The First Judges (Othniel, Ehud, & Shamgar)

Old Sketch of the First Three Judges

At this point, I printed out maps of Israel so the kids could see the places we'd be talking about from then on. I quickly noticed Israel surrounded by enemies—enemies the people failed to drive out. God left those inhabitants there to continually test Israel. That map reminds me of my own heart, with the inhabitants representing sins I have failed to drive out. This made me think Judges is a book about purity (and obedience, of course). Its story repeats from one generation to the next:

1) The people forget God and serve idols.
2) God delivers them into the hand of their enemies
3) They cry out to Him.
4) He sends a judge to deliver them.
5) Israel repents and serves God until the judge dies.
6) Repeat.

I always read Judges like a Western. The last verse of the book says, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Jd. 21:25) That sounds like the plot to almost every Western ever written. Just replace those sandals with boots, bronze-age weapons with six-shooters, and....well, you get the idea.

Just remember: The judge always gets the white hat.

The people forgot what God had done, served idols, and He sent Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. That's a pretty tall name. I looked up its meaning and found “Twice-Wicked Cushan.” Now there's a name the boys would remember! And it definitely doesn't discourage the Western version of the book in my head. God raised up Caleb's son-in-law Othniel to drive him out.

Fat King Eglon

Then there was Ehud, the most famous southpaw in the Bible. Southpaws tend to throw right-handed people off-guard, and that's exactly what Ehud did with Eglon, the fat Moabite king. Ehud assassinated Eglon, then slipped away before being discovered, rallied Israel's army, and drove Israel's oppressors out of Israel.
After Ehud was Shamgar. His judgeship seems a lot shorter than most, but his contribution is far from insignificant: Shamgar killed 600 Philistines and saved Israel.
And the people did evil again...

Joshua & Caleb

In the myriad of godly examples recorded in the Bible's pages, there are a few who stand out even more than the rest in my eyes. Joshua and Caleb are two such fellows.

They were born slaves in Egypt. They were almost forty years old when Moses returned to Egypt and the Exodus began. They witnessed all the things the Lord did to rescue His people. Both men were heads of their respective tribe, and Joshua became Moses' protege and eventual successor.

They spied out the Promised Land. The land was rich and plentiful, but the inhabitants were strong—some were even giants. When the other spies caused Israel to fear, Caleb stood up and told them they could defeat the giants. “We're like grasshoppers compared to them!” The spies cried. I guess they forgot what God had done. Somehow they missed the fact that, at best, those giants were like grasshoppers compared to our God.

Caleb vs. the Giants

What I admire most about Joshua and Caleb is how faithful they were in those forty years. They wandered as a consequence of other peoples' sin, but they didn't complain about it. That's an example all of us can learn from. All that wandering seemed to me like a real waste of two godly lives, but they didn't waste those 40 years at all. Joshua was Moses' protege and Israel's military commander, gaining experience he'd need when leading Israel and conquering Canaan.

Caleb faithfully lead Judah and fought under Joshua. After entering the Promised Land and fighting five years of war, an 85 year old Caleb made his request: He asked for what God promised him and proceeded to conquer Kiriath-Arba, the main city of the giants. Caleb and his descendants received the hill country around the city, whose name was changed to Hebron—what a legacy to leave his children! Caleb then offered his daughter's hand in marriage to the man who conquered the next city. That man was Othniel, a relative of Caleb's.

(I had way too much fun with the liver spots on old Joshua.)

At the end of his days, Joshua set a challenge before Israel to serve the Lord.

"...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

After Joshua died, Israel strayed away from the Lord, and the time of the judges began, with the first judge being none other than Caleb's son-in-law, Othniel.

I haven't commented much on the artwork lately. Since the school year has wrapped up I've been trying to depict each person we talked about with our group in this current style. More on that later.