After the Israelites came in and conquered most of the land, the people of God began to be led by judges. Since Israel’s form of government was a theocracy - meaning it was led and directed by the Lord - his appointees to oversee His people were called judges as they judged matters in the land on behalf of the Lord and in His power. This period was known as the judges period and we will list off the judges and a few of the things they were known for during their time in leadership. Meanwhile during this time the tabernacle was in the cities of Gilgal and Shiloh - it was a traveling dwelling place as the Lord stayed with His people.
Othniel - ruled for 40 years and was the first judge
Ehud - the Moabites were oppressing Israel so the Ehud met with their king one on one under the pretenses of telling him a secret. The king was very fat and when Ehud stabbed him with a dagger, the handle sank in his belly and the fat covered it! He was also left-handed in case you were wondering.
Shamgar- all you need to know about this guy is he struck down 600 philistines with an ox-goad! Ox-goad you ask? Think of a modern day cattle prod.
Deborah - not only a judge, she was also a prophetess. In ancient cultures to give this must credit to a woman proves she was a really big deal as the Lord appointed her to govern Israel. As a matter of fact there was a man mentioned in her story, Barak, and he said “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me I won’t go” (Jud 5:2) So when the military commander is begging you to go into battle with him, you know she’s one bad mama jama. Another woman is mentioned in her story too - Jael - who hammers a tent peg through the fleeing kings head. If you don’t think the Lord appoints women to positions of leadership - please avoid reading this chapter of the Bible.
Gideon - the Lord reduced Gideon’s army from nearly 32,000 men to 300 in order to show He was the one in charge of the victories in case any one had forgotten and used those 300 men to defeat the entire army of the Midianites. Over the years Gideon did great things but he did make one mistake - he made himself a golden ephod which ended up causing the Israelites to prostitute themselves by worshipping it and also became “a snare to Gideon and his family”. Ephod you ask? Think of a high-end apron w/ gold and jewels.
Abimelech - This guy was a pretty evil ruler. He killed 70 of Gideon’s sons and his brothers to take power. Really nothing good to say about Abimelech but it’s worth noting that he died when he was attacking a tower and a woman through an upper mill stone from the top and it hit him in the head and killed him. So far in the book of Judges - Women 3 Evil 0. No comment on theological ramifications of this 3-0 defeat. Oh and upper mill stone you ask? Think huge rock used for grinding grain. Grinding grain you ask? Okay just think huge rock…
Tola - a mountain main who saved Israel, that’s all you get
Jair - loves the number 30 - 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys and controlled 30 towns.
Jephthah - his mother was a prostitute and his own family banished him from an inheritance. When things started to get bad in Israel, however, they came to him and begged for his help. The Lord used him to deliver Israel from the oppression of the Ammonites.
Ibzan - all that’s notable is he gave his daughters in marriage to those outside his clan and brought in outside women to be wives for his sons.
Elon - well…he was a judge who lived, led, died, and was buried.
Abdon - this guy had lots of donkeys - 40 sons + 30 grandsons = X? X = 70 donkeys
Samson - the first real personification of a “jock” as we’ve come to know it in the West. He’s extremely strong and loves dealing in riddles but the women in his life continue to get him into trouble. One wife tricks him into telling her the answer to his riddle, and she in turn tells those trying to solve it the answer. He ties 300 foxes tails together and lights them on fire and sets them loose in the fields of his enemies to burn it down. He kills 1000 men with a donkey’s jawbone. I mean this guy’s exploits are larger than life. Eventually a woman - Delilah - was his downfall. She kept tricking him until finally he revealed his strength came from his long hair so she cut it and he was captured and they gouged out his eyes. His last feat was to bring down the temple they were using to imprison him and allow the public to mock him killing over 3000. Modern “jocks” are known to let their brawn outweigh their brain and you see this with Samson - just read Jud 16.
Eli - also the high priest. Eli had 2 sons Hophni and Phineas who were evil and were corrupt in their running of the temple. He mentored and took in Samuel but continued to let his sons lead. Eventually his two sons were killed in battle and the Ark of the Covenant was taken by the Philistines. This was a BIG deal - this is where the presence of the Lord resided in the temple and on the battle field. Upon hearing the news Eli fell over in his chair and broke his neck and died. Philistines you ask? The Philistines are worth mentioning b/c they are constantly at war with God’s people. They are a “sea people” and likely from the areas surrounding Greece based on speculation with archaeological finds. They likely came to the Levant around 1200 BC just after the fall of Troy. The Levant you ask? It’s a French word you’ll likely encounter outside the Bible when people discuss the Middle East. The term means “rising” as in the sun rising from the east. The French operated in this area after WWI and the name kinda stuck. (The Ark of the Covenant and design of the temple as well as the sacrificial system are laid out in Exodus & Leviticus so it’s worth a look to understand these elements of Israelite culture and worship.)
Samuel - the last great judge who the Lord called and eventually appointed the first king over Israel. He was also a prophet. Samuel also who two sons, Joel and Abijah, who were both also technically judges but they were evil and the people did not want them to take over after Samuel and they requested that he give them a king instead of another judge because they wanted to be like all the other nations. If you’re still following along - they were once ruled by God and now they wanted to be ruled by an earthly king - or so they think…
The themes constantly running throughout the Judges period are forgetfulness and disobedience which leads to the people needing to be delivered and the Lord appoints Judges to act on His behalf in this “deliverer” role. There are numerous phrases that show up again and again like, “and they did evil in the eyes of the Lord” and “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him” showing that the Israelites were repetitively disobedient and it was the Spirit of the Lord who was doing the work through these Judges.
Now before we enter into the kings - let’s recap where we’ve come by way of the characters we’ve encountered:
Adam - Seth ~ Enoch ~ Noah - Shem ~ Terah - Abraham - Isaac - Jacob/Israel - 12 tribes - Moses (Levite) - Joshua (Ephraimite) - Othniel - Shamgar - Deborah - Gideon - Abimelech - Tola - Jair - Jephthah - Ibzan - Elon - Abdon - Samson - Eli - Samuel
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