Moses was gone; Joshua was gone; there was no one to lead the Israelites in a God fearing life. And they behaved terribly. They did everything God asked them not to do. But, God took pity on the Israelites as they begged for forgiveness and assigned judges to guide them. During each judge's lifetime, God was with the people and they generally toed the line. When the judge died, the people fell back into old habits and God punished them. The cycle continued over and over again.
The fourth judge was Deborah.
Yes, you read that right. Deborah was a woman and a leader of all the people of the tribe. They listened to her, deferred to her, followed her. Let me say that again. God chose a woman to lead the Israelites. Deborah was a prophet, a judge, a military leader and a poet. Pretty amazing. After the fighting ended and victory was in hand, Deborah lead the Israelites through forty years of peace.
Then Deborah died and conflict returned.
During approximately the next one hundred seventy years there were times of peace and times of conflict. God chose several judges throughout the years to lead, some who were better than others. It really didn't matter because the Israelites kept falling away from God. In the end, God saw the tribes of Israel spend the last forty years of this time frame oppressed by the Philistines.
Then came Samson.
I thought I knew the story of Samson, but mostly I knew the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson was a Nazarite, dedicated to God from the womb, because an Angel of the Lord came to Samson's parents prior to his birth and decreed this to happen. (Numbers Chapter Six talked about the Nazarite vow in great detail if you would like a refresher.) There are several bazaar Samson stories. From the lion he killed bare handed who grew honey in its belly (which Samson strangely ate and fed to his parents), to the odd riddle he told about it which ultimately resulted in his wife and her father being killed. Then he meets Delilah and apparently loses his mind. She clearly tries to trick Samson so the Philistines can subdue him, yet Samson keeps falling for her ruses. She finally learns the true secret of God's gift of strength to Samson and cuts his hair. Samson consequently loses his strength, is captured, has his eyes gouged out and later destroys the city (after his hair grows back in) and gives his life back to God in death.
Back to more destruction and cringe worthy stories.
First, the Danites destroy a peaceful town just because they felt entitled to the land. Next, a terrible story of a Levite and his concubine wife. As he is bringing her home they stop for the night in Gibeah, as Israelite city controlled by the Benjamites. There, a group of men want to have their way with the man and he offers them his wife to save himself. After raping her, they left her to die on the doorstep of the house he is staying at. The Levite cuts her into twelve pieces and sends a piece to each Israelite tribe. All the other Israelites attack the Benjamites and kill all but the six hundred that run into the mountains. Because the Benjamites are part of the tribes of Israel, it was arranged to get them wives through an intricate scheme so all the tribes can continue on.
With that, Judges finally comes to an end.
No comments:
Post a Comment