Time now to start looking into the fun things to be found in the book of Judges. I got the impression while reading this book that it was meant to show that "bad things" happen to Jews when they stray from the "true religion." There's lots of good material to sink our teeth into here. We start with one of my personal favorites, part of the story of Gideon.
Judg 6:25-31 That night the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it; and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down." So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the LORD had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night. When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. So they said to one another, "Who has done this?" After searching and inquiring, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." Then the townspeople said to Joash, "Bring out your son, so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole beside it." But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down."
OK, it's time for a little bit of logic here. Joash's son, Gideon has been off at night, doing God's work. Notice that God didn't do the work -- Gideon did it. When the locals found their altar to Baal desecrated, they were understandably angry, and went after Gideon, looking for their version of justice. The interesting thing here is that Joash uses some rather twisted logic. He says that if Baal is really a god, he should do his own dirty work (which really is quite logical) -- simultaneously ignoring the fact his own God YHWH had just benefitted from the work done by Gideon and 10 heplers in the night. I rather think it's odd that this story has been handed down for generations, presumably as an object lesson on dealing with people of other religions.
Comments?
