The youth group was shocked at their leader’s claim: “The Bible is full of R-rated stories.” “Really? Where?” they asked. “I’m not telling you,” he said.
It’s true. The Bible is rife with sordid stuff. In fact, God told Israel to “completely destroy” the inhabitants of the Promised Land and take their place in Canaan (Deuteronomy 20:17-18). Why? Because of the Canaanites’ depraved religious practices.
But the Israelites failed in that mission. The book of Joshua tells of their inability to eradicate the inhabitants. The book of Judges tells the sad story of what happened next. The Israelites were enticed to worship other gods, and sex was a big part of this idolatry (Judges 2:12,17).
The Canaanites “worshiped” the god of agriculture with fertility rites that included temple prostitution. Not surprisingly, Hebrew males found such a system to be appealing. Let’s see, sex with a prostitute, and my crops grow? Right, I’m in. And the part about having a god you could actually see seemed real nice too. Soon, it was impossible to tell the Israelites from the Canaanites, and God’s chosen people were enslaved by tribes that they should have annihilated—per God’s commands.
So why is Judges, with its narrative of debauchery, dismemberment, and death, included in the Bible? Two primary reasons that I can see:
• It’s true. The book of Judges doesn’t tell about a nation’s greatness, it shows the human race as it really is.
• It reveals God’s ways. This R-rated book shows the unexpected deliverance that comes from our infinitely surprising God (v.16).
When we follow God, we choose His help and blessing. But that help seldom comes in the form that we expect. The book of Judges gives us a glimpse of His loving creativity in spite of our willful rebellion.
More:
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all His commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world (Deuteronomy 28:1).
Next:
What is tempting you to turn away from God? In what ways are you demanding results now, rather than waiting patiently for the Lord?
mberg1012 on May 23, 2009 at 8:47 am
Why are you flouting the rules for capitalization of proper names? Doesn’t this contribute to the poor state of our education in this country, where teachers are letting the old rules slide? Or do you think that I am just an old fuddy-duddy? What would Jesus think?
Ed. on May 26, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Hi, Mberg1012. Thanks for your post. I think you might be referring to our decision to lowercase the authors’ names (and also the titles of the devotional blog posts). In keeping with the informality of blogging, we have made a purposeful decision not to capitalize these elements. In all other situations, however, we will do our best to use proper grammar and syntax in each of the regular bloggers’ daily posts. You may notice from time to time that someone responding to a post is not following all the grammar rules and if we see spelling or grammar errors that would prevent the reader from understanding the content, we’ll correct those. Otherwise, we are allowing this casual style to prevail. One other note: We DO always capitalize the names of God and any pronouns of deity. Thanks for letting us know of your concerns. We very much appreciate your input on this subject and it also gives us the opportunity to explain something that others may be wondering about.
regina franklin on May 23, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Tim–
Thanks so much for an insightful look at Judges. For the past few years, my husband and I (along with our leadership team) have been following a Bible reading plan that takes us through the Bible in a year. Every time we come to Judges, I find myself provoked to thought by stories of the men God chose to use. How much does our society today look like that of the apostate nation of Israelites from the Old Testament? Makes me think twice before shaking my head.
I think the book of Judges also begs the question as to what the older generations in the church are imparting to the younger. If the values are not in us, and we follow only because someone else does, what happens when the older generation is gone (Joshua 24:31, Judges 2:7-11)? Godly wisdom and character must be imparted to the next generation; we must never assume the next generation will know how to act or what to believe. Judges shows us what happens when godly leadership remains silent or ceases to exist.
jamiesreid on May 23, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Tim,
As always I enjoyed your blog and found it to be thought provoking and inspiring. In my own life there have been countless confirmations of the point you made that God’s help seldom comes in the form we expect. Lately I have been learning to walk with Him more. It is quite challenging but His ways are superior to ours. When we think that we know better and follow our own will we always end up in serious trouble.
Jeremiah 6:16-19