Bible in One Year Day 92 (Judges 9 -11, Ruth 4, Psalm 137)

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Day 92: Jephthah's Vow

Agape Bible Study 

Judges 9 -11 

Judges 9:1-6 ~ Abimelech's bid for Power

The city of Shechem is located about forty miles north of Jerusalem near the mountain pass between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim.     It was designated a Levitical city of refuge (Josh 20:1-3, 7) but the Canaanites had not been driven out of the city and lived side by side with the Israelites.   Gideon declined the offer to become Israel's king but he ruled like a king and gave the son of his slave girl a name that reflected the idea of his power in Israel: "my-father-is-king" = Abimelech.

The ancient city of Shechem was important in the history of the Israelites since the time of Abraham.  Shechem was visited by Abraham after his migration into Canaan from Haran (Syria).   It was at Shechem that Yahweh appeared to Abraham and promised: I shall give this country to your progeny (Gen 12:7).   There Abraham built an altar to Yahweh to commemorate the event of God's covenant promise and as a symbol of his claim to the land (Gen 12:6-7).   The city was also the setting for the tragic story of Jacob-Israel's daughter Dinah and the prince of Shechem.  

Gideon-Jerubbaal acquired a concubine from the city of Shechem with whom he had a son.   A good argument can be made from the text that Abimelech's mother was a Canaanite slave and not an Israelite:  

1. Abimelech went to his uncles in Shechem and reminded them of their blood tie by using the language of covenant kinship: "I am your own flesh and bone" (9:2b).   They took his case to the leaders of Shechem by arguing "He is our brother/kinsman" (9:3b).   If the men of Shechem were Ephraimites they would also consider Gideon's sons and grandsons kinsmen since they were from the tribe of Manasseh and also descendants of Joseph son of Jacob-Israel.
2. The rulers of Shechem are described in verses 2, 3 and 6 as the baals (baalim meaning "lords") and not the Hebrew word for town rulers which is "elder" (in Hebrew zaqen).
3. The Shechemites preferred to have a half-Shechemite kinsman rule over them rather than Israelites (Judg 9:1-3).
4. Abimelech's kinsmen worshiped and obtained money at the pagan temple of Baal-Berith in Shechem (Judg 9:4, 6).
5. Abimelech was not accepted by his Israelite kinsmen because his mother was a non-Israelite slave (Judg 9:18); one's ethnic identity came from the mother for the Israelites.
6. The men of Shechem are referred to as "the men of Hamor, father of Shechem" the pagan founder of the city (Judg 9:26; also see Gen 34:19).

A concubine is a woman who is purchased like merchandise and is considered the property of her master.   There was no marriage covenant only a property contract.   She has no rights and her sons have no inheritance rights (see Ishmael in Gen 21:8-10).   Also, if she had been an Ephraimite, her father would have probably demanded a marriage contract.

Question: How did Abimelech become king of Shechem?

Answer: He convinced his uncles that it was to their advantage to have a kinsman rule over them instead of the Israelite sons of Gideon.   They financed his revolt and he hired a mercenary army to attack and execute his half-brothers and probably their sons at the village of Ophrah.  

Question: What is the significance of the seventy silver pieces Abimelech received from the pagan temple treasury?
Answer: He received one piece of silver to pay for taking each of the lives of his seventy Israelite kinsmen.

Judges 9:7-15 ~ Jotham's Parable

This is the earliest parable in the Bible using plants as an example in addressing human morality.   For Jotham, standing on the mountain to deliver his parable, affords him a protective distance from his enemies.   It does not matter that the people of Shechem cannot hear him because the delivery of the parable in the form of a curse is what matters.   It was on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim that blessings and curse judgments of the Sinai Covenant were repeated to the Israelites in the covenant renewal ceremony in Joshua 8:30-35 that God commanded Moses to hold in Deuteronomy 11:26-32.   Shechem was over looked by Mount Gerizim to the south.

The key to the symbolic elements of the parable are found in Judges 8:22 in the offer of kingship that was made and declined by Gideon for himself, his son and his grandson.

Symbolic element	What the symbolic element represents
The trees searching for a king	Men of Israel searching for a king
The olive tree	Gideon
The fig tree	Gideon's son(s)
The vine	Gideon's grandson(s)
The thorn bush	Abimelech
Cedars of Lebanon	Leaders of Shechem

In verse 15 "shade" is a word often used in the Bible to mean "protection" as the shade protects one from the scorching sun.   A king was expected to protect/shade his people.   The thorn bush/Abimelech offers an ultimatum: his protection to those who acknowledge him as king but "fire" to those who do not.   "Fire" is often a symbol of destruction or purification.   In this case it is a symbol of destruction.  

Question: The olive tree, fig tree, and the vine all have something of value to offer: the fruit of their labors, but what does the thorn bush/Abimelech have to offer?   What is his lie and what is his threat?   What is the significance of the cedars of Lebanon, the tallest trees in the region?
Answer: The thorn tree/Abimelech has no "fruit" to offer only sharp thorns good for nothing.   Instead he lies when he promises shade/protection since the thorn tree is not big enough to provide shade.   His threat is if he is not made king that he will destroy the other "trees," no matter if they are as powerful as the great trees of Lebanon/Shechem's leaders, with fire/war in which their city and their citizens will be burned and destroyed.

Judges 9:16-21 ~ Jotham's Curse for Shechem

Jotham challenges the leaders of Shechem to an examination of conscience.   If they can truthfully say they acted in good conscience, he wishes them well.
Question: If, however, they have acted ungratefully and deceitfully what curse judgment does Jotham call down upon Shechem and Abimelech?
Answer: He calls down a curse judgment upon them that the baalim of Shechem and Abimelech destroy each other.

Question: How many times is the name of Yahweh invoked in Jotham's cry for justice and curse against the murderers of his kinsmen?
Answer: Yahweh, the God of Israel is not invoked in the parable or in the curse.   Only pagan gods are mentioned.  

Only pagan gods anoint themselves with oil (or their priests anointed the images with oil) and pagan gods are believed to drink wine.   Yahweh is never depicted reveling in the same way men do, but the pagan gods were understood as having all the same vices as men.   Jotham sought refuge in Beer, an unknown location.   Beer means well.

Judges 9:22-24 ~ God's Judgment on Shechem and Abimelech

This is the first statement of the theme of retribution.   God sending of the "spirit of discord" will set in motion the first of four stages in the judgment against Shechem and Abimelech:

1. The first battle of Shechem (Judg 9:25-41).
2. The second battle of Shechem (Judg 9:42-45).
3. The battle at the Tower (Judg 9:46-49).
4. The battle of Thebez and Abimelech's death (Judg 9:50-54).

With his mercenary army, Abimelech extended his control over the tribes of Israel for three years, some of which willingly served him (see Judg 9:55).   The wording in verse 24: and their blood recoil on their brother Abimelech who had murdered them, and on those leaders [baalim] of Shechem who had helped him to murder his brothers recalls God's words to Cain, another man who spilled the blood of a brother in Genesis 4:10 when God said Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.   The fall of Abimelech and the town of Shechem will be a divine punishment.

Question: Jotham did not invoke the name of Yahweh to bring justice to his brothers and their sons, so why does God work to bring justice to the seventy sons of Gideon/Jerubbaal killed by their half-brother?
Answer: Yahweh is the God of all men, those who believe in Him and even those who abandon Him.   He will bring retribution against Abimelech for the murder of the sons of His former servant Gideon and justice to the victims.

Judges 9:25-33 ~ Shechem Revolts against Abimelech

God's "spirit of discord" takes effect as the leaders of Shechem become dissatisfied with the kingship of Abimelech and decided to send men to ambush and kill him when Abimelech travels through the pass between the mountains.   The Shechemites are as corrupt and immoral as Abimelech and the men pass the time robbing anyone who travels through the pass.   Zebul sends a message to Abimelech at his headquarters in Aruma, telling him of the robberies but he does not take action against it (verse 25).   He is apparently not living in Shechem because he probably distrusts his subjects there (see 10:41).

Judges 9:34-41 ~ Stage One: the Battle between Gaal and Abimelech

The "Navel of the Earth" is probably the pagan name for Mount Gerizim.   

Judges 9:42-45 ~ Stage Two: Ambush of the People in the Fields and Destruction of the City

Abimelech and his men cut off the retreat to the town gate and massacred all the men and women inside and outside the walled city of Shechem.  Archaeological excavations at Shechem reveal a destruction of the town in c. the 1100's BC.

Question: Why did he sow the fields with salt?
Answer: It was his final desecration of the town to make the symbolic gesture to assure the bareness of the soil.

Judges 9:46-49 ~ Stage Three: Battle at the Temple of El-Berith

The city fortress and the temple were part of the same building complex.   The town leaders who had been inside the fortress of Shechem took refuge in the underground crypt of the temple of "god/El of the oath," El-Berith.   El and Baal are both names of Canaanite deities.   Abimelech took his men to gather wood on Mount Zalmon, usually identified as a wooded slope of Mount Gerizim or Mount Ebal which lie on either side of Shechem.   The Hebrew word zalmon in verse 48 is related to the Hebrew word "shade" or "shadow" (sel) in verses 15 and 36.   Mount Zalmon means "shadow/shade" or "dark" mountain.   He then used the wood collected from "shadow" mountain to burn alive all the leaders of Shechem and those men and women taking refuge in the crypt.

Judges 9:50-55 ~ Stage Four: Siege of Thebez and Death of Abimelech

In his insane fury Abimelech attacks a city near Shechem, perhaps a satellite town of Shechem.   Thebez has been identified as either modern Tubas, about ten miles northeast of Shechem, or Tegal which is a little closer.
Question: How was Abimelech killed?
Answer: A woman in the tower threw down the upper part (smaller part) of a millstone that crushed his head.   To save himself from the disgrace of being killed by a woman, Abimelech begged his armor-bearer finish him off, which he did.

Hand millstones used to grind grain were in two parts: the bottom stone upon which the grain was placed and an upper stone, called the "riding" or "rider" stone that was moved back and forth over the grain on the lower stone.   In Jesus' time the milling stones were a bit more sophisticated, but in the era of the Judges the hand mill consisted of a slightly concave lower stone and a loaf-shaped upper "riding" stone.   A woman could lift an upper stone (especially if she had help) and could throw it down upon an enemy .

Question: How is Abimelech's death brought about by a single stone ironic?   See Judg 9:5.
Answer:   He executed all his brothers on a single stone.

Once again we are reminded of the significant role women play in the Book of Judges.   The book began with Achsah, the wise daughter of Caleb the Gentile convert hero of the Exodus and the Conquest who was also the wife of Othniel, the first Judge of Israel.   Next there was righteous Deborah who judged Israel and led the army of Israel with her hesitant general Barak in victory over the Canaanite army of King Jabin.   And there was brave Jael who achieved the final victory by killing the Canaanite general Sisera while his mother waited for him to bring home the spoils of war.
Question: What role significant role do women play in the narrative of Abimelech and what is ironic concerning their connection to him?
Answer: The story of Abimelech begins and ends with a woman: the Canaanite slave who gave him life and the Canaanite woman who took it.

Judges 10:56-57 ~ Conclusion

This is the second theme statement.   God's judgment has been fulfilled and justice has been given the murdered sons of Gideon.

Chapter 10: The Judges Tola and Jair

Judges 10:1-2 ~ The Judge Tola

We do not have the deliverer cycle; we only the information that he belonged to the tribe of Issachar in the north and judged Israel for twenty-three years.   Even though he was of the tribe of Issachar, he lived in a village in the territory of Ephraim and probably provided leadership to the northern tribes.   He is the descendant of the Tola who is named as one of the sons of Issachar and one of the grandsons of Jacob-Israel who made the migration into Egypt (Gen 46:13; also see 1 Chr 7:1-2).   Tola is also listed as one of the clans of Issachar (Num 26:23 and also 1 Chr 7:1-5).

Judges 10:3-5 ~ The Judge Jair

Shamgar, Tola, and Jair are listed among the six minor judges (also Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon).⁽³⁾ The rule of each of the minor judges is announced by the word "after":

• After him came Shamgar (Judg 3:31)
• After Abimelech, Tola ... rose to deliver (Judg 10:1)
• After him rose Jair of Gilead who judged (Judg 10:3)
• After him Ibzan ... judged (Judg 12:8)
• After him Elon ... judged (Judg 12:11)
• After him Abdon ... judged (Judg 12:13)

While variations of the phrase "the Israelites did what was evil in Yahweh's eyes" introduces each of the major judges:

• Othniel: "The Israelites did what was evil in Yahweh eyes" (Judg 3:7)
• Ehud: "Again the Israelites did what was evil in Yahweh eyes" ... (Judg 3:12)
• Deborah: "The Israelites again began doing what was evil in Yahweh eyes" (Judg 4:1)
• Gideon "The Israelites did what was evil in Yahweh eyes" (Judg 6:1)
• Jephthah: "The Israelites again began doing what was evil in Yahweh eyes" (Judg 10:6)
• Samson: "Again the Israelites began doing what was evil in Yahweh eyes" (Judg 13:1)

Jair was the descendant of Jair of Manasseh (see Num 32:41-42; Dt 3:14; 1 Kng 4:13; 1 Chr 2:21-23).   Peace brought prosperity which is indicated by his thirty sons who rode donkeys and were the headmen of thirty towns.   The peace and prosperity of this period makes the Israelites totally unprepared for what comes next.   In the Hebrew text there is word play in the Hebrew words for "young donkey" (air), "town" (ir), and the judge's name, Jair (yair).   Jair is the first judge from the Transjordan.   He is from the tribe of Manasseh who occupied the Upper Gilead in territory north of the tribe of Gad (Dt 3:12-14).   Only Jair and Jephthah were Transjordan judges and both are from Gilead-Manasseh on the east side of the Jordan River.

This next section is presented in five dialogues within five episodes:

1. Yahweh and Israel (Judg 10:6-16)
2. The elders of Israel and Jephthah (Judg 10:17-11:11)
3. Jephthah and the Ammonite king (Judg 11:12-28)
4. Jephthah and his daughter (Judg 11:29-40)
5. Jephthah and the Ephraimites (Judg 12:1-7)

Judges 10:6-18 ~ The Oppression of the Ammonites

This part of the Judges narrative takes place on the east side of the Jordan River and concerns the lands occupied by the Transjordan tribes of Israel.   The mention of the Philistines in three verses (verses 6, 7 and 11) prepares the reader for the story of the Judge Samson and his wars with the Philistines in Judges 13:1-16:31.   The forty years the Israelites were oppressed by the Philistines on the west side of the River Jordan (13:1) may have been during the time of the oppression of the eastern tribes by the Ammonites and the judgeship of Jephthah.   At the end of the eighteen years of the Ammonite oppressing when Jephthah begins his mission to deliver the eastern tribes, we have a time reference in Judges 11:26 when Jephthah says it has been three hundred years since the Israelites first took possession of the eastern lands.   

In Judges 10:6-18 we have the repeated cycle of sin, subjugation, supplication, and salvation.

Question: How is the cycle played out in Judges 10:6-18?
Answer: (1) Once again Israel rejects Yahweh in following after false gods until (2) they find themselves in a dangerous situation they cannot resolve, their subjugation by the Ammonites.   (3) In desperation they seek help form Yahweh, the One they rejected.   But Yahweh has lost patience with their continual cycles of sin and He rebuffs their appeal.   (4) Later God relents and responds to their appeal.

Question: How is the idolatry of the Israelites worse than ever?
Answer: They not only worship Baal and Astarte as they have done in the past, but now they also worship all the other gods of the region with the exception of Yahweh.

This is the third direct intervention by God in calling down a covenant lawsuit against Israel:

1. The messenger (mal'ak) of Yahweh confronts Israel (Judg 2:1-5).
2. A prophet (nabi) sent by Yahweh confronts Israel (Judg 6:7-10).
3. Yahweh Himself confronts Israel (Judg 10:11-15).

It is also another beginning in the seven part deliverer formulaic sequence and four parts are fulfilled in this section:

1. Announcement of Israel's wrong doing (10:7)
2. Statement of Yahweh's response (10:7)
3. Notice of how long Israel was oppressed by the enemy (10:8)
4. Reference to Israel's repentance in "crying out" to God (10:10)

Question: When the Israelites cried out to Yahweh and repented their idolatry, what did God tell them?
Answer:

1. God reminded them of the times He had delivered them from their enemies in the past.
2. He has not abandoned them but they have abandoned Him and so He will rescue them no more.
3. He challenges them to go to their false gods to rescue them.

Question: The Israelites not only cried out in repenting their sins and in submitting themselves to God's divine judgment (verse 15), but what else did they do and why?
Answer: They followed their words with actions to demonstrate their contrition by destroying their foreign gods and returning to serve Yahweh.   Repenting alone is not enough.   Genuine repentance has to be demonstrated by turning away from sin and turning back to God.

The Return of Jephtha (Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini) 

Chapter 11: The Judge Jephthah

Judges 11:1-3 ~ Jephthah the Outcast

Both Gideon and Jephthah are called "valiant warrior" (Judg 6:12).   It is a title God gave Gideon in Judges 6:12 and the inspired writer gives Jephthah in the opening line of his narrative.   Look for comparisons between the two men.

Unlike Gideon but like Abimelech, Jephthah has a dubious beginning.   He is the son of a prostitute who was probably a Canaanite woman since prostitution was forbidden for Israelite women and the penalty, like that of adultery, was death.   He was raised by his father, a man we are told whose name is Gilead.   Since this is the name of a geographic region, it is possible that the man's name is unknown and he is simply identified by the region in which he lived (Num 32:1; 26:29).   Later his father marries and has legitimate offspring.   When his father dies, Jephthah is rejected by his brothers and denied any share in their inheritance (see a similar case in the story of Ishmael in Gen 21:10).   Part of the reason could be that his brothers do not consider him a kinsman because his mother was a Canaanite.   Jephthah becomes the leader of a mercenary band in Tob, a town about twelve miles and slightly north of Ramoth-gilead on the east side of the Jordan River.   This town also supplied mercenaries to the Ammonites in their wars with King David (2 Sam 10:6-13).   The men are described in the Hebrew text as "empty men," meaning soulless men with no family, country, or religious affiliation like the mercenaries hired by Abimelech (Judg 9:4).

Judges 11:4-11 ~ Jephthah is Nominated Deliver and Lays Down his Terms

Question: Who were the Ammonites?  
Answer: They were the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot and his younger daughter.  Like their kinsmen the Moabites, they lived on the borders of the Promised Land but never possessed it.

The Gileadites had rejected Jephthah, but now that they find themselves in a dangerous situation with no one else experienced enough to act as Israel's leader.   In desperation they turn to Jephthah and seek his help.   Understandably, Jephthah at first rebuffs their appeal, but later reconsiders.

Judges 11:12-13 ~ Jephthah attempts to negotiate with the Ammonites

The Ammonites demand the land that is now Israelite territory from the Arnon River (boarder with Moab) in the south to the Jabbok River in the north.

Judges 11:14-28 ~ Jephthah's response to the king of the Ammonites

Jephthah responds to the king of the Ammonite's demands by providing an accurate account of the historical events leading up to Israel taking possession of the lands in question during the last stage of the journey to their camp on the east side of the Jordan River before crossing over into Canaan.   Notice how Jephthah brings Moab into the discussion.   The Ammonite king failed to mention that the Ammonites and their Amorite allies had attacked Moab and took the disputed territory that originally belonged to Moab before Israel took the territory from them (Num 21:25-30).   The Ammonites had attacked Israel and when Israel won the battle, they rightfully kept the lands Yahweh had given them in their victory.   The account of these events is recorded in Numbers 20:14-21; 21:2131 and chapters 22-24, as well as Deuteronomy 2:19-37.  The god Chemosh who Jephthah mentions in verse 24 is not the god of the Ammonites but the god of the Moabites.   In other words, Chemosh did not give the land to the Ammonites; their god is Molech.

Jephthah mentions both Ammonites and Amorites.   The Ammonites are the descendants of Lot and his younger daughter.   The Amorites were one of the primary groups of peoples in the land of Canaan before the conquest and can simply refer to the basic population of the whole area on both sides of the Jordan River.   The kings Israel fought for the disputed territory were Amorites: king Sihon of Heshbon and king Og (Num 21:21-35; Dt 1:4; 2:24-37; 3:1-13). They were the allies of the Ammonites who received the newly won territory for their support and as a border defense for the Ammonites.  

The Daughter of Jephthah (Alexandre Cabanel)

Judges 11:29-33 ~ Jephthah's Vow and his Victory

Verse 29 is the fifth part in the deliverer sequence for Jephthah: the announcement of God's spirit with a deliverer (in other sequences expressed as "raising up" a deliverer).   That the "spirit of Yahweh was on" the deliverer is the same expression that was used for Othniel (Judg 3:10) and Gideon (Judg 6:34).   Jephthah is the people's choice, but God does give their choice the power to succeed by covering Jephthah with His Spirit.   However, God never talks to Jephthah directly as He dialogued with Gideon or through His prophet as the prophetess Deborah instructed Barak.   The tragedy is that we know that Yahweh' spirit was on Jephthah to give him what he needed to achieve victory, but apparently Jephthah didn't know it; therefore, he attempts to bribe Yahweh with a vow.   Victory means everything to him.   He was an outcast and now he is not only accepted but honored as a leader.   If he loses the battle, Jephthah fears that he will lose everything.  

Judges 11:34-40 ~ The Consequence of Jephthah's Vow

Did Jephthah intend that the whole burnt offering be a human sacrifice?   He must have.   While it is true that animals sometimes shared a side room of living quarters on the first floor of a dwelling or the first floor of a two-story dwelling, he had to know that it was likely either his wife or his daughter or a slave would be the first to open the door to greet him (animals don't open doors).   That he does not name the person only means he is leaving the choice up to "destiny," giving him an excuse for his behavior.

Jephthah's vow is similar to foolish vow by King Saul which could have costs his son his life if the people had not intervened to prevent it (1 Sam 14:24-30, 43-45).   In the case of Jephthah's daughter, no one intervenes.   It is a shocking turn of events since Yahweh never condoned human sacrifice and it is expressly forbidden in the Law of the Sinai Covenant.
Question: What is the penalty for someone who offers a child as a sacrifice?   See Lev 20:1-5.
Answer: The penalty for someone who sacrificed a child was death.  

This event of the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter cannot be compared to God's command to Abraham to offer Isaac in sacrifice since that was a test of obedience (Gen 22:1) which God stopped before any harm could come to Isaac (Gen 22:11-12).   Some commentators have expressed the belief that Jephthah's daughter remained a virgin consecrated to Yahweh; it is a nice thought but does not fit the text in which Jephthah declares in verse 31 that whatever emerges from his house will be offered as a "whole burnt offering."   Such a profane sacrifice could not, by the way, be offered at God's one Sanctuary and sacrificial altar.   The priests of Yahweh would have refused and would have strongly condemned the offerer.

Question: How can a man who has the spirit of Yahweh upon him do such a despicable act as offer human sacrifice to God?
Answer: The problem begins with the vow itself which was a bribe.   You cannot bribe God.   In addition God's Spirit calls us to holiness and a life set apart as in the Sacrament of Christian baptism, but a human being still has the free will to act with righteousness or not.  

The tragedy is that Jephthah knew Israel's history and he "knew about" Yahweh, but he was so far from truly "knowing" God through His covenantal Law and liturgy of worship that he did not seem to understand that the fulfillment of such a terrible vow was an evil act.   Perhaps because he had been influenced by pagan worship where the offer of bribes for blessings in the form vowed offerings was the practice and in which human sacrifice was practiced as the ultimate offering.   It is possible that he didn't dare to resend his vow in the superstition that all the power and acceptance he had won would be taken away.

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A Daily Defense

DAY 92 The Practice of Celibacy 

CHALLENGE: “The practice of celibacy is unbiblical. Paul describes forbidding marriage as a ‘doctrine of demons’ (1 Tim. 4:1–3).”

DEFENSE: Celibacy is grounded in Scripture, including the writings of Paul. 

Celibacy is the state of being unmarried. This is not the condition most people are called to, but it is for some. In the Latin Church, most ordained ministers are celibate, as are many in Eastern Catholic Churches (CCC 1579–80). This is a matter of discipline rather than doctrine, and it could change for sufficient reason. 

However, being unmarried allows clergy to fully consecrate themselves to Christ and his service. It also conforms them to the model of life adopted by Christ during his ministry and by all the saved in the next life (Matt. 22:30). 

The way the discipline has been practiced has varied in different periods, but it is far from unbiblical.

Although Jesus recognized marriage as a good instituted by God (Matt. 19:4–6), he was celibate (see Day 25), and he recommended celibacy to those who could accept it (Matt. 19:10–12). 

Celibacy is also discussed by Paul. He indicates that he was celibate and wished everyone was, though he acknowledged it is not everyone’s calling (1 Cor. 7:7, cf. vv. 1–9). 

In view of the conditions of his day, he counseled the unmarried to remain as they were, noting it would spare them worldly troubles and allow them to be single-minded in their devotion to Christ. Yet he acknowledged that it was not sinful for them to marry (1 Cor. 7:25–38). He also appears to recommend celibacy to Timothy as a minister (2 Tim. 2:3–4). 

With this background, we can understand what Paul means when he refers to forbidding marriage as a “doctrine of demons.” He is not condemning celibacy, which he both practiced and recommended. He is condemning the idea that nobody should marry, that marriage is somehow immoral (a view endorsed by some heretics). In the same letter, Paul endorses vows of celibacy. When discussing an order of consecrated widows, he said, “Refuse to enrol younger widows; for when they grow wanton against Christ they desire to marry, and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge” (1 Tim. 5:11–12). He therefore recommended that younger widows remarry and avoid violating the consecrated widow’s vow of celibacy (vv. 14–15).

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 91 (Judges 6 - 8, Ruth 3, Psalm 135)

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Day 91:  Gideon's Response

Agape Bible Study 

Judges 6 - 8 

Chapter 6 ~ Part I: The Call of Gideon

 

The narrative of the judgeship of Gideon can be divided into two sections:
Part I: The description of the period of Israel's sin and subjugation by the Midianites and their allies until Gideon's call as a deliverer.   Through the miracles God works for Gideon, he is able to achieve victory over Israel's enemies (Judg 6:1-8:3).
Part II: The description of Gideon's leadership until his death (8:4-8:28).

 

Judges 6:1-6 ~ Israel is oppressed by the Midianites and their Allies

In verse 1 we have another of the repeated statements announcing Israel's covenant failures: The Israelites did what is evil in Yahweh's eyes... (2:11; 3:7, 12 [twice]; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6 and 13:1); this time their oppressors are the Midianites and other nomads who lived east of the Jordan River.

Question: Who are the Midianites, how are they related to the children of Israel, and why do they inhabit the lands to the east in the Transjordan (east of the Jordan River)?  
Answer: After Sarah's death, Abraham married a woman named Keturah by whom he had five sons.   The fourth son by Keturah was Midian.   When these sons reached adulthood, Abraham sent them away to "the lands to the east" (Gen 25:6) so they could not present a danger to his one heir and inheritor of the covenant with Yahweh who was Isaac, Abraham's son with Sarah.

The confederation of Midianite tribes was counted among the "peoples of the east" (Judg 6:3, 33; 7:12).   They were nomadic tribes that mostly occupied the desert lands in the Arabian Peninsula but their clans and settlements extended as far north as Syria.   They formed alliances with the peoples of the Negeb and the Transjordan like the Kenites, Amalekites, Moabites, Ammonites and Ishmaelites (Num 10:29; 25:6, 15, 16-18; Judg 1:16; 6:3, 33; 8:24).   The Biblical designation "the land of Midian" (Ex 2:15; Hab 3:7) probably refers to the center of Midianite territory in northwestern Arabia along the Gulf of Aqabah's eastern shore to the east of the Sinai Peninsula (1 Kng 11:18).

Gaza, a Philistine city mentioned in verse 4, was located in southwest Canaan about three miles from the Mediterranean coast.   The implication is that the entire land was devastated by the Midianite camel raiders and their allies from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean coast.
Question: In what ways did the Israelites suffer under the continued attacks by the Midianites and their allies?
Answer:

1. To escape from Midianite attacks, the people were forced to hide in the mountains and in caves like animals.
2. In the planting season their enemies would camp within Israelite territory and constantly raid their villages, destroying their agricultural crops.
3. They confiscated the Israelite livestock and pillaged the villages.

Question: Why were they destroying the crop when it was planted instead of waiting for the harvest?
Answer: They were probably raiding at seed time and at harvest.   The intention wasn't just to steal from the Israelites; the intention was probably to starve out the Israelites and force them to leave the land.

The inspired writer compares the Midianites and their allies to locusts.   This metaphor describes the way the enemy destroyed everything in their path like a plague of locusts.   The same comparison will be made in 7:12 to describe the huge numbers of the enemy.

Judge deliverer cycles 1-4 for Gideon are fulfilled in this passage:

1. Announcement of Israel's wrong doing (6:1)
2. Statement of Yahweh's response (6:2)
3. Notice of how long Israel was oppressed by the enemy (6:1a)
4. Reference to Israel's repentance in "crying out" to God (6:6-7)
   
   The other parts of the cycle will be fulfilled in:
5. Announcement of God "raising up" a deliverer (6:11-14)
6. Description of how deliverance was achieved (6:33-35; 7:1-25; 8:4-21)
7. Concluding statement of how long peace lasted (8:28)

Gideon Thanks God for the Miracle of the Dew (Maarten van Heemskerck) 

Judges 6:7-10 ~ A Message from God's Prophet

That the Israelites "cried out" to Yahweh (verses 6-7) is the fourth part of the deliverer cycle.   God's response is not to send a deliverer but that He "sent" a "man prophet."   

Question: Is there a point the inspired writer wants to make? What is the purpose of explicitly stating that this man-prophet is a man?   
Answer: The point is this prophet is a man as opposed to the last prophet mentioned in the Book of Judges, the nabia issa Deborah.   The contrast is that this man prophet does not come to set in motion the process of deliverance like the prophetess Deborah.  Instead he comes as God's prosecuting attorney to deliver another covenant law-suit indictment in accusing the Israelites of covenant infidelity and in forgetting God's acts as Israel's Savior and divine King.

Question: What is the prophet's message from God?   
Answer: It is a personal message given in seven first person pronouns to remind the Israelites of the miracles God worked to liberated them in the Exodus and the gift of the Promised Land.   The message ends in a concluding summary statement:

1. It was I who brought you out of Egypt, and
2. I led you out of the place of slave-labor.
3. I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all who oppressed you ...
4. I drove them out before you and
5. I gave their country to you.
6. And I said to you:
7. I am Yahweh your God.   You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now living.

Concluding statement: But you have not listened to my voice.

Seven is one of the so-called "perfect numbers" in Scripture (3, 7, 10 and 12) indicating divine perfection in fulfillment or completion especially in God's plan (for example, seven days in a week and God rested on the seventh day and Jesus' seven saying from the Cross, etc.); see the document "The Significance of Numbers in Scripture.

The summary statement But you have not listened to my voice is repeated from Judges 2:2 and is a reminder of God's warnings that the Israelites must "listen" to God's voice and obey (for example see Dt 4:1; 7:12; 11:13; 15:5; 27:9, etc.) and their promise to be obedient to His commands (Ex 24:3, 7 and Josh 24:16-24).   God is frustrated with Israel's cycles of sin, subjugation, supplication and deliverance.   The prophet is sent to caution the Israelites against presuming that every descent into apostasy that brings divine judgment can be remedied by an appeal to elicit deliverance.

Gideon's Call (Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld) 

Judges 6:11-16 ~ The Angel of Yahweh appears to Gideon

Up to this point, the coming of Yahweh's messengers has been associated with judgment (2:15 and 6:7-8).   But after Yahweh's prophet delivers a message concerning Israel's covenant failures in verses 8-10, God sends another messenger; "the messenger of Yahweh" is a divine messenger who appears with his staff (6:21) sitting under the terebinth tree belonging to Gideon's father in Gideon's village.   The terebinth is a tree common to the lower regions of the hill country of Canaan/Israel.  Its broad, spreading branches, great size and long life made it a tree that was venerated by the inhabitants of Canaan/Israel.

Gideon's father, Joash, is the leader of the Abiezer clan in the tribe of Manasseh.⁽¹⁾ Despite Gideon's claim (6:15), his family is depicted as prosperous (Judg 6:19, 25, 27) and his father, as the leader of the clan and owner of the terebinth tree he sits dispensing justice like Deborah under her palm (Judg 4:5).   You will recall that sitting under Deborah's Palm Tree in 4:5 was the setting for the commissioning of Barak.

Question: Why is it significant that the messenger of Yahweh now takes Joash's place and sits under the tree belonging to Joash?
Answer: Taking Joash's place sends the message that there is now a new authority that is above Joash.   It is this authority who will begin the process of deliverance for Israel by commissioning of Gideon as Deborah commissioned Barak sitting under her Palm Tree.

The difficult choice for Gideon will be to whose authority will he submit himself: to his father's authority or to the authority of the messenger/angel of Yahweh?   The angel finds Gideon hiding in a wine press threshing grain.   A wine press is sunken into the ground and is therefore a more effective hiding place for the grain than a threshing floor.   A threshing floor is usually on higher ground where the wind can carry away the chaff that is tossed into the air.

The angel addresses Gideon as "valiant/mighty warrior," a form of address that shocks Gideon because he is not a mighty warrior, he is a farmer.
Question: What is the point of the divine messenger's address?
Answer: The point is that he will become a "valiant warrior" if he obeys God's divine call.  

Gideon is hesitant to believe in the divine presence of Yahweh.   He is at a disadvantage because he had not been raised to know Yahweh by a faithful Israelite family.   His father and the people of his village were apostates who had built an altar to Baal upon which they offered sacrifice.   Most Biblical scholars believe that Gideon's name is from the Hebrew verbal root which means to "to tear down" or "to cut off."   It is a name that will be fulfilled in his first act as God's agent (verse 25).   Gideon does know something of the history of his people since he refers to the Exodus liberation.   

Question: In Gideon's rather rude response, of what does he accuse God and is his accusation founded on truth?
Answer: He accused God of abandoning the Israelites; however, the truth is God has not abandoned Israel; the Israelites, like Gideon's father, have abandoned God.

Question: Barak was commissioned by a prophetess of God sitting under a tree to set in motion the deliverance of Israel, but who commissions Gideon?   
Answer: God Himself.

Gideon has received an answer to why God has not rescued his people from the Midianites.   It is because it was not yet time for a deliverer and now he discovers to his shock that he is that chosen savior!
Question: What two reasons does Gideon give for not being able to accept the commission?
Answer: His clan is the weakest (probably meaning the least numerous) in the tribe of Manasseh and he is not his father's heir.

Judges 6:17-24 ~ Gideon Asks for a Sign

Gideon is beginning to believe that it is indeed Yahweh or His messenger who has called him, but he must be sure so he speaks respectively of how privileged he is to have found favor with God (like the heroes Noah, Abraham and Moses before him in Gen 6:8; 18:3 and Ex 33:12), and he requests a divine "sign" so he can be certain.   He asks Yahweh to wait until he returns with an offering and God graciously agrees.   The food offering Gideon brings is disproportionally large.   The flour to make the bread alone was the equivalent to about 22 liters.   The food was probably intended to be eaten in a communal meal as a sign of friendship.   This was a common custom as in Isaac's meal with Abimelech (Gen 26:29-30) or Jacob's meal with Laban (Gen 31:53-54), but Gideon knows that the way the offering is received will be the "sign" he is looking for.

Question: Yahweh accepts the offering and uses it to provide the "sign" Gideon requested.   What does He command Gideon to do with the offering and what are the three "signs" of divinity that Gideon receives?
Answer: Yahweh commands Gideon to place the pot of meat and unleavened bread rounds in the basket on a rock and to pour the broth over them.   Then, touching the tip of His staff to the rock, God gave three signs of His divinity:

1. He does not consume the food as a human man would do.
2. He consumes the food offering in fire.
3. He miraculously vanishes.

Question: What is Gideon's reaction and why is he afraid?   
Answer: It is understood that any sinful human who comes face to face with God cannot survive His awesome holiness that is so far removed from human unworthiness.  Anyone who remains alive after seeing God is therefore astonished and overwhelmed with gratitude since it is a favor God rarely grants.   Gideon is afraid because he fears he will not survive the experience.

In Gideon's accusation that God had abandoned Israel because He had not saved them from their enemies as He had in the Exodus liberation, Gideon was indirectly alluding to a deliverer from that time.  

Judges 6:25-32 ~ Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

Question: Yahweh gives Gideon his first test of obedience.   What is he commanded to do and why?   How does this test concern his relationship with God and with his father?  
Answer: He his commanded to make war against the Canaanite cult of Baal by demolishing the town's altar to Baal and to cut down the cult object associated with it that are sponsored by his father.   Then, he is to build an altar to Yahweh in its place and offer in sacrifice the seven-year-old-bull of his father which is to be burnt on the wood of the cult object.  Gideon must choose pleasing his divine father over pleasing his physical father.

Gideon not only passes his test of obedience, but he fulfills the meaning of his name from the verb "to tear down."  Sacrifice and worship were restricted to take place at God's altar of sacrifice at His Sanctuary unless permission was expressly given by God to erect an altar and offer sacrifice at another location (prohibition: Lev 17:1-7; Dt 12:11-12; exception as in the covenant renewal ceremony in Josh 8:30-35).  

As Gideon feared, the townspeople were angry when they discovered the Baal altar was destroyed.
Question: How did they threaten Gideon and how did his father defend him?
Answer: The people threaten to kill Gideon, but his father defends him by arguing that if Baal is a true god he will defend himself and if not, he is obviously false.  

Gideon's father has to choose between the townspeople or his son, but fundamentally, he must choose between Baal and Yahweh.   His son's courageous act has left him no middle ground.   He cannot serve both Baal and Yahweh.   He chooses his son and Yahweh and further declares his choice by threatening to execute anyone who attempts to defend Baal.   This is a pivotal moment in salvation history for Joash and the people of Ophrah.

Question: What is God's point in destroying the people's pagan altar and pagan cult object?
Answer: The real problem that the Israelites are facing is not their oppression by the Midianites but the lack of their relationship with Yahweh.

Judges 6:33-40 ~ The Midianite Invasion and Gideon's Sign of the Fleece

As Gideon is undergoing his ordeal in his hometown, the Transjordan enemies of Israel have launched an attack by invading across the Jordan from the east and setting up their war camp in the Jezreel, a valley containing some of the best arable land west of the Jordan River.  

Question: How does God prepare His divinely chosen deliverer?
Answer: God "clothes" Gideon with His divine spirit.

In the New Covenant in Christ Jesus God fills and indwells His people with His Holy Spirit (for example see Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; Rom 8:11), but in the Old Covenant the usual expression is that God's spirit "rested" or "clothed/came upon" God's chosen ones (i.e., Num 11:25-26; 1 Sam 10:6; 16:13).

Gideon calls for the blowing of the ram's horn (shofar) signal to rally the tribes to war.   His own tribe of Manasseh is the first to respond followed by the northern tribes of Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali.   The tribe of Manasseh occupied lands on both sides of the Jordan River.   Gideon's clan lives on the west side but the clans on the east side also rallied for war (Judg 7:23).

Gideon has another crisis of faith and asks God for another sign to authenticate his mission.   The sign is not to answer the question of when or how he should lead the Israelites into battle but if he should lead them at all.     God does not even rebuke Gideon.   Gideon's imperfections only serve to magnify for us an appreciation for God's grace.

Question: What two ways does he offer a test for a sign of God's divine Presence with him in his mission?   What is the answer?
Answer: He presents a wool fleece with the request that the night dew only fall on the fleece and not on the ground.   When this fleece-test is fulfilled he asks for the reverse.   God, in His patience, grants the second sign and the fleece remains dry while the ground is wet.   Gideon has his answer: God is with him.

It is not unexpected that the dew should collect on the fleece which Gideon realizes; it is then that he asks for the reverse sign.   The miracle for Gideon is in the reverse sign.
Question: Why does Gideon need further proof that God has called him when he has seen the earlier signs like the fire theophany and is now "covered" with God's Spirit?   How is Gideon like all of us?
Answer: Like all of us, Gideon is still a fallen human being who struggles to maintain his faith and to render obedience to God.   Being "clothed" in the Spirit of God in Gideon's case or being baptized in the Holy Spirit in the case of a person who has received the Sacrament of Baptism does not change our personalities nor are we rendered immune from sin and doubt.   The path of salvation is one of continual conversion and continual submission.

Gideon chooses the three hundred (J. J. Tissot) 

Chapter 7: Gideon's Campaign against the Midianites and their Allies

 

Judges 7:1-8 ~ Yahweh Prepares Gideon's Army

Gideon's military camp is south of the enemy camp but at a higher elevation so he has a good view of the large enemy camp (7:8, 9).   That there are too many people with you...' God says for the intended victory in our human understanding seems incredible, but ours is an incredible God.  
Question: Why does God announce that He will reduce the number of Israelite warriors?
Answer: He does not want to Israelites to claim the victory through their superior numbers but instead to acknowledge that their victory is through God's intervention.

Question: How many times does God reduce their numbers and how many warriors are left?
Answer: He reduced their numbers twice until there were only 300 men left.

The number three hundred may be literal or symbolic.   It is the multiplication of the two perfect numbers three and ten.   In sacred Scripture the number three represents that which is solid, real, substantial, and something in its completeness, and ten is the number of divine order.   God has reduced the Israelite army to the perfect number of men to create a force of commandos who can surprise the enemy by striking quickly and with deadly force.

Judges 7:9-15 ~ Yahweh Gives Gideon Encouragement

Having the advantage of viewing the enemy camp from a higher location must have unnerved Gideon.   Gideon is still the reluctant and fearful deliverer.   He is not yet the "valiant warrior" that God wants him to be.   God works with us as we are and knows what greatness we are capable of even when we lack courage or self-confidence.  

Question: Why does God send Gideon down in secret into the enemy camp?
Answer: Knowing Gideon's fears, God gives him a sign of encouragement from the camp of the enemy.

God knows our fears and weaknesses as well as our strengths.   God also encouraged His chosen agent Joshua before his first battle in Joshua 5:13-15.   God even allows Gideon to take his servant with him in the same way Moses was allowed to have his brother Aaron with him for moral support (Ex 4:13-17).   We are reminded that it is not fearlessness that is the indispensable requirement for God's deliverer to achieve victory, but it is obedience to God that is necessary.

Judges 7:16-22 ~ Gideon's Surprise Attack

Gideon divided his men into three companies of a hundred warriors with each warrior carrying a ram's horn and an empty pitcher with a lighted torch inside.   Notice they are not carrying swords in their hands.   It is the third night watch when they go down to encircle the enemy camp.   Prior to the Roman conquest of the Levant in 68 BC, the Israelites observed the 12 night hours divided into three "watch" periods.   The third watch was from about 2 AM to dawn, so it was about 2 AM at "the beginning of the third watch" when the Israelites set out. They encircle the enemy camp, and when Gideon and his men blew their horns and smash their pots followed by the other two groups, the sudden noise and flashes of light in the darkness startled and unnerved the enemy who in their panic turned their weapons on each other.   Gideon has deployed his men but God has achieved the victory.

As the enemy flees toward the fords of the Jordan River, Gideon doesn't want any to escape.   He musters the warriors that had been dismissed from the first raid.   He is also aware that the enemy may attempt to cross the Jordan by going south into the lands of Ephraim, and so he sends messengers to the Ephraimite clans to pursue the enemy.   The Ephraimites cover the fords as far south as Beth-Barah, an unknown site but presumably on the southern border of Ephraim.   The names of the sites where the two Midianite chieftains were killed on the west side of the Jordan are still known in the time of the inspired writer. Gideon has already crossed over the Jordan River into the Transjordan where he will continue the fight.   The Ephraimites bring Gideon the heads of the Midianite chieftains to his camp as proof of their success.

Question: What is interesting about the place name of the site where the Midianite chieftain Zeeb/Wolf was killed in relation to the beginning of the story of Gideon?   
Answer: The story began with Gideon hiding in a winepress when God first called him "Valiant Warrior."   Now, with his first victory with the help of God, his story has come full circle at another winepress and he has become the "Valiant Warrior" God called him to be.

Judges 8:1-3 ~ The Ephraimites Take Offense

This seemingly out-of-place section which breaks up the momentum of the war narrative will be important later for two reasons:

1. It demonstrates Gideon's humble nature and diplomatic skills which will be contrasted with the events in the next section of the narrative (8:4-17).
2. It shows the Ephraimites' sensitivity to their place among their tribal brothers that will lead to trouble in Judges 12:1-6 and later in Israel's history during the period of the United Monarchy.

Ephraim and Manasseh were the half-tribes of Joseph.   Ephraim was supposed to have precedence over their brother tribe of Manasseh even though Manasseh was Joseph's first born (Gen 48:10-14).   The Ephraimites were very jealous of this prerogative and they perceived it as a slight that a member of the lessor tribe of Manasseh did not call upon them at the first of the battle against the Midianites and their allies.   Their challenge to Gideon is insulting since no one from Ephraim had the initiative or the divine call to take up the fight against Israel's enemies
Question:   How does Gideon respond to their challenge?   Notice the imagery he uses in the metaphors of "gleaning" and "vintage."
Answer: Gideon handles the dispute with grace and diplomacy.   He acknowledges the supremacy of Ephraim in verse 2b and gives credit for the victory to God.   He uses the double metaphor of gleaning (what is gathered up after the harvest) and vintage (the grape harvest itself), but he uses the metaphors in an unusual context by saying in this case the "gleaning" or the capture of the enemy chieftains by the Ephraimites, is greater than the "vintage," the initial "harvesting" of the enemy in the battle he led.

His humble response placates them.    Up to this point he has been the model of the Mosaic hero: humble, fearful of offending God, reverent, and obedient.   He has also been in a continual discourse with God.   Part II will reveal changes in Gideon's character, and we no longer have evidence of God's direct interaction with His deliverer.

Chapter 8:4-35 ~ Part II: Gideon's Campaign in the Transjordan

 

Judges 8:4-9 ~ Gideon Pursues the Enemy to the East Side of the Jordan

Either the narrative is now out of sequence and we return to when Gideon and his men crossed the Jordan into the Transjordan lands before the incident with the Ephraimites in 7:25-8:1-3 or this is a different campaign.   The three hundred selected in 7:1-8 apparently continue to be Gideon's vanguard commando force.   They pursue the Midianites and the allies across the Jordan into the region of the Transjordan on the east side of the river near the village of Succoth and Penuel to the east of Succoth.  These sites are also mentioned in the Jacob narrative; it was at Penuel where Jacob wrestled with God (see Gen 32:23-31 and 33:17).   The villages are located in the tribal lands of Gad and are occupied by Israelites from that tribe (Josh 13:24-28).   When Gideon requests food for his exhausted men, his request is rudely denied by both towns.
Question: How is Gideon's response to their rudeness different from his response to the Ephraimites?
Answer: He makes no attempt to court their support and instead threatens them.

Judges 8:13-21 ~ Gideon's Acts of Revenge

After defeating the Midianites and their allies, Gideon returned west toward the two Israelite towns of Gad to fulfill his threat with chilling ruthlessness.   His men capture a young man from Succoth and force him to write down the names of the chieftains and elders of his town (notice that the young man is literate; there is historical evidence of the literacy of Israelites in this early period).   Gideon kills the seventy-seven (probably a symbolic number) elders of Succoth but his violence escalates against Penuel where he not only tears down the tower but slaughters all the men of the town.   After years of war and military success, how has Gideon's character changed? He is no longer the humble and diplomatic young deliverer he was in his first campaign.   His is now confident, arrogant, and cruel.

Question: What has happened to Gideon?   How is he no longer the image of a Mosaic liberator?   
Answer: It appears that his successes have delivered him into the sin of pride.   He is no longer the humble deliverer in the image of Moses.

Landscape with Ruth and Boaz (detail) (Joseph Anton Koch)

Judges 8:22-28 ~ Israel's Offer to Gideon and his Refusal

For the first time we learn that Ishmaelites were among the allies of the Midianites.
Question: Who are the Ishmaelites?   
Answer:   They are the desert nomads who are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Sarah's Egyptian slave girl Hagar.

The seventeen hundred shekels of gold in verse 26 amount to about 49 pounds of gold.
Question: The Israelites offer to make Gideon king over them.   What is his answer?
Answer: To his credit, Gideon refuses and acknowledges Yahweh as the only king over Israel but he asks for a king's ransom in gold as a donation from each warrior.

Question: What does Gideon do with the gold?
Answer: He makes a gold object and sets it up in his hometown where the altar of Baal used to stand.

Question: Gideon's request for gold earrings is eerily similar to what other request for gold earrings used to make an object of idol worship?   
Answer: It is reminiscent of Aaron's request for the earrings of the Israelites to make the idol of the Golden Calf.  

The Gideon narrative cycle concludes with the announcement of the years of peace brought by Gideon's judgeship: 28 Thus Midian was humbled before the Israelites.   He did not raise his head again, and the country had peace for forty years, as long as Gideon lived.    

Judges 8:28-35 ~ Israel Relapses into Idolatry

These verses serve as the conclusion of the Gideon narrative and as the introduction to the story of Gideon's son Abimelech.   After Gideon's death the people began to worship idols again.   The sin of idolatry in the Bible is imaged as both adultery and prostitution (i.e., Jer 3:8-9; 5:7; Ez 16:1, 30-43; 23:37).   Baal-Berith was the god of covenant oaths and contracts and therefore a deity important to merchants.   Israel, engaged in doing trade with the Canaanites, was making covenants in violation of Deuteronomy 7:3.   They had forgotten God's mighty works on their behalf and the works of His deliverer Gideon.   The Israelites lacked both faith and gratitude.   But for the first time in the narratives of the Judges, 8:27 makes it clear that the descent of the people into the "sin cycle" begins not after the judge's death but during the judge's own lifetime, and the judge is himself a contributor to it!   It foreshadows the evil that is to come.

Ruth, Boaz, Naomi (Philip Hermogenes Calderon) 

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A Daily Defense

DAY 91 How Do You Know It Isn’t All Symbolic? 

CHALLENGE: “By allowing Catholics to interpret the six days of Genesis 1 in a symbolic way (CCC 337), the Church sets a dangerous precedent that could undermine the Faith. If this is symbolic, how do you know other things—such as the Resurrection aren’t?“ 

DEFENSE: Everyone recognizes that Scripture contains symbolism. It’s a matter of correctly identifying it. 

It can be tempting to reflexively classify things in Scripture as literal (or symbolic) to avoid sorting out the difference, but we must undertake this task. 

Humans use both literal and symbolic speech, and we constantly discern the difference, often without being conscious of it. If someone says we need to “roll out the red carpet” for a dignitary, English speakers intuitively recognize this is a non-literal way of saying he needs to be given a special welcome. It is an expression known for its non-literal use in English. 

When we encounter writing from other cultures, it can be harder to tell literal from symbolic since we are less familiar with their literary conventions, but it can be done. All recognize that the biblical prophets used symbols and Jesus told parables. This shows we can learn to recognize non-literal forms in Scripture. Often symbols are identified by cues in the text that reveal they are not literal. 

For example, the creation of the sun on the fourth day, when the sun’s presence is what makes it day, is a cue the days of Genesis 1 are not literal (see Day 90). No human witnessed the creation of the world, and Genesis, written somewhere around 1000 B.C., was penned long after the event. Genesis 1 is more likely to be non-literal than a text written soon after an event and using eyewitness testimony. 

The latter is what we have with the Resurrection of Jesus. The New Testament was written within a few decades of the Resurrection and was composed by or in consultation with eyewitnesses (cf. Luke 1:2, John 21:24). It also contains emphatic statements about the Resurrection’s reality (cf. 1 Cor. 15:1–20). We need have no fear that recognizing parts of Scripture are symbolic will undermine the Faith any more than Jesus’ use of parables does.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist