1. The Time of the Judges Old Testament Survey

2. The Time of the Judges The time of the judges is a time of Israel’s moral failure The period is marked by occasional delivers instead of a succession of governors Key phrases “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes” Moral relativism When Israel had no King God was not their king This is also the beginning of a prophetic voice beginning to arise in Israel Before it was only Moses/Joshua and some of the elders

3. Israel’s Oppression Judgeyears of restOppressor# of years Othaniel40 Ehud80 Deborah40 Gideon40 JephthahNo Rest SampsonNo Rest Total200 years Mesopotamia8 Moabites18 Canaanites20 Midianites7 Ammonites18 Philistines 40 Total111

4. How this period came about The individual tribes did not conquer their land and drive out the inhabitants The next generation arose and fell into the same sins as the nations they were suppose to drive out The sins they fell into Incomplete obedience Went after other gods God viewed this as prostitution throughout the book Intermarriages Lost their identity Unholy alliances

5. List of Judges NameTribe Association Othniel -------------------------------- Ehud ---------------------------------- Shamgar ------------------------------ Deborah with Barak ------------------ Gideon -------------------------------- Tola ------------------------------------ Jair ------------------------------------- Jephthah ------------------------------- Ibzan ----------------------------------- Elon ----------------------------------- Abdon --------------------------------- Samson -------------------------------- Judah Benjamin ? Son of Anath Issachar? Ephraim? Manasseh Issachar Gileadite East Manasseh? Bethlehem: Judah? Zebulun Ephraim Dan

6. The Cycle of Judges The people sin and go after other idols God would then judge them and send an oppressive nation against them The people would cry out to God God would send a deliverer Then God would deliver them Sometimes He would require that they repent other times not

8. Othniel (Judges 3:7-11) Othniel was the nephew of Caleb Name means “Powerful Man of God” The people sinned against God and worshipped Baals and Asheroth Cushan King of Mesopotamia came down and oppressed them 8 years Israel cried out to God and He used Othniel to deliver them Israel follows God till he dies

10. Ehud Name means “Union” Moab oppresses Israel for 18 years Ehud takes a sword that he made and shoves the sword into the King of Moab and leaves it in him He then rallies the tribe Ephraim to fight against the Moabites and they win Israel follows God until he dies

12. Deborah and Barak (Judges 4-5) Deborah was the Judge and also a prophetess One of 3 prophetesses in the Old Testament Miriam (Ex 15:20) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) Barak was the commander of the army The Canaanites ruling from Hazor were oppressing Israel Hazor was burned to the ground by Joshua. So the Israelites let them rebuild it Cruelly oppressed Israel for 18 years With God’s help they repented and defeated the Canaanites The king of the Canaanites ran from battle and was killed by a woman who hid him and then drove a tent peg through his head

14. Gideon (Judges 6-9) Name means “One who cuts down” Israelites were being brutally oppressed by the Midianites Was very scared in the beginning God comes to visit Gideon and calls him to be a deliver for Israel. God gives him a new Identity by calling him a mighty warrior Gideon presents an offering before God which is then consumed by fire He then cuts down and destroys the Baal and Asheroth poles The people want to kill him for this but his father steps in

15. Gideon Judges 6 33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. The Spirit of the Lord clothed himself with Gideon The result was the people rallied to Gideon even those who were about to kill him This is one of the biggest miracles in the book of Judges

16. Gideon God then whittles down the army from 22,000 to 10,000 and then from 10,000 to 300 The first cut was because of fear The second cut was over how they drank water at stream The end result was that only the people who were ready to go God throws the Midianite Army into a panic and Gideon’s 300 men destroy the Midianite army The land has rest for 40 years Gideon choose not to set up a dynasty Judges 8: 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” Gideon made and Ephod and the people worshiped it and it became a snare to Gideon’s family

18. Gideon’s Sons As soon as Gideon died the Israelites went back to worshiping idols Gideon had 70 sons One was named Abimelech He became power hungry and killed all but 1 of his brothers He ended up ruling over Israel for 3 years until he is killed

19. Jephthah (Judges 10-12) Was born of prostitute Was called a mighty warrior He was driven out by his family because they didn’t want to share their inheritance with them When Israel gets oppressed by the Ammonites they cry out to God for help and He eventfully listens The same people who drive out Jephthah call him back to lead them against the ammonites and he does He also leads the people of Gilead against Ephraim in a civil war

21. Samson (Judges 13-16) Called to be Nazirite since birth He was the first born of a barren woman Samson was to start the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines He was given supernatural strength He used this strength to kill a lot people Marries a Philistine He broke his Nazirite vow and was captured He is brutally oppressed which cause him to repent He kills a lot of Philistines when he dies Does not deliver Israel

24. Other stuff in Judges Dan leaves their land of inheritance and goes northward The people of Benjamin become very evil Starts a civil war that almost destroys all of the tribe Only 600 men are left

25. America in the Book of Judges America has had many cycles of repentance and revival America is currently in its most depraved state Many Christians seek a political/religious leader instead of God Many Christians want to hold on to their own idols but still want God to save them from their afflictions God sends judgment upon our nation for the sins of our nation God will raise up people to call the people of God to repent and to follow God