Fallen Into Knowledge

Reading Joshua and Judges together was quite interesting: quite a contrast. Yet the seeds of the book of Judges are there in Joshua; little phrases, “but Israel did not…” These little exceptions quickly snowball.

Gideon’s idolatry (ch. 8:22ff) bears a close resemblance to Aaron’s (Ex. 32): Both made an idol of gold that Israel bowed down to. In both cases the gold for the idol was provided by the people, who gave their earrings.

Gideon is also asked to be King over the Israelites, beginning a theme of the book of Judges; to his credit, he refuses, “I will not rule over you and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” But - he then makes the idol. And. And then he names his kid “Abimelech.” That name should sound familiar, there several Abimelechs in Genesis alone - each is a king in Egypt. What a name for a son who “will not rule over you.” Are we surprised when he tries to establish a monarchy?

Judges ends with two stories, which act as pictures of how far Israel had fallen: The first is of a Levite who is a sort of Priest for Hire - worshipping any god who comes along, and for meagerly wages at that. The second story bears an uncanny similarity to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In between the stories, and also at the end of the book, is the refrain, “in those days there was no king in Israel.” Given how badly the book of Judges turns out, I have always wondered whether the book was advocating Monarchy or not.

I have always wondered: if Rehab lived in the walls of Jericho, as was commanded to stay there in her house, and the walls fell down with her in them - you know where this is going.

Noah traveled the flooding waters in an ark. Moses passed through the waters in a basket (ark). Israel passed through the Red Sea into the desert. Israel passed through the Jordan with the ark into the Promised land. Passing through the waters is a “type scene” in the Old Testament: it marks for the person(s) traveling through the waters a major change - almost always for the better. There are others, too: Elijah, Elisha, Naaman, and Jonah come to mind.

I’ve been particularly interested in the cities of refuge (ch.20): they are mentioned quite often in the Pentateuch I’m not entirely sure yet why my attention is piqued by them. I will be on the lookout as I cruise through the OT to see when these cities show up: Kedesh, Shechem, Kiriath-arba (Hebron), Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan. Just look at those names: many of them figure prominently in Israel’s narrative.