Today’s passage: Judges 7:19-25

Helpful thoughts:

• The three hundred Israelites surrounded the Midianite camp in the middle of the night.
  • They took the jars off of their torches (They had been concealing the light)
  • They broke the jars and blew their trumpets, startling the army below, and announced their arrival.
• The only soldiers with weapons in this scene were the Midianites, and they slaughtered themselves.
• God reduced the numbers of Israelite troops to ensure they would know who won the battle.  Then as the numbers of Midianites plummeted, Gideon called on more men to continue the fight.
• These locations where the slaughter of the princes occurred were named in memory of this particular battle.  The winepress and the rock were not name Oreb and Zeeb before this happened.

Questions to consider:

1. Where is God in this passage?  What does the Scripture say that God did?  Why did Israel win?
2. In what way do you see the prospect of giving Gideon the credit for this victory?  What did he do (Or, what could you say that he did) to ensure victory?
3. Though Israel appears to be “winning” are they winning?  Why or why not?
4. Where would all the “new” soldiers have come from as Israel pursued the remaining Midianites who had fled?  What was Gideon doing in calling them for battle?  What kind of man of valor is he being?  Where is his bravery being shown?

Today’s passage: Judges 7:1-18

Helpful thoughts:

• Israel’s army decreased from 32,000 to 300 men by God’s decree.  If they had all fought, they would have taken the credit for the victory.  There were 135,000 Midianite soldiers…
• 22,001 of the Israelite soldiers were afraid.  22,000 of them left because of it.  God told Gideon that He would have victory, but if he was afraid, God would graciously give him one more sign…and Gideon sought the sign.
• Once Gideon was convinced of God’s promise, he was ready to go.  He devised a plan and prepared his small army.

Questions to consider:

1. How would you feel if you were about to lead 32,000, 10,000 or 300 men into real battle against 135,000?  (We can learn from Gideon’s fear in the midst of God’s kindness and faithfulness…and be careful not to be judgmental toward him)
2. Was God surprised by Gideon’s fear?  What can we learn about God from this passage?
3. What seems significant about the battle cry, “For the Lord and for Gideon”?  In what way might it be a positive evidence of Gideon’s growing faith?  In what way might it evidence that Gideon is still not on the same page with God?

Today’s passage: Judges 6:36-40

Helpful thoughts:

• With all the troops gathered under his command, Gideon again battles with his fear.  He develops a test (or two) to make sure God is truly committed.
• Gideon requested God to ensure that He would save Israel by Gideon’s hand, “As You have said.”
  • Gideon wasn’t unsure of the promise.  He knew exactly what God had said.  Gideon was unsure of God.
• The Midianites had set up camp on Israel’s side of the Jordan.  They were coming whether Gideon was on board or not.

Questions to consider:

1. What did Gideon know about his requests for signs?  What does his request for God’s patience reveal?
2. If Gideon continued to ask for more signs, even while knowing he may anger God, what do you think he really wanted?
3. What did God do even though Gideon was being difficult?  Who alone was able to ensure victory?  Whose will could never be thwarted?

Today’s passage: Judges 6:11-35

Helpful thoughts:

• Gideon had enough bravery to rebuke and question the Lord’s command and faithfulness.  But he didn’t have enough valor to go against the Midianites.
• After destroying the altar to the false god, Gideon’s new name encouraged Baal to come punish him.
  • God was preserving Israel while Israel was cursing their own people for opposing false gods.
• It took the movement of God (The Spirit of the Lord “clothed” him) to get Gideon to call the troops.

Questions to consider:

1. How did Gideon first respond to the Angel of the Lord?  What did he expect should be happening if God was involved?
2. What kind of fear did Gideon display?  What kinds of things frightened him?
3. What things would be running through your mind if God decided to use you to free the nation from an incoming enemy army?  How might you have been tempted to fear?

Today’s passage: Judges 6:1-10

Helpful thoughts:

• The Midianites were descended from Abraham by his wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1-4).  Moses married a Midianite woman (Exodus 2:16-22).
• Israel resorted to hiding in caves while all their goods were taken away.  They were brought “very low”.
• Israel cried out for help, but there are still no signs of repentance.

Questions to consider:

1. How did Israel end up being seemingly at the mercy of their distant relatives?  Who gave them over to the Midianites?
2. What made Israel cry out to God?  What was their greatest concern?
3. What was God’s response to Israel’s non-repentant cry for help?  What did He communicate to them?  What should have been the result?

Today’s passage: Judges 5:1-31

Helpful thoughts:

• This song was written and sung as a celebration of victory.
• God is praised along with the main characters in the battle.
  • Certain tribes are called out and publicly criticized for their refusal to join the battle.
  • The era of Israel is named “The days of Shamgar” and “The days of Jael”, bringing to attention these foreigners who perhaps seemed more deserving of praise and recognition than anyone in Israel.
• Special attention is given to the details of Jael’s murder of Sisera and the agony of Sisera’s awaiting mother.
  • This would have been particularly brutal taunting in their context since Sisera the mighty general was killed by a woman…the wife of his ally.
  • The wording used for the “wombs” Sisera’s mother hoped he was finding and dividing among the men was crude.  She was consoling herself by hoping for great atrocity.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways is this song encouraging and in what ways is this song confusing and discouraging?
2. What is the irony of verse 31 (“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!  But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.”) in contrast with 6:1 (“The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord”) and 4:1 (“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord”), etc.?  What was Israel asking God to do?  How did they see themselves?
3. When you have a “good” day, does it automatically mean you are good with God and He is good with you?  When you have a “bad” day does that mean you are not good with God and He is not good with you?  How would this view of God trivialize who He truly is?  How would it exaggerate who we are? (Hebrews 12:3-11)

Today’s passage: Judges 4:1-24

Helpful thoughts:

• Israel again returned to idolatry and evil.  On the one hand, we can wonder how they could continue to fall into the same traps over and over.  On the other hand, the nation had rest for two generations…much has changed in our culture since 1939.
• The Kenites were the descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law (Judges 1:16).  However, Heber had allied himself with Israel’s enemy.  This partnership only confuses the situation further as Heber’s wife ends up being the killer of his ally’s top general.
• There were 10,000 soldiers there that day, but the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army (Verse 15).

Questions to consider:

1. What had God told Barak would happen?  Why do you think he wanted Deborah to go so badly?  What might this say about his view of God?
2. Were those 900 iron chariots a match for the Lord?  Why could Barak have gone into that battle with full confidence?
3. How many components of this narrative seem out of order (Especially within the social customs of that day)?  Who seems to be in control of the situation and the outcome?

Today’s passage: Judges 3:12-31

Helpful thoughts:

• The Benjamites trained many of their warriors to be left handed, perhaps giving them a unique advantage and element of surprise.
• When Ehud told King Eglon he had a “message from the Lord” he was using a play on words.  The word for “message” in the Hebrew can also mean “thing”.  So Ehud either had a message or a secret thing for Eglon…
  • King Eglon’s name means, “Round calf” or “Round bull”.  The pun was intended.  The king of Moab had become the fattened calf, ready for slaughter.
• Since Ehud locked the doors behind him and went out another way without being seen, and since there was a rest room in this private chamber for the king.  Ehud may very well have escaped through the plumbing system.
  • Ehud, after having scurried through the fattened calf’s restroom plumbing, called the troops together for battle.  Quite the impressive scene…
• The name Shamgar (And possibly the name of His father Anath) do not come from Hebrew/Jewish origins at all.  Shamgar was either not a Jew or he and his father were named after other peoples and other gods.

Questions to consider:

1. How many things can you find in this narrative that sound embarrassing (e.g. smells, names, etc.)?  What kind of impression do these things leave on this war story?
2. What might Shamgar’s background information communicate concerning the condition of Israel?
3. Who remained steady, faithful, unchanging through these narratives?  Who can God use to bring about His will?

Today’s passage: Judges 3:7-11

Helpful thoughts:

• This is the beginning of the downward spiral of Israel’s history through the period of the judges.
• Cushan-Rishathaim’s name means, “Cushan the doubly wicked one.”
• In many Old Testament passages, when the “Spirit of the Lord” or the “hand of the Lord” comes upon or prevails over a person, it does not automatically apply to an increase in that person’s godliness.  It is simply a way to say that God the Spirit accomplished His will through that person at a specific time for a specific purpose.
• Not much “bad” happened for forty years, until Othniel died.

Questions to consider:

1. What parts of the pattern from 2:16-19 can you see in this episode?  What do you see coming after the death of Othniel?
2. Did God use a righteous king to discipline Israel?  If God could only use righteous people to test and discipline, who could He use?
3. When “bad” things are happening in our lives, is it ever angry punishment or negligence from God?  In times when we would be tempted to be angry with God, what should we step back and think about?  What might God be doing for our good?

Today’s passage: Judges 2:16-3:6

Helpful thoughts:

• Bad things happened as Israel worshiped false gods.  When things got “bad” they complained to the true God.  Then, when God showed mercy and intervened, after things got “better” again, Israel went back to worshiping false gods more corruptly than they had before.
  • This downward spiral will be the pattern of every narrative in the book of Judges.
• God used the sin of Israel and their surrounding neighbors for Israel’s good.  Our sovereign God wastes nothing.
• Israel directly disobeyed God on three counts (at least…):
  • They lived among the peoples of the land instead of destroying them.
  • They intermarried with the people (Deuteronomy 7:3-4).
    • Remember, this had nothing to do with their ethnicity and everything to do with their worship.  There were Canaanites who converted and were welcomed into Israel (e.g. Rahab).
  • They worshiped false gods.

Questions to consider:

1. What emotion motivated the Lord to help Israel during their times of greatest distress?
2. If Israel was being “Canaanized”, what would it look like for a Christian in our culture to be “Americanized” or for a European Christian to be “Europeanized”, etc.?  What blind spots might we have that feel so right to us but are so wrong according to God’s Word?
3. How does God’s promise to use all things (even our own sin!) for good give you comfort and encouragement to press on (Romans 8:28-30)?