Judges

The book of Judges deals with the Israelites immediately after the death of Joshua.  The Israelites put themselves in a bind as they do not follow the specific instructions of the Lord in driving out their enemies completely but rather allow them to live in the land.  Thus, the people that live in the land become a hindrance for the Israelites and lead them to follow after other Gods, namely the Baals and the Ashtoreths.  During this time, God allows the Israelites to be oppressed by their enemies.  However when the Israelites humble themselves before God and cry out to him, he raises up thirteen judges among them to save them.  12 of them are mentioned in the book of Judges.  The cycle is ongoing throughout the book as once delivered, the Israelites go right back to following other gods thus allowing for the need of more judges to be supplied by God.  Of particular theological importance is the fat king Eglon who oppressed the Jews.  Fat kings oppress the Christianswho follow after the things of this world and these kings eventually grow fatter and fatter and thus they need to be killed bu they are almost to the point of invincibility.  For the Christians today, the fat kings that need to be killed are cigarettes, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, crime rates, etc.  Another judge that really stands out is Deborah who fights against the citadel of Sisera and manages to restore the Israelites back to God.  One that is of significant importance is Gideon in chapters six and seven in campaigning against the Midianites.  Gideon was appeared by an angel of the Lord which we have already stated is believed to be the manifest presence of Christ in the Old Testament.  Gideon came from a family of basic nobodys and we know from the passage that his Father worshipped Baal.  Gideon has a difficult coping with the task of which God has called him to.  The odds are so stacked against him that he refuses to respond to God's call unless he puts God to the test and God shows himself real.  Gideon does this through processes that make God reverse the normal process of natural occurrence.  Yet God answers accordingly and with 300 men Gideon defeats an army of ten thousnad in a victory that was definitely without question a miracle of God.  Chapter 9:9-15 of the book give a good parable which sets a good standard for all leaders today.  It clearly demonstrates that leadership is not about gaining, but rather about giving something up.  The other significant judge in this book is Samson, a Nazarite.  Samson leads impressive against many enemies that the Israelites were facing.  However, he creates for himself a problem when he marries Delilah and eventually tells her the secret of his great strength and thus the Philistines manage to take that strength away from him by shaving his head.  Yet, Samson gets in one final blow.  Samson is extolled by many ministers as a great man of God who let sin infiltrate his life.  I prefer to view him as basically all God had to use on earth at this time.  Samson had weaknesses that he let overcome him and displayed his weak spiritual lifestyle in these weaknesses.  Yet, the fact that he gets in one final blow without the strength from having taken the Nazarite vow shows that God can move when he wants to and he will use a person in spite of their flaws to fit into the work of his master plan.  Chapter 19 of Judges deals with a riot that eventually breaks out in which 85,000 people are killed all because one man conforms to the custom of the day.  This he does when three men come knocking at his door and asking that his guest come out that they may have sex with him.  The host gives the guy his virgin daughter and the concubine of his guests and they rape them on the streets thus causing a riot.  Peace is made in chapter 21.  The overbearing theme of this book is stated three times within the last chapter.  The theme is the fact that there was no king in Israel during this time and that every did what they saw was fit in their own eyes.  In the same way, when Christ does not reign as king over the heart of the Christian then anarchy rules in society and disaster and oppression are the end results of such a matter.