Occasionally, I forget how much the grace of God has changed my life and who I am as a person. I begin to think how great I am, how spiritual I have become, what a wonderful Bible teacher I can be, bla, bla, bla. Then, reality hits me in some form and I quickly recall how fallen I am, and how reliant I am on the mercy and grace of God to be anything other than a complete scum bag. No, this isn’t false humility. I am not fishing for compliments from you the reader as in “Oh Sean, you aren’t that bad” “Sean, you are one of the good guys.” I find that every once in a while, grace seems to “lift” momentarily, and the curtain is rolled back. Time for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
That is why I love to read the book of Judges. I am using it for a weekly Bible study that I am doing, and someone asked me the other day why I chose it. The concern the person had is that is has such odd stories that often make you question who God is. Why does God allow and seem to cause war? why is there all the violence and killing in the Old Testament? How can God use dirt bags like Samson? Yes, I will allow that these questions and many more arise out of Judges. I am aware that there are people at my Bible study who aren’t even Christians, and that this is their only weekly exposure to the Gospel. Yet, Judges fits most perfectly into explaining the Gospel.
Judges shows us who we truly are, and where we would be without the Gospel. Judges shows us how callously we treat the grace of God, and how easily we forget all that God has done for us. We often live in the same cycle that the people of Israel found themselves in. Judges 2:18-19, “ Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them,the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them.” I don’t think this blog could hold all the posts that I could write about how God has blessed me and my family. Finances, health, salvation, children, and more. I don’t think this blog could hold all the posts I could write about when I was faithless in spite of God’s goodness to me. Moral failings, anger, ingratitude, and more.
How can one truly appreciate the Gospel without first admitting our great need for a Savior? Judges takes us to the logical conclusion of us doing exactly what we want to do. Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” What happens when everyone does what is right in their own eyes? Guys end up with prostitutes, blinded, and with buildings collapsed on them. Fat guys get swords stuck in their bellies until their “dirt” runs out. Concubines get raped and cut up into little pieces. Priests of God end up hawking idols and serving false gods. We are kidding ourselves if we think that man would have “progressed” or become “more civilized” without the Gospel in this world. Roman Empire anyone?
So, I know that we will have some weird conversations in my Bible study this fall. I have no idea how to explain to a second language person what Jephthah did with his daughter (actually, first language doesn’t help with this anyway). We could end up with an interesting conclusion on the value of stealing your wives from a rival clan. All I know is that Judges is the ultimate mirror for the soul of mankind, and without it, we are fooled often into thinking that we are better than we are. We neglect the great salvation, and drift toward relapse, backsliding, or worse. Thank you Jesus, that you are our ultimate Judge, who not only rules, but provides the “not guilty” verdict that we can not provide for ourselves. Bring it, Judges!
The Bible Nerd 