When God told Samson's parents that they would have a son, He was reluctant to reveal His name. "You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it." (Judges 13:18). In such a dark and violent book as Judges, there is something very significant in these words.

We also discussed what is called, "the worst story in the Bible" - the levite and his concubine. Where is God in this story?

 

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This book opens with a king having his thumbs and toes cut off. It ends with the story of a woman being raped all night, left for dead, and then being dismembered and with the body part sent to all 12 tribes. That is just a sampling of the extreme violence and cruelty in this book. Gideon asked the question that we will ask in this Bible study:

 

"What happened to all the wonderful things that our fathers told us the LORD used to do--how he brought them out of Egypy?" (Judges 6:12) In other words, "Where is God?" in this book?

 

 

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The book of Joshua describes the military escapades of God's people as they entered the Promised Land. Entire cities were wiped out. The women, children and babies were killed. And, God helped them. Joshua asked that the sun stay in place so that he and his men would have more time to kill the heathen - God complied.

For some, this book would serve as "exhibit A" that God sanctions war under certain circumstances. Yet, we really don't get this from Jesus. Why was there ever a time for God's people to kill their enemies rather than loving and praying for them, as Jesus told us to do?

Can Christians today support military conquest "in the name of Christ" even if the cause is to "protect the innocent"? The book of Joshua is a good place to ask these questions.

 

 

 

click here to watch the powerpoint slides with the lecture

click here to download the lecture

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Fighting, fighting, fighting! Achan and his entire family are stoned to death for disobeying. God keeps the sun from setting so that more killing can take place. Orders for babies to be killed and horses to be hamstrung. How do we reconcile "eye for an eye" language with Jesus who told us not to live that way?

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This book begins with a man having his thumbs and toes cut off and ends with a concubine having her body cut up into 12 pieces. In between we have a man stabbed through the temple with a tent peg while he sleeps, Samson killing a thousand men with the jaw bone of a donkey, and countless other brutal escapades. Where is gentle Jesus in the book of Judges?

 

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Video recording of the February 4, 2008 Bible study for the Loma Linda University School of Allied and Public Health.

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Video recording of the February 18, 2008 Bible study for the Loma Linda University School of Allied and Public Health.