The book of
Judges
summarizes the
history
of the
Israelite
nation between the passing of
Joshua
and the establishment of a
monarchy. At this time, the nation was ostensibly a
theocracy;
the people were to follow
God’s
law. The tribes largely
governed
themselves, occasionally even breaking into civil
war. As needed, God provided judges to provide
civil and military
leadership.
The people were supposed to be taking hold of their
inheritance from God, both the land and the moral heritage passed down from
Moses
and Joshua. However, as they mingled
with foreigners and became satisfied with their possessions, they fell to
temptations to idolatry and immoral living.
In the absence of powerful human authorities, such as
prophets
and
kings,
people did whatever they liked and often they liked
sin. In these times, God would withdraw his
blessing from the people and allow foreign nations to overtake them.
This theme recurs throughout
Judges. As generations pass
and people became satisfied, they would forget their need for God and fall into
seeking to gratify themselves, with few scruples about how they do it. God would withdraw his blessing from the
immoral nation and it would fall into the hands of foreign powers. When the people were oppressed to the end of
their endurance, they would repent and call out to God. He would send a judge who would rescue the
people from their oppressors. This would
seem to be a message on God’s
judgment,
but it is equally about his
mercy. Suffering that brings us to God, the ultimate
good, is better than an easy slide into destruction.
Some of the most famous names and stories of the
Bible appear
in this book.
Deborah
was a prophetess and judge who was a woman leader.
Gideon
famously tested God by putting out a fleece and overthrowing the Midian army
with just 300 men. The record of
Samson’s
feats is here, including his tragic affair with
Delilah
and his final triumph over the Philistines.
The story of Samson and Delilah was popular enough to be adapted to
film, possibly because the suggestion of Biblical imprimatur permitted the
depiction of a spicy tale.
Much of the book is devoted to the story of powerful,
critical, or interesting judges like Deborah, Gideon and Samson. The reigns of some judges are summarized in
short paragraphs. We approach history in
a similar fashion now. If some event or
person was very important, exciting, interesting, strange or juicy, we might find
a dozen books on the subject in the library.
Other things get a brief article in an encyclopedia, or a very short
entry that
Wikipedia
says is inadequately documented.
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