Old Testament Scriptural
Summaries and Commentary
Judges, Chapters 2; 4; 6; 7; 13-16
Gospel Doctrine Class, Sunday
School Lesson 19 - The Reign of the Judges
Book reference, The Old Testament Made Easier, Part 2,
by David J. Ridges
Publisher, Cedar Fort,
Springville, Utah
Book reference, The Third Thousand Years, by W. Cleon
Skousen
Publisher, Bookcraft, Salt Lake
City, Utah
The Book of
Judges
This book
covers the time between the conquest of Canaan and the beginning of Israelite
Kings. It is thought to be a period of about
200 years from 1300 to 1100 B.C. We
have no way of knowing the exact time as the scriptures were probably written
some time later. The term “judges” as
used in this book of scripture does not refer to a person who is officially
appointed to judge the people. "Generally, the judges were successful military
leaders rather than political judges or rulers." They "were considered to be heroes but
not the main figures of a strong central government." (See Judges, LDS Bible
Dictionary, 2006, p. 719.)
It is a time
of “the apostasy cycle” when the people turn away from the Lord; they are
conquered and put under oppression; after much suffering, they repent and cry
unto the “God of their fathers” again; and the Lord rescues them through a
righteous person who receives His help and guidance. Ridges describes it as prosperity,
which causes pride, which leads to apostasy and destruction,
and back to humility and repentance, and finally they are blessed
again with prosperity. This cycle
is the underlying theme in Judges (Ridges, pt. 2, pp. 311, 314-315). In this book six judges have inspiring
narrative stories, and six are merely mentioned in the scripture.
The
following is a list of the twelve judges in the order of their appearance in
the book of Judges:
Othnniel* (3:7-11)
Ehud* (3:12-30)
Shamgar (3:31)
Deborah* (with Barak) (4:1—5:31)
Gideon* (and his family) (6:1—9:57)
Tola (10:1-2)
Jair (10:3-5)
Jephthah* (10:6—12:7)
Ibzan (12:8-10)
Elon (12:11-12)
Abdon (12:13-15)
Samson* (13:1—16:31)
*major judges
Judges
Chapters 1; 2; 3: 5-7 "[Ye] have not obeyed my voice"
After Joshua
died no new leader was called by the Lord leaving each tribe to more or less
fend for themselves. The Lord had
commanded the Israelites to continue to drive out all the inhabitants in the
lands they inherited and to cleanse the land so the Canaanites would not
corrupt them. There was some success by
the tribes of Judah and Joseph, but for most of the tribes, the Canaanites
continued to dwell among them (v. 1:30).
Then, the
Lord sends an angel to rebuke Israel for not serving Him. “And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal
to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you
unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break
my covenant with you. And ye shall make
no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars; but
ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?" (vv. 2:1-2).
After the generations that knew Joshua died
and all that generation who saw the miracles of the Lord in their battles to
possess the land were gone, “. . . there arose another generation after them,
which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel” (v. 2:10). And the Israelites “forsook the LORD…and
followed other gods, [Baal and Ashtaroth].
This angers the Lord; (vv. 2:12-13) “. . . and he delivered them into the hands
of spoilers [their enemies, see Neh.
9:27] 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” (v. 2:14).
And the
people were greatly distressed.
"Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out
of the hand of those that spoiled them."
But the people didn't listen to the judges and "went whoring after
other gods " (vv. 2:15-17).
“And the
children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and
Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their
daughters to their sons, and served their gods” (vv. 3:5-7). A sad tale of apostasy.
Judges 4:1 –
5:31 Deborah with the help of Barak
defeat the Canaanites
After being
delivered by judges Othniel, a prince of Judah, the nephew of Caleb, Ehud
and Shamgar, the cycle of apostasy continued: “. . . the children of
Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead” (v. 4:1). This time the northern part of Israel had
been conquered by the Canaanite King Jabin who ruled from the city Hazor [several miles above the Sea of Galilee,
Skousen, p. 530]. The captain of
Jabin’s army was Sisera, who commanded “900 chariots of iron.” After twenty years of oppression the children
of Israel cried to the Lord (vv. 4:2-3).
And a woman
among them named Deborah "judged Israel" at this time. She was a prophetess and “a mother in
Israel,” (v. 5:7) known to have wisdom in settling disputes. Deborah received a revelation from the Lord
telling her that he would deliver them from Sisera if they would “take ten
thousand men” from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon (v. 4:6) and go to mount
Tabor by the river Kishon. And Deborah
asked Barak to be the leader. Barak was
not confident of his own ability and said, “If thou wilt go with me, then I
will go” (v. 4:8). And Deborah said, “I
will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not
be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell [deliver] Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah and Barak
gathered an armed force of 10,000 men as the Lord required (vv. 4:9-10).
A man named
Heber the Kenite, who was of the people of Jethro [father-in-law of Moses], heard about the Israelite army massing at
Mount Tabor and he told Sisera. When
Sisera and his chariots started toward the Israelite army, the Lord caused a
flash flood that flowed down the mountain and flooded the banks of the Kishon
river and Sisera’s army abandoned their chariots and fled (v. 4:15; vv. 5:4-5). Barak went after them and the enemy was
slain, and not one man escaped except Sisera (vv. 4:16-17).
What
happened next is the fulfillment of Deborah’s prophesy. Sisera fled toward the Sea of Galilee where
Heber, his informant and friend, lived.
Heber was not home but Jael, his wife, invited him into their tent to
rest. She had him lie down and “she covered
him with a mantle” (v. 4:18). When he
was asleep, she took a metal tent stake and with a hammer she pounded the stake
completely through Sisera’s head fastening it to the ground (v. 4:21). When Barak arrived he found Sisera dead with
a nail through his temples. “And the hand of the children of Israel prospered,
and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin,
king of Canaan” (v. 4:24).
Deborah and
Barak praised the Lord and sang a song of praise because Israel had been
delivered from Canaanite bondage. “So
let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun
when he goeth forth in his might. And
the land had rest forty years” (5:31).
Judges 6:1 –
8:35 Gideon is raised up to save Israel
And, once
again the scripture states, “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight
of the LORD” (v. 6:1). The problem the
children of Israel have now concerns the Midianites (descendents of Abraham
through Keturah, see Gen. 25:2) and the Amalekites (descendents of Esau) and
other Semitic people. This large body of
people came from the eastern highlands, across the Jordan and into Canaan to raid
the lands of the Israelites when the crops were ready to harvest. For seven years the Midianites
prevailed against the Israelites driving them to live in caves in the mountains
for refuge from this hoard (v. 6:2). These marauders came “with their cattle
and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and
their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And
Israel was impoverished because of the Midianites and the children of
Israel cried unto the LORD" (vv. 6:5-6).
And the Lord sent a prophet to tell them "fear not the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but ye have not obeyed my voice"
(v. 6:10).
Now, a man
named Gideon from the tribe of Manasseh, was raised up to save his people. The Lord sent a messenger (probably a
translated being) and said to him, “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of
valour." And Gideon said unto him, "Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with
us why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles which our
fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But
now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the
Midianites” (vv. 6:12-13). And Gideon
was told by the angel, “Go in this thy might and thou shalt save Israel from
the hand of the Midianites” (v. 6:14). Gideon asks for a sign from the angel
and was shown fire from a stone that consumed food placed on it (vv. 6: 17, 21). And Gideon perceived he had seen an angel of
the Lord and said, "Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of
the LORD face to face." And the
Lord said unto him, "Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not
die" [this was a Hebrew
superstition; if a man saw God, he would die] (vv. 6:22-23).
That same
night the Lord told Gideon to go and destroy his father’s altar to Baal and cut
down the grove (where the immoral rites of the heathen religions were
performed). He told him to build an
altar to the Lord and offer a burnt sacrifice using the wood of the grove (v. 6:25). The next day the men of Ophrah (where Gideon
lived) demanded of his father that he be killed. Strangely, his father Joash said to the men,
“Will ye plead for Baal? . . . if he be a god, let him plead for himself.” And
Gideon’s father gave him the new name of Jerrubbaal meaning “let Baal speak for
himself” (vv. 6:26-32).
The
Midianites and the Amalekites camp in a valley west of the Jordan where they
prepare to attack the Israelites. Gideon
was told by the Spirit of the Lord to gather an army in defense of Israel and
men from the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali
volunteer. Now, Gideon asks the Lord for further
assurance that he will bless him and two signs are given concerning dew on a
fleece of wool and dew not on the fleece (vv. 6:33-40).
Judges
7 Gideon’s 300 men
Gideon
raises an army of 32,000 men but the Lord tells him that it is too many. The Lord didn’t want the Israelites to think
that they had succeeded without his help (Ridges, p. 321) (v. 7:2). So all the fearful and afraid are told to
return home and 22,000 departed. And the
Lord said to Gideon, “The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the
water, and I will try them for thee there. . . .”(v. 7:4). Only the men who
scooped the water with their hands to drink—300 men were kept (v. 7:7).
Then, in
darkness, Gideon takes the 300 to Mount Moreh overlooking the valley of the
plain of Esdraelon where "the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the
children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude;
and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for
multitude" (v. 7:12). And he divides
the men into three groups of 100 each.
He gives each a pitcher or jar containing a lighted lamp and a trumpet
and he places them all around the area where the Midianites are camped
below. At Gideon’s signal from his
trumpet, the men broke their pitchers of light, blew their trumpets and
shouted, “The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon” (v. 7:20). The Midianites and the others with them saw
the 300 lights and heard the noise of the trumpets and the sound of all the
shouts and they fled in panic into the darkness. Then, all the men of the tribes of Israel
gathered together and pursued after the Midianites (v. 7:23). They captured and killed two enemy princes
named Oreb and Zeeb and took their heads to Gideon on the other side of the
Jordan (vv. 7:9-25).
Judges 13 –
16 The sad story of Samson
This is a
sad story of a man named Samson who was blessed by the Lord, was not obedient,
and ends up taking his own life. The
writers of scripture have tried to make it appear that Samson had the spirit of
the Lord when in fact, he did not obey the commandments against honoring his
parents, intermarriage, adultery, revenge and self will. So read the scripture carefully between the
lines to find the truth.
Judges 13 –
14 Samson is born and marries a
Philistine woman
And again,
as is the pattern of the cycle of apostasy, the children of Israel did evil in
the sight of the Lord and they were delivered into the hands of the Philistines
for forty years (v. 13:1).
The story of
Samson starts with the miracle of his birth.
His mother was barren when an angel (messenger) of the Lord appeared to
her and tells her she will conceive a son and that he will “be a Nazarite to
God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the
Philistines” (vv. 13:3-5). (See Numbers 6:1-8
below for the Nazarite vow.)
2 Speak
unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall
separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to
separate themselves unto the Lord:
3 He shall separate himself from wine and
strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink,
neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is
made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no
razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he
separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall
let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for
his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the
consecration of his God is upon his head.
And she tells her husband, Manoah of the tribe
of Dan, what the angel said to her. And
the angel comes again to the woman and she runs to get her husband. Manoah said
to the angel of the LORD, "I
pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid [meal] for thee." The angel tells him he will not eat, and any
burnt offering must be made unto the Lord ("for Manoah knew not that he
was an angel of the LORD") (vv. 13:15-16).
So Manoah made a meat offering unto the LORD; and while he and his wife
looked on, the angel of the Lord ascended toward heaven in the flame of the
altar and Manoah knew he was an angel of the Lord (vv. 13:17-21). [Because
of Israelite superstition,] Manoah feared and said, "We shall surely
die, because we have seen God." But
his wife answers and tells him if it had been God, he could have killed them at
any time and would not have said the things he did to them (v. 13:23). "And the woman bare a son, and called
his name Samson…and the LORD blessed him.
And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan"
(v. 13:24).
Almost from the beginning Samson was not willing to follow the Lord. He sees a Philistine woman and tries to force
his parents to arrange a marriage for him with the “heathen” [non-Israelite] woman. This turns into a disaster when he makes the
arrangements himself. Near the woman’s home he sees a young lion and kills it
with his bare hands. When he returns to
"take her" [marry the
Philistine woman] (v. 14:8), he sees a swarm of bees and honey in the
carcase of the lion. So, he ate of the honey and gave to his father and mother
but didn't tell them where it came from (vv. 14:1-9).
At the
marriage feast he makes a bet with his thirty Philistine companions [traditional marriage participants] that
he will give them “thirty sheets (tunics) and thirty change of garments” (v. 14:12),
if they can solve his riddle in seven days, and if they don’t solve it, they
will give him the same. And this is the
riddle; "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came
forth sweetness" (v. 14). On the
seventh day, the Philistine men threaten to burn his wife with fire and also her
father's house if she does not help them get the answer to the riddle. With
much weeping, she gets the answer from Samson.
Before the sun goes down on the seventh day, "the men of the
city" say to Samson, "What is sweeter than honey? and what is
stronger than a lion?" and he knew his wife had given them the answer (vv.
14:15-18).
Samson is
enraged that she has told them and he goes down to Ashkelon and kills thirty
men "of them" and takes their “spoil.” He gives the change of
garments to those who "expounded the riddle." Then, he returns to his
father's house; and his wife he gave to his companion, "whom he had used
as his friend" (vv. 14:19-20).
Judges
15 Samson defies the Philistines
After a time, he went back to make peace with
his wife but she had already remarried one of the young Philistine companions
and her father offered him a younger daughter (v. 15:2). Now, Samson “caught three hundred foxes, and
took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst
between two tails” (v. 15:1-4). The he
set them on fire and turned them loose in the fields of corn and in the
vineyards and olive trees which burned and everything was destroyed (v. 15:5). For Samson's act of revenge, the Philistines
burned both the daughter and the father (her father’s house; see footnote 14:6b). Then, the Philistines went looking for Samson
in Judah. And the men of Judah feared
the Philistines and confronted Samson who told them to bind him and take him to
the Philistines which they did. And
Samson broke the bands, grabbed the jawbone of an ass and killed a thousand men
(vv. 15:9-16). And the scripture states,
“And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years” (v. 15:20).
Judges
16 Samson seals his fate
"Then went
Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her" (v. 16:1). And the men of Gaza decide to wait for him
all night by the city gate so they can kill him when it gets light. At midnight
Samson arose and “took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts,
and went away with them, bar and all, and put them up to the top of an hill
that is before Hebron” (v. 16:1-3). And
he escaped out of their hands.
Once again
Samson falls in love with a Philistine woman whose name is Delilah. The lords of the Philistines come to Delilah and
say; "Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what
means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we
will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver" (v. 16:5). Three times he tells her different ways to
bind him and three times he frees himself.
Finally “when she pressed him daily,” (v. 16:16) Samson reveals his
heart to her, “ … I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb; if I
be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be
like any other man” (v. 16:17). While he
was asleep on her knees, Delilah caused that his hair was shaved and he lost
his strength (v. 16:19).
The
Philistines take him, put out his eyes and made him grind [their grain] at the wheel in the prison house. In time, Samson’s hair begins to grow back
and through the power of the Lord, his strength begins to return. During a great celebration to the Philistine
god Dagon, Samson is taken to their temple so they can “make sport” of him. The scripture states, that the house was full
of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; in addition about
three thousand men and women are on the roof (v. 16:27). Samson asked the lad who was leading him if
he could stand between the two pillars (that supported the building). With all his might he moved the pillars and
the house fell killing all who were in the house and on the roof, including
Samson. And Samson’s brethren took him
and buried him in his father Manoah’s buryingplace (17:31).
"Samson’s
hair was not the source of his physical strength. Rather, his hair was a sign
of his covenant with the Lord, and when his hair was cut, the Lord took away
his physical strength because the covenant was broken" (Old Testament: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2001),
87–91).
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