Introduction to the Book of Judges

English: Samson destroys the temple (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Introduction

First it is important to explain how the book of Judges fits into the Word of God. Among people today, there seems to be a concession that what is written in the Word of God is part of the will of God. Because of this misconception of the bible, many people discount the bible altogether because some books such as Judges included subjects such as idol worship along side of Yahweh worship and the willing giving of women into a sexual and murderous environment.

            The book of Judges was not written to better explain how faithful people live in accordance with the Word of God but just the opposite. The book is designed to show the children of God how not to live. There is a circulating theme among all the stories. First the children are faithful and all is well. Then the children begin to slowly corrupt themselves against the Word of God. Finally the children need a savior and God delivers.

            When God delivers this savior to the people of Israel, the reader should not confuse the man or woman as a shining example perfection but just the opposite. The “Judges” were the saviors that they deserved and not the savior they need. In this method we see the necessity of Christ above any man that could bear the title of Savior

Overview

            Of course the exact timeline is not known to us but the writing of this book is generally believed to be around 1390 b.c. to around 1050 b.c. The exact author is also unknown however it is commonly believed that Judges was written by multiple authors through the years of it history. There is a good amount of credibility to this because of the different level of detail that are contained in the stories. Some stories have great detail such as Samson and Gideon but others lack great details such as Ehud.

These distinctions in the writings should only increase the credibility of the book and not decrease its credibility because it shows a progression through history by the adding of the stories as they occurred as opposed to the idea that everything was simply created later by a master revisionist.

            Again the reader should not be confused by the word “judge”. The Hebrew word used in this book is shāphaṭ  (שָׁפַט‎) which is a verb that denotes a judicial function and also strongly implies punishment and vindication. The book stands as an example of God judging both the nation that threatens Israel and Israel itself. The entire book has a moral lesson on how wrong a godly society can become when society ignores the Word of God.

Periods	Years	Ending about b.c.:
1. From the exodus to the passage of Jordan	40	1451
2. To the death of Joshua and the surviving elders	[40]	1411
3. Judgeship of Othniel	40	1371
4, 5. Judgeship of Ehud (Shamgar included)	80	1291
6. Judgeship of Deborah and Barak	40	1251
7. Judgeship of Gideon	40	1211
8, 9. Abimelech to Abdon, total	[80]	1131
10. Oppression of the Philistines, contemporary with the judgeships of Eli, Samson (and Samuel?)	40	1091
11. Reign of Saul (including perhaps Samuel)	40	1051
12. Reign of David	40	1011
Total	480

           

Modern Day Similarities

            The book is an example of God hitting the “reset” button. The longsuffering Lord waits patiently for every generation to follow Him willingly and faithfully til any society reaches a point in their depravity that they cannot return. This fact is evident where the bible records words such as “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Genesis 15:16 KJV).

            When this is understood by the reader it becomes easy to see the similarities of these ancient societies and the modern times we live in. Remember that the Bible teaches in principles and not always in direct executive order. When the Israelites began to be corrupted it took hundreds of years and God remained silent as they slowly corrupted themselves. In like manner our western civilization is slowly replacing faith in God with faith in nature. We teach evolution instead of creation even among orthodox churches. We make Christianity a politically incorrect practice while Hollywood praises good witches and warlocks as fictional heroes. Even today God has given us “Christian” leaders that we deserve and not the leaders that we need.

            So what was the sins of the Amorites? Those sins are not mentioned in the book of Genesis, nor are they mentioned specifically in the book of Judges. However the Bible is not completely silent on this issue. The sins referred to are very important especially for the modern day reader who does not want history to repeat itself.

            2 Kings 21:3-9 (KJV) provides us with the key to understanding this question because it reflects back to the time of the Judges and compares it to their current situation:

“For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.”

Sins such as sorcery and human sacrifice are mentioned among the comparison of nations. We in our own time should also be aware for there is nothing new under the sun.

Is Why Important?

English: Abraham embraces his son Isaac after receiving him back from God (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."  Genesis 26:5 (KJV)

God tells us why he did something for Abraham. Do you think that is important?

The question of why is a very important question. But what makes this an important question? What makes why such an important part of living? In order for anyone to determine meaning in anything there are six basic questions we ask to determine the context. Who, what, where, when, why, and how. Each of these individual questions are to determine something different in our understanding.

·       The question of who gives us a clarity in meaning.

·       The question of what determines the object that is to have value whether intrinsic or extrinsic.

·       The question of where as to the clarity of meaning to determine location because we live in a three dimensional world.

·       The question of when also provides a clarity of meaning to determine the timing since we perceive the fourth dimension of time.

·       The question of why provides us the understanding of purpose. The purpose of something, such as a promise from God given to Abraham because obedience is highly valued; so the purpose of the promise was the reward for obedience.

·       Finally the question of how helps us determine context and meaning clearly. How gives a practice or plan of expressing of that which is to be valued.

How and why are a legitimate part of the context and cannot be removed without making the principal found in the scripture void of context. This is true for any of the six questions to determine context and meaning. By removing any one we violate either the meaning of the text, the value of the text, the purpose of text, or the practice given in the text. It is true however that in any statement all six questions may not be answerable but overall reading of the surrounding text will supply those answers. In order to determine proper context you must try to answer as many questions as possible to deduce proper meaning. If for instance the why or how is not included in the text it may be deduced however should not be assumed.

A simple context chart can be used to see the meaning of the text:

Who (Meaning)
What (Value)
Where (Meaning)
When (Meaning)
Why (Purpose)
How (Practice)

Remember that when God tells you why something happened or how to do something, that is authoritative. Also remember that the Bible was written clearly and does not use riddles. The word of God is not cryptic or mysterious. The Bible was written plainly and obvious to those who have a spiritual foundation (ears to hear). It is true that there are poetic prose, parable and figures of speech that must be accounted for. The lack in understanding these texts is due to the intellectual laziness of the student and not the text.

It is important for everyone to see when reading the Bible how much emphasis is placed upon false teachers who would corrupt the Gospel. Because of this is also equally important for you to see at the Gospel message itself must be the source of all fundamental doctrine. Paul wrote to Timothy about knowing the Scriptures.

“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”  - 2 Timothy 3:15 (KJV)

What Paul was essentially saying here is that if doctrine is essential for salvation we are to learn it from the Bible. The Bible is adequate and equipped for every good work. The truth of God is not targeted at intellectuals or people who have studied for many years but it is written in a form that is simple enough for children. Because word is not a puzzle. Psalm 19:7. Hebrews 11:6. That verse makes faith a central to the right elation ship with God. We have already seen many Scripture that discuss the eternal life is obtained through the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ.

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." - John 17:3 (KJV)

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." - John 14:6 (KJV)

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." - Acts 4:12 (KJV)

When we are reading the Bible we must keep in mind the six questions. We must recognize the Bible as being authoritative. We must also not fall for the fallacy of improper authority. For those people who take authority as truth, fail to take truth as authority. The six questions of context help you to see the true meaning of text. And remember no one has the right to remove any of the questions.

To illustrate this consider the denomination of the Salvation Army. They believe in no sacraments. Even though the Bible clearly includes baptism in the plan of salvation, this denomination ignores it. Even though the Lord's Supper is clearly written about in the days of the early church, this denomination ignores it. In essence the Salvation Army is attempting to remove the how and why from the Scripture. What or who ever gave them that authority?

Many denominations do this today. When anyone is determining the truth of any denomination or any religion for that matter, understand first that God has given you the ability to think. This does not mean that people think but it does mean they have the ability to do so. When so many people ask the question "why are there so many denominations?", the answer is clear: people are not rigorously rational.

Old Testament Reliability

Rembrandt - A Scholar - WGA19200 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Old Testament Reliability

1.     There is uniqueness to the Bible that is unlike any other book in the history of Man. This book has the ability to transcend teaching through time, geography, culture, and language barriers. The Bible was written over a 1500 year span with over forty authors. These authors, who all came to agree completely on many complicated issues, were men from different classes and cultures.

a.      Political Leader – Moses

b.     King – Poet – Shepherd -  David

c.      Herdsman – Amos

d.     Military General – Joshua

e.      Cupbearer – Nehemiah

f.      Prime Minister – Daniel

g.     King – Philosopher – Solomon

h.     Physician – Luke

i.       Fisherman – Peter

j.       Tax Collector – Matthew

k.     Rabbi – Paul

l.       Personal Secretary – Mark

2.     Through the history of man the Bible has proved to be transmitted to men accurately and consistently through the centuries. The Old Testament Text had many classes of scribes that monitored the transmission

a.      Sopherim “scribes” – Jewish scholars and custodians of the text between 5^th-3^rd B.C.

b.     The Zugoth “pairs” textual scholars 2^nd-1^st century BC

c.      Tannaim “repeaters or teachers” 1^st century BC-AD 200

                                                    i.     Also worked on the Talmud “instruction”

d.     Talmudists (A.D.100-500)

e.      Masoretes: Jewish scholars between A.D 500 – A.D. 950 (preserved the oral tradition (masorah) concerning the correct vowels and accents).  .  Most famous Masoretes where the ben Asher family (Tiberius) who produced the ben Asher text that is considered the standard Hebrew text of today. This text was also bound together with the Textus Receptus

3.     The confirmation of the Old Testament by hard evidence uncovered through archaeology

a.      Famous Manuscripts

                                                    i.     Cairo Codex (A.D. 895) Located in the British Museum.  Produced by the Moses ben Asher family contains all the prophets (but none of the rest of the O.T.)

                                                  ii.     Aleppo Codex (A.D. 900+) Before it’s partial in 1947distruction it was the oldest complete Masoretic manuscript of the entire O.T.

                                                iii.     Codex of the Prophets of Leningrad (A.D. 915) contains Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor profits

                                                iv.     Codex Babylonicus Petropalitanus  (A.D. 1008) –also located in Leningrad.  Earliest complete copy of the Mesoretic text.  It was prepared from a corrected text of Rabbi Aaron ben Moses ben Asher A.D. 1000

                                                  v.     British Museum codex (A.D. 950) contains part of Genesis through Deuteronomy

                                                vi.     Nash Papyrus

                                              vii.     Dead Sea Scrolls- They are dated about 1000 years earlier then the earliest Mesoretic manuscripts.

4.     Old Testament Archaeology.

a.      Sodom and Gomorrah – “The unexcavated town of Feifa appears to be very similar to Bab edh-Dhra. Even surface evidence reflects the fact that the city was destroyed in a fiery disaster. Spongy charcoal can still be scooped from the surface by hand—this is also true at Numeira. Moreover, adjacent to the town is a huge cemetery almost a mile in either direction that also can compete with the Bab edh-Dhra cemetery both in size and usage.” [1]

b.     Jericho – “Finally, one Carbon-14 sample was taken from a piece of charcoal found in the destruction debris of the final Bronze Age city. It was dated to 1410 B.C.E., plus or minus 40 years,lending further support to the view that the destruction of City IV occurred around the end of the Late Bronze I period, about 1400 B.C.E.”[2] 

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[1] Have Sodom and Gomorrah Been Found?.” Biblical Archaeology Review, Sep/Oct 1980, 26-36. http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=6&Issue=5&ArticleID=2

[2] Wood, Bryant G. “Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho? A New Look at the Archaeological Evidence.” Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar/Apr 1990, 44-59. http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=16&Issue=2&ArticleID=5