In the book of Judges, God’s people desperately needed a faithful and godly leader. Today, W. Robert Godfrey discusses God’s sovereign provision for His people in seemingly uncertain times like these. Get W. Robert Godfrey’s teaching series The Life of Samson on DVD, plus lifetime digital access to the messages and study guide, for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3607/life-of-samson Meet Today’s Teacher: W. Robert Godfrey is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and chairman of Ligonier Ministries. He is president emeritus and professor emeritus of church history at Westminster Seminary California. He is the featured teacher for many Ligonier teaching series, including the six-part series A Survey of Church History. He is author of many books, including God’s Pattern for Creation, Reformation Sketches, and An Unexpected Journey. Meet the Host: Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
Full Episode
Before the judges, there was great strength in Israel and then gradual spiritual weakening in Israel. And that's when God instituted the office of the judges to help the people in their spiritually declining and compromised state.
Have you read the book of Judges lately? Spending time in Old Testament books can sometimes be a challenge, as we might be less familiar with the context. But it's worth the study, because the Old Testament is not only the inspired Word of God, but it has so much to say for God's people today. You're listening to the Thursday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm your host, Nathan W. Bingham.
Today and tomorrow, W. Robert Godfrey is still with us, but we'll be introduced to Samson. You've probably heard of Samson and Delilah, but who was Samson? The messages you'll hear this week are from Dr. Godfrey's 10-part study on the life of Samson.
So go beyond the introduction to Samson and request the entire series on DVD with digital access to the messages and study guide when you give a gift of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. Samson was the last of the 12 judges, but have you ever asked why Israel needed judges? Here's Dr. Godfrey to begin our two-day look at Samson.
Only when we see what the book of Judges is about as a whole and Samson's role in that book are we really going to be able to achieve the maximum profit out of Samson. He's one of the 12 judges. He's the last judge, and he's the judge about whom we're told the most. So clearly there's a kind of building up to Samson in the book, and so Samson is a kind of culmination of the book.
But again, when we stand back from the book of Judges as a whole, we discover something kind of intriguing, I think. And that is that the book of Judges is not just about judges. You'd think if you're going to name a book the book of Judges, it ought to be about judges from beginning to end, but it's not. Probably 25% of the book is not about judges.
So the first chapter and a half of the book of Judges, there are no judges. The institution of the office of the judge is established by God only in the middle of chapter 2 of Judges. And then even more intriguingly, after the death of Samson at the end of chapter 16 of Judges, there are four more chapters about the history of Israel when there are no judges.
And so we have to recognize that while the book of Judges is 75% about judges, the judges are only part of the story. And that story is important, as we'll see, in that before the judges, there was great strength in Israel and then gradual spiritual weakening in Israel. And that's when God instituted the office of the judges to help the people in their spiritually declining and compromised state.
And then when things have declined even further through the judges, so that by the end, Samson is no better than the people, even though he's a judge. Then we really see the mess that Israel is in after Samson dies. The stories in the last chapter of Judges may be the most disturbing in the whole Bible.
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