BIBLE STUDY 7 sessions for Small group and personal use
Judges 9–21 Learning to live God’s way
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Copyright © CWR 2013 Published 2013 by CWR, Waverley Abbey House, Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8EP, UK. CWR is a Registered Charity – Number 294387 and a Limited Company registered in England – Registration Number 1990308. The right of Phin Hall to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, sections 77 and 78. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of CWR. See back of book for list of National Distributors. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from the Holy Bible: New International Version (Anglicised edition), copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica (formally International Bible Society). Concept development, editing, design and production by CWR. Printed in the UK by Page Brothers. ISBN: 978-1-85345-910-8
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Contents 4
Introduction
7
Week 1
Abimelech: The Man who would be King Judges 9:1–10:5
13 Week 2
The Vow, the Victory and the Virgin Judges 10:6–12:15
19 Week 3
Samson’s Great Strength Judges 13:1–15:20
25 Week 4
Samson’s Great Weakness Judges 16
31 Week 5
The Trouble with Idols Judges 17:1–18:31
37 Week 6
The Best Will in the World Judges 19:1–20:48
43 Week 7
Marriage Vows Judges 21
49 Leader’s Notes
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Judges 9–21
Introduction ‘Oh no, not Judges again! Why is this book even in the Bible?’ This was one of the comments that greeted the news that our Bible study group would be continuing our journey through the book of Judges. Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the Old Testament … thousands of men, women and children are slaughtered, and hundreds of women are raped, including one whose body is then cut up and mailed around the countryside. Even in the opening session, seventy men are sacrificed in a single day by their own half-brother! It is almost as if the narrator is deliberately trying to shock us with the most negative accounts about Israel that he can find. But why would he do that? The book of Judges covers a period of around 300 years from the end of Joshua’s leadership to the birth of Samuel. In this study guide we join the narrative over 200 years into this period. Four of the major judges have already been and gone: the exemplary Othniel, the cunning Ehud, the trio of Deborah, Barak and Jael, and the capricious Gideon. The accounts of their leadership revealed much about the nature of faith – what it is, how it is demonstrated through our lives, how God shapes and grows our faith, how important it is, and how much can be achieved when, in faith, we work together with God. Now only two major judges remain. The title, ‘judge’, does not really do justice to the role these people played – they did not wear wigs and robes or hang out in courtrooms. A more accurate title might be ‘saviour’, ‘deliverer’, or even ‘warlord’, since the main task of the judges was to go to war against the nations who oppressed Israel. And this happened a lot, thanks to the cycle of events in which the Israelites kept getting caught. 4
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Introduction
This cycle is described in the second chapter of Judges, and followed this pattern: • The Israelites worshipped idols instead of God; • God allowed a foreign nation to oppress them; • They cried out to God, who raised up a judge to deliver them; • The Israelites worshipped idols instead of God … and so on. Six accounts of this cycle are given in Judges, and far from learning their lesson, the Israelites get progressively worse as the cycles unfold. The book of Judges is, therefore, more an account of Israel’s downward spiral than simply a repeated cycle of events. As if that was not gloomy enough, Judges closes with two epilogues, both dating from early in this period. The first gives an example of the ease with which God’s people turned to idols even while they thought they were serving God, and the second gives an incredibly gruesome example of how rash and violent they were. A lot of people die! So, faced with the gory details, the downward spiral of Israel and the prospect of an unhappy ending, the question of why Judges is even in the Bible – and why the narrator would choose to portray the nation so negatively – remains. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul gives us our reason. Writing about the troubled times of Israel’s past, he says, ‘These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come’ (v.11). Even in the midst of the horror and the humiliation, God is speaking to us through His Word, teaching us and warning us. And sometimes the most negative examples give us the most positive instruction.
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Judges 9–21
The epilogue opens and closes with the statement that ‘everyone did as he saw fit’ (Judg. 17:6; 21:25). Here then we have the heart of what these closing chapters of Judges have to teach us; they teach us that God’s ways are the best: • His justice is best, because He sees all outcomes. • His promises are best, because only He has the power to fulfil them. • His plans are best, because they work for His glory and our good. • His desires are best, because He alone is good. • His opinion is best, because He cannot be swayed by the expectation of others. • His will is best, because what is right in His eyes is pure and perfect – God has no mixed motives! In addition to this, our journey through these closing chapters also calls us to consider the importance of Bible knowledge and of recognising the voice of the Holy Spirit and following His guidance. When you think of all it has in store for us, surely even the book of Judges, whose inclusion in Scripture we may at times question, is worth our time and attention! You will get the most out of these sessions if you take the time to read through the complete passage assigned to each one before you start working through the Discussion Starters. Some of these passages are fairly long, but be encouraged, they really are worth the effort. Our prayer is that, as you use this study guide, and work your way through these final, thrilling chapters of Judges, you will grow in your awe and delight in God and in His ways which really are the best!
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WEEK ONE
Week 1
Abimelech: The Man who would be King Opening Icebreaker In 2011 a convicted kidnapper sued his hostages for breach of contract, because they told the police where he was hiding when they had promised not to! Share other lawsuits you believe are outrageous that you have heard of.
Bible Readings • Judges 9:1–10:5 (if short of time just read Judges 9:1–21 and 42–57) • Psalm 135:6 • Romans 8:28 • Romans 12:19 • 1 Peter 2:23 Key Verse: ‘Thus God repaid the wickedness that
Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers.’ (9:56) Focus: We all long for justice, but God’s justice is best.
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Judges 9–21
Opening Our Eyes Abimelech was neither a true Israelite nor a true heir of Gideon. He was the son of Gideon’s concubine from Shechem and as such he had none of the rights of his seventy half-brothers, all of whom were Israelites. Even his own name (meaning ‘my father is king’) would have been a constant reminder that he was denied a share in Gideon’s glory. The injustice of his situation seems to have fuelled an insatiable desire for revenge, and so Judges 9 opens with Abimelech making his move to seize power. He began by winning over the people of Shechem, calling on them to reject the rulership of Gideon’s other sons in his favour. They agreed to make him king, giving him silver to hire an army of ‘reckless scoundrels’. The brutal massacre of Gideon’s seventy sons is summed up in a single sentence in verse 5, but the phrase ‘on one stone’ effectively communicates the horror of this event. One can imagine only too easily this crowd of young men being slaughtered one after another, like animals on an altar, their bodies piling up and the ground soaked with their blood. Having dealt with his rivals, Abimelech was crowned at Shechem, one of Israel’s key spiritual landmarks. Here, God had first promised the land to Abraham, the bones of Joseph had been laid to rest, and Joshua had called on the Israelites to serve the Lord. Now their first king was crowned here – an outsider who had slaughtered his own brothers in his thirst for vengeance and power! It is worth noting that God is never mentioned in this account by His covenant name ‘Yahweh’ (or ‘Lord’). This emphasises the point made at the end of Judges 8, that the Israelites ‘did not remember the Lord their God, who
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