The Birth of a Deliverer (Judges 13)

There is something important at the end of chapter 12 that we didn't talk about last week.
After Othniel – "the land had rest 40 years."
After Ehud – "the land had rest 80 years"
After Deborah – "the land had rest for 40 years"
After Gideon – "the land had rest 40 years in the days of Gideon"

But after Gideon, the land has no rest.
Tola judged Israel 23 years – and died.
Jair judged Israel 22 years – and died.
Jephthah judged Israel 6 years – and died.
Ibzan judged Israel 7 years – and died.
Elon judged Israel 10 years – and died.
Abdon judged Israel 8 years – and died.

There is a cycle of futility – the literary pattern of rest has given way to the literary pattern of death. And the trend line is getting shorter!

The whole period of rest after the days of Ehud (80 years) is longer than all the 6 judges of chapters 10-12 put together (76 years).

The literary structure of Judges has come to a complete collapse, even as Israel itself has come undone.

And in the final judge, Israel will be reduced to one man - and that one man will be both the greatest warrior in Israel's history – as well as a pathetic excuse for a deliverer!

The highs get higher – the lows get lower. If you try to take the book of Judges as a paradigm for the Christian life – you would end up with a manic depressive spirituality!

But the book of Judges is not a paradigm for the Christian life! The book of Judges is all about Christmas! Or more precisely, all about Advent – all about our need for a King from Bethlehem

These judges just aren't cutting it! We get 6 – 8 – maybe 10 years of relief – and then 40 years of oppression under the hand of the Philistines...