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Is God a God of Wrath or Love?

Reading through the book of Judges, a cycle quickly emerges: the people turn away from God, he sends a leader to rescue them, and then they return to him. This pattern continues, albeit to a lesser extent, in the books of Kings and Chronicles. With endless patience, God offers them second chances. This abruptly changes […]

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Bible

Praise to Mothers

With Mother’s Day coming up, I want to salute all moms by commending one mom in particular. The Bible simply says she was the wife of Manoah. Though we don’t know her name, we know her son’s name: Samson. God promised to give a child to this childless wife of Manoah. Before his birth, God […]

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Paul’s Testimony

The ninth sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 24:1-27 (specifically Acts 24:10-21) Setting: A hearing before Felix in Caesarea Speaker: Paul Audience: Felix (the governor and judge), Jews, and Ananias and Tertullus, Paul’s accusers. Preceding Events: Paul is sent to Felix in Caesarea to protect him from a plot of some Jews in Jerusalem […]

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Seeking Wisdom

Among all the reoccurring words in Proverbs, it is “wisdom” that is the most prominent — mentioned 54 times. Wisdom, in fact, is the central theme of the book, effectively summarizing its focus and purpose. The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight; common sense; […]

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…and the Rest

So far, we have covered seven of the 15 judges mentioned in the book of Judges. They are the more commonly known judges, merely because there is more written about them. That leaves eight remaining judges, for whom very little is known. Often their entire life is summarized in just a couple of verses. They […]

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Abimelech — A Failure

One of Gideon‘s sons was Abimelech. It is arguable if Abimelech should be counted as a judge. If so, he would be classified as a failure, for he violently seized power, did not fight for or liberate his people from foreign powers, but instead fought internally, with much loss of life as a result — […]

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The Victory and Despair of Jephthah

Another judge, who is prominently noted in the book of Judges is Jephthah. Jephthah, the son of a prostitute — which doesn’t say much for his dad — was exiled from his people. However, when they became oppressed by a foreign power, they turned to him, asking for his help. Eventually he agreed to their […]

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An Unnamed Levite

If judge Deborah is the reluctant hero and Micah is the anti-hero, then the final character listed in the book of Judges might be viewed as a questionable hero. This judge, a Levite whose name is not given, has a dubious set of morals and a morose method of getting attention. Consider: The Levite had […]

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Micah, the Anti-Hero

A curious fellow in the book of Judges is Micah (not to be confused with the prophet Micah who lived many centuries later and has a book of the Bible named after him). Micah, with two chapters surrounding him, was not listed as a judge and did not lead the people to overthrow their oppressors. […]

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A Reluctant Hero

Judge Deborah was a reluctant hero. Deborah, also a prophetess, received instructions from God to relay to Barak. His mission was to lead a battle against their oppressors. When she shared this with Barak, he balked (as did Moses, Jonah, Gideon, and many others when God called them to a task). Barak did not want […]