Divided & Misguided: Tragedies & Takeaways from Judges

Hi friends! It's been a minute since I've sat down to write to you, but today I am back with a ton of inspiration for new blogs. We're starting with takeaways from my most recent Bible study on the book of Judges.

Context

The Book of Judges is part of the Old Testament and it details a time in the history of God's people that was very dark. Following the death of Joshua--the one who led the Israelites into the Promised Land--a generation was born who did not know the Lord. What followed was a time of repeated betrayal and disobedience of the Lord. Worth noting is that "not knowing the Lord" is not the same as "not believing in the Lord." Throughout Judges, we see a people who believe in the existence of God, but do not know Him nor keep His commandments. And this is when society falls into darkness or rather, darkness corrupts society.

One of the scariest verses in the entire Bible is repeated throughout Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Judges 21:25

Can you imagine a society without law and order? Can you imagine everyone acting by their own moral code rather than established codes of conduct? While you may hold yourself to a certain standard, that does not guarentee the standard of another. The Israelites disregard for God's Law inspired the need for human judges to rule over the people. And so, many judges were appointed to rule over the different territories where God's people resided.

In our modern world, you may equate this to each state having a governor while the United States as a whole has one president. The president is meant to ensure national unity under founding principles. Israel's lack of king and lack of obedience to the true King is the same as the United States without a president. It revealed a lack of unity.

This era of the judges reveals a need for a king, for a unifier, which comes later in 1 Samuel. But ultimately, Judges foreshadows our need for the One True King, Jesus Christ. And it reveals the all-consuming degradation and darkness of a society without God as the Governing Authority.

The Misguided Father

Given the darkness that consumed God's people at this time, it should not be surprising that Judges holds some of the saddest and darkest stories I've read thus far in the Bible. The first that struck me is the story of Jephthah and his daughter. My study Bible has a special section dedicated to her and labels her "The Obedient Daughter." And she was obedient unto a death that God never ordered.

Jephthah was one of the judges in Israel and he was a mighty warrior. Before heading into battle, he made a vow before the Lord--a needless vow. A vow he was not called to make, but chose to make. "If You will deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering." Judges 11:30-31

His daughter, Mitzpah, came out of the house dancing to greet her victorious father, and became the fulfillment of Jephthah's vow before the Lord. She was his only child, as if the situation could get any worse.

This is where "not knowing the Lord" becomes dangerous. Jephthah believed in God and sought to please Him. He promised Him a burnt offering, which in itself was not a bad thing. But had he known God, he would've known that God is the God of life, not death. And He has prohibited human sacrifice, which was a common custom of the pagan religions at the time.

Jephthah did not know the Lord, and he was influenced by the pagan religions surrounding him. He explained the vow he'd made before the Lord to his daughter and she accepted her fate without protest. But it was a fate born from misguidedness not holiness.

Mitzpah is praised for her obedience, for her submission, for her total commitment to God, but total commitment and submission without understanding is dangerous. It is in our ignorance or misinterpretation that the enemy meets us and manipulates us.

This is the first tragedy of Judges. And the takeaway: Know the Lord's heart not just His name.

The Man With A Divided Heart

This story may need little introduction. Samson is known for being the strongest man in the Bible, and he was also a judge in Israel. Samson was born to an Israelite couple who had struggled to have children for many years. Before he was born, he was set apart for the Lord as a Nazirite.

The Nazirite Vow is first mentioned in Numbers. As a Nazirite, Samson drew strength from the Lord so long as he kept his vow to the Lord. The three stipulations of the vow: abstinence from grape products (no wine), avoidance of corpses (death/ dead things), and no haircuts.

In the Bible, long hair was seen as a covering and glory for a woman, but a disgrace for a man with the exception of those who'd taken the Nazirite Vow. Thus, Samson's long hair was a visible sign that he was set apart for the Lord.

I've seen many tellings of Samson's story along the lines of the strongest man in the Bible was taken down by lust. Yes, Samson had his lust-filled days. But lust was not his demise, a divided heart was.

"Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." Judges 16:4

The Bible reveals Samson loved Delilah. Not just that he wanted to have sex with her. He loved her. And his downfall came when he loved her more than God.

Delilah was a greedy temptress. She never loved Samson, and she repeatedly betrayed him. Samson's love kept him tethered to her despite her betrayals. And when Delilah questioned his love for her, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies," Judges 16:15 Samson finally gave in to her.

Samson knew that Delilah was out to destroy him and he did not care. He chose destruction by Delilah over obedience to God. Samson, having already broken two of the three stipulations of his Nazirite vow, told Delilah the last stipulation that needed to be broken in order to strip him of his God-given strength. He told her knowing what she would do with the information.

"If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man." Judges 16:17

Delilah had him shaven in his sleep, tormented him, and his strength left him. God left him, because he had chosen her over Him.

The takeaway: Do not let your heart be divided between man and God. Without God, we have no strength.

The story of Samson and Delilah speaks to the importance of choosing your partner wisely. Paul preaches in the New Testament how easy it is for loyalty to be divided once married, and considers it a reason to remain single. I consider it a reason to choose wisely, to choose someone who loves the Lord and will not knowingly try to separate you from the Lord.

God must be your primary love or all other loves will destroy you.

The Disregard for Women

The final story I wish to share is perhaps one of the scariest and most sobering. And unfortunately, it feels all too current as our society still struggles with the blatant disregard of women.

In Judges19, we are introduced to an unnamed Levite and his concubine. A Levite was a member of the tribe of Levi, which was set apart by God for service of the tabernacle. They were meant to be holy men, which only makes his actions worse.

A concubine in the biblical world was a woman recognized as being in relationship with a man / part of a given household, but was not given the title of wife. The recognition that she belonged to him set her apart from a prostitute, who serviced many men, yet a concubine relationship was still primarily sexual. It was a common custom during the time.

As the Levite and his concubine were traveling home, nightfall required them to seek lodging along the way. The Levite chose specifically to stay in a town with other children of Israel rather than foreigners as a safety precaution. And yet, it was amongst those children of God (insert air quotes) that the most heinous of crimes was committed.

"As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!" Judges 19:22

To know someone in the Bible refers to having sex with them. The owner of the house where the Levite and his concubine were staying said, "No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man's concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!" Judges 19:23-24

I cannot begin to speak on the hypocrisy, misogyny, and pure evil present here. What is revealed is the danger of everyone doing what is right in their own eyes rather than being obedient to God and His Law--a danger that protects one life while disregarding the other based solely on gender, a danger that deems rape of one gender evil while rape of the other perfectly acceptable, a misguidedness that would lead a father to offer up his virgin daughter and a husband to offer up his wife (adjacent) to a group of perverted men.

Scripture goes on to reveal that the men raped the man's concubine and abused her all night. When she returned to the door of the house after they released her the next morning, she fell down and could not speak. The Levite found her at the door and told her to get up so they could be on their way. She could not. So, he picked her up and took her home.

"When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel." Judges 19:29

While there is no justifcation for any of the Levite's actions, some interpretations suggest he killed her because she had been unfaithful to him--as if she was responsible for what happened to her. This "holy" man was ruled by evil. The man later lied and said that those who raped her also killed her, and her dismemberment was the catalyst for a great war in Israel.

We are still in a war today, a war for righteousness, a war for God's law and order, a war for love to rule rather than hatred, perversion, lust, darkness, or wickedness.

The tragedy here is obvious. The takeaway: God is the guiding light of the world, and He must be our guiding light. Without Him, we are destroyed by darkness.