Some Final Thoughts on Judges

Things often start a lot better than they end. If there was ever a time when the promise of the future seemed brightest, when hope was the most alive, it would be the beginning of Judges.  When I started reading it, I was rooting for Israel. Come on people! You can do it! You have everything …

Judges 17 in Memes.

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Here is Judges 17 as told by Internet Memes. I’m pretty sure I hit all the main points.

Judges 10: God the Abused

When I first started reading Judges, I thought God had set up a system that felt, well, abusive. He would be with the people as long as they worshiped him and kept his commands. When they turned to idolatry, he would hand them over to their enemies. Then when they realized they were wrong, he …

Judges 8: The Addiction Nation

There’s a lot to be said about Judges 8. We could talk of Gideon’s violent revenge on those who refused him and his army food. We could talk about how he tried to make his oldest son, who was still a child, slaughter two grown men. But I would rather talk about Israel’s propensity towards …

Judges 2: Prologue

Everyone loves a prologue right? In movies, they give you the history of Middle-Earth, or the Allspark (wow, two Transformers references in as many days!) In books . . . well, I can’t think of any right now. It’s been a long day. But have you ever seen a prologue in Chapter 2? No! I knew …

Deuteronomy 27: The Downward Spiral

Do you ever think there is significance to the order in which things are listed in the Bible? I’m not sure if Deuteronomy 27 qualifies, but I want to play with the idea for a bit. Humor me today. Okay? The chapter contains a list of 12 curses that the entire Israelite society is supposed …

Deuteronomy 13: Let Us Follow Other Gods

Disclaimer: I am not advocating what is in the title. Read chapter 13 and you will know why.  Well, I have recovered from the hangover of chapter 12 and feeling like the light of my computer screen will no longer give me a headache. So it seems like a good time to dive back in. …

Deuteronomy 9: Pop Quiz, Israel!

Alternate title: “pop quiz-rael”. boom. Hey guys, God here. Now that you are about to enter the land I swore to your ancestors, I’d like to give you a test. Don’t worry, it is just to see if you have been paying attention. Seriously, these are going to be softballs. Ready? 1) True or False: …

Deuteronomy 7: Chiasm

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Have you ever heard of a Chiasm? It is a writing technique used in the ancient world, similar to a three-point essay today. Readers would have known how to spot them and what to do with them just like we know what to do with a thesis statement. Here is the basic format of a …

Deuteronomy 4 part 2: No Eye Has Seen

Deuteronomy 4 was so rich (and LONG) a chapter that I decided to break it up into two parts. You can read part 1 here. But let’s not waste any more time! Who’s with me?! Let’s Go! While many of the themes of obedience and story continued in the second half of the chapter, Deuteronomy …