04/23/2019 DAB Transcript

Judges 1:1-2:9, Luke 21:29-22:13, Psalms 90:1-91:16, Proverbs 13:24-25

Today is the 23rd day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is always, every day, a pleasure to be here with you around the global campfire taking the next step forward as we continue our journey through the Scriptures. And we finished the book of Joshua yesterday, which brings us to the book of Judges, which is what comes next after Joshua, but it’s very different than either Joshua or Moses leadership.

Introduction to the book of Judges:

The book of Judges will lead us all the way to the times of the kings of the monarchy and that’s where we’ll be by the time we finish Judges. So, this book, Judges, traditionally was authored by the prophet Samuel. Many modern scholars don’t really feel that he could have been the sole author of the book. They believe that many sources were drawn together because the book of Judges covers many generations with Samuel being the final judge. So, it makes sense that he would be involved in recounting Judges. And it’s a good time to point out that Judges isn't…like…it’s mission isn’t to talk about judgments, it’s not the book of judgment, it’s the book of Judges and the Judges were the people who were the leaders after Joshua. And, so, we’ll find that the time after Joshua, during the time of the judges, is a bit more somber than in the time of Joshua with all the drama and conquest. Judges is what comes next and we’re about to watch the children of Israel as they fall away and walk away from their covenantal relationship with God and suffer some of the consequences of that back-and-forth that becomes their story. So, in this book we will encounter 13 judges that led the children of Israel after Joshua. They didn’t have a king yet, as we’ve mentioned. And, so, they were the rulers. And the culminating story in the book of Judges illustrates how one thing builds on another, every decision bearing weight on a greater outcome and how little subtle decisions by seemingly unrelated and relatively unimportant people ended up bringing on the terrible annihilation of an entire tribe of Israel. So, the book of Judges was probably written somewhere around 1000 BC. So, it’s obviously several thousand years ago, but ironically, we shouldn’t have much of a problem finding ourselves in this book. It will resonate with all of our stories. We’ve all had the back-and-forth in our relationship with God. We’ve all been able to experience the joy of intimacy with God but some of the repercussions of allowing that relationship to falter and us willingly walk away from it. And at the same time, God doesn’t ever not have His arms outstretched toward us asking us to come home. His words are never not return to me, come back. And, so, with that we begin. We’re reading from the English Standard version this week. Judges chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 9.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You that as we continue through this week and moving our way day by day towards another month that You have been faithful to us every day and You have spoken to us in many deep ways and You are transforming us from within, from the inside outward and we thank You for that. And as we move into the book of Judges and we begin to see what comes next we ask, Holy Spirit, that You begin to help us see ourselves in these stories because we’ve watched the generations rise up and finally be able to go into the promised land and we will certainly see how the cultures all around them do in fact become a snare to them and what happens next. And, so, Father, You have brought us on this path and we have seen much. We don’t want to go on that path anymore, the path that will lead us away from You, and we’ll see us walking away from You even as You’re standing there with Your arms out saying, “don’t do this.” We have done that many times. And, so, now as we enter into this territory in the Bible where we can see this happening to a whole people we ask that You make our own story clear to us. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

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