Hedge of Protection Game

Satan wanted to test Job. He thought Job only served God because God blessed and protected him. So Satan said that if God removed the protection around him, Job would no longer trust and serve God. Here is what Satan told God:

Read Job 1:10:

“You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!”

God agreed to remove His wall of protection for a time to show that Job would trust God, no matter what. Let’s pretend to be Job and play a game to illustrate God’s protection. The pool noodles represent God’s wall of protection. The dominoes or other items represent the possessions and blessings in life. For this game, you need to find someone you don’t know very well to be your partner!

Children should pair up into twos, with each pair being a team. If you have an uneven number, ask a sixth-grade helper or another volunteer to play. Four teams will play at one time while the other teams cheer them on. Have the four teams sit or kneel on the floor in a square about 10–12 feet across. See diagram. Assign each team a number from 1 to 4. Have two sixth-grade helpers or other older children serve as assistants to remove the noodles on your command. Give each team 10 dominoes, six marbles, three per player, and one pool noodle. Have the teams place their noodle about 2 feet in front of them on the floor to serve as a “wall.” Teams will then set up their ten dominoes behind the noodle in whatever pattern they choose—staggered in rows is best.

Start the game. Both players on every team will begin to ROLL, not throw, their marbles at the dominoes of the team directly across from them. They will not have success knocking over dominoes because of the protection. This will be challenging with the cross-fire from other teams’ marbles all being rolled at the same time! Players can also roll the marbles that come to them from the other teams. Once a domino is knocked down, it may not be set up again.

After about 5 seconds, shout, “Remove the wall for Teams 1 and 3!” The assistants should quickly remove the noodles from the two teams. Wait about 5 more seconds, then shout, “Remove the wall for Teams 2 and 4!” The assistants should remove the noodles from Teams 2 and 4 and replace the walls for Teams 1 and 3.

Continue in this fashion, replacing and removing the walls for two teams every 5 seconds. Note: always call out the numbers of two teams that are not directly across or playing against each other. Play until three teams have all of their dominoes knocked down. The last team is the winner.

Play more rounds until all teams have had a chance to play. If time permits, you may have additional rounds between all the winning teams until one team is the final winner.

That looked like a lot of fun! Could you knock down the dominoes when the protection was in place? No!

So, it was easier to attack the other team when their protection was removed?

We are protected by accepting Jesus as our Savior and obeying His Word. When we follow His ways, God surrounds us with protection. Here are two wonderful promises in the Bible:

Read Hebrews 13:5b:

For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Read Proverbs 30:5:

Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to Him for protection.   

Thank God for the protection He gives to all who love and trust in Him!