“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” – Judges 21:25
The last few chapters of the Book of Judges show the nation of Israel relying on instinct and their own personal morals rather than following God. Sin has heavily infected their worship and everyday life. The end of chapter 19 even has an incident that is similar to that of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. Homosexuality and rape are a societal norm. Everyone did as he saw fit.
This mornings reading has me questioning if I am doing as I see fit; if I am walking alone in this world versus walking with God. This morning I have prayed that I would be obedient and follow God, not doing as I see fit but as He sees fit. Think of it as a realignment of the heart.
Where are you today?
JohnnyBGamer 
I think Judges might be one of my favorite OT Books. Samson’s story is one of my all-time favorites, especially the stuff before he met Delilah, like his first wife and the foxes incident. But I think a lot of that is because it doesn’t really fit with the Biblical narrative in a conventional sense: here’s Israel’s ‘leader’ who does some pretty artistic agricultural terrorism, sleeps with prostitutes, and defaces public property. And where is God in this story? Coming upon Samson to give him super-human strength so he can kill a thousand foes with next to nothing. WHAAA? CRAY!
But yeah, the story of what happened to Benjamin at the end of the history of the Judges is just horrible – especially what happened to the Levite’s concubine. Makes me angry.
And yeah (more on point), I want more of the Holy Spirit. But I’m learning he only like to stick out his head if we’re paying attention to him, though.
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I’ve been reading a book by Craig Groeschel called Fight (book won’t be out until October). The book so far has a lot of macho-ism in it (which I dislike) but tons of scriptural truth. Anywho, Craig has been paralleling the story of Samson. He has pointed out something I never saw before:
– As a Nazerite, set apart for God, Samson had to follow three basic rules: 1) Don’t drink; 2) Don’t touch anything that is dead/unclean; 3) Don’t cut your hair. I knew all of this but…
– Samson disobeyed God by drinking (he held a “feast” in honor of getting married). He also touched a dead lion when he ate from the honeycomb found inside of it.
I always thought the story of Samson was odd in that him having his haircut was a huge deal. The reality is that Samson having his haircut was more of a final straw. God showed Samson, and He continually shows us, so much grace.
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Interesting. Yeah. Samson’s story is so over-abundant with Grace, even with coming upon him at his death in the Philistine Colosseum. Fascinating stuff. That must be why I like it so much. 🙂
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