Session 17: The Judges of Israel
- Teresa
- Aug 10, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 15, 2020
Book of Judges
After Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land, the 12 tribes settled into their designated areas. They were supposed to drive out the rest of the Canaanites,but they instead lived amongst them. Over time, The Israelites started following the ways of the Canaanites, including worshiping their false gods. The book of Judges details how the Israelites fell into a pattern of sin over and over again, each time rescued by judges sent by God. Altogether there were 15 judges. These are not courtroom judges that we know today, but warriors sent by God to rescue his people.
Let's take a look at the story of 3 of the judges here - Deborah, Gideon and Samson.
Video 1: Deborah the Judge (watch from 42s to 4 min 16s)
Source: Holy Tales on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx5WZ5maQ4o
Video 2: Gideon the Judge
Source: God's story on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U68cIMZSgvQ
Video 3: Samson the Judge
Source: Crossroads kids club on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0oHc3XGoKo
What pattern do you notice across the stories?
We can see a similar pattern:
1. Israelites forget about God, sin against him, and start serving other false gods -->
2. God punishes them by allowing their enemies victory over them (e.g. Canaanites, Midianites, Philistines) -->
3. Israelites cry out to God for deliverance -->
4. God raises up a judge (e.g. Deborah, Gideon, Samson) to deliver them, filling the judge with his spirit so that he/she can lead the people to victory -->
5. There is peace during the judge's lifetime -->
6. After a while, the Israelites start to sin again and the cycle continues
Do you think we are different from the Israelites? What do we have to help us break the cycle of sin?
Similarly, we also often fall into a cycle of sin. (Discuss some of the sins which we struggle with in our daily lives). We also sin, experience the consequences of our sin, repent and ask God for forgiveness and deliverance. Thankfully, we have the sacrament of reconciliation to break our cycle of sin, absolve us from sin and reconcile us to God.
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