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The Book of Judges comes to an end with the seemingly bizarre account of Israel ganging up on an entire tribe of countrymen and women for the egregious acts of one town. Because the account, chronologically, fits with the events at the beginning of the book, this account is a fitting bookend to set up the spiritual drift detailed in the following historical books.
Food for thought from the discussion
The people of Israel come to God after they made a mess of the situation by nearly annihilating an entire tribe of Israel.
What was the “oath of Mizpah”?
Where did the wives of the remaining Benjamites come from?
The people go to Shiloh to inquire of God of how to save the tribe of Benjamin. What kind of sacrifices did they offer, and why?
Why did the people of Israel believe they had lost some of their men in the battle against Benjamin? Was that a reasonable assumption? What did Israel chose to do to rectify the situation? Was their solution the solution prescribed by the Torah?
Why did the Israelites kill the Jabesh-Gileadite women and children as well when it was just the men who failed to answer the call to battle against Benjamin? Were the Jabesh-Gileadites wrong for not helping with the near-annihilation of Benjamin?
How did the kidnapping of the dancing virgins of Shiloh by Benjamin fulfill Jacob’s prophesy (Gen. 49:27)? What does it mean to be a “ravenous wolf”?
What were the tribal affiliations of the young women of Shiloh? How would that have helped the tribe of Benjamin spiritually going forward?
How did this civil war make Israel vulnerable to her enemies?
Recap of the Book of Judges
Tribes took their inheritance but did not totally remove the prior inhabitants. How did that pollute the people of Israel?
How many generations came and went before the evil began to take over Israel?
Why was Israel invaded over and over again? Why did the Philistines gain a foothold in Israel?
What is the lesson of Deborah and Barak?
How did Gideon’s family try to usurp God’s place? How was his family punished for going along with this?
Was Abimelech a good judge? Is it easier to know if actions are Godly or if men/women are godly?
Did the people of Israel deserve to be saved over and over again? Does God’s mercy have limits?
Was Jepthah, the Gileadite, a good judge? What did he do right that was so important?
After a while, there were no more judges so God raised one up from infancy who was that? How did Samson speak to the people? How does Samson show us the mind of God? What did Samson consider most important (freedom and God)?
What was the lesson of the donkeys Samson killed?
Was Samson’s strength under his control or under God’s control?
What is the lesson of Delilah? We might not know when someone is lying, but we will know when someone tells us the truth.
Reader: David De Fever. Speaker: Daniel Agee.