Judges #6 – #12

#6. Tola

10:1-2

• Tola saves Israel [from oppression] and judges Israel for 23 years

#7. Jair

10:3-5

• Jair judges Israel for 22 years; he has 30 sons who control 30 towns

#8. Jephthah (against the Ammonites)

A. Prologue: Israelites are oppressed, especially in Gilead (east of the Jordan)

10:6-9

• The Israelites act idolatrously, so God lets Philistines & Ammonites attack Israel for 18 years

10:10-16

• The Israelites cry out to God, and repent of their idolatry

B. The story of Jephthah as Judge

10:17-18

• The elders of Gilead say, ‘Whoever attacks the Ammonites will become our leader’

11:1-11

• Jephthah had [previously] been exiled, but now the elders invite Jephthah to become leader

11:12-31

• Jephthah sends messages to the Ammonites, then Jephthah goes to fight them, but makes a [foolish] vow, ‘I will sacrifice whatever exits my house if God helps me win the battle!’

11:32-40

• Jephthah defeats the Ammonites;
• his only daughter exits the house & has to be given to God

[God does not approve of human sacrifice (see Deut 12:31, Deut 18:10-12), so Jephthah's daughter was probably given to God in a similar way that Samuel was given, cf. 1 Sam 1:10-11, v27-28, Romans 12:1]

12:1-7

• The Ephraimites complain [against God!] as they weren’t included in the war so Jephthah kills 42,000 of them

[They had refused to accept God’s authority in the war, cf. 11:27. Furthermore, the tribe had previously complained to Gideon in 8:1 for the same reasons]

#9. Ibzan

12:8-10

• Ibzan judges Israel for 7 years; he has 30 sons and 30 daughters

#10. Elon

12:11-12

• Elon judges Israel for 10 years

#11. Abdon

12:13-15

• Abdon judges Israel for 8 years; he has 40 sons and 30 grandsons

#12. Samson (against the Philistines)

A. Prologue / Samson’s birth

13:1

• The Israelites act wickedly, so God makes them serve the Philistines for 40 years

13:2-25

• God appears to a barren woman, and says, ‘You will have a son; he will be a Nazirite from birth [separated as holy to God, see Num 6:1-8] & will defeat the Philistines!’
• Samson is born

B. Samson is Judge against the Philistines (for 20 years)

14:1-19

• Samson wants to marry a Philistine woman
• He kills a lion; later, bees have made honey in it
• At the wedding he tells a ‘honey-in-lion’ riddle as a bet; his wife tricks him into giving the solution; in anger he kills 30 Philistines to pay the bet, then goes home [without his wife]

14:20 – 15:17

• His wife is given away, so he burns Philistine fields;
• they kill his wife; he kills 1,000 men

15:18 – 16:3

• Samson thirsts; God provides water
• Samson is surrounded; he breaks through city gates

16:4-20

• Samson meets Delilah who discovers the secret of his strength (see 13:5); she shaves his head

16:21-31

• Samson is caught & blinded by the Philistines;
• Samson demolishes their temple, but dies doing so

Other events during the time of the Judges

The problem of idolatry

[Because they failed to drive out the inhabitants of the land (1:21-36), Israel has been drawn into idolatry (3:5-6)]

A. A priest from Bethlehem is unfaithful to his God

17:1-6

• A man named Micah confesses that he stole silver from his mother; she decides to make an idol (from some of the silver);
• Micah acquires a shrine & household gods

17:7-13

• Micah asks a Levite (from Bethlehem) to become his priest; the Levite agrees [despite idolatry]

B. The tribe of Dan turn to idolatry

18:1-10

• The tribe of Dan send explorers to look for land; the explorers meet Micah and the Levite

18:11-31

• When the tribe travel past, they steal Micah’s idol & gods; the Levite becomes their priest

The problem of sexual sin

[Because they failed to drive out the inhabitants of the land (1:21-36), Israel has been drawn into sexual sin (cf. Lev 18)]

A. A concubine from Bethlehem is unfaithful to her husband

19:1-10

• A Levite marries a concubine who is from Bethlehem; she commits adultery & runs to her parents.
• The Levite goes to collect her, but her father delays them from travelling home

B. The tribe of Benjamin have turned to sexual sin

19:11-21

• On the way home the Levite arrives at the city of Gibeah where an old man looks after him

19:22-28

• The townsfolk of Gibeah act wickedly; the concubine is brutally raped & falls down [dead]

[the story of Gibeah is told in a similar way to the story of Sodom & Gomorrah, cf. Gen 19:1-13]

C. The resulting aftermath from the sin

19:29-30

• The dead girl is butchered into 12 pieces by the Levite; he sends the body parts throughout the land of Israel

[to provoke a sense of moral outrage in people so they demand that justice be done]

ch. 20

• The Israelites gather to hear the story & agree to destroy Gibeah; the Benjamites defend it;
• After various battles, all the Benjamites & their cities are destroyed (except for 600 men)

ch. 21

• The Israelites become sad that a tribe of Israel may die out, so decide wives must be found for the 600 survivors [whom God allowed to live];
• because the men of Jabesh-Gilead refused to fight [God’s battle] against Gibeah, they are killed & the single women taken as wives for the Benjamites;
• the remaining wives are taken from Shiloh [home of God’s tabernacle]

Deut / Josh / JDG / Ruth / 1-Sam