The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 89: Israel's Cycle of Disobedience (2025)
Sun, 30 Mar 2025
Welcome to the book of Judges! Fr. Mike foreshadows the events of Judges, and the cycle of disobedience we'll continue to see Israel go through. He also gives some context on the book of Ruth, and how we can find grace within the frustrating moments of Scripture. Today's readings are Judges 1-3, Ruth 1, and Psalm 133. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Chapter 1: What are we reading today?
from a new book actually two new books we're reading from judges and from ruth um judges chapters one two and three as well as ruth chapter one we'll also be praying today from psalm 133 um as always you probably know this i'm reading from the revised standard version second catholic edition i'm using the great adventure bible from ascension if you want to download your own bible in a year reading plan
You can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year, and you can subscribe to this podcast in your podcast app, wherever you listen to this, wherever you're listening to my voice, and just hit that word that says subscribe. A couple of heads up kind of issues right now. This is one of those, the book of Judges is phenomenal, and it is phenomenal not because it's a great story.
Chapter 2: What is the significance of the Book of Judges?
It is more like you just kind of ventured into... Some really incredible and incredibly dark history. And so what's going to happen is in the next number of days, as we walk through the book of Judges, is we're going to hear some stories that are familiar, maybe like stories about Deborah, maybe stories about jail, maybe stories about Samson.
These are going to be some stories that we are, as I said, relatively familiar with. We might not be entirely familiar with all of the details, and the details are pretty horrible, and they get worse. The book of Judges begins in the dark and ends even darker.
So just heads up, that is my disclaimer that, yeah, this is real, real stuff today on day 89, reading from Judges chapters 1, 2, and 3, Ruth chapter 1, and praying Psalm 133. The Book of Judges, chapter one, Israel's failure to complete the conquest. After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord, who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?
The Lord said, Judah shall go up. Behold, I have given the land into his hand. And Judah said to Simeon, his brother, come up with me into the territory allotted to me that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you. So Simeon went with him.
Then Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek. They came upon Adonai Bezek at Bezek, and fought against him, and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Adonai Bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
And Adonai Bezek said, 70 kings with their thumbs and their great toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table, as I have done so, so God has repaid me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
And afterward, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the lowland. And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath Arba, and they defeated Shashai, and Achiman, and Talmai. From there, they went against the inhabitants of Debir.
The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath Sefer. And Caleb said, He who attacks Kiriath Sefer and takes it, I will give him Aksa, my daughter, as wife. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it, and he gave him Aksa, his daughter, as wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field, and she alighted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, What do you wish?
She said to him, Give me a present, since you have set me in the land of the Negev, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of Palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negev near Arad. And they went and settled with the people.
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Chapter 3: How does the cycle of disobedience manifest in Israel?
And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron. And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who dwelt in Jerusalem.
So the Jebusites have dwelt with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel. And the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.
and the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him please show us the way into the city and we will deal kindly with you and he showed them the way into the city and they struck the city with the edge of the sword but they let the man and all his family go and the man went to the land of the hittites and built a city and called its name That is its name to this day.
Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Bet-Shan and its villages, or Taanak and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Iblam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor but did not utterly drive them out.
And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites dwelt among them and became subject to forced labor. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Akko or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Alab or of Aksib or of Helba or of Afik or of Rehob.
But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out. Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Bet Shemesh or the inhabitants of Bet Anah, but dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Bet Shemesh and of Bet Anath became subject to forced labor for them.
The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Har Haras, and in Ajalan, and in Shal'adim. But the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily upon them, and they became subject to forced labor. And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabim, from Sila and upward.
Chapter 2 Israel's Disobedience Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers. I said, I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed my command.
What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become adversaries to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you. When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim, and they sacrificed there to the Lord. The Death of Joshua
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Chapter 4: Who were the judges raised by God?
And the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God, and serving the Baals and the Ashtaroth. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishatim, the king of Mesopotamia. And the sons of Israel served Cushan Rishatim eight years.
But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel who delivered them, Othniel, the son of Canaz, Caleb's younger brother. The spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-Rashatayim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand, and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rashatayim.
So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died. Ehud. And the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites and went and defeated Israel.
And they took possession of the city of Palms. And the sons of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, 18 years. But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord... the lord raised up for them a deliverer ehud the son of gerah the benjaminite a left-handed man the sons of israel sent tribute by him to aglon the king of moab and echud made for himself a sword with two edges a cubit in length
And he girded it to his right thigh under his clothes. And he presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now, Eglon was a very fat man. And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that carried the tribute. But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal and said, I have a secret message for you, O king. And he commanded silence.
And all his attendants went out from his presence. And Ehud came to him. as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, I have a message from God for you. And he arose from his seat, and Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, and the dirt came out. Then Ehud went out into the vestibule, and closed the doors of the roof chamber upon him, and locked them.
When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, he is only relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber. And they waited till they were utterly at a loss, but when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.
Ehud escaped while they were delayed, and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Sirah. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. And the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. And he said to them, Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand.
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Chapter 5: What is the role of Othniel and Ehud?
So they went down after him, and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and allowed no man to pass over. And they killed at that time about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men, not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest for eighty years.
Shamgar After him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an ox-goat, and he too delivered Israel. The Book of Ruth, Chapter 1 Elimelech's Family Goes to Moab In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. And the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives. The name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth.
They lived there about ten years, and both Malone and Kilian died, so that the woman was bereft of her two sons and her husband, Naomi, and her Moabite daughters-in-law. Then she started with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find a home, each of you, in the house of her husband.
Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people. But Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband.
If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me. Then they lifted up their voices and wept again.
And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge." Your people shall be my people and your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you. And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, is this Naomi?
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