Judges at a glance

JUDGES

 

The 7^th book in the Bible whose author is most likely the Prophet Samuel. Tradition tells us that it was written in 1050 BC. The time period covered in this book is 1350 BC to 1050 BC. The book of Judges contains stories of a famous female judge & a female assassin.

 

The Purpose of writing this book was to show that God’s judgment against sin is certain, and restoration to relationship are just as certain for those who repent.

 

The Setting of the book is the land of Canaan, later called Israel. God had helped the Israelites conquer Canaan, which had been inhabited by a host of wicked nations. But they were in danger of losing this Promised Land because they compromised their and disobeyed God.

 

Stories told ...

 

1) Judge Deborah & Barak defeat their enemies at Canaan. (Judges 4)

 

2) Gideon defeats the Midianites with only 300 men. (Judges 6)

 

3) Delilah deceives Samson and steals his strength. (Judges 16)

 

Important Points found in this book:

 

1) There was a time when God wanted to be head of Israel and for the people to trust in Him instead of in a king. The Book of Judges covers that time period.

 

2) During those 300 years, Israel was served by a series of 15 judges. Some were very good, like Deborah and Samuel. Some were very evil like Abimelech who had 70 of his half-brothers killed in a conspiracy to become king.

 

3) The judges often made poor, unethical choices because they didn’t seek God for their decisions but did things on their own. However, they had God as their king, which kept them out of deep trouble.

 

Key Verses:

 

“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” - (Judges 17:6)

 

“So he told her everything. ‘No razor has ever been used on my head,’ he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as an other man.’” - (Judges 16:17; Samson speaking to Delilah)

Next time we’ll take a look at the book of Ruth ... Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His glory,

Rich Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: Books of the Bible at a Glance; published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 18, 2018); The Life Application Study Bible.

Note: I took my information from this lengthy compilation of bible book information for all 66 books of the Holy Bible & the margin notes from the study bible.