Judges: Vicious Cycles

Judges tells the tale of Israel’s history of tragedy. Here’s the sad thing. It didn’t have to go this way. They could have thrived. They could have succeeded. That didn’t happen because they chose their impulses over God’s intentions. Turning to the last page of judges, let’s take a look at two traits that trigger tragedy and two traits that lead to triumph.

Sisera, the evil commander of the Canaanites, was ready to attack the Israelites. Deborah, the best of the judges, knew that it was time for action. She called on her commander, Barak, to rally the troops and fight. Barak was Israel's general who said that he would only advance if she went with him. Without any hesitation, she said “yes.” Deborah’s example offers us three practical lessons about the power of humility.

Today we are going to look at the tragic story of a judge who made a twisted pact with tragic consequences. His name was Jephthah and he was a highly-skilled soldier who was selected to help Israel defeat the Ammonites. He was a man of fury; he was a man of ferocity; and he was a man of distorted beliefs. Jephthah incorrectly thought that he could buy God's favor. His perspective was shaped by a worldview that believed in wishy-washy gods with big tempers. That is far from the truth, though. God's favor is free and unmerited. We can learn two valuable lessons from this reckless judge.

To conclude this study on Judges, we are going to examine the story of a man named Samson. The other judges got to experience a twisted version of victory, but Samson faced inevitable defeat. He had all the potential in the world, but it was poisoned. We can identify three poisons that ruined Samson's life and can destroy ours too.