Day 38 - 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge - Judges 1 - 4 - The Great Adventure A Journey Through the Bible

Day 38 

90 Day Bible Reading Challenge 

Judges 1 - 4

Bible Time Period: Conquest and Judges 

You led Israel triumphantly into the Promised Land.  They failed to teach their children, and instead did what was right in their own eyes:  Help me to keep my eyes on you and teach others what is truly right. 

Prayer 

Holy Lord, we acknowledge that a holy God deserves a holy people.  But we must confess, Lord, that as individuals and as a covenant people that we often fail to persevere in holiness.  The remedy for this failure is repentance in acknowledging our sins and in our petition for forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with You.  We are promised that You never reject a humble confession of guilt and that You are always ready to extend Your mercy and forgiveness.  Send Your Holy Spirit to guide us in our study of the Israelites in the era of the Judges.  We pray that their failures will be a lesson for us that vigilance in living a holy life and that continual repentance and conversion are necessary on the journey to salvation.  We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.   

Reflection

Forty years after the Exodus out of Egypt, Joshua successfully led a new generation of Israelite holy warriors to conquer the “Promised Land” of Canaan through their faith and trust in God and their obedience to His commands.  However, the succeeding generations failed to remember the mighty acts of God in the Exodus out of Egypt and in the conquest of Canaan.  In their forgetfulness and ingratitude they became a disobedient and idolatrous people who came to be oppressed by their enemies until they repented their sins.  When they repented, God sent them warrior judges to deliver them from their oppressors.  The Book of Judges is the account of the generations between the conquest of Canaan and the time of the monarchy.  It is a time in which the Israelites continually strayed from God and “everyone did as he thought fit.”

Today we live in a time that is in many ways similar to the times of the judges of Israel, where many have strayed from their faith and trust in God, failed in their obedience to God’s commands, and have choosen to  live by the non-code of “do what feels right.”  The Book of Judges tells of the painful consequences of rejecting God’s divine authority and also speaks of the mercy that God extends to those who return to Him in repentance and faith.  (Agape Catholic Bible Study, Judges Lesson 1) 

Purpose
The purpose of Judges is to demonstrate that the fortunes of Israel were related directly to whether the people served the Lord exclusively and observed his covenant faithfully.  The account covers over three hundred years between Joshua and Samuel. (Catholic Bible Dictionary Editor Scott Hahn, page 491)

Summary 
In Judges we read how, over and over, Israel fell away from God into idolatry - and then into anarchy and even civil war. But at the darkest hours, God raised up "judges," soldier-prophets who rescued the people of Israel from their enemies.  But as soon as they were safe, they forgot about God again, and the cycle started all over.  (Understanding the Scriptures - A Complete Course on Bible Study, page 176)

Today's Reading
Judges 1 - 4

Commentary 

Discussion Boards Day 38
Agape Catholic Bible Study Commentary Judges 1:1 - 2:5
Agape Catholic Bible Study Commentary Judges 2:6 - 5:31
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Art
Prophetess Deborah - Gustave Dore