Judge and King: Is There a Difference?

How often do we trade in one vice for another? I am reminded of a relative of mine who came to visit, boasting that he had finally quite smoking. We were all impressed and proud. Such a habit is hard to break. Fifteen minutes into his visit, he interrupted the conversation to retrieve a small plastic cup from his bag. We were all slightly confused. He then proceeded to pack a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth. It is hard not to see the irony in the situation.

I cannot help but wonder if the Israelites were confronting and advising Samuel in a similar way. At the beginning of chapter 8, we are told of Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah. The brief summary of their behavior reminded me of a few characters that held the same positions as these two sons of Samuel earlier in the book, the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas. Perhaps the Israelites looked at Joel and Abijah and wondered, “I wonder if this great prophet, Samuel, will end up a fat, blind, old man who falls and breaks his neck when he finds out that Israel has been humiliated by the Philistines again.” (Heck, maybe he will even have a grandson named Ichabod…)

With that said, I have to admit that I do not blame the Israelites for suggesting a change in the current method of succession. Eli was a good judge, but his sons were a menace; likewise with Samuel and his sons. And let us not forget Gideon and his son Abimelech!

But if this is true, then why does God tell Samuel that they have not rejected Samuel, but God when they demand a king? God’s statement in this regard makes an important point as to the reality of the situation: a king will only function to make this observed problem worse. The fact is that Saul’s behavior is ultimately no different from that of Joel and Abijah. But here is the key problem, when you have a judge, his/her children are not guaranteed heirs to the throne, with kings, they are. Is this why God preferred judges rather than kings? Is it because the children of judges were not viewed as heirs to a position?

So, perhaps the change from judge to king is less of a change of what kind of ruler the Israelites have and more an issue of who gets to choose the ruler for each generation. I believe this is what the Israelites mean when they say, “Give us a king to judge us.” What a fresh stinking batch of irony that statement is. In effect their solution to the problem is to guarantee that sons like Abimelech, Hophni, Phineas, Joel, and Abijah are shoe-ins. They did not want the type of governance to change, but the method of choosing a successor.

All of this is to say that I do not blame the Israelites for seeing the problem. But perhaps they should be questioned when it comes to their proposed solution.

Peace my friends. I hope this reading is fruitful for you. Here is the 2 Samuel Worksheet.

What Is a Judge?

Until recently, I was the full-time Director of Financial Aid for Nazarene Theological Seminary. If someone asked what I did, I said, “I am a Financial Aid Director.” This was usually met with a nod of understanding.

Since I have taken on the role of Associate Pastor at Discovery Church of the Nazarene in Livermore, California, several people have asked me about my work. I tell them, “ I am an Associate Pastor.” The response is as follows: 1) pursed lips; 2) lowered eyebrows; and 3) awkward silence. Then they ask, “So what do you do?”

I have noticed that my explanation of what I “do” is less about what my tasks are from day to day and more about what my responsibilities are overall, as well as my goals for myself and the congregation. Yet, it is also about the daily tasks I perform to accomplish these goals. A job that involves leading people and helping them grow into mature people of faith must be viewed in light of its overall goals and the daily tasks necessitated by these goals.

So what is a Judge? It seems that the best place to go for answer to this question is Judges 2:11-23. This section functions as the general explanation of and introduction to chapters 3-16. According to 2:16 and 18, the Judges had one goal: to save Israel from its enemies. (PUN ALERT: It should be noted that the word “to save” in Hebrew is the same root word used to construct the name Joshua. So, as Joshua makes his exit in 2:1-10, God appoints Judges to “Joshua” Israel from its enemies.) In fact, it largely goes unnoticed that “Deliverer/Savior” is used almost as often as “Judge” to describe the “Judges” (most likely because the word “save” is translated in various ways as save, savior, deliverer, deliver, etc.)  

Another important aspect of a Judge described in 2:11-23 is this: as the Judge goes, so goes Israel. In other words, as long as the Judge is alive, Israel is “saved;” as soon as the Judge dies, the people revert back to their previous state of idolatry—a constant refrain throughout Judges-2 Kings (minus Ruth).

So what do Judges do? The most common task of a Judge is military conquest. The Moabites, Midianites, Ammonites, and Philistines were constantly pressing in on the Israelites and, just as the God of Israel responded to their cries in Egypt, God responds once again. However, the response comes not through plagues, but through individuals (who have been known to wield a donkey's jawbone or foxes with torches tied to their tails) filled by God’s Spirit. Secondly, a Judge leads by example. The faithfulness of the Judge becomes the faithfulness of the people. These actions (military conquest and leading by faithfulness) are oriented toward one goal. Judges are the agents of God sent to deliver/save Israel from its oppressors, creating an ordered space in the midst of the chaotic land of Canaan.

FREE PARTY TRIVIA: Samson’s name is actually not Samson. It should be pronounced Shimshon. When you are at your next social gathering and someone brings up Samson (or Sampson...whoever that is), feel free to correct that person…politely.

Also, here is your outline for 1 Samuel. I hope these readings are proving fruitful for you, even if that fruit is currently confusing and disorienting.

Devoted to Destruction

Devoted to Destruction

Without a doubt, the issue that causes the most consternation among Christians and non-Christians alike is the genocide ordered by the God of Israel on the Canaanites. This issue finds its locus in Joshua as the Israelites carry out this command with some (though not complete) efficiency. The statement I most often hear is, “It just doesn’t seem consistent with Jesus.” I hope to address this concern in a preliminary fashion here. Below, I will introduce you to the Hebrew word, herem (“devoted to destruction”) and its meanings in Torah. Then, I will address the basic concern of the Jesus/God of Israel divide. Keep in mind that while this post will not—and cannot—address this issue in full, it will attempt to add some data to the equation that will help us consider what it meant to “devote” something or someone “to destruction” and its consistency with the character of God.

The Hebrew word we are dealing with here is herem (the first letter is a guttural, so have some fun while pronouncing it). What is not commonly known about this word is, depending on the context, it is either “devoted” (see Numbers 18:14) or “devoted to destruction” (see Deuteronomy 7:2). However, it has the more general connotation of “prohibit from common use, forbid, or pronounce sacred.”^[1] In Numbers 18, the word is used of things that are given to the Levites for use, clearly conveying that it is not an entirely negative term. Yet, we cannot ignore that it is most commonly used to convey something that is to be utterly destroyed a la Deuteronomy and Joshua.

Leviticus 27 uses the term 6 times in its description of redemption. Of particular importance is 27:28-29, “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD. No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.” The phrase that is most peculiar is “every devoted things is most holy to the LORD.” So, perhaps something being herem is not quite as negative as we might initially think.

Consider Rahab. In the city of Jericho, which was devoted to destruction, Rahab is given reprieve because of her action and confession of the power of the God of Israel. What I want to suggest is that, she remained herem, a person most holy to the Lord while her “co-Jerichoians” were also herem—devoted to destruction.

So, with all of this in tow, it is good get a wider context for this genocidal command and how it fits into the biblical narrative from a theological perspective. We would be hard pressed to consider this command to be inconsistent with the behavior of the God of Israel—unless we are ready to reject the flood narrative. God decided to eradicate all of humanity save one family (Genesis 6-9), a story that I have rarely heard much consternation about among Christians. Here in Joshua, we see God acting in a very similar way. God has chosen, set apart, and sanctified Israel, like Noah, to flourish. Just as the eradication of humanity in the flood was a result of judgment, likewise, the eradication of the Canaanites was a result of judgment. And, just as God saved Noah’s family, God also saved Rahab’s family.

We must realize how problematic it becomes to disassociate this action of God from Jesus. The reason is fairly simple: it destroys the Trinitarian confession. The God of Israel in the book of Joshua is consistent with Jesus because Jesus IS the God of Israel. Thus, this is less an issue of consistency and more an issue of refusal to take the God of Israel as a package that includes both the book of Joshua and the Gospels. Let me put it this way: If you are uncomfortable with the God of Israel, you are uncomfortable with Jesus.

IF YOU DO NOT READ ANYTHING ELSE, READ THIS: Herem is a harsh, yet ambiguous, concept that can imply both a blessing and a curse. This is seen in the flood narrative where everything is destroyed, save Noah’s family. Likewise it is seen in the Jericho story, where everything is herem-ed, but in two different ways: Rahab’s family to life and the rest of Jericho to destruction. We must take a look at the larger picture to see the consistency of the testimony and behavior of the God of Israel and Jesus, who is the God of Israel in the flesh. Let us not be quick to dismiss this faithful testimony found in Joshua due to rash dismissal and a poor understanding of herem.

Also, without further ado, here is the Judges Worksheet.

Happy Reading!

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^[1] Brown, F., Driver, S. R., & Briggs, C. A. (2000). Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems.

Distributing the Land

This will not be a full post, but it is still important. Please use this map while you read Joshua 13-21. (The site where this map is located is http://www.searchingthescriptures.net/main_pages/free_bible_land_maps.htm, which is an excellent resource.) Also, do not get absorbed in each city or region that is mentioned. Rather, attempt to focus on these two important things:

1) The order in which the land is distributed: Try to remember the order of the tribes. This will help you organize the material in your brain more readily.

2) Look for a structure to the distribution for each tribe.

Once again, it is important not to get bogged down in the details. Read for the overall structure of the section. I hope this helps.