Meditate on it

Baal & Ashtoreth, Canaanite dieties "Baal was believed to be owner of the land and to control its fertility. Baal’s female counterpart was Ashtoreth. Sexual intercourse between these two gods was believed to regulate fertility of the earth and its creatures." -BKC

Micah was from Ephraim  He took advantage of his mother (money stolen from her, he stole?)  Also, he instituted his own private shine for worship, with idols he made, and he hired a Levitical priest (Jonathan, Moses' grandson---poor Moses!)  His faith seems to be a bastardization of the Hebrew faith with pagan idolatry. Meanwhile, the tribe of Dan had been having problems gaining possession of their appointed land.  They were forced up into the hill country by the Amorites.  Apparently this had been a problem from the beginning--they never full possessed their territory. When Dan came out of Egypt, they were the second most populous tribe (behind Judah) Numbers 2:26. There is some interesting background information here about the tribe, though I'm not sure how reputable it is: http://britam.org/dan3.html and lots of Dan related articles here (many  many more than I can assimilate): http://www.britam.org/DanContents.html It seems fit that the Danites came in and

To me, Abimelech's story  is a cautionary tale of how a series of bad choices reap a caustic harvest.  Some of the bad seed surrounding his life precede him.  Abimlech's birth is the fruit of bad choices made by his father, Gideon.  Gideon almost gets it right--after his victory over the Midianites, he deflects the people's praise and directs them toward God: The Israelites said, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson. You have saved us from Midian's tyranny." Gideon said, "I most certainly will not rule over you, nor will my son. GOD will reign over you." Then Gideon said, "But I do have one request...  -Judges 8:22-24 But the one request, which seems almost an afterthought, becomes the snare: "...Give me, each of you, an earring that you took as plunder." Ishmaelites wore gold earrings, and the men all had their pockets full of them. They said, "Of course. They're yours!" They spread out a blanket

I'm making my way through Judges---I figure I'm about 2 weeks behind and still chasing. It's a continual fight with me because I like to take time with the text and this reading program is relentless....it never pauses. I'm still moving though...little by little. Grace is on Joshua 16 and Briggs tried to talk her into skipping ahead this morning, so she doesn't fall too far behind. Judges is a fascinating book--it's like the Wild West of the Bible--anything goes, women rise up when men fail to, justice is short lived, and then the people suffer again until another judge rises to the occasion. This morning I was struck by Gideon's comment because it has such a contemporary ring to it. When the angel comes to Gideon to tell him that the Lord is with him, his initial reply is noteworthy: "And Gideon said to him, "Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us?" Judges 6:13 So many people today take this stance

Good article referencing the history of the region during the time of Judges: Summarizing bits of this article, Israel was oppressed by a number of different groups during the period of the Judges: 1. Mesopotamian Oppression 2. Moabite Oppression (Ehud) Their king, Eglon, crossed the Jordan and occupied Jericho for 18 years. Ehud killed Eglon and chased the Moabites back over the Jordan to their land, peace for 80 years [Philistines--Shamgar--maverick, slays with ox goad] 3. Canaanite Oppression-King Jabon of Hazor & General Sisera (Deborah & Barak from the North banded together to fight) Peace ensued for 40 years Hazor was a city above the Sea of Galilee, it has been a site of archaeological interest during the 20th century. Check Wikipedia and this article for more information: Barak was from Kedesh ( & Naphtali) 4. Midianite Oppression w/Amalekites & "Other Eastern People" (Gideon) he Oppression came from the east and they raided the grain areas---

Here are some thoughtful parallels between the incident of the "Commander of the Army of the Lord" and other references to an angelic army from the BKC: "What kind of a military force did this divine Commander lead? The “army of the Lord” was surely not limited to the army of Israel though it may have been included. More specifically, it referred to the angelic host, the same “army” of heaven that later surrounded Dothan when Elisha and his servant appeared to be greatly outnumbered by the Aramean army (2Ki_6:8-17). In the Garden of Gethsemane at the time of His arrest, Jesus referred to this heavenly army when He said that 12 legions of angels were ready to defend Him (Mat_26:53). In Heb_1:14 they are described as “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.” Though invisible, they serve and care for God’s children in times of great need." -BKC This idea of the unseen world interacting with the seen is worth pondering.

"So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever."   Joshua 4:7 Interesting that the Lord has objects (the law in an earlier passage from Deuteronomy when the Lord tells Moses to write down the words, and now--- these stones) as tools to remind the Israelites of His faithfulness and to teach their children about Him. Thinking about "tools"---physical reminders of spiritual things--it seems the "high church" (Catholics, Episcopals, Methodists) are more apt to incorporate such touchstones.  Is the Reformed Church (Protestants) unnecessarily leery of such potential "idols" as they often view them? Or are they adding to the law unnecessarily?