The seventh book of the Bible (Judges) received its name from the men who delivered Israel during the time from Joshua to Samuel. This was a period of about 450 years. This time period showed that the prophets were necessary for the life of the elect. These people are called judges because they delivered the […]
This one hundred-year period includes a great deal of material and marks a shift from life under the judges to life under kings. The familiar stories of Eli and Samuel span this period—Eli serving as a priest and judge at Shiloh at the beginning, and Samuel serving as judge and prophet at the end. Nine […]
Week 5: Judges 4:1-24: Deliverance from the Canaanites by Deborah and Barak Chapter 3 recorded God’s work of saving Israel from the Mesopotamians, the Moabites, and the Philistines. What wonderful deliverances! These wonderful works Israel soon forgot, and the familiar cycle of history repeated itself—sin, bondage, repentance, and deliverance. One unique aspect of the deliverance […]
This article was inadvertently missed for the September issue and belongs before the article which appeared in September. We apologize for the confusion. That was the problem with Gideon’s army. Gideon did not see the numbers he had as a problem. Obviously, the men did not see the problem either. Though Gideon and his men […]
Gideon returned from the camp of the Midianites in a strong faith that the LORD was with him and that the Word of the LORD would surely come to pass. Swiftly Gideon moves into action as the leader of Jehovah’s little army of 300 men. However, leading the small band against the host of the […]
If you were at the bottom of a big hill, would you be afraid of a little loaf of barley bread tumbling down the hillside towards you? Perhaps you would not be. However, in the passage we look at this time there was a tumbling loaf of barley bread which struck fear in the hearts […]
In Judges 6:34a we read that “the spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon.” The LORD clothed Gideon in the Spirit of the LORD in order to qualify and equip him with the spiritual strength needed for the battle. The Spirit of the LORD would be his full suit of armour, his coat of mail, […]
In Judges 7:25-32, we learn of the next important stage of the history of Gideon as the God appointed deliverer of His people. Immediately, one naturally wonders whether Gideon was ready for his work as deliverer. Would Gideon, as so many did in that time, do what was right in his own eyes, or would […]
That banner was unfurled over a dark moment in Israel’s history. At the time, the Midianites covered the land like a blanket of innumerable grasshoppers (Judges 6:5). Israel had been greatly plundered and oppressed because of the Midianites. What was particularly stinging about the oppression was the fact that this situation was on account of […]
In this month—February—occurs the annual return of the day of birth of two deceased presidents of this our United States. I have reference to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They were men of stature, no doubt, courageous and daring spirits, heroic figures in their day through whose agency God accomplished His work. Numbered among the […]