, heavy rains poured and covered the earth's surface. Inside the arkwere the only animals and humans to survive. God planned for them to repopulate the entire worldafter the Flood.


_____________ that is with you: the birds,the cattle, and every beast of the earth withyou, of all that go out of the ______, everybeast of the earth. Thus I ___________ Mycovenant with you: Never again shall all_________ be cut off by the __________ ofthe flood; never again shall there be a________ to ____________ the earth.’”

After God said this to Noah, a rainbowappeared. This was the sign of God’s prom-ise that He would never again destroy theworld with a flood. Noah fully trusted inGod’s promise. With that, Noah’s three sons,Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wivescontinued to prosper and have children.

As time passed, children became fami-lies; families became generations; genera-tions became villages; villages becametowns. Eventually, even cities came intoexistence. The cities of those days were dif-ferent than cities today. They did not havethe many luxuries provided by technology.But, many people still moved to these citiesbecause they provided protection from thewild animals that had quickly filled thecountryside. Through protective walls builtaround the cities, and because of the largenumbers of hunters and archers on guard,cities were seen as the safest locations tolive in.

One such hunter was named Nimrod.This man was a mighty warrior, and wasvery wicked. Nimrod was so evil, he evenmarried his own mother, Semiramis!Together, they began the BabylonianMystery Religion—which is the origin ofmost religions today.

This Babylonish religious system startedthe pagan holidays of Christmas and Easter,which were days for worshipping Nimrod.Those who kept these days disobeyed God,and instead chose to worship Nimrod astheir god. They followed the counterfeitdoctrines made by Nimrod and Semiramis,and replaced God’s true teachings.

You have probably heard of counterfeitmoney, haven’t you? Well, this simplymeans that criminals artificially make paperlook like real money. But it’s still fakemoney! Nimrod and Semiramis did thesame thing with the truth of the Bible. Sincethey did not want to obey God, and insteadwanted to do whatever they wanted, theyreplaced God’s truth with false beliefs.

In Genesis 11:1-4, we read aboutNimrod’s Tower of Babel project: “Now thewhole earth had one _____________ andone __________. And it came to pass, asthey journeyed from the east, that theyfound a plain in the land of Shinar, and theydwelt there. Then they said to one another,‘Come, let us make ___________ and__________ them thoroughly.’ They had__________ for _________, and they had___________ for ___________. And theysaid, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a___________, and a _________ whose topis in the __________; let us make a namefor ourselves, lest we be _________ abroadover the face of the whole earth.’”

Led by Nimrod, many people gatheredtogether to build a giant tower. But thiswas not just any tower. This was Nimrodand Semiramis’ plan to try to defeat God,

and to prevent Him from destroying theearth again with a flood. Just like Satan,they tried to overthrow God from heaven,and crush His Plan for mankind. If theywould have only obeyed God, they wouldhave learned that God would never againdestroy the world with a flood. They wouldhave also learned God’s way of life—theonly way that brings true happiness andjoy.

Just like Satan, they soon learned thatGod is not someone you disobey. Seeing thegreat evil that the people did in the tower ofBabel, God confused their languages. Up tothat point, all people spoke the same lan-guage. Since there were no language differ-ences, it was easy for everyone to commu-nicate their thoughts and beliefs.

Great confusion followed! While work-ing on the tower, people could not under-stand what others were telling them, andeveryone began yelling at once! Since peo-ple could no longer communicate, and somebegan fist-fighting, the project quicklyended. People found others who spoke thesame language they did, and left together toinhabit other areas of the world.

Because of this, the tower becameknown as “Babel,” which means “confu-sion” (Gen. 11:9).

While not all of the different languagesof today originated at the tower of Babel,many did originate from these ancient lan-guages. Take a moment to write down someof the many different languages spoken bypeople of the world today:

(For example, “English.”) __________

_____________________________________________________________________.

Test Your Memory:

1) How long did Noah warn the people ofearth about the coming Flood? _____________________________________________2) Did anyone listen to him? ____________3) Who was saved in the ark? ___________ __________________________________4) After the Flood, who began theBabylonian Mystery Religion and built thetower of Babel? _____________________5) How did God stop this project from beingcompleted? _______________________________________________________________________________________________

The Obedience of One Man

David also remembered the inspiring storyof Abraham, who obeyed God throughmany difficult trials. David enjoyed think-ing back to these many stories his father hadtaught him.

Abraham was actually one of David’sforefathers, and was born about 350 yearsafter the Flood. Abraham, then calledAbram, was a wealthy man who lived withhis family in the land of Mesopotamia.Abram lived like a prince, and was verycomfortable. But one day, God spoke toAbram.

Fill in what God said to Abram inGenesis 12:1-3: “‘Get out of your___________, from your ___________ andfrom your father’s house, to a land that I

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will show you. I will make you a_____________________; I will ________you and make your name great; and youshall be a blessing. I will ___________those who ________ you, and I will_________ him who _________ you; and inyou all the families of the earth shall be____________.’”

What did Abram do? Did he complain orargue? Did he disobey God—or unhappilyobey? Did he reason, “But God, do I reallyneed to leave the area of Babylon?”

No! In verse 4, we read, “So Abramdeparted.” He simply did as God com-manded.

This obedience meant much to God, andHe continued to work with and protectAbram, who would fill a very special role inGod’s Plan for mankind.

Later in his life, God changed his nameto Abraham. God tested Abraham’s faithand loyalty by telling him to sacrifice hisonly son, Isaac! Abraham obeyed God, butright before he was going to kill Isaac, Godstopped him. God then knew for sure thatAbraham fully trusted in Him, and wouldobey His every word.

Some may say that God was cruel forasking Abraham to sacrifice his son. ButGod never asks anything from us that Hewould not do Himself. After all, a few thou-sand years later, God Himself sent HisSon—Jesus Christ—to die for the sins of allmankind! God sacrificed His only Son, justas He had asked Abraham to do!

Through Abraham’s obedience, God didfollow through with His promise, and

blessed Abraham’s seed—his children—causing them to become a truly great nation!Abraham was to be the patriarch of thenation of Israel. In the following lines, writeout the dictionary’s definition of the word“patriarch.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Isaac, Jacob and the 12 Tribes of Israel

As time passed, Isaac grew up to fully obeyGod, just as his father Abraham. Isaac thenwent on to teach his son Jacob the impor-tance of obeying God. Through Jacob, God

Because of Abraham’s obedience, Godpromised that his descendants wouldbecome powerful nations.

was to fulfill His promise to Abraham ofmaking his children a “great nation.”

God later changed Jacob’s name toIsrael and, through his twelve sons, beganthe twelve tribes of Israel. These tribeswould form a powerful nation, whichwould be God’s model nation of obedienceto a world cut off from Him.

Found in Genesis 49, write out thenames of Israel’s (Jacob’s) sons—thetwelve tribes of Israel: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

As time passed, Israel’s twelve sons set-tled in Egypt, and their children and grand-children quickly became a budding nation.This did not go well with the Egyptians,who thought that these people, calledIsraelites, were trying to take over theirland.

Fearful and suspicious, the Egyptianssoon forced the Israelites to become theirslaves. Yet the Israelites, under bondage,continued to multiply because God wasblessing them.

Although the Israelites were enslaved,God did not forget His promise toAbraham. God decided to use a man namedMoses for a very special purpose. Moseswas to free Israel from slavery, and leadthem to the land promised to their patriarchAbraham. In this land, they were tobecome the great physical nation promisedto Abraham many years earlier!

Test Your Memory:

1) What land did God command Abram toleave? ____________________________2) What did Abram do? ________________________________________________3) What did God change Abraham’s grandson’s, Jacob, name to? ________________4) How many sons did Jacob have? ______ 5) In what land did the Israelites settle?___________________________________

Men of a Special Calling

Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel),Moses—these were all men David admiredand constantly wanted to copy. In difficulttimes, they learned to place their trust inGod, while other men doubted and did notbelieve what God said.

These men all carried out their specialpurpose. In the next Lesson, we will learnmore about how God would use Moses tolead Israel out of Egypt, and how God pro-tected the Israelites through the wilderness.

We will also learn more about Samuel,King Saul and David, and about the specialcalling God had in store for this youngshepherd boy.

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BIBLE MEMORY: The Twelve Tribes of Israel

Published by The Restored Church of God.Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2003

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T I VI T Y

The Lost Twelve Tribes of IsraelIn Genesis 49, God records prophecies about each of Israel’s twelve sons—who were each tobecome powerful nations in the world today. Compare Genesis 49 with Chapter Nine of the bookAMERICA AND BRITAIN IN BIBLE PROPHECY, pages 116-125, and write out the verses that apply toeach tribe on a separate piece of paper. After this, number each tribe in the order in which they wereborn, and write down what modern nation each one is today. (Some tribes may be in more than onecountry, and some may be scattered throughout the world. If this is the case for a certain tribe, sim-ply mark them as “scattered.”) If your parents do not have a copy of the book, one can be found onour website www.TheRCG.org.___ Asher (Gen. 49:20) What modern country is Asher today? ________________________ .___ Benjamin (Gen. 49:27) What modern nation is Benjamin today? ____________________ .___ Dan (Gen. 49:16-17) What modern nation descended from Dan? ___________________ .___ Gad (Gen. 49:19) What modern country is Gad today? ___________________________ .___ Issachar (Gen. 49:14) What modern nation came from Issachar ? ___________________ .___ Joseph’s two sons—Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 49:22-24) What modern nations do

Ephraim and Manasseh make up? ___________________________________________ .___ Judah (Gen. 49:9) What modern nation is Judah today? __________________________ .___ Levi (Gen. 49:5-7) What modern nation is Levi today? ___________________________ .___ Naphtali (Gen. 49:21) What modern nation descended from Naphtali? _______________ .___ Reuben (Gen. 49:3-4) What modern country is Reuben today? _____________________ .___ Simeon (Gen. 49:5-7) What modern nation does Simeon make up? _________________ .___ Zebulun (Gen. 49:13) What modern nation descended from Zebulun? _______________ .

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