Who Judges the Judges?

So I still had about half of Judges to read as of last night, but that's nothing that a little late night determination couldn't fix.  Note to self - reading the Old Testament before bed can cause nightmares!

So I noticed a few times in this book the passage, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what he thought best."

I imagine they didn't do a lot of thinking though.  A few things I noted as I muddled my way through this latest book of horrors...

We are again back to the Israelites not doing what they are supposed to.  God must really like them since he tolerates their crap and then when they "cry out" to Him he sends a Judge to help.  I supposed it's like any parent with a difficult child.  A series of punishments and forgiveness.  As an outsider it's easier to say that the punishments (severe as they were) just didn't seem to work very well.  I suppose the Israelites were a bit more difficult than my children though.

I found this amusing, "But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a savior, the Benjaminite Ehud, son of Gera, who was left-handed." (Ch 3, 15).  I'm sure being left-handed was something noteworthy.  From my point of view as I read this...I just giggled.  "Oh thank goodness for the left-handed.  They have come to save us poor righties!"

Poor ol' Judge Shamgar.  He apparently wasn't worth much more than a brief mention.  So much thanks for rescuing Israel!

Deborah!  Finally a woman not being shown as a whore, a pain in the ass, or just as someone worthless in general.  Glad to see a little feminism there.  I'm sure it will be forgotten before long...

Gideon...brought me back to Veggie Tales (as did many parts of the Old Testament so far, although Veggie Tales does make them look better than they do from actual reading of the Old Testament).  So seriously, Gideon does ask repeatedly for proof that God wants him to do this.  So everyone is afraid to look upon God, but they aren't afraid to question him?  I suppose he was just trying to make sure that it was God asking, but even the people He chooses to act through question him.  Sheesh!

Then there was the bit where Abimelech went to his mother's kinsmen and asked if 70 men (essentially all of Jerubbaal's sons) rule over the people or one man?  So all of the sons of Jerubbaal, save Abimelech (shocker) are killed so he can lead.  Yeah, sure, he gets his comeuppance but why was it permitted to happen?  Yeah, free-will.  Got it.  But why didn't the Lord send a messenger or something to at least ONE of his sons and say, "Hey you might want to get out of town!"

I pretty much stopped marking passages in this book by now and just concentrated on reading it.  The part about Samson was rather odd.  Sent by God...check.  Can't cut his hair...check.  Kills lots of people...check (seems to be the theme of the Old Testament despite "Thou Shalt Not Kill" and all).  Finally meets Delilah and she screws him over...check.  Samson dies.

OK so when Delilah asked Samson what his weakness is, he lies and tells her something else besides his hair and she tries to use it against him (obviously it doesn't work), then why does knuckle-head-a-potomus fall for it 3 more times with the final time him actually telling her about his hair?  I guess no one said the Judges were in any way smart.

Then we've got Micah creating idols and nothing immediately bad happening to him.  Blah.

Finally this Levite with a concubine (alternately referred to as a wife and a concubine...see, I told you it wouldn't be long before women were awful again) is traveling with her, comes to Gibeah and stays the night.  The citizens come to the house he's staying in and demand that he be sent out so they can "abuse" him....this sounding familiar (ahem...Lot)?  So naturally the Levite's wife/concubine and the host's virgin daughter is offered instead.  Well the chivalrous Levite kicks his wife/concubine out the door and they spend the entire night taking turns raping her.  She collapses on the ground.  Levite tells her that it's time to go.  No answer, so he throws her on his ass...we'll assume this refers to his donkey :)...and they travel home where he cuts her up into 12 pieces and scatters her throughout Israel.

So who is the bad guy there?  The people that raped her or the jackass husband that gave her to them and then cut her to pieces?  OK, when I first read this I assumed she was still alive and he murdered her.  I thought "What an asshole!"  Then I realized that if she was pretty much raped all night by the various asshole men of the village, there was a pretty good chance that when they reference her not moving that she was already dead.  And I thought "What an asshole!"

You know it's hard to believe that many of these people died and went anywhere but straight to hell.

Assignment 7 - The Book of Judges

An onward we go!

The next reading assignment is the Book of Judges, and as has become the norm, I'll let you know what my Bible has about Judges:

   "The Book of Judges derives its title from the twelve heroes of Israel whose deeds it records.  They were not magistrates, but military leaders sent by God to aid and to relieve his people in time of external danger.  They exercised their activities in the interval of time between the death of Joshua and the institution of the monarchy in Israel.  Six of them - Othniel, Ehud, Barak, Gideon, Jephtah and Samson - are treated in some detail and have accordingly been styled the Major Judges.  The other six, of whose activities this book preserves but a summary record, are called the Minor Judges.  There were two other judges, whose judgeships are described in 1 Samuel - Eli and Samuel, who seem to have ruled the entire nation of Israel just before the institution of the monarchy.  The twelve judges of  the present book, however, very probably exercised their authority, sometimes simultaneously, over one or another tribe of Israel, never over the entire nation.
      The purpose of the book is to show that the fortunes of Israel depended upon the obedience or disobedience of the people to God's law.  Whenever they rebelled against him, they were oppressed by pagan nations; when they repented, he raised up judges to deliver them (cf Jgs 2, 10-23).
      The accounts of various events, whether written shortly after their occurrence or orally transmitted, were later skillfully unified according to the moral purpose of the redactor sometime during the Israelite monarchy.
      The book is divided as follows:
     I.  Palestine after the Death of Joshua (Jgs 1, 1-3, 6)
    II.  Stories of the Judges (Jgs 3, 7-16, 31)
   III.  The Tribes of Dan and Benjamin in the Days of the Judges (Jgs 17, 1-21, 25)"

So I really don't know what to expect from Judges.  Hopefully more along the lines of story-telling as in Joshua, but doubting the violence will subside.  Despite my frustration with the readings up to now, I'm still excited every time I start a new Book.  I hope you are too!