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The Rise and Fall of King Saul

To Remember: Full obedience is required

Lesson     1 Samuel 9-15

Lesson Text:
Saul made a good beginning as Israel’s first king. We talked about his great humility at first, how he could not believe God had actually chosen him. Later when the time came to meet the people, he was so shy he hid behind some baggage. Knowing these good things about Saul’s early years makes his sad ending hard to understand. The bad times started when the Philistines came up against Israel again, this time at Michmash near Gilgal.
Read the entire lesson text...

  • Saul is chosen 9:1
    • Acting Out: Anointing of Saul - use confetti to "pour" oil on a student's head.
  • Saul is presented to Israel
    • Discussion point: Saul is humble, pride is ugly
  • Saul credits God for success against Ammonites 11:13
  • Samuel warns Israel 12:14-15
  • Saul prepares to fight Philistines without weapons. Samuel delays his coming
    • Acting out: Have students play the common soldiers expressing their reservations about this fight. Pretend you are Saul trying to convince the soldiers to stay.
  • Saul offers sacrifice 13:13-14
  • Saul fights Amalekites, keeps the spoil 15:10
Sing: He's got the whole world in his hands

Activity: Chart Saul's good and bad points. Keep the chart up for a few weeks and add to it. From this lesson you should include Good: humble, brave, loyal, leadership, credited God for victory, spared enemies from vengeance. Bad: lied, disobeyed, presumptuous, cared more about man's opinions than God's commands.

Memory Work:

1Samuel 15:22-23 Samuel replied, "Has the Lord as much pleasure in your burnt offerings and sacrifices as in your obedience? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. He is much more interested in your listening to him than in your offering the fat of rams to him. For rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. And now because you have rejected the word of Jehovah, he has rejected you from being king."

True or False
  1. The Israelites elected their King. F
  2. Saul was a humble man. T
  3. Samuel warned Israel to obey. T
  4. God could have defeated the Philistines with one soldier. T
  5. Saul always obeyed God's word. F
  6. It's ok to obey most of God's word. F
  7. Saul like to Samuel. T
Review Questions for gameboard

 linguistic questions
  1. Define anoint.
  2. Describe Saul's physical appearance.
  3. Repeat the memory verse.
  activity questions
  1. Sing the chorus of Trust and Obey.
  2. Act out Samuel's anointing of Saul.
  3. Put the first ten books of the Old Testament in order.
  emotion questions
  1. How do you think Saul felt when he was anointed?
  2. How did Samuel feel when Saul disobeyed?
  3. How do you think God felt when Saul disobeyed?
application questions
  1. Why does God prefer obedience to sacrifice?
  2. Will God tolerate partial obedience from us?
  3. Can God defeat difficult enemies for us?
  4. Is Samuel's warning still valid?
fact questions
  1. What did Saul bring back from Amalek?
  2. Name two enemies Saul fought against.
  3. How are judges and kings different?
review questions
  1. What were the results of Saul's sin?
  2. What warning did Samuel give Israel?
  3. What was wrong about Saul offering a sacrifice to God?


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