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The Book of Judges. Key Ideas. The cycles of the Judges period Relapse Ruin Repentance Restoration Rest God’s justice and grace God’s sovereign provision of delivers (judges, military leaders) Covenant failure by the people, the priests, and the tribal leadership
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Key Ideas • The cycles of the Judges period • RelapseRuinRepentanceRestorationRest • God’s justice and grace • God’s sovereign provision of delivers (judges, military leaders) • Covenant failure by the people, the priests, and the tribal leadership • The role of the Spirit of the Lord
Purpose Statement The purpose is to show the failure of the Israelites to keep their part of the covenant. Judges also shows that neither the leadership of the judges nor the tribal leadership succeeded in helping the people remain faithful. Instead, the leaders were as bad as the people.
Structure and Organization • 1:1-2:5 – The Rootsof Chaos • 2:6-16:31 – Living in Chaos • 17-21 – The Consequences of Living in Chaos • 22-24 – Conclusion
Major Themes • The Nature of Charismatic Leadership • Spirit of the Lord • Israel’s Apostasy
Major Themes • The Nature of Charismatic Leadership • Spirit of the Lord • Israel’s Apostasy
Nature of Charismatic Leadership • Who were the judges? • Not elected, nor did they inherit office • Not appointed, nor were they anointed • No relation to tabernacle, nor did they call Israel back to Yahweh • “Charismatic” leaders: they spontaneously took leadership roles when the need arose • Main task: military leaders • Judges were not intended to be spiritual role models, nor was their spirituality a reason for God raising him up
Nature of Charismatic Leadership • What was the task of the judges? • To act as deliverers—to be the Lord’s instrument for providing deliverance • Delivering a nation was a means of bringing about justice for that nation
Major Themes • The Nature of Charismatic Leadership • Spirit of the Lord • Israel’s Apostasy
Spirit of the Lord • Plays prominent role in book of Judges • Under Spirit’s power that several judges accomplished their task • For Israel, the Spirit was an extension of Yahweh, not separate from him (vs. Trinity) • Mostly, Spirit is referred in relation to military ventures of the judges
Major Themes • The Nature of Charismatic Leadership • Spirit of the Lord • Israel’s Apostasy
Israel’s Apostasy • How could Israel turn their backs on God? • Israel’s history did not include strict monotheism. • Before Sinai, no direct command to worship only Yahweh • At Sinai, God commanded his people to worship only Him
Israel’s Apostasy • How could Israel turn their backs on God? • Because the Israelites had never strictly worshiped Yahweh as their only God, they simply never adjusted to his command to worship him as their only God. • In Canaan, they began worshippingCanaanite gods and participating in Canaanite rituals. • Treated Yahweh as if he were one of the Canaanite’s pagan deities.
Israel’s Apostasy • How could Israel turn their backs on God? • The first few generations failed to obey God’s law, the problem would only have continued until the time of the judges. • Priesthood was most to blame for this lapse. • Failure of the priests most likely sped up the decline of the priesthood’s influence.