I hope you are enjoying your journey through the Scriptures this year and I pray that some of my simple, devotional thoughts on these passages will cause you to stop and seriously apply God’s Word to your hearts. I just want to share briefly this morning a couple of things that struck me in my […]
After the disaster of Judges, the book of Ruth comes along as a breath of fresh air. Ruth takes place during the period of the judges but was written sometime after David became king (see Ruth 4:17-22). While Judges shows the repeated rescue of unfaithful Israel by their faithful God, the language of redemption is […]
What an unmitigated disaster! This final section in Judges is one of the most outrageous, maddening, sordid accounts in the entire Bible. Look what you have recorded here: sexual perversion of the type associated with Sodom (19:22); self-preservation to the point of callous indifference (19:25-26); civil war and self-destruction that was intended for the pagan […]
Honestly, Samson is not a very attractive character. He is brash, presumptive, impulsive, and driven by fleshly desires. But there is encouragement in his story. God can (and does) use and empower his servants, even those with obvious faults and who are frequently disobedient. Notice how many times God’s Spirit rushes upon Samson, most often […]
The writer of Judges sets the stage in chapter 12 for the coming of Samson. Up to this point, judges led the nation for several decades and the peace that God brought through them would last for a generation or two. Now, Jephthah judges Israel for only six years (12:7) and three other judges (Ibzan, […]
As we continue reading through Judges, I want to remind you that we should not necessarily emulate the actions of God’s appointed judges. These were imperfect (and many times, blatantly sinful) people, used by God for his purposes and the rescue of his chosen people. An easy way to think about this is to remember […]
Other than the story of Samson, there is probably no better known story and figure in the book of Judges than Gideon. Many people use the phrase “to lay out a fleece” when speaking about how they determine a course of action, without knowing what it means or where it came from. By the way, […]
As chapter 4 opens, notice how the cycle of sin, judgment, prayer, and deliverance starts again: And the people did what evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan. This is where we pick up today, with the story of […]
Before we begin to look at the third chapter of Judges, there is one important item from chapter two that I failed to mention in yesterday’s post. Judges 2:11-23 sets forth a vicious cycle that repeats itself over and over throughout the book: 1) the people did what was evil in the sight of God; […]
I have a confession to make: Judges has never been near the top of my favorite books of the bible. Each time I read a portion, I come away confused or depressed or both. That is not terribly surprising because this book records some of the most horrendous and sinful acts in the bible and […]