All Rise!

What do we think of when picturing a judge? A man or woman in a robe sitting on a bench and dispensing justice for a court? This is not the meaning of a judge in the Biblical book. There was no king, so as people did right in their own eyes, they ended up in oppression. As they cried out to God, He raised up deliverers, generally in the form of military leaders who became an extension of God's justice, both to Israel's oppressors and for the nation in rebellion. He fought their enemies, often in crazy and rather insane ways, returning the nation to the state of blessing promised under the covenant. But these judges are not heroes. Rather, they are incredibly flawed humans who actually grow worse and worse in character as the nation drifts further away. But, they are pictures of our need for rescue from the worst of enemies brought on by idolatry and sin, and of the better Judge who came to bring God's justice for the nations and deliverance for us, His people.