Can you believe it? The Israelites have done it again!

CHANT LEADER: What have they done? [Group repeats]

Okay, do you remember that for 40 years, while Deborah was the judge of Israel, the Israelites worshiped God?

CHANT LEADER: Yes, because God is worthy! [Group repeats]

But after Deborah died, the Israelites seemed to forget all about God and began worshiping idols again.

CHANT LEADER: Sigh! That was so wrong! [Group repeats]

Then, for the 40 years Gideon was the next judge of Israel, they wisely worshiped God again.

CHANT LEADER: Hooray for worshiping God! [Group repeats]

But, ..., after Gideon died, guess who the Israelites went back to worshipping.

CHANT LEADER: Oh, no! [Group repeats]

Did they worship idols again? [Group repeats]

They sure did! And this pattern repeated itself over and over again.

While a judge was alive, the people worshiped God.

But after a judge died, they sinned against God by once again worshiping idols.

CHANT LEADER: Boo-Hiss! [Group repeats]

That is so wrong! [Group repeats]

So sadly, because the Israelites kept doing this evil thing, God allowed the next set of 'bad guys' in the Bible to overpower Israel for 40 years.

CHANT LEADER: 40 years - Yikes! [Group repeats]

What were these ‘bad guys’ called? [Group repeats]

The 'bad guys' were called the Philistines. They did all kinds of horrible things to the Israelites. They also tried to convince them that worshipping idols was a smart idea.

God Almighty, in His great wisdom, realized He was going to have to choose a very different kind of judge to save Israel.

God was going to have to create a man, kind of like a superhero, who had superhuman strength. In fact, this man, in real life, was among the strongest men who have ever lived.

CHANT LEADER: What was this strong man's name? [Group repeats]

His name was Samson. His 'bad news' girlfriend was named Delilah. Many movies have been made about this famous couple.

In the next couple of weeks, we'll hear about how greedy Delilah tricked Samson. But right now, let's go back in time to just before Samson's birth.

You see, his parents had been married for many years without being able to get pregnant.

But one day, God sent the Angel of the Lord to the wife and said:

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Rule #1 is that he should never drink wine or alcohol. Rule #2 is that he should never cut his hair. Rule #3 is that he should never touch a dead animal or a dead human.

The wife was so excited! She ran to her husband to tell him the good news.

When their son was born, they named him Samson.

Throughout Samson's childhood, they would quiz him to remind him of those three special rules he must always follow.

His parents would ask, "Samson, what are the three rules God wishes you to follow?"

Faithfully, Samson would state:

SAMSON: 1st, I will not drink wine or alcohol. 2nd, I will never cut my hair. And 3rd, I should not touch dead animals or a dead human.

Because Samson faithfully obeyed God's 3 rules when he was younger, the Lord blessed Samson as he grew up.

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.

The wife was so excited! She asked if there was anything special she was supposed to do.

ANGEL OF THE LORD: Yes. While you are pregnant, do not drink wine or eat unclean food. As for your son, you are to dedicate his life to serve God as a Nazirite. To please God, your son must follow three rules. As long as he does that, he will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.

The wife asked, "What are these three rules?"