Hey there Delilah

SAMSON AND DELILAH

I guess I always thought this was supposed to be a love story. I have the same feeling now that I had when I saw the second act of West Side Story. The first half makes you so excited. Love! It makes everything grand! Then after intermission it tears your heart out and you wind up sobbing down the aisle as some older woman hits her husband and says, "See! I wasn't the only one bawling, Henry!" For those of you who don't know (spoiler alert) here's what happens:

Judges 16:18-21 When Delilah realized that he had told her his whole secret, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "This time come up, for he has told his whole secret to me." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. She let him fall asleep on her lap and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken and his strength left him... So the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes.

Dying a virgin

Jephthah told God that if he would have the Ammonites given into his hand the first person he saw come out of his door at home he would offer as a burnt offering. When he came home his daughter ran out to meet him. He tore his clothes and was very sad. She asked if she could have two months to wander in the mountains with her friends and woe her virginity and how she would die without ever sleeping with a man.

There arose a custom of the daughters of Israel to go out and lament the daughter of Jephthah for four days.

This story made me cry. First, that her father had to come home victorious and rather than be happy to see his daughter he was so sad because he had to offer her up to God as a sacrifice. Second, that she never got to know love. Third, that she's not even mentioned by name. Poor Jephthah's daughter. What a sad fate.

Son of a prostitute

Judges 11:1-2 Now Jephthah the Gileadite, the son of a prostitute, was a mighty warrior. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. Gilead's wife also bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, " You shall not inherit anything in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."

What jerks! Well, let me tell you, he doesn't need his brother's and father's love or money. He becomes a judge for 6 years and helps save Israel. Unfortunately, his daughter...well, you'll read about it next time.

By the way, how do you think Jephthah is pronounced? I keep tripping over it in my head. Is it Jep-tah or something completely different?

Trees

Judges 9:7-15

The Parable of the Trees

The trees once went out

to anoint a king over themselves.

So they said to the olive tree,

'Reign over us.'

The olive tree answered them,

'Shall I stop producing my rich oil

by which gods and mortals are honored,

and go to sway over the trees?'

Then the trees said to the fig tree,

'You come and reign over us.'

But the fig tree answered them,

'Shall I stop producing my sweetness

and my delicious fruit,

and go to sway over the trees?'

Then the trees said to the vine,

'You come and reign over us.'

But the vine said to them,

'Shall I stop producing my wine

that cheers gods and mortals,

and go to sway over the trees?'

So all the trees said to the bramble,

'You come and reign over us.'

And the bramble said to the trees,

'If in good faith you are anointing me

king over you,

then come and take refuge in my shade;

but if not, let fire come out of the bramble

and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'

The Song of Deborah

Deborah was a prophetess. Her story starts with Barak who went on a mission to take Mount Tabor. On the way he almost gets caught but is rescued by Jael. When his persecutor, Sisera, tries to find Barak in her tent here's what happened:

Judges 5:25-26 He asked for water and she gave him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl. She put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; she struck Sisera a blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.

This is a direct excerpt from a song. It's no Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice but it paints quite a picture!

He must be relieving himself...

Rather than write a commentary about the story of the second judge I think everyone should take some time out of their day and read it. This guy was tricky!

Judges 3: 14-30

The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him. Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them."Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Judges

Judges 2:16-19 Then the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen even to their judges; for they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them... Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge... But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, worshipping them and bowing down to them.

Isn't that the way it always is? Especially with young children. You put a double scoop hot fudge sundae in front of a child and say, "Don't eat this or I'll be really mad." They probably won't eat it right in front of you but leave the room. No really, leave the room and I beat you a sundae they'll eat the whole thing. In some cases the food will be all over their mouth as they tell you how they don't know anything about the missing delights. The fudge will be dripping down their faces as they say, "No, I didn't eat it. I promise." Probably the worst idea is to give them a second, third, or in God's case TWELFTH chance. Those people ate a lot of sundaes...

I'm not saying that sundaes are other gods. I am saying, however, that you owe me a sundae or twelve.

Thumbs and Big Toes

Judges 1:6 Adoni Bezek fled; but they pursued him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

They pursued him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. That's crazy!! Not only will your enemy's balance be off now but he won't be able to tie his shoes, open a jar, or throw a baseball. Not a life worth living if you ask me.

I chose a short passage to start what will be a long string of Judges posts. There are so many great stories in Judges it's going to be hard to do them all justice but this is definitely a good start.