93651.7 Judges

A. Theme and Background.

1. The book of Judges covers about a 350-year period in Israel’s history from the death of Joshua to King Saul or about 1300 BC to 1047 BC. The author is anonymous although Jewish tradition gives credit to Samuel. Governance of Israel goes from a strong central leadership under Joshua to decentralized leadership under various tribal leaders called Judges comprised of 12 men and one woman. Israel is not again united under a strong central leadership until King Saul.
2. The reoccurring theme is a continuing cycle of obedience of Israel to God followed by idolatry, followed by repentance due to oppression by Israel’s enemies and deliverance under the judges. The book can be organized as follows: Chapters 1-2 conquest; Chapters 3-16 compromise and Chapters 17-21 chaos.

B. Chapters one and two.

1. Chapter one begins with Israel fighting and conquering the remaining Canaanites. But some tribes like Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher and Naphtali were not able to completely drive out the Canaanites but lived among them. This would later become a snare to them.
2. Chapter two is essentially a summary of the entire book of Judges. The generation that saw what God had done for them under Joshua died and another generation grew up that neither knew the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. They fell into idolatry and apostacy and God gave them up their enemies that surrounded them. They cried out under the oppression and God raised up a judge who delivered them. But when that judge died, they returned to their idolatry.

C. Chapters three through sixteen detail the judges that ruled Israel during this 350-year period. Here are some highlights:

1. Chapters four and five is the story of Deborah who led Israel as a judge and was a prophetess. She tells Barak that the Lord commands him to take 10,000 men and attack the army of the King of the Canaanites under Sisera his general. Barak says he will go only if she goes with him. Deborah responds that because of this course of action, the honor of delivering Sisera will go to a woman. That is what happened: the Israelites defeat Sisera’s army and he flees on foot from his chariot. He hides in the tent of a woman who gives him milk to drink. He falls asleep and she drives a tent peg through his temple into the ground. Israel then had peace for forty years.
2. Chapters six through eight tell the story of Gideon. The Israelites did evil for seven years and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Midianites who invaded Israel, ruined their crops and killed their livestock. Due to their oppression, Israel would hide in caves and mountain shelters. We first see Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress. Normally, wheat is threshed on a hilltop where the chaff is separated from the grains of wheat by the wind. But a winepress is located at a lower elevation showing that Gideon was afraid of being seen by the Midianites.

1. The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says “The Lord is with you mighty warrior.” This no doubt was a shocking greeting not only because of the angel’s appearance, but because Gideon was cowering at the foot of a hill and not on top where the Midianites would see him.
2. Gideon builds an altar to the Lord and tears down the alter of Baal and a pole dedicated to Asherah. He gathers an army to fight the Midianites. He tests God by putting out a fleece twice. Once where dew was only on the fleece and second time where the dew was only on the ground.
3. God has him reduce the army so that Gideon does not get the glory for the victory. Twenty-two thousand left who were fearful, leaving ten thousand. God told him that this was still too many. He told Gideon to take them to a river where only those who lapped out of their hands would go and fight. This reduced the army to 300.
4. Gideon’s 300 men take jars with torches inside and surround the camp at night. At the blowing of a trumpet, they break the jars and cry “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” In the confusion, the Lord caused the men in the camp to turn on each other. The army then flees from Gideon and a great victory is won.
5. But Gideon made a golden ephod from plunder taken which he placed in Ophrah his town and it became an idol to Israel. The Israelites had peace from their enemies for 40 years until Gideon died.

3. Chapters eleven and twelve relate the story of Jephthah, the son of a prostitute who gained a victory over the Ammonites. Jephthah made a vow that whatever comes out of his house upon his return, it would be the Lord’s and he would sacrifice it as a burnt offering. When he returns, his only child a virgin daughter, comes out dancing to the sound of timbrels. She surprisingly agrees to his vow but requests two months to roam the hills and grieve with her friends because she will never marry. After two months, she returns and he does to her what he vowed.
4. Chapter thirteen through sixteen recount the story of Sampson. He is the most immoral of the judges though he was raised as a Nazirite, someone who is supposed to be fully dedicated to God. He went to a prostitute and lusts after foreign women which, is his downfall. Eventually, he falls for a Philistine woman called Delilah, who eventually persuades him to tell her the secret of his strength which is his long hair. As a Nazirite is not supposed to have a razor taken to his head. The Philistines capture him, gouge out his eyes and have him grinding grain in prison. They hold a great feast in the temple of Dagon their god, and bring Sampson out to make sport of him. By this time, his hair has grown and he prays to the Lord for strength to push against the pillars to which he is chained. His prayer is answered and he brings the central pillars down upon a large gathering of the Philistines and himself, killing more in his death than when he was alive.

D. Chapters seventeen through twenty-one record how Israel descended into chaos. It is a period of evil and anarchy, and can be summarized by a phrase that appears twice in these chapters: ”In those days Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (17:6; 21:25).

1. Chapter seventeen recounts how a man named Micah returned 1,100 shekels of silver which he had stolen from his mother. She makes an idol which was placed in a shrine in Micah’s house. A young Levite from Bethlehem comes by looking for a place to settle. Micah takes him in and pays him ten shekels a year to be his priest.
2. Chapter eighteen tells of the tribe of Dan which had not yet come into an inheritance in the land. They attack, conquer, and burn the city of Laish where a people were dwelling in safety and prosperity. On their way to Laish, they stop at Micah’s house and take his idol and household gods and persuade the Levite to go with them. They rename the rebuilt city Dan and set up Micah’s idol to worship there.
3. Chapter nineteen recounts that which is among the most horrible stories in the Bible of a Levite who had a concubine. She had left him and he goes and retrieves her from her parents’ home. On the way back to his home, he stops in Gibeah whose inhabitants were Benjamites. They take shelter in the home of a man for the night. The evil men of the city come and beat against the door, demanding that the Levite be given to them so that they can have sex with him. The homeowner offers his own virgin daughter and the concubine instead. The Levite takes his concubine and gives her to them. They rape and abuse her all night. In the morning she makes her way back to the house and collapses on the doorway. When the Levite opens the door, he tells her “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer as she was either unconscious or dead. He puts her on his donkey and goes home, where he cuts up her body into twelve pieces and sends a body part to each of the twelve tribes.
4. Chapter twenty tells of civil war of eleven tribes against the Benjamites due to the outrage over this incident. After several battles, the Benjamites are defeated and all are killed except 600 who flee to the wilderness. The men of Israel go back to the towns of Benjamin and destroy all of their cities, putting all to the sword. No wives or women are left for the Benjamites.
5. Due to an oath that the men of Israel had taken that no one would give their daughters to a Benjamite, the tribe was in danger of extinction. Israel took count of those who had assembled to fight against the Benjamites and found that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come. They sent twelve thousand fighting men to Jabesh Gilead and killed all the males and the women who were not virgins. But that only obtained 400 virgins as wives for the 600 surviving Benjamites. So, a scheme was hatched where the remaining Benjamites would go to an annual festival near Shiloh and abduct the women when they came out dancing. This was done, and the Benjamites carried off their abducted brides, rebuilt their towns and settled in them.
6. The book concludes with “In those days, Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (vs. 21:25).

E. Discussion questions, application and passing it on.

1. Deborah is the only female judge to rule Israel. Some bible commentators have noted that when men do not step forward and assume leadership as was the case with Barak, the women often step in to fill the gap. Do you see this in the church? How can the men be encouraged to assume more of a leadership role?
2. Gideon had a direct encounter with the Angel of the Lord, yet he still needed further assurance through putting out a fleece. Have you ever done something similar to test what you believe the Lord is speaking to you to do? What might be more appropriate ways of discerning what the will of God is for you?
3. The story of Jephthah is especially tragic, as he made a vow resulting in the sacrifice of his only child. Two things we can learn from this account are that no matter the poor background from where we come (he was the son of a prostitute), God can still use us. Secondly, we should not make rash promises or commitments to God. God never required Jephthah to make such a vow. Have you made rash vows or commitments to God or others that you could not keep?
4. Most bible students are shocked at the story of the Levite and his concubine when encountering it for the first time. What were the root causes in the culture of Israel at that time that allowed this evil to occur?