Judges: Apostasy, Oppression, Deliverance, and the Cry for a Righteous King

An academic study of Judges 1:1 to 3:31, examining the incomplete tribal conquests following Joshua death, the failure to drive out the Canaanites resulting in tributary co-existence, the harrowing confrontation by the Angel of Yahweh at Bochim (the place of weeping), the death of the Joshua generation and the rise of a generation that did not know Yahweh, the programmatic four-stage cycle of apostasy, oppression, crying out, and deliverance, the testing of Israel with the remaining nations, and the inaugural ministries of Othniel of Judah, Ehud the left-handed Benjaminite with his double-edged dagger, and Shamgar son of Anath with his oxgoad.

An advanced collegiate exploration of Judges 4:1 to 5:31, analyzing the twenty-year oppression of northern Israel by Jabin king of Canaan and his commander Sisera with nine hundred iron chariots, the unique civil and prophetic leadership of Deborah judging under the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel, Barak hesitating faith demanding Deborah presence, the divine battle on the slopes of Mount Tabor where the flooding torrent of the Kishon River disabled the iron chariots, the fatal hospitality of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite driving a tent peg through sleeping Sisera temple, and the magnificent, ancient victory anthem of the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) celebrating the cosmos fighting from heaven against Sisera and cursing Meroz for failing to come to the help of Yahweh.

A collegiate study of Judges 6:1 to 8:35, analyzing the seven-year devastating economic ravaging of Israel by Midianite and Amalekite camel nomads like swarms of locusts, the theophany of the Angel of Yahweh to Gideon threshing wheat secretly in a winepress at Ophrah, the divine greeting "Yahweh is with you, O mighty man of valor", the destruction of Baal altar and cutting down of the Asherah pole earning the name Jerubbaal, the sign of the wet and dry fleece of wool, God systematic reduction of Gideon army from twenty-two thousand to ten thousand to three hundred men who lap water like dogs, the nighttime reconnaissance overhearing the barley loaf dream, the surprise trumpet blast, shattered clay jars, and burning torches shouting "A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!", the slaughter at the fords of the Jordan, the pacification of proud Ephraim, the capture of Zebah and Zalmunna, the refusal of hereditary kingship, and the tragic golden ephod trap at Ophrah.

An advanced theological exposition of Judges 9:1 to 12:15, analyzing the murderous rise of Abimelech son of Gideon who slaughtered his seventy brothers upon one stone at Ophrah to establish a Canaanite-style monarchy at Shechem, Jotham satirical Fable of the Trees (the olive, fig, vine, and thornbush/bramble), the divine spirit of ill will destroying Abimelech by a millstone dropped by a woman at Thebez, the minor judges Tola and Jair, the intense eighteen-year Ammonite oppression, the rise of Jephthah the outcast son of a prostitute, his diplomatic historical defense against the king of Ammon, his rash, tragic vow resulting in the sorrowful sacrifice of his only daughter, the subsequent civil fratricide with proud Ephraim, and the linguistic slaughter of forty-two thousand Ephraimites at the Jordan fords via the Shibboleth pronunciation test.

An academic study of Judges 13:1 to 15:20, examining the supernatural annunciation of Samson birth by the Angel of Yahweh to Manoah and his barren wife, the lifelong Nazirite consecration from the womb, the charismatic stirrings of the Spirit of Yahweh in Mahaneh-dan, Samson sensual infatuation with the Philistine woman at Timnah, the killing of the young lion and the riddle of honey from the carcass, the betrayal by his bride and the slaughter of thirty men at Ashkelon, the revenge burning of Philistine wheat fields with three hundred foxes and torches, the betrayal of Samson by three thousand men of Judah at the rock of Etam, and his miraculous slaughter of one thousand Philistines with a fresh donkey jawbone at Ramath-lehi followed by the revival spring at En-hakkore.

An academic study of Judges 16:1 to 31, exploring the climax and tragedy of the Samson narrative, including his moral recklessness with the prostitute in Gaza and carrying off the city gates to Hebron, the seductive entrapment by Delilah in the Valley of Sorek under bribes from the Philistine lords, the four successive deceptions leading to the shearing of his seven locks of hair, the tragic departure of Yahweh without Samson knowledge, his blinding, binding with bronze fetters, and forced grinding in the prison house at Gaza, the great national feast to the god Dagon, Samson agonizing prayer for divine empowerment to avenge his two eyes, and his sacrificial death bringing down the central pillars of Dagon temple upon three thousand Philistines and their rulers.

An academic study of Judges 17:1 to 18:31, inaugurating the first of two concluding theological appendices to the Book of Judges, exposing the utter religious and moral disintegration of Israel apart from faithful covenant leadership. The narrative details Micah theft of silver from his mother in Ephraim, the casting of a silver idol and household shrine, the hiring of a wandering Levite from Bethlehem in Judah as a mercenary domestic priest, the migration of the dispossessed tribe of Dan searching for an inheritance, the spying out of Laish, the armed Danite raiding party plundering Micah household gods and coercing his priest, Micah pathetic pursuit and lament ("You take my gods that I made and the priest, and what have I left?"), the violent destruction of peaceful Laish, and the establishment of an idolatrous tribal sanctuary at Dan presided over by Jonathan the grandson of Moses.

An academic study of Judges 19:1 to 21:25, exploring the harrowing moral and social nadir of the Book of Judges, detailing the travel narrative of the Levite and his concubine from Bethlehem, the Sodom-like hospitality failure and gang rape at Gibeah of Benjamin, the dismemberment of the concubine corpse into twelve pieces to summon Israel, the national assembly of four hundred thousand warriors at Mizpah demanding justice, the stubborn tribal solidarity of Benjamin defending the wicked men of Gibeah, the catastrophic civil war with forty thousand Israelite casualties across two days of defeat, the ambush on the third day annihilating twenty-five thousand Benjaminite warriors, the national weeping at Bethel over a nearly extinguished tribe, the ruthless slaughter of Jabesh-gilead to secure virgin brides, the sanctioned abduction of the dancing maidens of Shiloh, and the immortal canonical conclusion: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."