Overview of the Bible: Judges

 Book of Judges  

Title: Judges – the title of the leaders of Israel during this pre-monarchial period  

Date of writing: traditionally, by Samuel around 1020 BC

Date of Narrative: 1406 – 1048 BC – period of Republican confederation

Structure:

A. Two introductions:

 A1, 1:1 – 2:2, Compromised conquest

 A2, 2:6 – 3:6,

  B. Two exemplary Judges:

   B1, 3:7-11, Othniel – “Lion of God”

   B2, 3:12-30, Ehud – “Joining together”

     C. Two unlikely Judges:

      C1, 4 – 5, Deborah (bee, cp. Is.7:18), a woman

      C2, 6 – 9, Gideon (Cutter down, brave soldier), a youth

  B’. Two compromised Judges:

   B’1, 10 – 12, Jephthah (whom God sets free)

   B’2, 13 – 16, Samson (solar, like the sun)  

A’. Two conclusions:

 A’1, 17 – 18, Levite failed to guard the worship of Israel

 A’2, 19 – 21, Levite failed to guard the moral of Israel      

 

Main themes:

As the seventh book of the Bible Judges is very concerned with the true worship. Lack of it leads Israel to a constant cycle of disasters, being rejected by God.

We also see leaders of worship – Levites who do not carry out their mission properly (two last stories).

Similarly, the civil leaders of Israel exhibit immaturity (Barak), impatience (Gideon and Jephthah) or careless about the mission of the LORD (Samson).   

Main Characters: Joshua, Caleb, Othniel, Ehud, Barak, Jael, Deborah, Gideon/Jerubbaal, Abimelech, Jephthah, Jephthah’s daughter, Samson, Delilah, Micah, tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin.     

Reflection in other parts of the Bible:

Judges picks up the story of conquest but take a very different angle.

Ps. 19:5-6, 10 gives a poetical depiction of Samson

In Judges we see the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15) fights back with “the serpent” (ch. 4-5, 9, 13). Later on, Isaiah picks it up in his prophesy of Emanuel (7:14). We see the fulfillment of this in the birth of Jesus the Messiah from Mary.  

The appearance of God as the Angel of the LORD continues from Genesis (ch. 18 and 32) and Exodus (ch. 24) through Joshua (ch. 5) to Judges (ch. 6 and 13). We see Him a number of times in the Old Testament (f.ex. Dan 10:5-6) as it leads us to the conclusion of the Bible (Rev. 1:12-20).     

Lutheran teaching: Luther uses the examples of God’s actions in the Book of Judges to summarize the theology of grace” And in the Book of Judges one can see the good that God did through… (list of people) … though the people were not worthy of it.” (LW: 46:192-193). See further in Relevancy of the Book.

Lutheran hymnody:     

LSB 666 – OLittle Flock, Fear not the Foe (v. 2, about Gideon).

Relevancy of the Book: The Book of Judges gives us a hard, sobering, and comforting lesson. The hard part is that sin brought Israel – the chosen vehicle of His will in the world – to the brink of destruction. The sobering fact is our society does not differ much from the society Israel (in its morals and godlessness). Yet, we can find comfort in the fact that the LORD did not give up then – time and time again He would provide a savior. Sending His Son to be our Savior, God tells us that He does not give up now.     

Memory verses:

21:25: In those day there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.