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Chapter 1: What is the introduction to the Book of Judges about?
Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Today we wrap up the introduction to the book of Judges and God tells us that He has left a handful of Canaanite leaders in the land as a test for the Israelites. Today we also get to meet the first four Judges, all of whom are pretty good by comparison to the others we'll read about.
Chapter 2: Why were the Israelites sold into slavery?
Early on, we find out that Israel has forgotten God and are worshiping Baal and the Ashtoreth, and God takes credit for selling them into slavery, just like he warned them he would do when this happened. After eight years, they finally cry out to God and he raises up the first judge to save them.
Chapter 3: Who was Othniel, the first judge?
And remember that the judges we're talking about here are more like military commanders and civil leaders than someone who sits in a courtroom with a gavel. The first judge is Othniel, whom you may remember as Caleb's nephew slash son-in-law. The text says God's spirit was upon him and he gave him victory. Then they had peace for 40 years.
But then the Israelites decide they prefer sin over peace and they rebel again. So God strengthens their enemy against them, King Eglon of Moab. He gathers some allies and they attack Israel and take back Jericho, which was Israel's first conquest in the Promised Land. They also take the Israelites as servants for 18 years, until they cry out to God for rescue.
Chapter 4: How did Ehud save Israel?
Then God appoints Ehud, the second judge, to rescue them. If you're left-handed, you probably loved this story, even though it was gross, because left-handed people often get a bad rap in ancient text. But here, one of your people is the hero. One interesting thing about this is that Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin, which means son of the right hand.
I bet Ehud was probably teased about his left-handedness for his entire life. Kind of like if you're a vegan whose last name is Hunter. But this left-handed warrior led a group of people in giving a gift to King Eglon of Moab as a ruse so he could stab him with an 18-inch knife. Then he led the Israelites in killing 10,000 Moabites and taking back the land.
Chapter 5: What role did Shamgar play as a judge?
And things are peaceful again for 80 years. After that, we only get one sentence on the third judge, Shamgar. Both his name and his family of origin point to Shamgar being a native Canaanite who had turned to worship Yahweh. And here he is, established as a judge over the Israelites, leading them in victory over the Philistines to save Israel.
After Ehud and Shamgar, the people sin again and God sells them into slavery for 20 years under Jabin, the king of Canaan. This situation seems impossible to the people because Jabin and his military commander Sisera have access to 900 iron chariots, and they live in areas that are flat. If you have chariots, you want the battles to be on flat land.
Chapter 6: Why were the iron chariots significant in battle?
If you don't have chariots, you want the battles to be in the hills, for obvious reasons. Chariots are super advanced, like ancient tanks, but they don't move well across anything besides flat, dry ground. So for these Canaanites to have chariots in flat land did not bode well for the Israelites.
Chapter 7: Who was Deborah and why is she important?
The Israelites had been worshiping the Canaanite gods, and now they realize that those gods are worthless to save them, and they have no hope but Yahweh. So they cry out to him. That's when we encounter our final judge for the day and one of the ones who occupies the most space in the book, Deborah.
Of all the judges we'll read about, she's the one who honors God the most and sticks the closest to his commandments. Scripture describes her as a wise, bold, level-headed prophet who keeps her word and fears the Lord. She's also the one judge we encounter who actually presides over legal cases. So she's a judge in the Israelite sense and also a judge in the Judy sense.
The one traditional role of an Israelite judge that she doesn't step fully into is the role of military commander. She says God has appointed Barak for that position, and he's on board, but he refuses to go to battle without her. She agrees to go with him, but lets him know up front that a woman will get the praise for winning the battle.
Initially, it seems like she's saying this praise will go to her, but this prophecy points to someone else. In the song in chapter 5, we find out that Barak summons six tribes to fight with him, which is the largest coalition in the whole book of Judges. Before the fighting begins in chapter 4, we see a brief mention of a Kenite man named Heber, who pitched his tent in the middle of nowhere.
This is foreshadowing. Deborah gives the heads up that today is the day for battle against Sisera and his 900 chariots, and she reminds Barak that God goes before them and has given them the victory. The Israelites kill a lot of Canaanites, but Sisera escapes on foot and winds up in the middle of nowhere at, you guessed it, the tent of Heber the Kenite.
Heber had a peaceful relationship with Sisera's king Jabin, so they were on decent terms, which may explain why Sisera went to his tent. But there are at least two other weird dynamics going on here. Heber was a Kenite, not an Israelite, but those two are closely related and have a peaceful relationship. The Kenites even settled in the land with the Israelites.
So Sisera is showing up to a place where he is both a friend and an enemy. If you've ever been in middle school, you've probably been in a situation like this. The other weird dynamic, according to the text, is that Sisera actually goes to Heber's wife's tent, not Heber's tent. Wives often had separate tents from their husbands. Maybe he thinks she'll be more compassionate than Heber would be.
I don't know, but it's still kind of sketchy. So this was probably a pretty awkward situation for at least two reasons. It wasn't awkward for long though, because she drives a tent peg through his temple. And once again, God and his people gained victory over the enemy. And they wrote a whole song about it in chapter five, praising God and his works. Then the land had peace for 40 years.
Where did you see your God shot today? I really loved seeing how he chose and appointed unlikely leaders. In our first four judges, we start with a man from the tribe of Judah, which is to be expected, but then we have a left-handed man from a right-handed tribe, a Canaanite to lead the Israelites, and a woman. None of those would be viewed as traditional leaders in that day.
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