Judges 18

Judges 18:14

Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols and a graven image and a molten image?  Now therefore, consider what you should do."

When I first read this, I thought that the men had finally gotten their heads on straight, and realized that this man was wrong, and they needed to cleanse the land as much as they were able before going into battle.  They would go to Micah's house, destroy the idols, and perhaps kill the Levite for his apostasy.  At the least, they would drive Micah out, and start things off with a good offering to God.

I was quite disappointed when they instead just took the items for themselves, to use in false worship for an entire tribe.  One family or clan of nonbelievers would have been understandable, since they were there already.  But to take that and run with it, keeping the idols and making the priest their tribe's priest, was a great disappointment.  I was a bit surprised when God allowed them to win their victory.  In the past, I would have thought he would see to it that they were defeated for their idolatry.

Judges 17

Judges 17:10

Micah then said to him, "Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance."  So the Levite went in.

I once heard recording of a sermon preached on this verse, called "Ten Shekels and a Shirt," talking about how foolishly this Levite sold himself away to be an idol's priest.  I find myself reflecting on that more here, because it seems like the Levite should have known better.  However, I do see a couple questions about this.

First, did this Levite not know that he was doing wrong?  As a Levite, he should have been raised to worship God and serve at/for the Tabernacle.  However, it says that he came from Bethlehem in Judah, so I wonder if he was raised properly/normally.  In this time the system seems to have broken down, so it's possible he really didn't know he was breaking God's Law.

The second question I have is about how good a deal is this?  I understand paying his maintenance:  be my priest, all room and board covered, fair enough.  But what about the suit of clothes?  Was this to be a special suit for his so-called priestly duties, or just an everyday change of clothes?  Also, how much was an extra ten pieces of silver a year actually worth?  Was this a good over-expenses pay, or just enough to get by?

Judges 16

Judges 16:16

It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death.

Sometimes sin is fairly simple, something that we do not even think about being wrong until after we have done it.  Those incidents are the ones that we will kinda wince at when we realize that we messed up, and will try to make quick amends for.  Then there are sins that we fall into, the ones that become bad habits.  Those we kick ourselves over time and time again, and never seem to get better.

But there is also a third type of sin, the one that rather than taking the path of the quick raindrop or the ever-present lake, comes as a gentle stream.  Always there, always moving and abrading, but doing it so slowly that its effects are unnoticed.  The bad habit of a friend or co-worker that annoys us daily.  The background hum of a bad lightbulb that causes a headache over the hours.  These will slowly grind at us, wearing away our resolve, until one day we snap and sin in a way that we never would under more short-term temptations.  For these, the only answer I have ever found to be truly helpful is a steady "dose" of prayer, to constantly build up what is being worn away.  Without that rebuilding, failure is only a matter of time.

Judges 15

Judges 15:7

Samson said to them, "Since you act like this, I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will quit."

Another case where I have to say that I see a personality split in someone God has chosen.  Here we have Samson taking revenge on those who took revenge on his sorta-wife, who are taking revenge for Samson's taking revenge on his sorta-father-in-law.  Confused yet?

I can understand the series of reprisals, even if I don't agree with them.  That's how most people live their lives, repaying wrong for wrong, and it tends to escalate.  I try not to do that sort of thing, but I do understand it.  However, Samson's saying that after this he will stop does confuse me.  Given that the cycle did continue after this, what is he stopping?  He kills those who killed his wife, so where's the stop?  Is it that he stopped from going on to kill every Philistine?  Did he only kill some unidentified group, but not the whole village?  Where is the supposed stop?

Judges 14

Judges 14:4

However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines.  Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

I'll admit, this is one of those points, where I have to scratch my head and wonder what God is up to.  Why does He need an excuse to go after those subjugating His people?  This isn't the UN, where you need an excuse to start a war, or everyone comes down on you.  He's God, there's no one to tell Him that He's doing something wrong, especially since He can't do wrong!

I guess it's more a matter of Him needing Samson to have a reason to go after the Philistines.  He has the strength that God gave him when needed, but he needs a reason to use it.  And I suppose a young troublemaker would be a good point to gather friction around, if you're going to guide a nation into revolt.  I just guess that it bugs me he uses a wedding to an outsider as the wedge, rather than something simpler like a raid or more "normal" oppression.

Judges 13

Judges 13:14

She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded."

Why is she commanded to avoid wine or grapes?  I understand that Samson was to be a Nazirite, but what is avoiding alcohol part of the Nazirite commands?  If so, I don't recall it ever being mentioned.  I know that not cutting hair is a key element of the Nazirite vows, but I don't recall anything about alcohol.  And if it were, it's something that Samson is known to have violated, and the blessing of his strength was not removed.



I would understand today a woman not drinking, because we now know so much more about things like birth defects and fetal alcohol syndrome.  But back then, those were unheard of, and surely God would protect someone He had chosen from that kind of medical issue.  So what is the point of not drinking?

Judges 12

Judges 12:3

When I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hand.  Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?"

I'm not sure what the Ephraimites were thinking this day.  They come to Jephthah angry that he did not summon them to fight against Ammon, but he says he did call them and they did not answer.  From the text, I can't tell who's telling the truth here.

Whoever was correct, this is clearly a situation that got out of hand because of bad communication.  If Jephthah didn't call the Ephraimites as he said he had, then he used this as an excuse to kill tens of thousands.  If he did call them, and they didn't respond, then they have no right to be coming up now to punish him for doing what they would not.  I can't tell who's correct, but if either side had taken a step back, many deaths could have been prevented.

Judges 11

Judges 11:26

While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?

Forget warfare; Jephthah was properly a diplomat.  First, rather than go marching off to war, he sends messages to the opposition first.  Then he finds out they're going to war to reclaim lands they once had, and he proceeds to calmly tell the history of their original conflict, and how the land had been lost to Israel.

Then here, he drops the minor detail that, you know that land you lost?  That was 300 years ago.  It's not yours anymore by any stretch.  So if you're going to go to war, fine, but at least have a better reason than a 15-generation grudge.  If you had been supposed to have it, surely you could have taken it back a century or two ago?  Now you're just here to make trouble, so that's how you will be treated.

It does raise a valid point, though, that negotiations should always occur, even when you doubt their likelihood of success.