"Here Come the Judges: Othniel" Judges 3: 1-7;

I am beginning a series on the Book of Judges this week.

The stories from Judges are colorful and challenging -- lots of violence, sin and God saving Israel through the judges that heroically come to the forefront at critical times.  Here are some initial thoughts about Judges.

1.  The judges play an important role between the time of Moses and the rule of kings.

2. If you add the number of years ascribed to the judges in Judges, it equals more time than the stories actually cover, which suggests that some of these judges' stories were overlapping in time.  If the judges were found in different regions, that would also fit with so many years.

3.  "Judge" in this context does not mean someone in a court of law.  Rather, the judges were often warriors, mediators of disputes, and the ones who focused on maintaining Israel's religious life.

4.  Judges has a one of the Bible's largest concentration of women characters (19 mentioned), who reflect a variety of characters.

5. Typical cycle:  Israel does evil; God send and enemy; Israel cries in distress; God sends a judge or deliverer; Israel again does evil, and the cycle repeats itself.  There is an overall decline of Israel as the cycles continue.

6.  There is an interesting interplay between the argument that Israel needs a king and Israel does not need a king.

7.  Judges faces an interesting dilemma:  the story needs to show that Israel needs kings in order to move the story to the history of kings.  At the same time, however, the belief that God is at work in the world has to be maintained.  So, how do the storytellers lift up God's saving grace while also pointing toward the need for a king?  Read Judges and you might get a pretty good answer.

Peace,

Richard