Israel seeking to clear the land and failing! 1:1-36

- Judah given the lead & take the Simeonites along (1:1-3)

- Judah's victory at Bezek (1:4-7)

- Judah take Jerusalem and the south (1:8-11)

- Caleb's daughter (1:12-15)

- The Kenites settle in the south (1:16)

- Judah & Simeon take the south and east (1:17-20)

- Benjamin's failure (1:21) - Joseph take Bethel (1:22-26)

- Failure of Manasseh ( 1:27,28), Ephraim (1:29), Zebulun (1:30), Asher (1:31,32), Naphtali (1:33) & the power of the Amorites (1:34-36)

Israel chastised for their failures 2:1-5

- God's angel reminds them of the Covenant (2:1,2a)

- Israel 's failure will be a snare to them in the future (2:2,3)

- Israel weep and offer sacrifices (2:4,5)

Israel's cycle of disobedience, defeat & deliverance 2:6-19

- Israel remain faithful to God during Joshua's lifetime (2:6-9)

- the next generation turn to idols (2:10-13)

- the Lord handed them over to their enemies (2:14-15)

- Israel cry out & God gives judges as deliverers (2:16)

- Israel's tendency to fall away again (2:17-19)

The Lord's Strategy for Disobedient Israel 2:20-3:6

- The Lord's refusal to drive out the nations (2:20-23)

- the nations left to ‘test' Israel (3:1-6)

2. "The First Four Judges" Judges 3-5

Othniel 3:7-11

- Israel turning from the Lord (3:7)

- The Lord giving Israel over to the enemy (3:8)

- Israel crying to the Lord and Him raising up Othniel (3:9)

- God's Spirit coming on him to over come the enemy (3:10)

- Peace for 40 years while Othniel lived (3:11)

Ehud 3:12-30

- Israel turn from God into subjection again (3:12 -14)

- Israel cry to the Lord & He provides Ehud (3:15)

- Ehud kills Eglon the Moabite king (3:16-26)

- Ehud calls Israel to rise up (3:27-29)

- peace for 80 years (3:30)

Shamgar 3:31 - Shamgar follows Ehud & peace continues (3:31)

Deborah & Barak 4:1-5:31

- Israel turn from God (4:1)

- God gives them into the hand of Jabin & Sisera (4:2)

- Israel cry to the Lord (4:3)

- Deborah, the prophetess, ruling (4:4,5)

- Deborah calls Barak to go and receive victory (4:6,7)

- Barak is unsure so Deborah goes with him (4:8-10)

- Heber the Kenite introduced (4:11)

- Sisera routed by Israel (4:12-17)

- Sisera killed by Heber's wife, Jael (4:18-22)

- Israel prevail over Jabin (4:23 ,24)

- The song of Deborah & Barak (5:1-31)

3. "Gideon" Judges 6-8

Gideon's call & preparation 6:1-32

- Israel's fall away and oppression (6:1-5)

- Israel call on the Lord (6:6)

- The Lord sends a prophet to chastise them (6:7-10)

- God's angel comes to call Gideon (6:11-24)

- Gideon told to deal with the family idol worship (6:25-26)

- Gideon obeys & receives his father's support (6:27-32)

Gideon's Battle Preparations & Victory 6:33-7:25

- Gideon is spirit-empowered to call Israel out (6:33-35)

- Gideon seeks a sign by the fleece (6:36-40)

- The Lord reduces the army to 300 (7:1-8)

- The Lord tells Gideon to spy out the enemy camp (7:9-11)

- Gideon encouraged by what he hears (7:12-15)

- Gideon's strategy and victory (7:16-25)

- Ephraim complains & Gideon's response (8:1-3)

- Gideon refused help (8:4-9)

- Gideon finishes off the enemy (8:10-12)

- Gideon deals with those who refused help (8:13-17)

- Gideon executes the enemy leaders (8:18-21)

Gideon's Stumbling Block & Death 8:22-35

- Gideon refuses rulership ( 8:22 ,23)

- Gideon makes an ephod which is worshipped (8:24-27)

- Peace for 40 years (8:28)

- Gideon's family & death (8:29-32)

- Israel turn away from the Lord (8:33-35)

4. "Downturn" Judges 9-12

Abimelech 9:1-57

- Abimelech's bid for leadership (9:1-4)

- He kills his brother but Jotham escapes (9:5)

- The people of Shechem crown him as king (9:6)

- Jotham's parable against Abimelech (9:7-15)

- Jotham challenges them to f ace the truth (9:16-21)

- God causes upset between Shechem & Abimelech (9:22-33)

- Abimelech attacks & destroys Shechem (9:34-49)

- He attacks Thebez but is killed (9:50-57)

Tola 10:1,2

- Tola leads for 23 years (10:1,2)

Jair 10:3-5

- Jair leads for 22 years

Jephthah 10:6 – 12:7

- Israel turns to idols and are oppressed by Ammon (10:6-9)

- Israel cry out to the Lord (10:10)

- The Lord refuses their repentance as unreal (10:11-14)

- They cry further & get rid of the idols (10:15 ,16)

- The Ammonites come & Israel 's leaders worry (10:17,18)

- Jephthah's history (11:1-3)

- Israel's leaders call Jephthah to be leader (11:4-11)

- Jephthah questions the Ammonite king (11:12-13)

- Jephthah reminds him of Israel's history (11:14-27)

- The king rejects him (11:28)

- The Spirit empowers him and he advances (11.29)

- He makes a foolish vow (11:30,31)

- After victory he sacrifices his daughter (11:32-40)

- Civil war (12:1-7)

Ibzan Elon & Abdon 12:8-15

- Rules of 7,10 & 8 years respectively

5. "Samson" Judges 13-16

Samson's Birth 13:1-25

- Israel's evil means oppression for 40 years (13:1)

- Manoah's wife is sterile & childless (13:2)

- An angel comes to her and promises a child (13:3-5)

- She tells her husband who prays for more help (13:6-8)

- The angel comes again and instructs them (13:9-23)

- She has a boy and names him Samson (13:24 ,25)

Samson and his wife 14:1 – 15:20

- Samson demands a Philistine wife (14:1-5)

- Samson kills a lion (14:5-9)

- At the wedding feast Samson tells a riddle (14:10-14)

- Samson's wife coaxes him to tell the answer (14:15-17)

- In anger Samson kills 30 Philistines (14:18-19)

- His wife is taken & he burns their vineyards (14:20-15:5)

- They kill her and he kills many of them (15:6-8)

- They pursue him and he kills a thousand of them (15:9-17)

- The Lord provides water for him (15:18 ,19)

- Peace for 20 years (15:20)

Samson and Delilah 16:1-22

- Samson goes to a Philistine prostitute (16:1-3)

- Samson falls in love with Delilah (16:4)

- The Philistine leaders ask her to get his secret (16:5)

- Delilah tries to get the secret (16:6-16)

- Eventually he tells that he is a Nazirite (16:17)

- He is taken , bound and blinded (16:18 -22)

Samson's Last Stand 16:23-31

- They make him a showpiece (16:23-25)

- He pulls the temple down and dies (16:26-31)

6. " Self-Destruction & Repercussions" Judges 17-21

Micah & the Levite 17:1-13

- How an idol was made (17:1-4)

- Micah's religion (17:5,6)

- Micah installs the Levite (17:7-13)

The Settling of the Danites 18:1-31

- The Danites send out spies (18:1,2)

- They encounter the Levite at Micah's house (18:3-6)

- They find Laish & report back (18:7-10)

- 600 set out and come to Micah's house (18:11-13)

- They take the Levite & images (18:14-27)

- They take Laish and named it Dan (18:27-31)

The Levite & his Concubine 19:1-30

- An Ephraim Levite takes a Bethlehem concubine (19:1)

- She left him and returned home (19:2)

- The Levite went to persuade her to come back (19:3)

- 4 nights her father gets them to stay (19:4-8)

- Eventually they leave late in the evening (19:9,10)

- The seek shelter at Gibeah (19:11-15)

- An old man offered them shelter (19:16-21)

- Homosexuals demanded he handed the Levite over (19:22)

- Instead they put out the concubine (19:23 -26)

- Finding her dead he returned home (19:27,28)

- He cut up her body and sent it around Israel (19:29,30)

Israel Fights Benjamin 20:1-48

- Israel gather to consider what has happened (20:1-3)

- The Levite shares what the Benjamites had done (20:4-7)

- Israel determine to punish the Benjamites (20:8-11)

- They demand that they surrender the culprits (20:12-13)

- Benjamin refuse (20:13-17)

- Israel seek the Lord (20:18)

- Israel fight Benjamin and loose 22,000 (20:19-22)

- Israel seek the Lord again (20:23)

- The 2nd day they fight and loose another 18,000 (20:24-25)

- Israel seek the Lord a third time (20:26-28)

- On the 3rd day Israel inflict 25,100 casualties (20:29-46)

- 600 Benjamites escape to the hills (20:47,48)

Strategies to continue Benjamin 21:1-25

- Israel 's oath prevents giving wives to Benjamin (21:1)

- Israel cry to the Lord (21:2-4)

- Awareness of the oath against those missing (21:5)

- Concern over the problem created (21:6,7)

- Women taken in the judgement on Jabesh Gilead (21:8-14)

- Concern over the problem still not solved (21:15-18)

- Solution suggested (21:19-22)

- Solution worked out (21:23-25)

CONCLUSION

As we conclude these studies, the following are perhaps some of the things we may wish to reflect on further:

How Foolish Can We Be?

Yes, there are many other instances as we go through the historical books where we see Israel falling away from their relationship with the Lord, but the book of Judges is unique in showing this happening again and again in such a clear and distinct way. This is a nation that has had the most amazing encounter with God at Sinai and been constituted THE unique nation of the world, the only one with a covenant relationship with God. So what is it that produces that classic foolishness? At least two main things: First, is the fact of what the Bible calls Sin, that propensity within every human being to self-centred godlessness which leads to unrighteousness, and second, the passing of time.

There are no grounds for denouncing Israel any more than denouncing the whole human race, including ourselves. The message throughout the Bible is the same: all have sinned and come short of the glory (or perfection) of God (Rom 3:23). If we ever doubt that, look again at the history covered by Judges.

The passing of time is also a key feature. We can have an encounter with the Lord but with the passing of time the memory grows hazy and we need the Lord to refresh our memories (that's why Jesus commanded the ‘Lord's Supper' - Lk 22;19, 1Cor 11:24 ,25).

Conclusion? We need to be constantly alert to this problem and to purposefully seek the Lord, seeking to ensure our relationship with Him is ever alive and fresh.

God's Insight, Wisdom, Sovereignty & Grace

As we read this book we see the Lord who knows the potential for Israel to fall, who can see into the future and who seeks to take steps with Israel to prevent their falling away. Yet He is sovereign Lord and continues to work out His purpose for Israel and comes again and again in grace to give them a saviour who would lift them up again and rebuff the enemy who sought to bring them down by deception and outright attack. To conclude these studies we provide a table below showing the activity of the Lord throughout this dark time.

THE LORD'S ACTIVITY

Prologue 1:1 – 3:6

1:2

Instructs Judah to go up first into the land

1:4

Gave the people of the land into Judah's hands

1:19

Was with Judah

1:22

Was with Joseph

2:1

His angel challenges Israel

2:14,15

Gave Israel over to their enemies

2:16

Raised up judges to save them

2:20-

Refused to remove the nations

3:1-

Left nations to test Israel

First Four Judges

3:8

Sold Israel into the hands of the king of Aram

3:9

Raised up Othniel

3:10

Put His Spirit on him and overcame the enemy

3:12

Gave Israel over to Eglon

3:15

Raised up Ehud

4:2

Gave Israel over to Jabin

4:6

Instructed Barak through Deborah

4:15

Routed Sisera

Gideon

6:1

Gave Israel into hands of Midian

6:8-

Sent a prophetic message to Israel

6:11

Sent His angel to Gideon

6:14-

Instructed Gideon to go and deliver Israel

6:25-

Instructed Gideon to tidy up the family

6:34

His Spirit empowers Gideon

6:36-

Grants Gideon's requests over the fleece

7:2,4,7

Guides Gideon over the army

7:9

Told Gideon to go down to the enemy camp

7:13-

Encouraged Gideon through an enemy's dream

7:22-

Made the enemy turn on themselves

Period of Downturn – The Latter Judges

9:23

Sent evil spirit between Abimelech & Shechem

9:56,57

Dealt with Abimelech & Shechem

10:7

Sold Israel into hands of Ammonites & Philistines

10:11-

Chastised Israel

11:29

His Spirit empowers Jephthah

Samson

13:1

Delivered Israel into the hands of the Philistines

13:2-

Sent His angel to a Danite's wife – Samson born

13:25

Used His Spirit to stir Samson

14:4

Used Samson to confront the Philistines

14:6

His Spirit gave Samson strength to kill the lion

14:19

Empowered Samson by His Spirit to kill Philistines

15:14

Spirit empowered Samson to break free

15:19

Provided water for Samson

16:20

Left Samson powerless

16:28-

Answered Samson's final prayer for strength

Picture of Poor Spiritual Life

20:18

Answered for Judah to go first against Benjamin

20:23

Confirmed going to battle against Benjamin

20:28

Confirmed on the 3 rd day to fight & have victory

20:35

Defeated Benjamin

THE INDIVIDUAL JUDGES

1. Othniel 3:7-11

Spirit empowered to overcome Aram .

2. Ehud 3:12-30

Assassinated Eglon then called Israel to resist.

3. Shamgar 3:31

Killed 600 Philistines.

4. Deborah & Barak 4:1-5:31

Prophetess, called Barak to triumph

5. Gideon 6:1 - 8:35

Called by angel, dealt with the family idols, asked for fleece guidance, guided to reduce the army, encouraged by enemy soldier's dream, let army to victory, refused leadership but made a stumbling block to Israel.

6. Abimelech 9:1-57

Gideon's son by a concubine, killed his brothers, crowned king at Shechem but eventually killed all of Shechem but killed by a falling millstone. Almost an anti-judge!

7. Tola 10:1,2

Hardly any mention.

8. Jair 10:3-5

Hardly any mention.

9. Jephthah 10:1-12:7

A seconded commander, spirit empowered, made a foolish vow resulting in the death of his daughter, suffered civil war.

10. Ibzan 12:8-10

Hardly any mention.

11. Elon 12:11,12

Hardly any mention.

12. Abdon 12:13-15

Hardly any mention.

13.Samson 13:1-16:31

Miraculously born, called to holiness but had unrestrained lust which led him into trouble with the Philistines. Spirit empowered with great strength. Never led the people but caused personal harm to the Philistines and eventually blinded by them and died pulling the roof down on them, killing many.