Michael Wilcock

Another commentary of a very misunderstood book of the bible: the book of Judges. The book of Judges is actually a collection of stories, with heroes and villains, that occurred in ancient Israel between the settlement of the land under Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy under King Saul: a period of between three to four hundred years. The book is described as having a cyclical pattern, with the Israelites rejecting God, God sending foreign nations to oppress them, the Israelites crying out for release, and then God sending a 'judge' (or more like hero) to rescue the people. However, it is not so much cyclical, but rather it is a continuing downward spiral where everybody does what they see right in their own eyes and the rejection of an objective moral law.
As mentioned, this is a book of heroes and villains, however while the villains are, well, villainous, the heroes are anything but. If anything, they are flawed, and in Samson's case, more of an anti-hero than a hero (what indeed is he doing going into the capital city of his people's enemies simply to visit a prostitute?).
In any case, as with the other commentaries, this book does a good job of exploring the book of Judges and how this book, written probably 3000 years ago, still applies to us today.… (more)