Psalm 19:7 - The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
Tonight was our last night learning about fools. Kerissa taught our lesson and the kids love her!! We talked about the Hebrew word for this kind of fool, the simple fool...peti. This kind of fool welcomes correction and instruction, but they are immature, easily led into all kinds of enticement. They are naive, gullible, easily fooled.
We showed the kids a couple of YouTubes on people being scammed. These were gullible people who were fooled...
Magazine Scam Sales
Sweepstakes Scam
Simple fools don't think things through. They believe what others tell them because they don't think for themselves. Most young kids are like this and can be talked into believing all sorts of things that aren't true. We asked the kids if they have a younger brother or sister that they've ever tried to fool into doing or believing something.
Proverbs 14:15 - The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.
The opposite of a simple person is a prudent person. He thinks about what he has heard and decides if it is true.
Saul is an example. He was the King of Israel, but he disobeyed God. He was a rebellious fool. God sent the prophet Samuel to him to speak the words in 1 Samuel 15:23b ("Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as King.") . God took the kingdom away from Saul and promised it to David instead. Saul became jealous and angry and tried to kill David. David fled and Saul chased him everywhere.
David spared Saul's life one day when he and a few of his men were hiding in a cave where Saul entered to relieve himself. David could have killed Saul then and ended the chase. David's men spoke 1 Samuel 24:4a to David to convince him now was the time to kill Saul (The men said, "This is the day the Lord spoke of when He said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'"). And a simple fool might have. But David was no fool!
1 Samuel 24:4b-6 - Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”
David didn't just follow the advice of his men. He was prudent (wise). He thought about what it would mean if he killed Saul.
Young children don't often think things through. They blindly follow what others tell them. They believe what they're told. Adults can be simple too. They can easily be led astray by people teaching them bad things.
For a visual, we used celery that had spent two days sitting in cups of colored water. The celery absorbs the food coloring and becomes the color it was placed in. We are like celery. Just like the celery becomes the color of the water, you can become like the people you spend time with. If you are with wise people, you will become wise. If you hang around foolish people, you become foolish. When you are foolish, harm can come to you....painful things can happen to you. Choosing the right people to hang out with is very important. If you want to be wise, you must be around wise people, not foolish people.
Proverbs 13:20 - Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
We put vinegar in a bowl and called it foolish people. A glass of milk represented the kids. We asked the kids what they thought would happen if the milk was poured into the vinegar and sat in the bowl with it.
Then we did the experiment and talked about Proverbs 13:20 as they watched the milk change.
Then we discussed our lesson:
- What does the Bible mean when it says that a "simple man believes anything?"
- What should you do instead of believing everything?
- Does not wanting to be a simple fool mean that you NEVER believe what others tell you?
- How can you tell if something is good advice or foolishness?
- How can you find out what is good and right in a situation?
- What happens to simple fools?
- Does this mean that nothing hard or painful or bad or hurtful can happen to a wise person?
- What is the difference?
- Do you want to be a simple fool or a wise person?
- What can you do to become a wise person?
- What kind of people do you have for friends?
- What are other ways besides friends that we are positively or negatively influenced?
- Is there any bad influence in your life that you need to get rid of?
- What will you do about this?
- What are some good influences you can add to your life?
We re-read Psalm 19:7 in closing. Great four weeks studying the fools of the Bible! Praying the kids remember the mockers, godless, rebels, and simple as they choose how they will live and what choices they will make on a daily basis!
