C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON For April 26th, 2020, Unit Two: THROUGH THE JUDGES : TOPIC: THE ERAS OF ABIMELECH AND SAMSON

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C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON For April 26th, 2020, Unit Two: THROUGH THE JUDGES : TOPIC: THE ERAS OF ABIMELECH AND SAMSON

Read previous CAC Sunday Sunday Manuals here

C.A.C SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

God in the Administration of Man.

Unit Two: THROUGH THE JUDGES


LESSON EIGHT.
April 26th, 2020.

TOPIC: THE ERAS OF ABIMELECH AND SAMSON

Memory Scripture
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will reap
(Galatians 6:7).

Just imagine God investing so much power in a man like Samson, and such a person goes ahead to abuse such grace. God’s justice must deal with such a leader, just like in Abimelech’s case.

BRIEF COMMENT
Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians, taught them the principle of sowing which every Christian must consider carefully before sowing either to God or man: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (6:7), and that is our Memory Scripture. When it comes to the principles of sowing and reaping, no one can deceive God. He is the Omniscience who knows everything. He knows our motives, reads our hearts, and rewards us accordingly. Paul further emphasised that no one can mock God, though some people can fool themselves by sowing little and expecting much; they cannot fool God. Whatever they sow is what will be paid back to them. God has made this clear in the nature. It is not possible to plant pepper and expect yam on it, when harvest time comes. You can’t plant on one-quarter of a plot and expect to harvest as much asa worth a hectare of land. What you sow shall you reap. It is a natural law that perfectly fits into the spiritual. This is applicable to our attitudes to God and others. What goes round comes around. In fact, one good turn deserves another. What you do to others would eventually be meted to you and even generations after you (cf. Exod. 20:5,6). Let us therefore beware how we live our lives, most especially, in relation to God and others. Relationship matters a lot. What you sow in any relationship will come back to you in countless folds (cf. Luku 6:38).

Devotional Bible Readings For Week One
Mon. 20: Why Troubling Yourself About Evil People? (Psa. 37:1-8)
Tue. 21: Wickedness pays no One (Psa. 37:9-11)
Wed. Wickedness wastes the Wicked (Psa. 37:12-20)
Thur. What a Blessing to be Righteous (Psa. 37:21-26)
Fri. 24: Wickedness won’t Swallow Righteousness (Psa. 37:27-33)
Sat. 25: Wait on the Lord (Psa. 37:34-40)

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
1. Every leader must know that someone can only succeed when such depends on God, our Supreme Leader.
2. Leaders must learn to wait on God who places one on the right position at the right time, in His own sovereign plan. He who puts the leader there has the manual for his success. Should the leader go it alone by himself, how would he know the best path to take? Failure, disaster loom.

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: Proverbs 29:2, 12,14; 16:12,18; 17:7

AIM AND OBJECTIVES
AIM: To show that leaders of God’s people must take care of their characters lest they misfire and fall.

OBJECTIVES: at the end of this lesson, the readers should be able to:
i. defend the fact that it is only God who entheones and dethrones in line with His holy will;
ii. show signs of readiness to wait on God as it concerns the issue of leadership positions, not wanting anything God isn’t giving to them;
iii. show from the experience of Samson, that God doesn’t call a man without fully commissioning him for the task; and
iv. discuss how important it is that every leader shouldn’t learn to stand by his/her commission, Vow and promises.

INTRODUCTION
TEXTUAL SOURCE: JUDGES 9:1-57; 13:1-25; 14:4,19,20; 16:1-31
By now, it should no longer be new to us that Unit II is aimed at largely discussing the leadership roles of the judges, i.e how God administered His people through them. The unit points out their activities and impacts on the people of God who actually appointed them to administer the people on His behalf. The previous lesson, the 7th in the series, opens our eyes to the leadership roles of Gideon and Jephthan, as must as they cooperated with God in administering the deferent people He put under them. May we never misfire as we work with Him in life. Amen.

This week’s lesson is the last in the Unit II. It is precipitated on Abimelech’s conspiracy against the children of Jeeubaal, and God’s intervention in dealing with Shechemites and Abimelech, to avenge the death of his father’s children. In addition, the attention turn to Samson, a man empowered by God from birth, to deliver the Israelite from the Philistines, but later messed up, because he lived a carefree life with little or no regard for God, his Maker and Caller.

May God help the leaders of the church and society to learn from these two characters to be self-controlled and self-disciplined so that they will not fall into the mistakes these judges made and end up in the way they did. Amen.

INTRODUCTION TO EACH DIVISION
As usual, this lesson is divided into I and II, with a further division into A and B, respectively.

DIVISION I: ABILEMECH, THE WICKED JUDGE
Abimelech refused to wait for God’s time. He went ahead and conspired against his father’s children, killing them all on one stone, but God, in His sovereignty, intervened and sent ill-spirit between him and the people of Shechem. He almost destroyed the whole lineage of Shechem, and he was also killed in the process. You can’t escape the consequences of your actions, most especially, when you deliberately do them.

DIVISION II: SAMSON, THE CARELESS JUDGE
Samson found favour with God from birth; he was a Nazirite from the womb, endowed with the gifts of Holy Spirit and power to destroy the enemies of God’s people. However, he misused the power and the grace of God on him by loving and running after strange women that later destroyed his life.

LESSON OUTLINE
I. ABIMELECH, THE WICKED JUDGE
A. HIS CONSPIRACY
B. HIS DOWNFALL

II. SAMSON, THE CARELESS JUDGE
A. HIS POWERFUL COMMISSIONING
B. HIS MISTAKES IN LEADERSHIP

LESSON EXPOSITION
I. ABIMELECH, THE WICKED JUDGE (Judges 9:1-57)
Many so-called Christians are found of cutting corners to get what they want at all cost. They forget that God is watching everyone of us and He will pay us in our own coins. Abimelech’s wickedness teaches us some sense.

A. HIS CONSPIRACY (vv. 1-21)
Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone (v. 5a).
i. vv. 1,2: Abimelech was the type who was not going to wait for God to take Him to his place of authority; he preferred cutting corners. Only God promotes (Psa. 75:5ff; Zech. 4:6; Rom. 9:16).
ii. vv. 3-6: Are there no people today, who go to extent similar to this in getting power, position and wealth, even in the Church? For sure, they can’t get away with it. The Governor of all nations will surely get them.
iii. vv. 7-15: The parable of the trees is God’s way of intervening in the seemingly out-of-hand situation, where evil had a field day. Does it seem like God is silent or ‘handicapped’ in any administration, anywhere, that the ungodly rule? He isn’t! He knows when and how to intervene, and He would at His appointed time (cf. Gal. 4:4).
iv. vv. 16-21: These Shechemites had paid good with evil, to Gideon’s family. God, the righteous judge, would definitely not allow such to go unpunished (cf. Prov. 17:13). Beware!
v. Every leader must remember that our God is a God of retribution and vengeance. He will judge all our good and bad ways of life, accordingly. He takes note of what we do to those above us, as well as our subordinates. Our attitudes and actions to our peers aren’t unnoticed, either. He rewards them as and when due.

B. HIS DOWNFALL (vv. 22-57)
God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherous with Abimelech (v. 23).
i. Whatsoever anyone does today, he/she should know that there is time of retribution. God will surely revenge at the appropriate time, so be mindful of what you are doing today, because you will be rewarded accordingly by God. He caused trouble to break out, between Abimelech and his conspirators.
ii. vv. 22-25: See the God of vengeance in action. He set the hitherto collaborators against one another. Why? That the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem (v. 24). No wicked leader will go scot free, immediately, an ultimately (Gal. 6,7; Rev. 22:12).
iii. vv. 26-29: God raised serious rebellion against him. What goes around comes around. His rebellious lifestyle haunted him (cf. Prov. 17:13). Let wicked men think they are escaping with it, now. They will soon hide their heads in shame.
iv. vv. 30-49: See God in action, masterminding a situation that would eventually lead to the downfall of Abimelech. Abimelech thought he was gaining upper hand (at least the Shechemites paid dearly for their conspiracy), but he missed it. Wicked people don’t know on time, that they are digging their own graves.
v. vv. 50-57: God wouldn’t allow Abimelech to go scot free; He repaid his wickedness/recklessness, just as He did the Shechemites. Are you a wicked leader? Today is your day of repentance. Delay is dangerous!
vi. Know that because God delays His judgment on your ill-behaviour does not mean that sinners will go unpunished (Prov. 16:5; Eccl. 8:11-13). The way out is to repent and return to Him quickly, before the hammer of His judgment lands on your head.

LESSON DERIVED
1. Always remember that because God is silent on wicked attitudes and actions doesn’t mean the wicked will escape His wrath.
2. Divine punishment await all ill-treatment against fellow humans and God’s project.

WORK TO DO
Leaders who abuse God’s people and project abound everywhere. How can we help them to accept the truth that they can’t escape God’s judgment, so that they can amend their ways now, and make the society a better place for us all?

SUGGESTED ANSWER TO WORK TO DO
i. Let our leaders go and read how God paid Abimelech and the people of Shechem in their own coins.
ii. Let them know that God is God of vengeance who repays everyone according to his/her work (Rom. 12:19).
iii. Leaders must know that our God is Omniscient God who knows everything and rewards all our activities, both for God and humanity (Gal. 6:7).
iv. We need God’s wisdom to point out the ways such leaders are offering God to them, just like Nathan did to David.
v. We need the courage of God to tell them the truth, not fearing what might become of us. Prophet Micaiah is an example here. Also, those 81 priests who challenged King Uzziah are lessons for us.
vi. Let us regularly pray for such leaders, remembering that when leaders misbehave, the subjects bear the most of the brunts of such misdemeanour.
vii. Above all, let us present the gospel to them. A leader who knows the Lord is a blessing to the people he leads (cf. Prov. 29:2,12,14).

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