Judges
The time of the judges was a roller-coaster time for the Israelites. When they took over the promised land, they didn't wipe out all the people God had told them to. The remnants of those they spared prospered and rose up against them. Whenever the Israelites turned from God, He would bring one of these people against them. They would cry out to Him, and He would send a judge to liberate them. For a while they would follow God again, but inevitably turn away from Him after a while.
Othniel
- Found: Judges 1, 3
Othniel (Judges 1 v 12-15)
Othniel was Caleb's nephew. Caleb offered the prize of his daughter Achsah to the man who took the city of Kirjath-sepher. Othniel was the man who did this deed and so he won Achsah as his wife. Achsah made Othniel ask Caleb for a field as well, and asked herself for springs of water.
(Judges 3 v 8-11)
The Israelites turned away from God and started to serve Baal. God was angry with them and let them be overtaken and taken into slavery by Chushan-Rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia. They were under his authority for eight years before the Lord brought Othniel to deliver them. He defeated Chushan-Rishathaim and was Israel's first judge for 40 years before he died.
Ehud
- Found: Judges 3
Ehud Kills Eglon (Judges 3 v 12-30)
After Othniel's death, the Israelites once again turned away from God. This time they were overtaken by the Moabite king, Eglon, who was quite a fat man. The Israelites served Eglon for 18 years before God raised up another judge. Ehud was a left-handed man and was sent to Eglon to deliver a present. Ehud hid a dagger at his right thigh, while the guards would probably check the other.
Ehud managed to get the king alone by telling him he had a secret message to deliver. When they were alone, Ehud stabbed the king, killing him. When he left, the guards thought the king must be answering the call of nature. Eventually, they were worried at the wait and went in to Eglon, to find him dead. By this time Ehud had made his escape.
When Ehud made it back to his people, he led them against the Moabites, and slew them all. Israel was free again, for 80 years.
Shamgar
- Found: Judges 3 v 31
Shamgar (Judges 3 v 31)
We only have one verse about Shamgar. He was a mighty man, since he killed 600 Philistines with a pointy stick used to guide cattle.
Deborah
- Found: Judges 4 and 5
Deborah and Barak Face Sisera (Judges 4 v 1-17)
Again Israel turned away from God and again God brought in an enemy to overtake them. This time it was The Canaanite king, Jabin, who oppressed the Israelites for 20 years with his mighty army and iron chariots.
Deborah was a prophetess and judge of Israel at the time. She went to Barak and told him it was God's plan for him to face the Canaanite army, captained by Sisera, and defeat them. Barak agreed, but only if Deborah went with him. Deborah agreed, but warned him this would mean the honour of killing Sisera would go to a woman.
Sisera heard about Barak and roused his mighty army to face the Israelites. The Israelites came down mount Tabor and attacked, defeating Sisera's army with all its iron chariots. Sisera fled and hid in the tent of a woman called Jael.
Jael Kills Sisera (Judges 4 v 18-24)
Jael invited Sisera into her tent to hide him. She gave him some milk and covered him to let him sleep. While he slept she took a tent peg and hammered it through Sisera's head, into the ground. She killed Sisera and claimed the honour as Deborah had foreseen.
The Israelites rose up and fought against Jabin, restoring their freedom again.
Deborah and Barak's Song (Judges 5)
Deborah and Barak composed and sang a song together, telling of their victory and praising God for delivering them.
Gideon
- Found: Judges 6 - 8
The People Turn Away Again (Judges 6 v 1-10)
Once more the Israelites turned away from God. This time God turned them over to the Midianites who ruled over them for 7 years. The Israelites were greatly oppressed and found it hard to survive.
Gideon Raised Up (Judges 6 v 10-40)
When we first come across Gideon he is hiding from the Midianites, threshing wheat by the winepress so they wouldn't stop him. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and called him a mighty man of valour. The Lord told Gideon that he will save Israel from the Midianites. Gideon couldn't believe that God would choose him, being the least of his family, and asked for a sign. He brought out an offering, which the angel touched with his staff. The offering was burnt up and Gideon was afraid. He thought he would die because he had seen an angel.
God assured Gideon he would not die, and asks him to cast down the altar to Baal and the grove put up by his father, and to erect an altar to the true God, sacrificing a bullock on it. Gideon and his servants did this by night because he was afraid of the men of the city. The next morning when they saw what had happened, these men came to Gideon's house, demanding his death. Joash, Gideon's father, said that they should let Baal himself take it out on Gideon, and renamed him Jerubbaal.
Gideon was still not sure of God's command, so asked him to assure him. He put a fleece out at night and in the morning the fleece was wet but the ground about it was dry. The next night he put the fleece out again. This time the fleece was dry and the ground wet, as Gideon had asked. Now he was sure that God was calling him
Gideon Defeats the Midianites (Judges 7)
Gideon raised up an army to fight against the Midianites. There were 32,000 of them, but God told Gideon this was too many. Those who were afraid were to go home. This left 10,000, still too many. This time the men were told to drink from a stream. Those who leaned over and lapped like dogs were sent home. This left just 300 men, few enough that they couldn't claim the victory for themselves.
Gideon was scared that they would lose the fight, so God told him to go down to the enemy camp to assure himself. There he heard a man tell his dream to another: a barley roll had rolled into the Midianite camp and squashed a tent. His friend said this was a sign that Gideon would be successful.
Gideon rushed back to his 300 men and told them the instructions he had been given by the Lord. Each man was to take a trumpet in one hand and a lamp, concealed inside a jug, in the other. They surrounded the enemy camp and, at Gideon's signal, broke the jugs to reveal the lamps, blew their trumpets and shouted "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon". The enemy rose up in confusion at this and started attacking each other. The people of Israel joined in to chase down the Midianites and the battle was won.
The Enemy Driven Out (Judges 8)
Gideon led his army and slew the Midianite kings. The people wanted him to be their king but he refused. Israel was quiet for another 40 years, and Gideon had seventy sons before he died at an old age. No sooner had he died than Israel again turned away from the Lord.
Tola
- Found: Judges 10v1-2
Tola (Judges 10 v 1-2)
Tola judged Israel for 23 years.
Jair
- Found: Judges 10v3-6
Jair (Judges 10 v 3-6)
Jair judged Israel for 22 years. He had thirty sons, each of whom had a city. After he died, the Israelites again turned away from God, worshipping false gods.
Jephthah
- Found: Judges 11-12v7
Jephthah Rejected (Judges 11 v 1-3)
Jephthah was the son of Gilead. He was born to a prostitute and was disliked by his half-brothers, the sons of Gilead by his wife. They threw him out of the household and Jephthah fled to the land of Tob. There he stayed for a while, gathering together a band of men who followed him as their leader.
Called to Lead (Judges 11 v 4-28)
As time went by, the Ammonites started a war against Israel. The people of the town of Gilead needed a leader, and turned to Jephthah, who expressed surprise, as they had rejected him earlier in life. The elders offered him the position of leadership over them, which Jephthah accepted, becoming their captain. He was a Godly man and made his vows in front of the Lord at Mizpeh.
Jephthah first tried the diplomatic approach. He enquired of the Ammonite king why he was warring with Israel. The king replied that Israel had taken his land long ago, and he was only claiming it back. Jephthah explained that the jews had only wanted to travel through the land, but the king's predecessor didn't trust them, and had started the battle. The Israelites had won and claimed the land as theirs.
The Ammonites refused to listen to Jephthah's reasoning, and continued the war.
An Unwise Vow (Judges 11 v 29-40)
Jephthah prepared for the battle against Ammon. The Lord was with him, but Jephthah wanted to be sure of victory. He vowed that if the Lord gave him the battle, he would sacrifice the first thing that came to meet him when he arrived back home. The Lord gave Jephthah a mighty victory over the Ammonites.
So Jephthah returned home, with his vow in mind. When he arrived home, his daughter, his only child, ran out to meet him. Jephthah was distraught, and ripped his clothes in grief. His daughter realised the seriousness of what he had done, and agreed that the vow must be carried through; but she asked for two months to go into the mountains and mourn the fact she would never marry and have children.
After that day, it became a custom for the Israelite girls to mourn for Jephthah's daughter 4 days out of every year.
Ephraim's Anger (Judges 12 v 1-7)
The people of the tribe of Ephraim were angry at Jephthah for not involving them in the battle against the Ammonites, so they gathered together an army to complain to Jephthah. Jephthah was outraged. He said the Ephraimites had refused to help when they had called; how dare they face him now? Jephthah slew the Ephraimites and took the passages of Jordan. When anyone tried to pass through the Passages, they had to say "Shibboleth". The Ephraimites couldn't pronounce the word properly, and any that were discovered were slain on the spot.
Jephthah judged Israel for 6 years, then died.
Ibzan
- Found: Judges 12v8-10
Ibzan (Judges 12 v 8-10)
Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel for 7 years. He had 30 sons and 30 daughters.
Elon
- Found: Judges 12v11-12
Elon (Judges 12 v 11-12)
Elon judged Israel for 10 years.
Abdon
- Found: Judges 12v13-15
Abdon (Judges 12 v 13-15)
Abdon judged Israel for 8 years. He had 40 sons and 30 nephews.
Samson
- Found: Judges 13-16
Samson Born (Judges 13)
Again the children of Israel turned against God. The Lord turned them over to the Philistines for 40 years. There was a man called Manoah at this time, and he and his wife had not had any children. An angel appeared to Manoah's wife to tell her she would have a child. She was not to touch drink or unclean food while she was pregnant, and the child was to be a Nazarite. There were three rules the Nazarites had to follow:
- Do not drink alcohol
- Do not touch dead bodies
- Do not cut your hair
Manoah's wife ran to tell her husband. He was excited, but wanted to know how they were to bring up the child. The angel appeared to his wife again and she brought him to the angel. Manoah offered a goat to the Lord and the flame went up towards heaven. He and his wife fell to the ground. Manoah was worried that the Lord would kill them, having seen them face to face, but his wife comforted him. After a while, Manoah's wife gave birth. They called the boy Samson, and the Spirit of the Lord was with him.
A Wife (Judges 14-15)
Samson saw a Philistine woman and wished to marry her, so he went and asked his parents. They weren't too happy at him marrying a Philistine girl, but agreed to go with him to Timnath. On the way, a lion attacked him. He tore it apart with his bare hands. The next time he went down, he went to see the dead lion. A swarm of bees had made their nest in it, and he took some honey from it and brought it to his parents. By touching the dead lion he had broken one of his Nazarite vows.
Samson held a feast in Timnath, and asked a riddle of his companions there. He said "out of the eater, something to eat, out of the strong, something sweet". They couldn't solve the riddle and asked his wife to entice the answer out of him. She did so and told them. When they came to Samson with the answer he was very angry. He owed them thirty sets of clothing, so he went to Ashkelon and killed thirty men there, taking their clothes as payment for his Philistine companions. He returned to his family home, leaving his wife behind.
After a while, Samson came to visit his wife. When he found that her father had given her away to one of his friends, he was very angry. He took three hundred foxes, tied their tails together and put burning brands between them. The foxes were let loose in the Philistines' corn fields, burning all their crop. When the Philistines found out what had happened, they came and burned Samson's wife and her father. Samson slew some of the Philistines and this made them rise up against the Israelites, the men of Judah in this area. The men of Judah came to Samson, to bind him and delivered him to the Philistines, but Samson broke his bonds, took the jawbone of an ass and killed a thousand of the Philistines with it.
Delilah (Judges 16)
Samson fell for another woman, Delilah. The Philistines persuaded her to ask him how he got his strength. Samson said if he was bound with 7 new cords, never dried, he would not be able to break free. Delilah did this when he slept, and woke him, saying the Philistines had come to attack. But Samson broke free from the cords. She asked him again, and he told her if he was bound with new rope he would not be able to break free. Again she bound him and again he broke free. Next he told her if his hair was woven together he could not break free. Again he broke free. Eventually, after much moaning, Samson was persuaded to tell Delilah that his strength came from his hair which had never been cut. She made him sleep on her lap and called a man in to cut off his hair. The Spirit of the Lord left him and he was as weak as any man, so they bound him, plucked out his eyes and made him a prisoner.
The Philistines brought Samson out to entertain them at their party. He was blind and asked a boy to lead him to the pillars of the house. Taking hold of both pillars, he prayed to God for strength and pushed the pillars over, killing himself and 3000 Phiistines in the process
When Samson died he had judged Israel for 20 years.