Judges for me is the first time I've come up with a case of writer's block for a book of the Bible. It's not that it's a bad book, It's just that it is very hard to write about it without coming across as a condescending prick. I know as a man of my faith I should not be afraid of going out and speaking on it, but I still want to be respectful to people who do not share my views. I do not want to become another example of a religious extremist that is so blinded by his faith that I ignore the goodness of people who may differ in beliefs. Jesus was crucified on the cross to save everyone, and I extend that to all people who are well in truly good at heart. That is the belief that I have been raised to follow.
Judges is really about the stupidity of humanity. There is no beating around the bush on that statement. Even one of the Bible's legendary heroes, Samson, was just an idiot in this book. I'll go into greater detail, but the long and short of it is that without some sort of leader to lead them, the people of Israel just straight up ignored all the rules and agreements they made to God. I mean it is not like this is the being that could straight up wreck people if he wanted, oh wait yes he is.
After the death of Joshua, God began appointing Judges to act as his steward in dealing with the people of Israel, thus the name of the book. The more logical of you might think this to be normal, after all there has to be line of succession in leadership, otherwise things will fall into chaos. Aristocracies has family lines, and democracy has it's elections. This is not the case in Judges. Judges were not appointed to take over the lead of Joshua as you would normally expect, instead they were appointed each time Israel began falling out of line.
It is very apparent that God had intended to let Israel be after Joshua. He already given all of his rules through Moses, and he had secured a foothold for them in the promised land with Joshua. I mean what else did God have to do? It's not like the Israelites would be foolish enough to start breaking the covenant with the being that delivered them from slavery and performed great miracles for them. Did I mention that this book was about Humanity's stupidity?
So we have the cycle of Isrealites forget God, God reigns hot vengeance on them, they pray and remember God, God feels sorry and sends them a Judge to lead them, Judge dies for some reason (normally old age but there is an exception), Israelites forget God. I do concede that the people that forget God are probably younger generations that did not first hand witness the glories of God, to which I have to say: YOU DARN BRATS. (I try to leave cussing out of these posts due to the nature of the content it is covering.)
I have to say though, even the Judges were not exempt from the plague of stupid that has occurred in the book. The most famous of the Judges, Samson, was by no doubt a man whose brain bowed to his loins. I mean what other reason did he let Delilah live after she tried to kill him twice? It's not very common knowledge, but Delilah was a skilled prostitute. So obviously, she had worth to the man she tried to murder twice, and for some reason she finally got his secret. The worst part of it all, was that God specifically created Samson. Yup, Samson was directly made by God. It is so good to see he turned out to be a wise ruler of his people.
I apologize for all the Sarcasm I have here, but as I said, this is a hard book to write about without sounding condescending. The big point of all this though is to point out all the problems God had in dealing with a singular group of people. I mean we have the great, wise ruler of all the cosmos trying his hardest to do everything right for his chosen people, and all they do is the normal human crap of ignoring him till they need him. That's what Judges is all about, sharing the frustrations God had dealing with the Israelites.
In all the books up to now, we have seen God experiencing an ever growing range of emotions, joy over his creation, lots of anger over various things, regret over the flood, and now frustration. I've wondered before, why doesn't God just wipe us all out? Why does he make such efforts for beings that just end up betraying him. It's not over any sense of duty due to the Israelites and all the other people constantly breaking covenants. Now as I read further, I can think of only one thing that could possibly be the answer, Love. God well and truly loves the world and his creation.
Obviously he hasn't been the best at expressing it yet. But if we take all of his actions in the context of a new love, it all begins to make sense. The garden of Eden would be akin to starting a new relationship. Everything is paradise up until you start truly learning about one another. Then the fights begin, some of them may turn violent as we learn to deal with these new emotions. and sometimes you ignore each other until you realize you need them again. It sure explains why god does not just wipe our minds into robots that just follow his every whim.
I believe that is what God has been learning through the books I have been reading. God is learning how to best love humanity. I know my words sound preachy and stereotypical of any religious person in these modern times, but upon thoroughly reading the bible, that is what makes sense to me. I am 1/5th of the way through the bible. I am looking forward to reading the rest. The next book is special to me. My Grandma name is Ruth, and that is my next book to read.
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