Judges
A Look Back
After the flood, the earth was repopulated by Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.
The Bible History website says Shem’s offspring evolved into the Persians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Lydians, and Syrians. Ham’s offspring evolved into the Ethiopians, Egyptians, Libyans, and Canaanites.
Japheth’s offspring evolved into the Cimmerians (Germany, France, Spain, British Isles), the Scythians, the Medes, the Greeks, the Turks, the Slavs, the Etruscans.
(Source: Bible History https://bible-history.com/old-testament/desc-shem-ham-japheth)
Four hundred years after the flood, Terah, son of Nahor from Noah’s son Shem branch, left his home in Ur, a city in the Sumer region of southern Mesopotamia (now Iraq).
Terah was bound for the land of Canaan, that was in the Levant region — the eastern Mediterranean coastal lands of Asia Minor then known as Phoenicia, and now known as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel.
With Terah were his son Abram, Abram’s wife Sarai, and his grandson Lot. Lot’s father Haran (Abram’s brother) had died in Ur. Terah died before reaching Canaan. Abram, Sarai and Lot continued to Canaan, and dwelled there, prospered there.
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s name to Sarah. Abraham had a son, Ishmael, whose mother was Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian maid. It was custom for a barren wife to provide her husband with a surrogate to bear him a child.
Then, as God had promised, Abraham and Sarah had a child, and named him Isaac.
Ishmael and his mother were sent away, and Ishmael found refuge in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found him an Egyptian wife. God said Ishmael would become a great nation. (Ishmael is commonly regarded by both Jews and Arabs as the progenitor of the Arabs, according to Britannica / https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ishmael-son-of-Abraham.)
Isaac married Rebekah, whose brother Laban was the son of Abraham’s elder brother Nahor. Nahor had remained in the Mesopotamian trade route city of Haran.
Isaac and Rebekah had twin (non-identical) sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau married two Canannite women and became a powerful chief in the land of Edom. (Edom bordered the land of Israel; Its people were called Edomites, descendants of Esau / Britannica https://www.britannica.com/place/Edom.) Jacob married two of Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel. Rachel was mother of Jacob’s sons Joseph and Benjamin; Leah was mother of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah. Rachel’s maid Bilhah gave Jacob sons Dan and Naphtali. Leah’s maid Zilpah gave Jacob sons Gad and Asher. Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel, and his 12 sons became the namesakes of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Among his sons, Jacob favored Joseph. Nine of his sons, because of their jealousy, sold their brother Joseph to slave traders, and led their father to believe Joseph must have been killed by a wild animal. Reuben, who had planned to save his brother, was not present when the slave traders came.
In Egypt, Joseph’s master gave him a position of authority, but his master’s wife, who failed to seduce him, wrongly accused him, and caused him to be put in prison.
In time, God sent a dream to the Egyptian pharoah, and God told Joseph the meaning of pharoah’s dream. Joseph then told pharoah his dream foretold seven years of plenty and seven years of famine for Egypt. Joseph also provided a solution: store food in the seven years of plenty, and distribute the food in the seven years of famine. Pharoah gave Joseph great power to oversee the storage and distribution of the food.
When famine struck in Canaan, Abraham sent his sons (except Benjamin) to Egypt to buy food. And the brothers had to deal with Joseph. Joseph was forgiving, and he had his father and the families moved to Egypt. There, they lived and prospered for a time. Their numbers grew.
The Egyptians saw them as a threat, and enslaved them.
For 430 years (Exodus 12:40) they remained in Egypt. Then God sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt, and into the promised land of Canaan, a land “flowing with milk and honey,” a fertile land with seashore and mountains, a land perfectly situated for commerce.
The land of Canaan was a land of many kingdoms and many gods. Religious rites included human sacrifice (including child sacrifice) in the understanding that the gods gave only the best to the people and so they should reciprocate by offering their best to the gods.
After 40 years of wandering, the children of Israel were at the edge of the promised land of Canaan.
Moses, who had served as judge, had died. Joshua was now leader, commander, and judge.
Claiming the Promised Land
God said to Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
God again said, “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:1-9 / New International Version)
The Israelites had three days to get provisions ready. Then they would cross the Jordan and take possession of the land God had given them.
To take the land, Joshua and the children of Israel would war against many city-kingdoms, each with kings and armies.
In Joshua’s time, weapons of war were swords, spears, bows and arrows, slings and stones, battle axes, clubs. Protection consisted of shields, helmets. Some armies had chariots, but in the days of Joshua, the Israelites had none. Strength and courage indeed would be needed.
God had prepared Israel. He had ordered Moses and Aaron to count the men in Israel who were 20 years old or more and able to serve in the army. The book of Numbers (1:17-46) puts the army of Israel at 603,550.
Spies Sent into Canaan
Joshua sent two spies — Pinehas and Caleb — to check out the land. The spies first went to Jericho and spent the night at the lodging of a prostitute named Rahab. The king of Jericho was warned that the two spies had entered her house, and he commanded her to deliver them to him. But Rehab hid the spies. She told them: “We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. As soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord, your God, he is God in heaven above, and in Earth beneath (Joshua 2:10-11).”
So Rehab reported the spies had left.
For her help, Rahab asked that her family be spared when the army of Israel took Jericho. The spies said that when the Lord had given victory, they would “deal kindly and truly” with her. (Joshua 2:14)
The spies returned and reported to Joshua. “Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.”
Joshua and the children of Israel crossed over Jordan with the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before them. They crossed on dry land. God dried up the waters of Jordan until they passed over (Joshua 3).
After crossing Jordan, the males among the children of Israel were circumcised, and on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites kept the passover.
The next mission for the children of Israel was the destruction of the walled city of Jericho.
The Battle of Jericho
The Battle of Jericho is a story of military might, and earned Joshua a place in history as one of the world’s greatest generals. (See:https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/joshua-in-canaan/)
God ordered Joshua to have Israel’s “men of war” march around the walls of Jericho. They were to do this once daily for six days. Seven priests with seven trumpets of ram’s horns would be with them. On the seventh day, they were to compass the city seven times. The priests were to blow their trumpets.
God said, “…(W)hen they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat … (Joshua 6:5).”
Israel’s men of war and the priests did as Joshua had ordered. And the walls of Jericho came tumbling down.
The Israelite army was ordered to confiscate all the silver, gold, brass and iron and bring it into the Lord’s treasury. They were to stay away from “the accursed (forbidden) thing.” God had ordered the silver, gold, brass and iron to be brought into his treasury. Anyone taking any of these things would be guilty of stealing from God, guilty of coveting what was God’s.
The victorious Israelites burnt the city. The Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the country. (Joshua 6:27)
God had ordered destruction of the city. Only Rahab and her family were to be spared.
The children of Israel, however, committed trespass.
An Israelite named Achan of the tribe of Judah could not resist the temptation of gold and silver. He took spoil for himself — a Babylonish garment, 200 shekels of silver, a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight and hid them in his tent. (Joshua 7:21)
Achan was stoned to death, and his body burnt. His sin had caused Israel to lose their battle for the Cannanite city of Ai. God was not with them because of the disobedience of Achan. After Achan’s punishment, the Lord told Joshua to rise against Ai. This time, God would be with them. Following the Lord’s command, Joshua divided his troops in ambush strategy. Joshua and his men pretended defeat, drawing the enemy away from the city to pursue them. The Lord told Joshua to stretch out his spear toward the city of Ai, and the Israelites — hidden in ambush — took the city.
The king of Ai was taken alive; the king’s people — men and women — were killed. The king was hanged. And Joshua read the words of Moses to the congregation of Israel (Joshua, chapter 8).
Joshua’s battles to claim the land of Canaan continued. In all, 31 kings were defeated (Joshua 12:24). Despite the successful battles, however, Joshua had not taken possession of all the land of Canaan. God reminded Joshua that he was old and stricken in years, then the Lord listed the unconquered lands. God told Joshua that he would drive out all the inhabitants before the children of Israel. Joshua then would divide the land by lot to the Israelites for an inheritance (Joshua 13).
Some of the tribes failed to drive out all the inhabitants of their inherited lands. And seven tribes had yet to receive their inheritance. Joshua cast lots to divide the remaining lands. He also ordered that cities of refuge be appointed (Joshua,17-20).
“And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he swore to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he swore unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass (Joshua 21: 43-45).”
Joshua gathered the tribes of Israel together and spoke to the people. He retold their story that began with Abraham and brought them to the land of Canaan — now their land. He reminded them of all the Lord had done for them.
“If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.” — Joshua 24:20
The people said they would serve the Lord.
Joshua died. He was 110 years old.
The Book of Judges
The Book of Judges begins with the question, “Who will be the first to fight the Canaanites?
The Lord chose the tribe of Judah, and Judah sought help from his brother Simeon. The brothers and their armies killed Canaanites by the thousands. They drove out many, but they did not drive out all the Canaanites from the towns they took. When the other tribes were called upon to battle for their lands, they, too, failed to drive out all the inhabitants.
Another generation arose.
The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: They served Baal and Ashtaroth.
“And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. The Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.
And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.” — Judges 2:11-22
The Judges of Israel
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
Judges 2:11-13
Othniel
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God. They served Baalim and the groves.
“Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.” —Judges 3:8
When the children of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel.
“And the Spirit of the Lord came upon (Othniel), and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.” —Judges 3:10
And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
Note: Othniel, the son of Kenaz, was Caleb’s younger brother. His wife was Achsah, Caleb’s daughter.)
Scriptures about Othniel are found in Joshua 15, and Judges 1 and 3.
Deborah
Deborah, the only woman to judge Israel, was also a prophetess of God. She was the wife of Lappidoth, and held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel.
In her time of leadership, Israel was under the 20-year control of King Jabin of Hazor.
Deborah summoned Barak, Israel’s military leader, to take command of 10,000 men to attack King Jabin’s army led by its captain, Sisera. God had so ordered, she told Barak, who agreed to the plan, but only if Deborah would be with him. Deborah said she would go with him, but she said, “… the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” —Judges 4:9
Sisera, with his army — and 900 chariots of iron — was defeated by the Israelites led by Barak and Deborah.
Sisera, however, escaped. He fled on foot and made his way to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. Jael met Sisera and urged him into her tent. There, she covered him with a mantle, and gave him milk to drink. Sisera told her to stand in the door of the tent, and if anyone came and enquired of him, she was to send the seeker away.
A weary Sisera fell asleep. Jael took a tent nail, and with hammer in hand, went softly to Sisera. She drove the nail into his temples, fastening the nail into the ground.
Barak, who was pursuing Sisera, was met by Jael, who said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek.” Barak saw Sisera, who was dead, with a nail in his temples.
“So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan.” —Judges 4: 23-24
Judges, chapter 5, begins with the “song of Deborah,” a grateful commemoration of Israel’s deliverance from Jabin and a tribute to Jael:
“Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,
blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
“He asked water, and she gave him milk;
she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
“She put her hand to the nail,
and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer;
and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head,
when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
“At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down:
at her feet he bowed, he fell:
where he bowed, there he fell down dead.”
And the land had rest for 40 years.
(The story of Deborah is found in Judges 4 and 5.)
Jael took a tent nail, and with hammer in hand, went softly to Sisera. She drove the tent nail into his temples. — Judges 4:21 / From painting by Amigoni Jacopo (1677-1752) CPH481201
Gideon
The Israelites’ praises to God for defeating Jabin ebbed, and the children of Israel once more turned to idolatry. For seven years the Midianites and Amalekites invaded their country, ruining their crops, and ravaging their land. The Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
The Lord sent a prophet with a message from God:
“I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.” –Judges 6:8-10
Then, the Lord sent an angel to the town of Ophrah where Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. Gideon was the son of Joash the Abiezrite. The angel said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Gideon responded, “Pardon me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
The Lord told Gideon he should go, save Israel out of Midian’s hand.
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Gideon then asked for a sign so he would know it really was God speaking to him. Gideon invited his visitor to stay while he prepared a meal of meat, broth, and unleavened bread. When he returned, the angel of God had him put the meat and bread on a rock. The angel touched the meat and bread with the staff in his hand, and fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and bread. Then the angel disappeared.
When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” —Judges 6:22
The Lord told Gideon not to fear.
Gideon built an altar to the Lord. That same night the Lord told Gideon to take a 7-year-old bull from his father’s herd. Gideon was to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Ashram pole beside it. Gideon was then to build an altar, and offer the bull as a burnt offering.
Gideon did as the Lord told him, but he did it at night because he feared his family and the townspeople.
When the people of the town got up, Baal’s altar was demolished and there was a newly built altar. The people were told that Gideon son of Joash did it. They demanded that Joash bring out his son. He must die, they said, because he broke Baal’s altar and cut down the Ashram pole.
Joash told the hostile crowd, “If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” —Judges 6:31
Israel Threatened
The Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces, crossed the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
The Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, who blew a trumpet, and summoned the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, calling them to arms.
Gideon then sought reassurance from God. He said he would place a wool fleece on the threshing floor, and if the next morning there was dew on the fleece while the ground under it was dry, “Then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have promised.” —Judges 6:37
The next morning, Gideon squeezed a bowlful of water from the fleece.
Gideon, however, needed more proof. This time the fleece should be dry and the ground covered with dew. And it was so.
Early in the morning, Gideon and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The Lord told Gideon that he had too many men. Gideon was to allow the men who were fearful to leave. Twenty-two thousand men left; ten thousand remained. The Lord wanted the numbers further reduced. The men were taken to the water to drink, and be tested. Three hundred men drank from cupped hands; the rest got down on their knees to drink.
Gideon kept the three hundred. On the Lord’s instruction, he divided the 300 into three companies that were armed with trumpets, and empty jars with torches inside.
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp. They blew their trumpets, smashed the jars, took the torches in their left hands, held their trumpets in their right hands, and shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” —Judges 7:20
The Midianites cried out as they fled.
Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, calling the men of Ephraim to seize the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb, killed both, and brought their heads to Gideon.
Gideon and his three hundred men, though exhausted, kept up the pursuit of Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. In Sukkoth, Gideon asked for bread for his troops, but the men of Sukkoth refused. In Peniel, he made the same request, and again was refused.
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with about 15,000 men, having lost 120,000 of their sword-armed troops. Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army. The two Midian kings fled, but were captured, and their entire army routed.
Gideon returned from the battle. He punished those in Sukkoth who refused to give bread to his army. He pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town. Gideon killed the two kings of Midian, and took the ornaments from their camels.
The Israelites then said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” —Judges 8:22-23
Then Gideon asked that each man give him an earring from his share of the plunder (the Ishmaelites wore gold earrings). The weight of the gold rings came to 1,700 shekels. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in his home town of Ophrah.
“All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.” –Judges 8:27
During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had 40 years of peace.
Gideon had many wives and 70 sons. He also had a concubine who bore a son named Abimelek.
Gideon died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father.
Soon after Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies. They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Gideon.
Note: The story of Gideon is found in Judges 6-8. Quotes used in Gideon’s time as judge came from the New International Version of the Bible.
Sampson
Before Sampson was conceived, an angel sent by God visited the woman who was to be his mother. The angel told the woman that she would bear a son. The woman was not to drink wine or strong drink, and she was not to eat unclean food.
When her son was born, no razor was to touch his hair. Sampson was to be “a Nazarite unto God from the womb.” Sampson would begin to free Israel from the Philistines. The woman shared the message from the angel with her husband Manoah of the family of the Danites, and of the city of Zorah.
Her husband entreated the Lord to let the angel come again and teach him and his wife how to bring up the child.
God sent the angel again to the woman, and the woman ran to fetch her husband. The angel repeated the instructions given to the woman, and said, “… all that I commanded her let her observe.”
The woman gave birth to a son, and named him Samson. The child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
Samson was perhaps the strongest man the world has known, but weak when it came to resisting the charms of women who were desirable to him.
He saw a woman in Timnath, one of the daughters of the Philistines. Marriage with a Philistine was not forbidden by the law of Moses (Exodus 34:11-16; Deuteronomy 7:1-4). However, Sampson’s father and mother urged against such a union.
Nonetheless, Sampson demanded, “Get her for me; for she pleases me well.”
On the way to Timnath, to visit the woman, Sampson killed a lion that roared against him. In Timnath, he talked with the woman, and he was pleased with her.
After a time he returned to take her. On the way he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion that held a swarm of bees and honey. He ate of the honey, came upon his father and mother, and shared the honey with them. He did not tell them the honey came from the carcass of the lion.
Samson used his experience with the lion and honey to pose a riddle to 30 men who came to the feast that Sampson gave. When the men could not solve the riddle, they went to Sampson’s wife. They demanded that she entice her husband to declare the riddle; otherwise they would burn her father’s house, and burn her, too.
When Sampson’s wife wept before him, Sampson told her the riddle. She then told the meaning of the riddle to the men who threatened her and her family. Sampson lost his wager.
“If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle,” he said.
An angered Sampson slew 30 men. Then he went to his father’s house. He learned that his wife’s father had given his wife to a friend. In retaliation, Sampson caught 300 foxes, set them afire and released them into the standing corn of the Philistines. Corn crops were burned, along with vineyards and olives.
In retribution the Philistines burnt his wife and her father with fire. Sampson then slaughtered the Philistines. More Philistines gathered against him. They pitched in Judah. The Philistines told the men of Judah they had come for Sampson.
Three thousand men of Judah went to Sampson. The Philistines, they reminded Sampson, ruled over them. They said they had come to bind Sampson and deliver him to the Philistines. Sampson allowed them to bind him, and take him to the Philistines.
The Philistines shouted against him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Sampson; the cords that bound him “became as flags that was burnt with fire.” The bands on his hands were loosed. Sampson found a new jawbone of an ass, and with it he slew a thousand men.
Sampson went to Gaza, where he found a harlot to his liking. The Gazites laid wait for him all night. They planned to kill him in the morning. Sampson arose at midnight, took the doors of the city gate, along with the two posts, put them upon his shoulders, and carried them to the top of a hill before Hebron.
Next, he loved a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. The lords of the Philistines came to her, saying: “Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth… .” Each lord promised to pay her eleven hundred pieces of silver. Delilah asked Sampson to tell her the source of his great strength.
Sampson said he would be as weak as any other man were he to be bound with seven green withs (willow twigs perhaps) that were never dried. The Philistine lords brought her the withs, and she bound Sampson. Then she said to him, “The Philistines be upon thee, Sampson.”
Sampson broke the withs. Delilah accused Sampson of mocking her. She asked Sampson again how he could be bound. This time, Sampson said if he were bound fast with new ropes that had never been used, he would be weak as any other man.
Delilah bound him with new ropes. The Philistines came. Sampson broke the new ropes as if they were a thread. Delilah tried again and failed. “How can you say, I love thee, when your heart is not with me,” she asked? She pressed Sampson daily.
Sampson’s soul was vexed. He told her all his heart, then revealed that if he were shaven, his strength would leave him. Delilah called the Philistine lords. They brought her money. As Sampson slept upon her knees, she called for a man to shave off the seven locks of Sampson’s hair. Sampson’s strength left him. Delilah said, “The Philistines be upon thee, Sampson.”
Sampson awoke. The Philistines took him, put out his eyes. He was brought to Gaza, and bound with fetters of brass. In prison, he did grind (that is, he manned huge stones for grinding grain for bread).
His hair began to grow again.
The Philistine lords gathered to offer sacrifice to Dagon (a Philistine god of fertility) for delivering Sampson into their hands. The people also saw Sampson and praised their god. With their hearts merry, they called for Sampson to provide amusement. They set him between the pillars of the house.
The blinded Sampson said to the lad who led him by the hand, “Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house stands, that I may lean upon them.” The house was full of men and women; all the Philistine lords were there. There were about three thousand men and women upon the roof. They watched as Sampson made sport.
Sampson called unto the Lord. He prayed. “O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” Sampson took hold of the two middle pillars, and said, “Let me die with the Philistines.”
He bowed himself with all his might; the house fell upon the lords and all the people in the house. The dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Sampson’s brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him. They buried Sampson between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father.
Sampson had judged Israel 20 years.
(The story of Sampson is found in Judges 13-16.)
SAMUEL
The story of Samuel begins with a love story.
There was a man named Elkanah who had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children; Hannah had none. Each year, Elkanah would go from his town of Ramathaim to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. When the day came for him to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to her sons and daughters.
To Hannah, he gave a double portion because he loved her.
Hannah was sorrowful because she had no children. Peninnah would torment her, bringing her to tears because she was barren. Elkanah would try to comfort Hannah.
“Hannah,” he said, “why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than 10 sons?”
During one of those visits to Shiloh, Hannah in her deep anguish, prayed to the Lord. She made a vow, saying:
“Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” –1 Samuel 1:1
Eli, the priest, observed her. Her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk, and he rebuked her.
But Hannah said she had been praying out of her great anguish and grief. Eli told her, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” —1 Samuel 1:17
Hannah went her way. She ate. Her face was no longer downcast.
The next morning she and the rest of the family worshiped before the Lord, then they returned home. Elkanah made love to Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. In time, Hannah gave birth to a son. When Elkanah and the family next went to offer sacrifice, Hannah did not go. She told her husband that after their son was weaned she would take him and present him before the Lord.
After the boy was weaned, she took him with her to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. She also took a three-year-old bull, flour and wine. When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, the priest. She said to him:
“Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” —1 Samuel 1:26-28
The boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest.
Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters.
The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days both the word of the Lord and visions from the Lord were rare. One night, as Samuel lie in the house of the Lord, where the Ark of the Lord was kept, the Lord called to Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” Thinking Eli had called, he ran to him. But Eli, whose eyes had become weak, said he had not called. Samuel went back to lie down. Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” Samuel went back to Eli, and again Eli said he had not called. He sent Samuel back again.
At the time, Samuel did not know the Lord. When the Lord called Samuel the third time, and Samuel went to Eli, Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. This time Eli told Samuel that should he be called again, he was to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel was called again, and this time he spoke the words as Eli had instructed.
The Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family — from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
The guilt of Eli’s house was the result of Eli’s sons, who were priests by heritage, but scoundrels at heart. Eli had heard the things his sons were doing, how they had slept with the women, and done other evil things. He rebuked his sons, but they did not listen. A man of God had come to Eli, asking, “Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel? The man of God told Eli that his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, would both die on the same day, and the Lord would raise up a faithful priest.
Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli told Samuel to tell him all the Lord had said and hide nothing. “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes,” said Eli.
The Lord was with Samuel as he grew. And all Israel recognized that Samuel was a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
While Eli was still priest, the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. The Israelites and Philistines had fought. Israel lost the battle and about 4,000 men had been killed. The elders decided to bring the Ark based in Shiloh and use as a weapon against their enemy. That way, God would be with them, and they would defeat the Philistines. But the Lord was not with them. In the battle, Israel lost 30,000 foot soldiers, the Ark was captured, and Eli’s two sons were killed.
When Eli learned of the slaughter, the deaths of his sons, and the capture of the Ark, he fell backward off his chair. His neck was broken, and he died. He had led Israel 40 years.
Next happenings:
• The Philistines took the captured Ark to Ashdod, and set it beside their god Dagon in Dagon’s temple. When the people of Ashdod rose the next morning, Dagon had fallen on his face before the Ark of the Lord. Dagon was put back in place, but the next morning Dagon was again face down before the Ark of the Lord. Again the people put Dagon back in place. The following morning. Dagon’s head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold.
• The Lord crushed the people of Ashdod. They were afflicted with tumors. They cried out, “The Ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” They moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. The people of Gath were then afflcted. So they sent the Ark to Ekron. But the people of Ekron called upon the rulers of the Philistines to send the ark away. “Let it go back to its own place,” they said.
• The Ark of the Lord was returned, along with gifts of gold.
Samuel told the Israelites to rid themselves of the foreign gods and commit themselves to the Lord. The Israelites did so. Samuel said the Lord would deliver them from the Philistines.
Samuel had the Israelites assemble at Mispah. There, they fasted and confessed their sin.
The Philistines came to attack them. They were afraid and called upon Samuel, who sacrificed a lamb as a burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried to the Lord, and the Lord answered. The Lord thundered with thunder so loud, the Philistines panicked and ran. The Israelites pursued them and slaughtered them.
The rest of Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord was against the Philistines.
When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. His sons did not follow his ways. They accepted bribes. They perverted justice.
The elders of Israel came to Samuel. They wanted a king. Samuel was displeased. When he prayed to the Lord, the Lord said,
“Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” –(1 Samuel 8:7-9
Samuel told the people what God had said. He warned:
“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
— 1 Samuel 8:11-18
But the people would not listen. They wanted a king.
Samuel went back to the Lord, and the Lord said: “Give them a king.” (1 Samuel 8:22)
The story of Samuel is found in 1 Samuel 1-16.
Other Judges
Israel had other judges, among them were: Ehud, Shamgar, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdom. Of these other judges, Jephthah stands out. Jephthah’s record as judge is found in Judges, chapters 10 and 11.
JepHthaH
After the death of Jair, the children of Israel again did evil. They served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines.
The anger of the Lord was great. The Israelites were delivered into the hands of the Philistines, and the children of Ammon. The children of Ammon also fought against Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.
The children of Israel cried to the Lord, acknowledging their sins.
“And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
“The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
“Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.” —Judges 10:11-14
The children of Israel said unto the Lord, “We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.” —Judges 10:15
They put away the strange gods. They served the Lord: and his soul grieved for them.
The children of Ammon encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel encamped in Mizpeh. And the people and princes of Gilead asked themselves, “What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon?” It was agreed that “that man” would be “head over” all of them.
Jephthah the Gileadite would become such a man. He is described in Judges as “a mighty man of valour.” He was the son of a harlot. His father was Gilead. Gilead’s wife had born him sons, and when they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home. “Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman,” they said to Jephthah.” —Judges 11:2
So Jephthah dwelt in the land of Tob, and other men gathered to him.
When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah. They wanted him to fight for them, and serve as their captain.
Jephthah said to them, “Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?” —Judges 11:7
The elders of Gilead pledged that Jephthah would be head over all of them if he fought for them. They called upon the Lord as witness.
Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon. He asked why they had come against him.
The king of the children of Ammon answered that Israel had taken their land when they came out of Egypt.
Jephthah again sent messengers. Israel had not taken land from Moab, or from the children of Ammon, he said. When Israel came up from Egypt, he reminded, messengers were sent with a request to pass through the lands of Edom and Moab. But the request was denied. Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites. But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his coast. Sihon fought against Israel.
“And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.” — Judges 11:21-24
Jephthah called upon the Lord to judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
The king of the children of Ammon would not listen.
“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” —Judges 11:29-31
The Lord delivered the children of Ammon into Jephthah’s hands.
When Jephthah returned to his house, his daughter — his only child — came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances. When he saw her, he rent his clothes. He told her he could not go back on his word to the Lord. And his daughter said, ”My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.” —Judges 11:36
She asked for two months: “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.” —Judges 11:37
At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who kept his vow.
She had known no man. And it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went four days yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Comment
Glimpses of God
The Book of Judges reveals the power of God, the patience of God, and the certainty that God is true to His word. The Book of Judges again reveals God’s feeling of sorrow when man, whom He created, turns away from Him, and turns to self-destruction.
Awe and wonder abound as the children of Israel arrived at the promised land. Alas, they do not remain true to God, who had cleared the way for them; who had led them from servitude to freedom.
The Walls Of Jericho
The great walls of Jericho did not stop the children of Israel, because God turned the great walls into dust. Theories abound as to why the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. Archaeological evidence has shown that indeed Jericho was a walled city, and indeed the walls crumbled. Some theorize the wall crumbled because of an earthquake. Some cite the materials used in building the wall. Some cite the age of the wall.
In Joshua, chapter 6, God tells Joshua to have his troops march around the walled city every day for six days, and on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times. And on this seventh day, seven priests who marched with them would blow the seven trumpets they carried, and all the people would shout … “and the wall of the city shall fall down flat … .”
God’s power is revealed throughout the Bible in ways that man cannot understand. Science, say skeptics of the Bible, refutes the power of God found in biblical writings. However, in the story of the walls of Jericho, it seems God used science to make a great wall fall. And in this instance, he used the science of sound — of vibration — to force Jericho’s wall to collapse. Consider the story of England’s Broughton Suspension Bridge. In 1831, a brigade of soldiers marched in step across the bridge, and the bridge broke apart, throwing dozens of men into the water. After that, reportedly, orders came that soldiers were to “break stride” when crossing a long bridge. (See: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/broughton-suspension-bridge-collapse.html)
An article in Live Science says structures like bridges and buildings have a natural frequency of vibration within them, and a force that is applied to an object at the same frequency will amplify the vibration in an occurrence called mechanical resonance.
See: https://www.livescience.com/34608-break-stride-frequency-of-vibration.html
I believe God, creator of the universe and all that is, is also the creator of science. In the story of the Walls of Jericho, it seems God gave an example of how His science works.
Women In Heroic Roles
In the era of Israel’s judges we have God using two women — Deborah, a judge and prophet, and Jael, a tent wife — to save the children of Israel. We have another woman — Hannah — who prayed for a son, whom she would bring to the Lord to serve the Lord. God gave her Samuel, who would be the last judge of Israel.
Gideon Questions; God Listens
In the story of Gideon, a patient and understanding God gave proof of His being. Gideon questioned God, demanded proof — not once, but twice — that God would be with him in defending the children of Israel. (See Judges, chapter 6.)
God Chooses Whom He Will
God took Jephthah, the son of a harlot, and made him ruler and judge. And though God did not spare Jephthah’s virgin daughter from Jephthah’s rash vow, she became an everlasting memorial as a daughter faithful to the Lord of Heaven, and to her earthly father.
God Works In Mysterious Ways
In Sampson, we find a man given great physical strength by God. However, he lost that strength because he shared its secret with his beloved Delilah, who betrayed him. When Sampson prayed to God, his strength was returned, and “The dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.”
God’s Anger
In the Era of the Judges, we see an angry God who has time and time again saved the children of Israel, and now says to them, “Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.” —Judges 10:11-14
The One God, creator of all that is, in whom all power is vested, wasn’t enough for the children of Israel, whom He had blessed. They apparently decided that the more gods they worshipped, the better for them. But their gods of wood, stone, etc., made by their own hands, doomed them.
God Grieves
In Judges 10:16, we learn that God’s soul grieved: “And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.”
God Gives His People a King
The Era of Judges ends with the children of Israel demanding a king. Although God saw their lust for a king as a rejection of Him, he told His servant Samuel to give them a king. And submission to a king instead of submission to God would be their undoing.
Disclosures / Sources
Disclosure: Glimpses Of God is a personal website for the sharing of thoughts about God, and His Word as provided through Bible Scripture. In an effort to help understand God’s Word, this writer has included historical background information from various sources. In addition to quoting and summarizing many parts of the Old and New Testaments, this writer has included personal thoughts and comments.
Source: The King James Version of the Bible was primarily used for this site. When other sites were used, site links are provided.
Most of the links in this site require cut and paste to access them. However, because the King James Version was used extensively, a direct link is provided here: King James Bible: https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org
An audio version of the King James Bible may be found at: https://audiobible.com/bible/Bible.html
Please read the Bible for yourself. There is a lot of misinformation about what it says, what it means — some unintentional, some intentional. I pray that what I write is true to God’s Word.