When people read the Bible, they may be surprised to find shocking stories of wickedness mixed with stories of great faith, sometimes in the very same people. In other words, it contains stories of people like us. Judges reports on the chaotic situation in Israel after the death of Joshua during which a series of deliverers rescued God’s people time and time again from self-inflicted problems. At the end of the book, things spiraled out of control, but this failure reveals the main point of the book. In the end, the judges could not have lasting success but were signposts pointing forward to the answer to their failures and ours.
Jesus combined a warning of judgment with a demonstration of the liberating power of the kingdom of God.
In Jonah 2, we take a break from the narrative to read a poem of thanksgiving that Jonah prayed when he was detained for...
God is free to define Israel, to show mercy or wrath, and to add to Israel from the nations.