The Books of Judges and Ruth

In short

ABANDON YOUR IDEA OF A JUDGE.  The “judges” in the book of Judges are tribal warrior-leaders. They are not judges – not like we mean the word.

Today I am really only going to talk about the book of Judges. Ruth takes place “in the days when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1), and we will look at her story on Friday.

Why the book of Judges is important

It is very messy. Not the writing; I mean the people. The heroes you have heard of from this book are deeply flawed. They win battles but are often poor examples of character.

Main characters

• Deborah
• Gideon
• Samson
• Jephthah

What is in the book of Judges

Not people in robes in courtrooms. They are not that kind of judge! Really!

It is a series of short stories about different regional leaders in different areas of Israel. And a few other stories.

The book gives its own summary in chapter two.

• “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served… other gods….” And the LORD let them fall into their enemies’ hands (vs. 11-15).
• “Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them” (v. 16)
• “But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways” (v. 19)

The book is 21 chapters.

• Chapters 1-2 are introductory
• Chapters 3-16 are stories of judges and the disobedient people of Israel
• Chapters 17-21 are some REALLY depressing and utterly disturbing stories that don’t give you any hope in the people of Israel.

That last section is basically two stories (chs. 17-18 and then 19-21), each with multiple events. In these two stories, the author continually repeats the phrase, “there was no king in Israel” (Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25).

Theology and doctrine

The book of Judges ends with this sentence, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” Judges 21:25.

That is not a compliment. They should have done what was right in the eyes of God.

This backdrop makes the story of Ruth even more amazing. That Ruth and Boaz (her eventual husband) were of such good character in the midst of all the corruption does give us hope after all. (And spoiler alert: David and Jesus descend from Ruth.)