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 wonderful to be here with you today as we greet a brand-new shiny week out in front of us. And as we begin this week we’re moving into some new territory, some brand-new shiny sparkly territory as we navigate into the book of Judges.
Introduction to the book of Judges:
When we hear that name (judges), we can easily think this is a book of judgment but that’s not the purpose of the book of Judges. Let’s just look back for a second. We know that the children of Israel…that that whole story began with Abraham and Isaac, and then Jacob. And we know Jacob’s name was eventually changed to be Israel. And then his children became known as what they were, the children of Israel. And we know that those children grew up and proliferated and became the tribes of Israel while they were in slavery in Egypt. We know that they were freed from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. And we spent an entire generation in the wilderness with the children of Israel before we were able to finally cross the Jordan River. Like, it took from Genesis to Joshua to get there but we finally crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, and it was Joshua who led the people across the Jordan. Yesterday, as we enter the book of Joshua, Joshua died. So, now as we turn the page the land is settled. Not every single corner of the land is settled, but the tribes have been granted their land as an inheritance. And, so, they have their boundaries and they’ve moved in. And Judges is the story of what happens next, and we’ll watch. Without this…this dominant leader the tribes will begin, as we will be told in Judges quite a few times, that they begin to do whatever seems right in their own eyes. It’s like Judges is very, very much trying to make that point. The people are doing whatever seems right in their own eyes and that will bring challenges. And we get to begin to observe patterns that…that mark ancient Israel’s existence. Judges will take us through the next several centuries, beyond Joshua and we’ll find the story of Israel’s slow and steady abandonment of God. And over time they begin to suffer the repercussions of their choices as they had been warned by Moses and Joshua both. And then we’ll see that in their misery they will remember. In their suffering they will remember in their wilderness again. They will remember and turn to God and cry out in repentance and we’ll see that God is relentless in coming for them and He answers them by sending a leader which is called a judge to lead the people forward. Hence the name Judges. But Judges is also kind of a bridge between two different ways of doing things. And, so, we’re moving from this period of Joshua. The children of Israel had been led by Moses and Joshua a certain way. Like, they were prophetic voices. They heard from God. And we will move through this time of the judges which will take several centuries and we will and Judges with the children of Israel wanting a king, which escorts us into that the time of the monarchy when Israel had a king. And we’ll get to know some of those kings. We’ll get to know all of them briefly but some of them we’ll get to know very well as we continue our journey forward. So, what we’re about to read as we embark on the journey of Judges, it will be a bit different than what we’ve been reading. It’s not gonna be all pretty but it will give us plenty to consider in our own lives because we’ll see it’s these little things that pull Israel in little…little bits of directions, moving in certain sorts of directions that they keep moving in that are unhealthy. And we still do that today. And since Judges is going to take us through several centuries, so really fast through time, we get to look at where the pathways lead. And, so, with that we begin. We’ll read from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Judges chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 9.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us safely and successfully into a brand-new week and that this brand-new week has brought us brand-new territory in the Scriptures as we’ve begun the book of Judges. And we ask Holy Spirit that You will lead and guide us as we take steps forward every day, that we might hear from Your word and apply it to our lives and that we might center ourselves in You and that we might pause and allow Your leadership in our lives instead of just running off in our own directions doing what is right in our own eyes as we will learn from the book of Judges. Come Holy Spirit into this week, lead and guide us that we might reveal You in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Coming soon…