Day 60 – November 18, 2023: Judges 6-10 and Psalm 43

Psalm 43 really encapsulates the readings that we have in Judges. The Psalm is a cry for help in the time of trouble and we see trouble, and I don’t mean good trouble, it is simply bad trouble, that is besetting the Israelites. Judges takes us on a journey that repeates itself time and time again. After a good judge rises up then the people of the Lord get restless and begin to worship other gods. Gideon is a man of God and the people want to make him king but he says no, there is only one king and that is the Lord. The same cannot be said of his son Abimelech.

By the way, what is up with Gideon, that is Zerubbaal, having 70 sons? The man was busy, but to no avail because it only took one of them to wipe all of them out. Abimelech does take over Israel then but he never is portrayed as a faithful judge. That is a bit different because all of the other judges seem to follow along in God’s desires and have direct communication with Him. But Abimelech, although he is powerful, does not ever serve the Lord. As a result his fate is one that is met by a rock to the head. This is some pretty messy Scripture that has a man of God trample his enemy with thorns, which is suspect at best.