Judges 15-18 Samson again proves that God can use anyone regardless of their worthiness or maturity.
Judges 17 – This passage about Micah reminds me of an old sermon I heard online called “10 Shekels and a shirt”. If you have a chance I would recommend that you take a listen, or if you prefer you can read the transcript as well. Here is the description of the message from SermonIndex.Net
Paris Reidhead preaches what could be called one of the most influential sermons of the 20th century. The real point of this sermon is an indictment of individuals and organizations practicing humanism behind a mask of Christianity! "This sermon should be preached on a regular basis in every church in America!"
SermonIndex.Net Audio Link
SermonIndex.Net Transcript Link
Judges 19 and 20 Israel departed from God’s commands bringing curses on their own heads. They fought against each other killing many fellow Israelites. The events in this passage parallel Sodom and Gomorrah as well as Israel’s previous battle with AI under Joshua.
Judges 21:22 A twisting of their “oath/vow” to show mercy on the Benjamites. Why do people make rash vows? (See Matt 5:37 for the cure.)
Judges 21:25 The last verse summarizes the problem. The people did what they wanted and did not serve God. Notice the pattern throughout history, even to today.
The book of Ruth I think primarily was to show the Lineage of David. The main thing that stuck out to me was that both Boaz and Ruth were said to have noble character, something lacking from the book of Judges.
The Nature vs Nurture argument in Samuel’s case shows that nature is stronger than nurture as Samuel’s character contrasts greatly with Eli’s sons, even onto Samuel’s sons as well.
Samuel 4-6 The story of the ark in this passage is interesting. The defeat of Israel resulted in the people seeking the “ark” instead of God himself for their salvation, which failed. Yet the ark did bring distruction to the Philistines and upon return 70 Israelites died for looking inside. The combination of fear, lack of respect and idolism is mixed in to the story. If we are not solid in our faith and understanding we can easily falter.
1 Sam 7:8 The people wanted Samuel to cry to God for deliverance. They were not in relationship themselves and did not have faith and confidence that we can because of Yeshua's (Jesus) sacrifice and removal of the veil of separation. This lack of relationship and separation likely also contributed to the rejection of God as king and the desire to be like the nations around them with their own king.
Next Reading: Week 14 1 Samuel 11:1 to 1 Samuel 29:1
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