Week 13/14--Judges

My 10-year-old daughter had this to say about Judges, “Mom, I keep reading the same verse over and over, ‘They put it to the sword and burned it to the ground.’ I had no idea there was so much fighting in the Bible.”

Welcome to the Period of the Judges.

There is a lot of fighting in the Bible, and what’s even more surprising is that God told the Israelites to go and conquer and destroy. God knew that the Israelites would be distracted by all the shiny false gods worshipped by people in the Promised Land. He warned them against this back in Deuteronomy. “Follow me,” God said, “and I will bless you. Follow other gods, and I will see you destroyed.”

So that’s basically the plot of the book of Judges, a cycle of: obey for a while --> fall into idolatry --> get conquered --> repent --> get rescued --> obey for a while --> fall into idolatry... over and over again. Will they ever learn? Will we?

In addition to the repetitive plot, there are also some really fascinating characters in the book of Judges. Deborah is here--she is the only female judge, but she helps lead the people to a military victory. How great is that, finding strong positive female characters in the Old Testament?

Then we meet Gideon, who was the youngest child in his family yet led an army of 300 who defeated the Midianites with trumpets and torches. I LOVE it when marching bands are involved in military victory! And in this case, there’s no way for Gideon to take any credit. God caused chaos among the enemy at the sight of the torches and they RAN AWAY.

Another famous judge is the strong man Samson (maybe now I can remember where in the Bible his story is!). He followed the rules of the Nazirite vow from birth, which was very unusual, but it was on instructions from God Himself. Unfortunately, Samson had a nasty temper and bad taste in women. God did use these weaknesses to bring about the fall of many Philistines (though they will reappear later in the Bible). A word of warning, though: we must not let our weaknesses be an excuse for disobedience, saying, “But it’s my weakness, God can use it.” Remember, God brought Samson very low because of his pride before using him one last time.

The book of Judges ends with the tragic story of the Levite and his concubine, whose death led to infighting between the tribe of Benjamin and the other tribes. But even in this situation, God spared a remnant of the tribe of Benjamin and the tribe was not lost.

Judges 21:25 reads “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” When this happens, there is sorrow and trouble. God has promised this. I pray that we as individuals and as families may be wiser.

Week 12/13: Joshua

I’m going to do things a little differently for the next few posts. Instead of sticking rigidly to the calendar and splitting Joshua, Judges, and Ruth in half, I will simply give each book one post. So, here’s “Joshua.” 

This book begins with one of my favorite verses, Joshua 1:9. Basically, we are told to “Be strong and courageous, for God is with you wherever you go.” I memorized that verse in the 6th grade, when my family was getting ready to move across the country for the first time. It has been a great comfort to me in the many moves I have experienced since then as well!

I had to laugh at Joshua 1:17, when the Israelites say, “Just as we obeyed Moses, we will obey you.” Israel didn’t exactly have the best track record when it came to obedience. We’ll see how this plays out.

Spies go to visit Rahab, reminding us that God can use ANYONE, no matter what is in her past. They learn that the inhabitants of the land are afraid of the Israelites! The land is theirs for the taking! Of course, this is what would have happened 40 years ago if they had been obedient the first time...

Once again, God parts the waters--this time the Jordan river--so Israel can cross. I wonder how this new group of Israelites will handle seeing God’s power like that. Interesting note--the Israelites hadn’t been circumcised in the wilderness, which was the sign of the covenant. I wonder if that had anything to do with their disobedience in other things.

The captain of the Lord’s host speaks to Joshua; this the same being as the Angel of the Lord whom we have seen before. He also spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and he says the same thing here, ”Take off your sandals, you are standing on holy ground.”

Then we read of the “battle” of Jericho, which was won by the marching band. (I love this story!) Rahab, along with her family, is spared among the destruction. I wondered how this happened, since she lived in the wall. We have been to a few walled cities in Italy; most of them have thinner walls with towers at the north, south, east, and west points. Perhaps Rahab lived in one of these towers and her house was sturdier than other parts of the wall. Perhaps God simply chose to honor her rescuing of the spies. All we know is that she and her family survived. Jericho was rebuilt and is still inhabited today, one of the oldest cities on earth.

Not surprisingly, someone violated the ban God had placed on all the treasure. As a result, Israel lost a major battle, and then whined about it. Again, not a big surprise. Why was this a problem? The spoil was supposed to belong to the Lord. The man who violated the ban had offended God’s holiness. Once they got rid of the things under the ban--and the man who took them--they were blessed again. 

Just after the victory at Jericho and Ai, Israel encounters the sneaky Gibeonites. “We heard what you did to Og, King of Bashan, and we were afraid, so we tricked you!” But sneaky or not, there was a covenant made, and Israel was bound to it.

In another battle, the Lord uses some of the storehouses of hail mentioned in Job 38 to win a battle for the Israelites.

Finally, the tribes can receive their land. Nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Ephraim, settle west of the Jordan River. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh settle east of the Jordan.

Trouble begins almost immediately, when the tribe of Reuben builds an altar on the other side of the Jordan. Elders from the other 10 tribes go to meet with them. “An Altar? Really? After everything we’ve been through, after all the covenants with the Lord, you build yourselves an altar? What were you thinking?” Fortunately, Reuben’s altar was to remind the people of the goodness of the Lord. The Israelites are satisfied (and I breathe a sigh of relief!).

With Joshua’s death we have the end of another era in Israel’s history. The people have been brought safely to their land. All is well.

For now.