In this book we read the disturbing account of how the Israelites take on the customs and beliefs of the Canaanites, even after God has been so faithful to bring them into the promised land - they turned their backs on His ways. 

HINT: If you read about something from nature in your Bible, make it your ambition to find that thing and use it as a bookmark for that section. Fig leaves, olive branches, lilies, etc. We need to keep making the Word tangible and real for ourselves because it is! 

LOOK UP:
(information)  -  encounter God through the Scripture 

Author:

It is unclear who wrote this book. As with many of these early Old Testament books, as you know by now, authorship was not the main concern. Imagine if you wrote down the worst thing that you have ever done on a piece of paper - would you want to sign it with your name? This book tells us about the lowest low that the Israelites reached, and it was not a source of pride but rather served as a stepping stone into what comes next. 

Audience:

This book is a tragedy that just shows us what happens when people do not have a righteous King. It explains the brokenness of being human, and why it was necessary for God to send a King to come and live among the people. It leads us into the following books when King David is introduced, and into the rest of God’s story, until Jesus is introduced as the blameless King. 

History:

The name “Judges” does actually not refer to what we think when we hear the word. The title “Judges” was given to the leaders among the people, they were more like a chief of a tribe. 

This post gives a good overview of what happens in the book as a whole.

Genre:

Judges is a historical book that you can read like a history textbook - it is very disturbing, depressing, and scarring but it serves to help the people of God to not make the same mistakes again.  

LOOK IN:
(revelation)  -  contemplate / reflect on our own lives

Key verse:

Judges 8:34 NIV

The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side

Inspiration:

Has there been a moment in your day today where you did not remember the Lord your God? Imagine what it was like for the Israelites. Take a pen and mark all the ways that they were being tempted and distracted in the new land. In the wilderness, it was just them and God - but now there were so many other enticing things. Write down the things that come across your path to distract you from God’s ways.  

LOOK OUT:
(transformation)  -  respond with creative worship action  

Drawing prompt:

The tribes of Israel mentioned in this book are also mentioned in Revelation 21. Go read about the significance of these 12 tribes for the New Jerusalem (God’s Kingdom after Jesus returns) and then draw a picture to bring it to life. You can draw the temple with the 12 gates as it is described in Revelation and then write the names of the 12 tribes above each gate.

Bible Journey with JournalOwl:

Here are some questions / prompts provided by the JournalOwl community. 

• Where did the man that was spared by the house of Joseph go and what did he do? (Judges 1:26)
• Who was with Joseph against Bethel? (Judges 1:22)

Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.

Writing prompt:

What we read about in the book of Judges is that the Israelites compromised their holiness by taking on the practices of the Canaanites. God called them to be holy and set apart, and to not become like the people who were morally corrupt. 

Is there a situation of compromise in your life? Write down a prayer of repentance and ask God to help you to get breakthrough in this area. 

Prayer:

God, I want to thank you for the book of Judges. Help me to never become like the Israelites of this time, to never forget just how far you have brought me and delivered me. You have fulfilled your promises to me, just like the promised land, even if I cannot see it yet. Help my unbelief.  Let my response to this text be worship unto you!