Samson heads down to Timnah, a town near his home and while he is there, he takes notice of a Philistine woman and is instantly attracted to her. He returns home and announces to his parents that he has found the girl he wants to marry among the Philistines and tells his parents to arrange the marriage for him. It seems that Samson is motivated by lust and when his parents implore him to look among the daughters of his people, he rejects their advice and physical attraction trumps parental counsel.
The old familiar refrain begins this section as the people do what is evil in the sight of the Lord and the consequences of their disobedience include oppression from the Philistines. This account is different because there is no record of the people calling out to God in their suffering and repenting of their sin. However, God is always saving his people, and he will soon deliver his people once again.
The Israelites are overwhelmed with gratitude, and they offer to make Gideon their king because he is a national hero. Gideon will not accept their generous offer and states that the Lord would be their ruler. On the surface, Gideon's response seems admirable, but it would seem that he was happy to be treated like a king. He asks them for a tribute, a symbol of submission and collects the royal emblems which included the pendants, purple garments worn by the kings, and the collars from their camels.
Gideon has been given favor with the people, and he is now the leader of an army that has thirty-two thousand soldiers. Gideon positioned his troops and prepared for the conflict. It must have seemed like an overwhelming task as he assessed his men who were untrained, inexperienced, and lacked military hardware. In the midst of planning, the Lord tells Gideon that his army is too large.
The prophet spoke, the people repented, and the Lord came to deliver his people. The angel of the Lord came to a man named Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a winepress. One does not usually thresh wheat in a winepress but desperate times called for subterfuge because of the Midianites. The angel of the Lord, God, returned after leaving Israel so long ago (Judges 2:1-5). The angel addresses Gideon as a mighty man of valor as he tries to conceal himself from his enemies.
Suffering led Israel to cry out to the Lord, and he heard their cries for help. God continues to show his steadfast love to Israel in spite of their sinful sequence and Deborah is distinct from the other judges. She was a woman in a position of leadership which is rare in the older testament. Deborah was actively serving the Lord and did not begin as a response to foreign oppression. Deborah received direct revelation from God as a prophetess, and she had established the location where she served. The people of Israel regularly came to her for judgment.
Joshua's generation fought and conquered the promised land. They served the Lord and were faithful to him. However, when that generation was gathered to their fathers, there arose a new generation that did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel. There was a loss of godly leaders starting with the home and moving to the nation. Joshua's generation knew of God's power and faithfulness by experience, but the next generation was different.
Partial obedience is disobedience. Verse nineteen offers the first signs of dereliction. Judah could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because of their iron chariots. God does not change, and his power can never diminish so something has changed. Progressive failure ensues as one tribe after another launches an offensive only to wane in their efforts and fails to complete their objective.
Israel continued to conquer in Canaan until the Lord gave them rest from their enemies. Joshua distributed the land among the tribes, and now he explains that it is his time to go the way of all the earth. He gathers the leaders of Israel one last time at Shechem to address the future and renew the covenant before he dies.
The people had passed over into the Promised Land, and it was now time to begin the work of dispossessing the inhabitants of the land. Israel's campaign in Canaan would be the work of the Lord just as their deliverance from Egypt and their crossing over Jordan and into Canaan. God is imminent and personal; he will save, deliver, and judge. Israel will not achieve any objective in the land apart from the work of God.
History is replete with stories that define nations as they rise and fall. Individual events shape the way people understand their origin and their purpose. Israel was finally entering the land that God had promised their ancestors so long ago. When they reached the other side, the Lord told Joshua to take a man from each tribe and have them choose twelve stones from the place where the priests stood in the river.
Joshua rose early the next morning and led the people approximately six miles to the Jordan. Negotiating this last part of the journey was difficult, so when they reached the Jordan, Israel camped and repositioned the army. At this point, there is no indication about how Joshua intended to have the people cross the river at flood stage, but three days later the plan began to be circulated among the people.
Joshua's instructions were precise; the mission for these spies was to view the land, specifically Jericho which would be an initial objective. These two men traversed the Jordan and navigated their way to Jericho where they found lodging in the house of a prostitute named Rahab.
Joshua had served as Moses' assistant for years, but now it was time for the apprentice to assume the place of leader and teacher. It must have been difficult for Joshua to watch his leader and his friend make that journey up the mountain never to return again. Did Joshua experience a sense of loss and loneliness? Knowing the moment is coming is not the same as experiencing it firsthand.
Israel would soon take possession of the Promised Land but Moses their leader would not finish this last part of the journey with them. Moses understood that his people would not go alone, and he was confident in Joshua's leadership, but he must have longed to go over Jordan and share in what lie ahead. Moses climbs Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah where he would view the land and then be gathered to his people.
Moses, the elder statesman, focuses on those who will lead Israel after he is gone. Moses reminds the people that he would not be leading the people over the Jordan, but this is not a problem because the Lord himself will go before them and dispossess the nations with Joshua leading. It was the Lord who had given them victories in the past, and he will continue to show himself strong on their behalf. Israel's king will lead them in triumph and so there was no need to fear or be in dread for the Lord is with them, and he will never forsake them.
Aaron was not to enter the most holy place whenever he chose because God's presence would put his life in danger. At a designated time, the priest would: choose a bull for a sin offering, offer a ram for a burnt offering, bathe, put on his priestly garments, wear a turban, secure two goats for a sin offering, and make atonement for himself and his house. The priest cannot mediate for the people if he is not clean and his sins atoned.
Moses enjoys a unique relationship with the Lord, but nothing can prepare him for the personal manifestation of the divine presence promised by the Lord. God instructs Moses to cut two tablets to replace the tablets he had broken in anger and to complete the task before the next day. Moses is filled with a joyful expectation and must have begun immediately quarrying the stones and preparing them for transport. Moses was to ascend Mount Sinai the next morning to meet with the Lord on top of the mountain.
Moses' unique relationship and favor as a mediator opens the possibility for God to dwell with his people. At this point, Moses makes a bold request and asks to see God's glory. Moses wants to know and experience God fully. God agrees to make his goodness pass before Moses and proclaim his name which would reveal his character and nature.
Moses continues to speak with the Lord while the mountain is on fire and covered by a thick cloud. However, something very different is taking place below. Moses has been gone for forty days, and the people grew restless. Rumors about what happened to Moses swirled fueled by doubt and the people finally organized themselves and gathered before Aaron. The people had decided that Aaron would be their new leader and they needed a symbol for the divine presence.
