BIAY - Sober judgment, ready salvation
Judges 1-3, Psalm 69:1-18
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Today, we begin the book of Judges. When we think of a judge, we think of someone in black robe in a courtroom. But the term means deliverer. In fact, the only judge in the book of Judges who did any actual judging was Deborah, the female judge (4:4-5).
When we read Joshua, we noted the challenge of divinely sanctioned violence in the Old Testament. I shared two videos from OT scholar Lawson Stone related to this topic. I’d like to share the final video (3rd of 3). Here it is:
Cycle of disobedience (2:6-3:6) - This is a sort of overview of the book of Judges and a major theme—the cycle of disobedience on the part of the people. They quickly forget the Lord and His covenant and backslide into worshiping the gods of their neighbors instead of being a distinctive community. As a result, the protection of God (a promise of the covenant) is removed (a stipulated consequence of the covenant) and an enemy is allowed or even used to punish the tribes of Israel. Mercifully, God raised up judges/leaders to deliver them, yet their revival is short-lived. It’s a sobering theme.
Ehud, the left-handed warrior (3:12-30) - First, on a non-theological note, I always think of this and some other stories as the “action-adventure” part of the Bible. It’s one of those stories that remind you the Bible is not written for children! Ehud is a good example of God responding when they turn back to Him by raising up someone to deliver the people. I’m reminded that God is serious about sin and disobedience, while also standing ready to forgive and restore.
Questions:
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, keep my heart faithful to you, and when I stray, prompt me to cry out to you, trusting in your readiness to save. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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