The original Hebrew title implies 'to act as a divine judge' - as there was no hereditary or political succession (which is usually the case throughout history!); as such the book of JUDGES is all about LEADERSHIP. I might add that a 'judge' might be a 'leader'! What, incidentally, is a 'leader'? Who are good/great leaders? Who are 'not so good' leaders?
THREE PARTS OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES:
I. Palestine (which means literally the land of the 'Philistines'!) after Joshua.
II. Stories of the Judges.
III. Stories (vilification!) of the tribes of Dan and Benjamin.
A New Generation has arisen that does not know the Lord (Exodus opens: 'Now there arose a Pharoah who knew not Joseph'! - not only is life about, to a great extent, 'who you know', but 'who KNOWS YOU'! (We remember the kindness bestowed upon the Hebrews because of Joseph.) Albert Outler said that the church is only one generation away from extinction!
We see repeated throughout JUDGES a cynical and distressing cycle of 'falling away' from the Lord following deliverance from various 'judges'. Compare Proverbs: 'As the hog/dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his follies'.... Recall Rob's good series on the 12 Steps: 'What keeps us from learning from our past mistakes?
Judges 2:20-23 says that the pagans of the land were not completely 'driven out' because they were a means of 'testing' the Hebrews, to see if they 'would walk' as their forefathers?
I am a part of a Christian men's group LEGACY OUTFITTERS. What sort of 'legacy' has been left us, and what sort of 'legacy' are we leaving for those who walk after us?
JUDGES shows us that God will use whom he will; JUDGES might be thought of as 'the LEAST likely to succeed' (Isa. 6 'Whom shall I send and who will go for us?) - 'God does not CALL the QUALIFIED; God qualifies, Equips!, the CALLED!'
JUDGES shows the failure of Israel to uphold the standards YHWH's covenant as expressed in DEUTERONOMY. The book is structured around a well defined theological premise, that the problems Israel had in securing the land were directly related to their ongoing love affair with Baal Worship.... This is summarized by the concluding statement in the book (21:25): "all the people did what was right in their own eyes." (THE RHETORIC OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES - by Robert H. O' Connell)
Contrast to John Calvin: 'The scriptures are the lenses by and through which we see things as they are, apart from which all else is confused.' As today, the setting of JUDGES is a confused and perplexing pagan landscape, everyone doing what is right in their own eyes! Who are 'our'
(culture's) 'heroes' and 'leaders'?
Thoughts and implications the book of JUDGES has for Us:
a) the Greatness of the Judeo-Christian heritage left to us (through Scripture and Tradition/church history);
b) the greatness of the leaders we have known, our country's forefathers (as Thom Hudson recently shared with us) ;
c) the greatness of the legacy left to us through John Wesley ("I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America, but I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this udoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out."
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Great Discussion Sunday! - someone commented how it seems today, as then, the prevailing 'religion', sentiment, might be 'MEISM': 'it's all about ME!' We have become our own Lord/King/Sovereign; we are at the 'center of the universe'. Then as now: 'Everyone doing what was right in their own eyes.' One does not have to be too imaginative, it was stated, to see the parallels: then and now. Someone mentioned II Chron. 7:14 - that the Lord would come and heal the land if people earnestly prayed and humbled themselves.
Some imaginative play: some spinoff of David Letterman's "Top Ten": 'Top Ten Signs that We are in an era in which Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes' - we might say: 'the collapse of leadership - Centralized and other'; the blurring of boundaries - who is in and who is out; difficulties in differentiating between scoundrals and heroes, there being considerable overlap!; lawlessness; deviant behavior, there being no Norms... and We might say, 'The Number One Sign that we are living in a Age in which 'everyone does what is right in their/his/her own eyes': the sign that adorns many churches might say, suggests, 'Have it YOUR WAY!' What do you say?
Chpt. 2: vss. 6-8 provides us/and them! with a flashback to Joshua, "son of Nun", also called "the servant of the Lord" - a title used only a few other times in the Bible: Deut. 34:5 (Moses); Josh. 1:13; and Isa. 53:13-53 (long considered a prophetic allusion to Jesus! - in ACTS the Ethiopian Eunuch asks Phillip about this text, whether it was the nation of Israel, or other 'servant of the Lord'! Phillip of course tells him that it refers to Jesus!). Even amid the darkest, most confused of times, we can know that there have been those before us - and will be those after us - with whom the Lord is well-pleased (Mtt. 3:17). This may have its fulfillment in US AS WELL. Herein is another instance of the 'New' (Covenant) being 'hidden' in the 'Old'.
Amid this flashback to Joshua's faithfulness is the heightened contrast of 'the children of Israel's' LACK of faithfulness! - see especially 2:17 - the starkest language possible. - vss. 10 - 14. Cmp. HOSEA - whose wife was a prostitute! - also Jer. 31:32)
WHY IS THE LORD SO PARTICULARLY VEHEMENT? (See discussion of the Baals; the Ashtoreths; etc. Much of the canaanite religion was about coaxing and manipulating god/s into doing human will, rather than the conformity to divine will - 'the servant of the Lord'. Much of the elaborate ritual involved Cult/temple prostitutes/sexual orgies; even child sacrifices)
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE LORD COULD BE SO INCLINED AGAINST US - 2:15?
WHAT PRACTICES AND THINGS MIGHT WE DO TO PROVOKE THE LORD? HOW DO WE MAKE TRUCE WITH THE ENEMIES OF THE LORD?
HOW IS PROVBS. 26:11 AN APT SUMMARY OF JUDGES CHPT. 2? ("But whenver the judge died, they turned back and behaved worse than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them; they did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways." vs. 19) HOW IS IT THAT PEOPLE/WE CANNOT LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES OR FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS? ARE WE DOOMED TO REPEAT THE PAST? Jeff Foxworthy said that some people learn by Reading Books, learning from the mistakes of others; and some people just have to pee on the electric fence! - stark and course - but no moreso than Prob. 26:11. Robb preached a great series on the '12 steps': breaking free from destructive patterns of the past.
Vs. 23)certain nations/tribes were left as a means of 'testing the children of Israel'.
HOW DO WE 'SEPARATE OURSELVES' (THE MEANING OF HOLINESS) THESE DAYS? John Wesley said that by 'taking Advantage of all the means of grace; avoiding all of the evil that we can'. Spend more time in the Word; in Fellowship with other like-minded souls; turn the nob or the channel!
DOES ANYONE LIKE TESTING? I struggle with notion of 'testing'. James says that God tempts no one. Then one day it hit me: 'Temptation pulls us down'; 'Testing places us in a higher postion before the Lord'- testing pulls us up! WHAT A GREAT THING TO PASS A TEST! HOW ARE WE BEING TESTED?
Othniel; Ehud; and Shamgar are Judges - some only a few sentences worth are spent. Obscure characters about whom little is known, except that they were vital leaders during a dark time. WHO ARE SOME SUCH LEADERS IN OUR TIME?
St. Augustine makes alot of sense to me when he says that God does not so much punish/resort to punative measures as he leaves people to their own devices - to choose! - Yes! - John Wesley was no doubt influenced by Augustine!
Cmp. with Romans 1 - 'God gave them up'/to their own thinking, to their own devices. I believe that it's very much like when we send our children off to school...we know...we will not be there! As the Lord, we can warn, but like Adam and his descendents, you and I, we must learn the hard way, and we often do; even so, it is this way with our children, is it not?
"As for me and those of my household...." - flashback to Joshua.
'The Promised Land'. It sounds like a destination, a place of rest as one has crossed the finish line, the bell signaling the last round, the fight being over. Why then is 'the promised land' such a challenge - full of such struggle and difficulties?
Cht. 3 begins that 'they learned war' - this being the consequence of disobedience to God (Leslie Weatherhead wrote a work years ago - THE WILL OF GOD (how we hear that phrase used!) - deliniating the various purposes of God, both short and long-term. Ultimately, we are 'to learn war no more', 'swords into ploughshares' - as Isaiah says. The Hebrews had to 'learn war' as a consequence of disobedience to God: war was/is! an 'evil necessity'.
'They did what was evil' - almost monotonous in its repetativeness:
vs. 7; vs. 12; 4:1; 10:6.
Cht. 3 concludes with the telling of the story of Ehud. What are we to make of this story? When was the last time you ever heard a sermon preached on this story? I never have! A fat guy/tyrant gets a short sword buried in his gut: a 'message from God'!(vs. 20). This scene reminded me of one right out of the GOD-FATHER. What are we to make of stories like this, stories of deception and assasination? For one - times have changed little: the kingdom (of God) has yet to come 'upon earth as it is in heaven'. Back to God's will: THIS we as his followers are ultimately working towards. Secondly, do we believe in 'evil' in the sense that the writer uses it? The writer obviously believes that such an ignominious end is fitting for such a tyrant. Are there people who deserve the like? The writer is certainly not thinly veiled in his disdain for Eglon whom he describes as "very fat" (vs. 17). I don't think one need be a 'Hebrew scholar' to see that this is not a good thing. Like a bloated tick, Eglon has gotten fat off the tribute, the life, of the Hebrews. IS THIS A WARNING TO US? - THAT WE MAY BECOME FAT AND INDOLENT AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS? The differance that One person can make! - for evil as well as good. Farbeit that I degress into an argument for assasination/s. Yet Deitreich Bonhoeffer an ardent pacifist found himself irretreivably involved in an attempt to assasinate Adolf Hitler.
Throughout scripture, particularly heinous individuals/tyrants meet a grisly end. Herod in the book of ACTS who allegedly 'spoke like a god'! is 'smitten with worms', in contrast to the disciples who tear their clothes in vehement protest of being ANYTHING OTHER THAN MEN/ HUMAN, a critical key belief in the Bible, and especially of Judaism, the Yamaka (sic?) symbolizing the distance between God and man! "Woe to those wo go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many...The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not sprit...and they will all perish together." (Isa. 31:1- 3)
Beware of putting our trust, our very lives, in anything other than the living God - as we shall see.
Also, Dr. Farmer, in the commentary we are using, says that this story could have been in its original context an occasion of mirth and laughter! "Ehud" - the
left-handed 'Benjamite' (which means in the Hebrew 'the right hand of God')- slays the enemy with his left-hand. Eglon - the fat king ("a very fat man" - vs. 17)- means in Hebrew "little cow". So puns and word-plays are all over the place here, as we shall see later as well. Eglon's subjects apparently think that he is still inside "relieving himself in the closet" - vs.22 - which he may have been when Ehud plunged the sword into him.
vss. 26 - 30. This action results in the deliverance of the Hebrews for 80 yrs. - TWO GENERATIONS. Although the bad times/cycles are highlighted in THE BOOK OF JUDGES, there is much 'grace'/God's undeserved favor throughout. "And the land had rest for eighty years."
I heard someone describe the 90's as "our holiday from history". And we celebrate a holiday which commemorates the 'end of wars'! Alas! - such a time/s have yet to come, as the 'kingdom' has clearly not come upon 'earth as it is in heaven', although we are given glimpses of it from time to time. Thank God for such times of repreive!
Vs. 31, "Shamgar" is mentioned. Other 'judges' who do not merit a story such as Ehud or Sampson or Gideon have been called by scholars "minor judges". MINOR TO WHOM? Certainly not the people who counted upon them, who were delivered by them. We might be such 'judges' 'champions' for others who are counting on us!
Chpt. 4 of JUDGES begins as oft- repeated - remember Proverbs 26:11.
BARAK and DEBORAH arise as 'judges' - 'deliverers' - for the 'children of Israel'.
Vs. 1) EHUD DIES - thus insueing a leadership vacuum. See Isa. chpt. 6: it was when the beloved and revered King Usiah died that Isaiah "saw the Lord". Usiah had been the king for over 40 yrs. Think how we have revered some leaders who reign a fraction of that time!
THE DIFFERENCE ONE PERSON MAKES - FOR EVIL AS WELL AS GOOD. WHO are we a 'judge' or 'deliverer' to? To Whom or What might God be calling us to as he did Isaiah?
2) HAZOR - very prominant city - dating back to 3000BC (see Josh.11:10), a real center of power. Vs.3)"chariots of iron" - a powerful metaphor for Oppression and overwhelming odds - against the children of Israel.
Vs.4) Deborah was a "prophetess" - people took for granted that she spoke on behalf of God/Yahweh.
Vss. 6 - 8) Reluctance and overwhelming odds - repeated all through the Bible. Cmr. David and Goliath. What's that movie? - the kids' football team...taking on the 'giants'?
Vs. 9) GOD WILL USE WHOM HE WILL. HE USES A WOMAN! WHO IS THE ORIGINAL 'LIBERATOR' OF WOMEN? - THE GOD WHO MADE US ALL.
13) Pharoah's armies...'Goliath': all-too familiar: the odd's don't look good! - "nine hundred chariots of iron" BUT JUST WAIT AND SEE WHAT GOD IS GOING TO DO! - Vs. 14) THE LORD HAS "gone out before you" ANYONE/YOU KNOW FACING 'OVERWHELMING ODDS'? As we shall see, this is the point very often where God wants us! Joel Osteen has said that this is the theme of his latest book! Sometimes faith is all that we've got! - but it's enough!
(chpt. 5 is THE SONG OF DEBORAH - some of the oldest scrt. in the Bible - about 1125BC!- as the Hebrews are retreating up a mountain, there are terrific storms and floods. Guess what happens to those 'chariots of Iron'? They become colossal liabilities.) 'No weapon formed against you shall prosper'! - do we believe that?
Vs. 16)The armies are routed.
THE NAME 'BARAK' MEANS 'LIGHTENING': 'Bael' is/was the god of 'lightning' (Remember the Ellijah story - the Baals are praying for lightning from heaven to come and light the fire!); BARAK is God's Own Lightning who would strike the 'Baels'!
SISERA THE GENERAL flees! - into the tent of the very person whom Deborah had prophesied about - that she would 'nail' him (pun intended!)- talk about 'dying in your sleep'! I don't think I'd want to go that way however. See Chpt. 5, Deborah celebrates the event (Tent Peg in the head!) in her song!
How is JAEL, this common housewife, a sort of 'Delilah in reverse'? GOD USES WHO GOD WILL AS HIS MESSENGER/FOR HIS MESSAGE. Cmp. w. Ehud: this Event marks another episode of 'deliverance' - a deliverance that Deborah commemorates as being from God. SISERA a mighty man of war but an opponent of the Lord is slain by a housewife - vs. 24, cht. 5 - the war Lord bows to the housewife!
Cht. 5 THE SONG OF DEBORAH - 'all that oppose God - may they come to the same sort of end'/as Eglon, as Sisera!
GOD DOES IT. Eph. 'If we can brag about it, it ain't grace'! -
cmp. Pslm. 68:7-9 'the floods from Mt. Sinai'
Vs. the Idolatry of False Gods!
15-17) THE ROLL OF DISHONOR - those who failed to respond to Barak's call! (fear of Hazor!)- the nonresponders. In a contest to best define the word "friend" - the winning definition was 'one who runs in when everyone else has run out." ANY EXAMPLES COME TO MIND? (Saddam told Dan Rather 'Ya'll will RUN!'/just didn't have the stomach forit)
WHO MADE THAT FAMOUS REMARK?- CHURCHILL: 'so much owed to so few'? Martin Niemoeller's haunting words:..'when they came for me, it was too late...there was noone left'. SOME PEOPLE WATCH...MAKE...WONDER WHAT.... WHICH ARE WE? PEOPLE WHO DON'T VOTE!!
20 - 21) THE FINAL RESULTS ARE IN GOD'S HANDS.
24) ODE TO JAEL/war-lord bows to housewife. Vs. 30)'Damsel' no nice, romantic term, a rape victim/spoil of war!/Reprehensible Canaanite practice.
The song concludes with 'blessings' on those who love the Lord and 'curses' upon those who don't! - cmp. Psalms 1 - all of the Psalms!
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