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Books of the Bible |
Occasionally credited to Samuel, but basically it is completely unknown.
Also not known with certainty, but a date of around 1050 or 1000 B.C. is often suggested.
The primary purpose of Judges is to show the results of disobeying God. The downward trend of the cycles of sin and repentance clearly shows how a people becomes increasingly numb to the conviction of sin.
Failure and Judgement (1-3:4)
Failure to complete the conquest (1)
Judgement of God for Israel's moral and military failure (2-3:4)
Cycles of Sin and Deliverance under the judges (3:5-16)
Pictures of the depravity of Israel's sin (17-21)
Failure through Idolatry (17-18)
Failure through Immorality (19)
Failure through war (20-21)
Judges covers about 300 years of the history of Israel, from the death of Joshua to the death of Sampson.
Gideon and the fleece, Abimelech has himself made king, Japhthah, his vow and his daughter,Samson and Delilah, the Levite and his concubine.
Deborah, Samson, Gideon, Japhthah, Abimelech
Judges illustrates the desperate need for a savior. The deliverance provided by the human judges was always temporary and usually flawed. "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."