Judges...Shechem...and whatnot

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 toward God. When God doesn't act the way they think He should, they question His presence and favor in their lives. Others question His goodness.

When reading Judges 8 which mentions Shechem, I found this article on these two hills above Shechem worthwhile:

Mount Ebal & Mount Gerizim---Shechem is in the valley between the two. Lots of history here----these hills are where Joshua had 6 tribes stand on one hill (Ebal) and declare the curses if they disobeyed and the other six stood on the other hill (Gerizim) and recited the blessings if they did.

From reading through this, it seems that Gerizim was the mountain where the Samaritans instituted their own worship center---ironic that they picked the mount of blessing to worship idols!

Shechem--with Mount Girizim and Mount Ebal on each side