Recap

So far in Judges, we've read through the introduction that sets the cycle for the rest of the book. The Israelites failed to remove the other nations from the land completely when they conquered it. Because of this, these other nations led the Israelites to turn away from God.

This created a cycle. The Israelites would turn away from God and his protection. God would allow a foreign nation to come and oppress his people. The Israelites would then realise their mistake and turn back to God. God would send judges, tribal leaders, to rescue the people and the lead them back to him. The people would live in peace for a while, before getting complacent and turning away from God again.

We then read through the first few iterations of this cycle with the judges, Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar. Each led the Israelites to defeat the enemies that oppressed them and then live in an extended period of peace. But for each, after they died, the Israelites once again turned away from God and back to their own desires. These were followed by Deborah, who, along with a woman named Jael, helped Israel defeat their Canaanite enemies.

But then came Gideon, who wasn't as good a judge. He helped the Israelites defeat the Midianites and gave them 40 years of peace. But through it all, he often lacked confidence in God and was violent and oppressive to the people he was meant to lead. Gideon was followed by his son Abimelech, who was even more aggressive than Gideon. He killed all his brothers and then caused a civil war.

Then we encountered Jephthah, who completely misunderstood the character of God and sacrificed his daughter to God. He then caused an even bigger civil war where 42,000 Ephraimites died. 

Judges 13-15

We come to our final judge cycle. It starts off much like the rest. The people turn from God and God gives them over to the Philistines. In previous cycles, this is when the Israelites cry out to God to save them, but here there is no mention of this.

The people no longer care enough to cry out to God. Instead, they decide to settle, coexisting with their neighbours. So God steps in and raises up a judge to deliver his people. This was missing from the last few cycles, so it's good to see God is stepping back in.

We spend a whole chapter on how the angel of God himself comes to a barren woman named Manoah and tells her she will have a child. Manoah finds herself in a similar scenario to Sarah and Rebekah, who were both barren and had God come and tell them they would give birth.

Clearly now that God has decided to step back, and he's done so in such a significant way. This judge is going to be different. After all, this new judge is to be a Nazirite.

Nazirites are described in Numbers 6. They are people that have made a vow to God to dedicate their lives to him. They do not drink, they do not cut their hair, and they never touch a dead body.

So already we have high hopes for this new judge. Clearly, he is going to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines and make everything right again. This is what we're meant to expect. Particularly when, after the child is born and named Samson, we see the Spirit of the Lord begin to stir in him.

Instead, the very first thing we see Samson do is decide to marry a Philistine woman. God had specifically told the people in Deuteronomy 7 that they were not to intermarry with the surrounding nations, just in case they lead them to worship their gods instead.

So not only is Samson not attacking and defeating the Philistines like the judge he's meant to be, he's much more interested in what he wants. And what he wants is to marry a woman he shouldn't be marrying. We read that God is still in this and is going to use this, but for the moment, Samson is less of a judge and more of a petulant child.

The first time Samson goes up to propose to his new bride, he kills a lion and leaves its body on the side of the road. The second time he goes up to marry her he sees some bees had built a hive for themselves in the carcass of the lion. So he reaches inside and gathers up some honey for himself and his parents.

But remember, as a Nazarite, he's not meant to touch a dead body, and definitely not meant to eat from it. He then makes a riddle for the Philistines who cheat the answer out of his new wife. Samson immediately flies into a fit of rage, killing 30 Philistines from a nearby town.

As a judge, Samson is clearly more of the same, proud and angry. But God is still using this to damage the relationship between the Israelites and Philistines so he can deliver the people from their oppression.

We see this continue as Samson storms off, and then later comes back for his wife. Finding out that his wife had remarried, he sets fire to the Philistines crop who in return kill his wife and her father.

The Philistines then attack Judah in retaliation. Eventually, Samson comes down and fights the Philistines, killing 1,000 men.

What we're meant to take from these stories so far is Samson is a terrible judge. He's petulant, aggressive, and selfish. He ignores the vows over his life and does what he wants. Yet despite this, God is still using it all to achieve his purpose.

Psalm 74

This psalm is attributed to Asaph, one of king David’s musicians. It falls into the category of lament psalm and is likely a reflection on what happened to Jerusalem when it was sacked and its people taken into exile.

Psalm 74:1 - Question

Psalm 74:2-3 - Request

Psalm 74:4-11 - Complaint

Psalm 74:12-17 - Declaration of trust

Psalm 74:18-23 - Request

The psalmist starts with a question. Why did God let this happen? Why did he allow his people to be taken captive and led away?

The psalmist the asks God to remember. Remember the people that he redeemed out of Egypt and remember Mount Zion, the city of Jerusalem, where he set his presence amongst them. Remember those God and then visit the ruins that they are now.

At this, the psalmist falls into their complaint. God’s enemies were able to enter God’s temple and pervert it. Like lumberjacks, they were able to chop down the temple, breaking it apart. They burnt it down and mocked God’s name.

As for God’s people, they no longer hear from God. There are no prophets to guide them. The psalmist asks God directly, how long? How long will God allow the enemies to win and prosper and not destroy them?

At that, the psalmist turns to declare trust in God. God is king, and he is working salvation across the earth. He divided up the chaotic seas and crushed the heads of the most chaotic beings imaginable.

The Leviathan was a great sea beast that was the embodiment of chaos. In the mythologies of the neighbouring nations, it waged wars against gods and gave them a run for their money. But the God of Israel merely crushes the head of this great beast and feeds its corpse to the wild animals.

He causes some streams to flow and others to dry up. Why? Because it’s all his. The day and the night. The heaven and the earth. He made them all and ordered them all.

Now, from a place of confidence, the psalmist makes new requests of God. They ask that God remember how their enemies have scoffed and cursed God. They ask him no to let his people be overcome by the wicked, or leave them in their suffering.

Instead, they call guard to uphold the covenant he made with his people, because the places they currently find themselves are dark and full of violence. Once again, be the God of the poor and needy. Arise o God and defeat your enemies.

The psalmist has seen their nation destroyed and their people taken captive. The temple itself was defiled and torn down. They have every reason to turn their back on God and assume he doesn’t exist. Instead, they hold on to the fact that God is in control and still king over all the earth.