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.