A twisted theology is what I read tonight. First, Samson was lured by Delilah into telling the secret of his God-given strength.  She must have had him wrapped around her little finger, because he never caught on to her scheme despite her overt pouting and nagging.  Did it now occur to him to question WHY she wanted to know how she could tie him up?  Maybe he enjoyed having her tie him up? And then his stunning feat in bringing down the temple is reminiscent of today’s suicide bombers, isn’t it?  He killed more people in his death than he … Continue reading Judges 16-18: Defending Against Twisted Theology

The story of Samson begins in these chapters.  I was excited to finally get an explanation of something that had been hovering at the back of my mind — just who or what exactly is “the angel of the LORD?” The angel of the Lord, as described in Judges 13, is a manifestation of the LORD himself… 15 Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.” 16 The angel of the LORD replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. … Continue reading Judges 13-15

This was another hard reading to swallow, especially tonight. In a nutshell, one of the judges the Lord rose up to defend Israel was Jephthah.  He was the son of a prostitute; his father had other wives, and he had other brothers.  He was, according to the Bible, a mighty warrior. During the middle of a battle in which the Lord was giving him victory, he made a vow that “whatever comes out of my tent to greet me when I return home” he would sacrifice as a burnt offering…. …guess who came out first?  His only child, a daughter! … Continue reading Judges 10-12: My King

More stories about Gideon…these were ones I do not remember.  After all his various victories, Gideon asked for gold earrings and then melted them and made an ephod (an instrument for priestly divination).  Why on earth would he do such a thing?  After he died, Israel once again turned towards other gods. Gideon had many wives and a concumbine…seventy one sons in all.  After he died the son of his concubine, Abimelech, schemed and killed every last one of his brothers except one of them,who hid, so that he could be crowned king. He got his reward, though, when a … Continue reading Judges 8-9