Judges 1 – 6
Sometimes I have “creepy” experiences when doing these studies, as with today. If you haven’t noticed I am all over the board which is a result of an active mind. For some reason as I was reading this my mind kept drifting to the hotel Bibles and how many no longer allow them. Don’t know why that was there, but the last part of the reading was the Bible’s name sake, Gideon. Thought I would share that before we continued.
This is a long reading which spans a few decades. Each section has a similar theme, Israel takes the land, leaves some of the inhabitants, they corrupt Israel, God gets mad, Israel loses the lands, they repent, God returns the lands and repeat. Chapter 1 verse 27 is the start of the problems:
Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
How quickly they disobey and drift. It amazes me, but at the same time we constantly see this. How many people do you know were on fire for God and then slowly start rejecting Him and worshiping gods of “name brands” and stuff? Today we don’t tend to drift between gods, we tend to allow the god of stuff take over, where “coveting” takes over God in our hearts. And science is quick to hop on quantum physics, which explains God, using it to disprove Him and create an avenue for more stuff.
The theme continues in chapter 3 verses 7 & 8:
7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
Othniel rises up and rescues them for 40 years until he dies, and the process keeps repeating. One would think after so many times the people would finally get it, but to this day as a whole it appears they never do. Chapter 4 gets interesting since it dispels the idea God does not want women teaching His word with Deborah. She is introduced in verse 4:
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
As we continue, Deborah has Barak purse Sisera, who hides in Jael’s tent. This ends up being his end when Jael “offs” him in verse 21:
But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
It amazes how many men use the Bible to advance the idea women are subservient to them. Heck Deborah and Jael showed men their capabilities.
As we end out the reading we come upon Gideon, who I mentioned earlier as the name sake of the Gideon Bibles that are placed in almost every hotel room around the world. We often think of Gideon as some powerful warrior, but like David, he was meek. Chapter 6 verses 14 & 15 has God calling Gideon:
14 And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
Interesting how God uses men like Gideon more often than ones like Samson. See when you use powerful, strong men often they will get the credit, where God tends to shine more through those that are not so powerful.
I like the story in verses 36 – 40 about the fleece. Here Gideon gets his answer the first try, but does not trust it and asks again. I would love decisions to be as easy as putting a fleece down to determine what you should do. Understand this decision was not just a big one for him, but also the nation of Israel. If he were to follow his calling and it was not from God, many thousands would die because of his misinterpretation. So don’t expect this to happen ever, unless you felt called to lead a rebellion.
I am amazed I had a though of the Gideon Bible in my head before reading this section. Things like this make me realize that this is not a complete waste of time. Recognize your nude from God and even though it may not be a wet fleece, rejoice that God said “hey!”