Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Judges is a book full of bloody and wicked stories. I tell you that not only so you can

prepare your own heart for it, but in case you're concerned about little ears

listening in.

Depending on who's counting, this book covers anywhere from 160 to 410 years in its 21 chapters.

Some people think some of the judges overlapped. So this is just a high-level

account of what happened with each of the 12 judges in this time period. By the way,

we have to reframe our understanding of the word judge in accordance with this book and time period.

For the most part, these aren't courtroom judges. These are civil and military leaders,

more like a very hands-on president who enacts laws and commands the army.

Of all the judges in this book, the one who sticks the closest to what God has ordered

is a woman named Deborah.

But you're probably more familiar with the bad judges like Samson or the

mediocre judges like Gideon. At this point in its history, Israel is still a

theocratic nation state. Being a theocracy means God rules the country, not a king or a president.

There is no separation of church and state.

This kind of system may sound like a great idea, but having God as your leader doesn't mean

you follow him.

The problem is the human heart.

It doesn't respond to laws.

It responds to what it loves.

And if you don't love God, you will find his rules repugnant and irrational, and you'll rebel against him.

You may recall from yesterday that even though Israel is dwelling in the Promise Land,

...