The Talmud identifies the author of Judges as Samuel the prophet however there are no specific allusions to Samuel in the book. The word “Talmud” in Hebrew simply means “learning,” or “instruction.” The Talmud itself is a central text of mainstream Judaism consisting of the Mishnah and the Gemara (which is basically a commentary on the Mishnah). It was completed around the 5^th century AD and theres actually two versions of it. The Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. The Babylonian Talmud is much more comprehensive and it’s the one most widely used today.

At any rate, for our study tonight and for the next few months in Judges, we understand the author to be Samuel and we get that from the Talmud. Most agree that it was written after Israel was a monarchy. Remember, at the onset of the Promised Land, Israel had no king because God Himself was their King. But we see a statement repeated in the book, “In those days Israel had no kind,” which place the book sometime after the monarchy was established under Saul, possibly around 1050 BC.

What’s interesting is that some speculate that the intended audience was none other than Saul himself…written as a warning to him…as an alarm clock of sorts. Too bad it didn’t work.

The book virtually picks up right where Joshua left off around 1400 BC…and covers a period of time from about 1400 BC to 1090 BC, when Saul began to reign. Now, this book…vividly relevant today as it records Israel’s descent into sin and the terrible consequences of it…The 12 heroes of the book, both male and female, seem larger than life at times…on top of the world at times…but we will see that no matter how boss they are, they are all imperfect and without accepting reality, that God is God…no matter how strong, how cunning, how wise, how resourceful they are, problems swirl and many are taken out…

Now notice, fitting title, the Book is titled “Judges,” which refers to unique leaders God gave to His people for preservation against their enemies (2:16-19). But the Hebrew title means, “deliverers,” or “saviors.” I think that is interesting…because in the world we live in now, the culture and society of the post modern 21^st Century, to have a heart to deliver someone from the grip of sin…to save them unto a relationship with Jesus Christ…what is hurled so often? “Don’t judge me!” Take it in stride Christian…what’s really being said is, “Don’t deliver me…don’t save me!” The insult has very little to do with you and very much to do with their rejection of THE Deliverer, THE Savior…Jesus Christ…(Shaphat also means “heroic leader”)

Joshua Chapter 1 Verse 1

• Moses had led the nation out of Egypt and through the Wilderness. Joshua had led the nation out of the Wilderness and into the Promised Land…but now the children of Israel have entered into a period of time where there was no standing “office” of national leadership. No outright leader and I can’t really understand why Joshua didn’t appoint a successor…maybe he did and it’s just not recorded for us…I mean Caleb is still on the scene…I don’t know…but at this time their leader was God.

• Now that certainly sounds right doesn’t it? A theocracy. A God led nation…but there was a problem…God certainly was and is the Lead, yet it’s the people that aren’t willing to follow. Why? Well think about what God commanded them to do…Drive the inhabitants of the land out completely…seems harsh, certainly uncomfortable…I mean lets be rational…If we just allow them to stay then they can serve us…cut our wood, build our cities, grow our crops…can’t we all just get along?

• That does sound entirely rational…here’s the problem. It includes forsaking the Word of God…and the result is problems almost immediately for this generation and certainly for their children and their children’s children. Whether it makes sense or not, seems rational or not, it is so very important that we trust the wisdom of God over our own senses…welcome to faith…

Judges Chapter 1 Verses 2 – 3

• Wait. I thought the fighting was over? Remember, under Joshua, Israel had broken through the strength of the Canaanite’s military yet it still remained for each individual tribe to actually go in and take possession of their inheritance.

Judges Chapter 1 Verses 4 – 7

• At first when I read this I was like, “Ummmm? What are you guys doing? Have you been watching SAW or SAW 2?” I mean sheesh, gross, they cut off the leader’s thumbs and big toes…I mean that is a brutal game of “This Little Piggie!” HA! But notice, by doing this they were actually stripping him of being able to fight…no opposable thumbs, no balance for running or training…they basically neutralized him without killing him…and turns out its pretty ironic…
• Apparently this is what he used to do to his enemies…and now it’s come back on his own head…and man oh man…it always does doesn’t it…The Bible says, “What a man sows, that also shall he reap…” (All the way down to the detail man. If you are harsh with folks…guess what? Folks will be harsh to you. If you are lazy towards serving others…sooner or later others will be lazy towards serving you…) Here is a clear and kinda grody example of that but I bet you and I have some clear and grody examples of this in our own lives too…

Judges Chapter 1 Verses 8 – 15

• Anyone else have a little de-ja-vu there? Haven’t we seen a part of that story before? Actually we have. Almost word for word all the way back in Joshua Chapter 15. I mean word for word. So what’s going on here? Is this a contradiction? An error in the Word of God…man folks either go after this hard or they just ignore it…it took some digging to find anyone that would even talk about this…
• Here’s the deal. It’s not a contradiction unless you want it to be…let’s be very clear on that…there are several good reasons we could give for finding this here in out text in Judges Chapter 1 and there is 1 that could be used to discredit the Bible…why choose the one over the many? Because you want to…
• Judges Chapter 1 is giving us a comprehensive look at the lands of inheritance and their current state…point one. Point two…one could discuss the fact that they “took” land and yet had not “possessed it.” It’s a whole argument about how they took control but not possession and so it could be that here they finally take “possession.” It makes sense and will make more sense in a moment…finally, Caleb and Joshua and Othniel were “good guys.” Heroes of this generation. Later Othniel will be named as a Judge…it could be that the writer is seeking to inspire…at any rate…we have this story included here again for us, seemingly out of place and time and yet without Samuel here to tell us…all we can do is speculate and get all confused or just read on…

Judges Chapter 1 Verses 16 – 21

• Here is an example of taking without possessing. Caleb, who we could argue from clues is the head of the tribe of Judah, takes Jerusalem and yet the Benjamites did not, could not drive out the Jebusites and so they took Jerusalem but Jerusalem would not be possessed until David comes on the scene and captures Jerusalem, possesses it to the point that it becomes his capital in 2 Samuel 5…
• That brings up a great point to end on as we are out of time…the Word of God, God’s promises, His love and His life given for you, man His desire is not for it just to be taken but for it to completely be possessed…just like this example we see here…they didn’t follow God’s Word and in that they missed out on what God had intended for them…to the point of much peril…what will you do?