Judges Lecture 1, page 1

INTRO TO THE JUDGES/RAISING A GODLY GENERATION

I. Where and when do the events of this book take place?

II. What is a judge?

Then the LORD raised up judges who delivered [Israel] from the hands of those who
plundered them.
– Judges 2:16 (NASB)

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon [Othniel], and he judged Israel. When he went
out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand….
– Judges 3:10 (NASB)

III. Why were the judges necessary?

A. Israel’s failure to obey the Lord’s commands: a story of two generations.

What will the next generation be? In our churches? In our families?

Joshua Generation
Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who
survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for
Israel.
– Joshua 24:31 (NASB)

What will the next generation be? In our churches? In our families?

Judges Generation
All [the generation of Israel under Joshua] also were gathered to their fathers; and
there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 1, page 2

the work which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the
sight of the LORD, and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of
their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other
gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed
themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger.
– Judges 2:10–12 (NASB)

B. Did not know the Lord or his works

1. Mental

2. Experiential: did not own their relationship with the Lord

3. The result? Serious cultural compromise.

[These nations] were for testing Israel, to find out if they would obey the
commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers through
Moses. [But] The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and they took their
daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons,
and served their gods.”
– Judges 3:4–6 (NASB)

What will the next generation be? In our churches? In our families?

C. So why were the judges necessary? Because this compromise led to the Lord’s
judgment: bringing other nations up them.

So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of the
L ORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who
plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so
that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went, the hand
of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had spoken and as the LORD
had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.
– Judges 2:13–15 (NASB)

IV. What do we learn of the Lord’s character?

His mercy  He hears when Israel cries out! Sends a deliverer.

A. God’s heart desire is to have compassion on us.

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 1, page 3

But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD , the LORD raised up a
deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them….
Judges 3:9a (ESV)

B. Met ultimately in Jesus

She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His
people from their sins.
– Matthew 1:21 (NASB)

V. Take-away questions

A. How can you help your kids/grandkids know about God?

B. How can you help your kids/grandkids know God?

C. How can you help your kids/grandkids evaluate culture?

Resource: www.ransomfellowship.org.

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 2, page 1

THE STORY OF EHUD

JUDGES 3:12–30

I. The “big picture” background

II. An unpromising beginning… (v. 12)

Definition
Idolatry: giving allegiance to that which the surrounding culture worships for
ultimate well-being in life instead of giving allegiance to the Lord and trusting
him for ultimate well-being.

III. The Lord’s response to their sin (vv. 13–14)

3
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4
But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
5
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
6
they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;
7
they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8
Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

– Psalm 115:3–8 (NIV)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

 Judges Lecture 2, page 2

IV. The Lord’s response to their cry for help (v. 15)

8
“How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.”

– Hosea 11:8 (ESV)

V. Ehud is introduced and “prepares” to meet the king (vv. 15–16)

VI. Ehud brings the “tribute” to “Eglon” (v. 17)

VII. Ehud delivers a secret “word” to the king (vv. 18–23)

VIII. The servants of the king get a surprise (vv. 24–25)

IX. Ehud completes his escape and rallies the troops (vv. 26–29)

X. The land has rest (v. 30)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 2, page 3

XI. So how does it apply today?

12
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD
strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil
in the sight of the LORD. 13He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and
went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14And the people of
Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15
Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them
a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of
Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16And Ehud made for himself a sword
with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.
17
And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
18
And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried
the tribute. 19But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret
message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out
from his presence.
20
And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And
Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21And
Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his
belly. 22And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he
did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23Then Ehud went out into
the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.
24
When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the
roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the
cool chamber.” 25And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not
open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their
lord dead on the floor.
26
Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to
27
Seirah. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the
people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28And
he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into
your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the
Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29And they killed at that time about
10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.
30
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest
for eighty years.
– Judges 3:12–30 (ESV)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 3, page 1

THE STORY OF DEBORAH, J AEL, AND B ARAK

JUDGES 4–5

I. The cycle continues…(v. 1)

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them
out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had
compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.
But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of
their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to
give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
– Judges 2:18–19 (NIV)

II. A “familiar” enemy and a cry for help (vv. 2–3)

III. Deborah: a prophetess and judge (vv. 4–5a)

He will be a spirit of justice

to him who sits in judgment,
a source of strength
to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
– Isaiah 28:6 (NIV)

Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He used to go annually on circuit to
Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. Then his return
was to Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he built there
an altar to the LORD.
– 1 Samuel 7:15–17 (NASB)

IV. The “decision/judgment”: Barak will lead Israel in victory with the Lord’s help! (vv. 5b–7)

V. Barak’s lack of faith (vv. 8–10)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

 Judges Lecture 3, page 2

VI. A small interlude (v. 11)

VII. The army of Sisera gathers! (vv. 12–13)

VIII. Barak’s second chance (v. 14)

IX. The deliverance of the Lord! (vv. 15–16)

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage
Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the
Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.
– 1 Samuel 7:10 (NIV)

In the morning watch the LORD looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar
of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army into a panic. He jammed the wheels
of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, and the Egyptians said, “Let's flee
from Israel, for the LORD fights for them against Egypt!”
– Exodus 14:24–25 (NET)

From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The
river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon.
– Judges 5:20–21a (NIV)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
– Romans 12:1 (NIV)

X. Sisera’s initial escape and encounter with Jael (vv. 17–20)

XI. Jael’s heroic actions (v. 21)

Her left hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workmen's hammer. She
“hammered” Sisera, she shattered his skull, she smashed his head, she drove the tent

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

 Judges Lecture 3, page 3

peg through his temple. Between her feet he collapsed, he fell limp and was lifeless;
between her feet he collapsed and fell limp, in the spot where he collapsed, there he fell
limp– violently murdered!
– Judges 5:26–27 (NET)

Through the window she looked; Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice: “Why is
his chariot so slow to return? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses delayed?”
The wisest of her ladies answer; indeed she even thinks to herself, “No doubt they are
gathering and dividing the plunder—a girl or two for each man to rape!”
– Judges 5:28–30a (NET)

XII. Barak shows up, but too late! (v. 22)

Most blessed of women is Jael,

The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
– Judges 5:24 (NASB)

XIII. God subdues Jabin and the tides reverse! (vv. 23–24)

XIV. What of Barak? (5:1)

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms,
administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions….
– Hebrews 11:32–33 (NIV)

1
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2And
the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. (The
commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.) 3Then the people of
Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the
people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.
4
(Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
5
She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of
Ephraim.) So the people of Israel came up to her for judgment/the decision, 6and she sent and
summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the
L ORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking
10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7And I will draw out Sisera, the

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 3, page 4

general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his many
troops, and I will give him into your hand’?”
8
Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I
will not go.” 9And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are
going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”
Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10And Barak called out Zebulun and
Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.
11
(Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the
father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is
near Kedesh.)
12
When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,
13
Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him,
from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.
14
And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given
Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?” So Barak went down from
Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15And the LORD confounded Sisera and all his
chariots and all his army to fall by the edge of the sword before Barak. And Sisera got down
from his chariot and fled away on foot.
16
And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the
army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
17
Now as for Sisera, he had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the
Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18
And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do
not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19And
he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” But she opened a skin
of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of
the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’ ”
21
But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she
went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he
was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
22
Then look what happened! As Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him
and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to
her tent, and – look what he found!—Sisera laying dead, with the tent peg in his temple!
23
So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel.
24
And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of
Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
5:1
On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song….

– Judges 4:1–5:1 (ESV)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 4, page 1

THE STORY OF GIDEON (PART I)

JUDGES 6:1–32

I. Israel’s distress (6:1–6)

II. The Lord’s rebuke (6:7–10)

A. The Lord sends a prophet in response to Israel’s cry (6:7–8a)

B. The Lord’s rebuke (6:8b–10)

1. His past faithfulness in delivering them (6:8b–9)

2. His command: since I am your God do not fear/reverence/worship the gods of

this land (6:10a)

3. His rebuke: you have not obeyed my voice (6:10b)

III. Introduction and commissioning of Gideon (6:11–18)

A. Gideon is introduced (6:11)

B. The angel’s message and Gideon’s response (6:12–13)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 4, page 2

C. The Lord’s command and Gideon’s response (6:14–15)

D. The Lord’s response (6:16)

E. Gideon’s request for a sign (6:17–18)

F. The Lord proves that he is indeed speaking to Gideon (6:19–24)

IV. The Lord commissions Gideon to fight Israelite idolatry (6:25–32)

A. The command to tear down the altar of Baal, cut down the Asherah, and build an
altar to the Lord (6:25–26)

B. Gideon’s fearful obedience (6:27)

C. The city demands Gideon’s death (6:28–30)

D. Gideon’s father responds (6:31–32)

1
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them
into the hands of the Midianites. 2Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the
Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.
3
Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern
peoples invaded the country. 4They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to
Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.
5
They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 4, page 3

to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6Midian so
impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.
7
When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, 8he sent them a prophet, who
said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out
of the land of slavery. 9I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all
your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 10I said to you, ‘I
am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’
But you have not listened to me.”
11
The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to
Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it
from the Midianites. 12When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The
L ORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

13
“But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?
Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the
LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the
hand of Midian.”
14
The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of
Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15
“But Lord, “Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in
Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16
The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites
together.”
17
Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really
you talking to me. 18Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set
it before you.”
And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”
19
Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread
without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and
offered them to him under the oak.
20
The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on
this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21With the tip of the staff that was
in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared
from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared.

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 4, page 4

22
When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the L ORD, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign
L ORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
23
But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
24
So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day
it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25
That same night the LORD said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd,
the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah
pole beside it. 26Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this
height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a
burnt offering.”
27
So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was
afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
28
In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished,
with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built
altar!
29
They asked each other, “Who did this?”
When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30
The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he
has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31
But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s
cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by
morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his
altar.” 32So that day they called Gideon “Jerub-Baal,” ssaying, “Let Baal contend with
him,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.
– Judges 6:1–32 (NIV)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 5, page 1

THE STORY OF GIDEON (PART II)

JUDGES 6:33–8:32

I. The enemy gathers and Gideon—now clothed with the Spirit of the Lord—summons
Israel to fight (Judges 6:33–35)

II. Gideon asks for a sign (Judges 6:36–40)

III. The Lord reduces Israel’s fighting force from 32,000 to 300 in order to prove that he
is the one fighting for Israel (Judges 7:1–8a)

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by
human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God
chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of
the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised
things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may
boast before him.
– 1 Corinthians 1:26–29 (NIV)

“Sometimes God has to take us through such experiences to expose our fear and lack
of trust in him…. God must break down the walls we have constructed to hide our
fears and lack of trust in him. He must remove the pillars of our illusions that hold us
from belief. If we continue to depend on other things for our security and confidence, he
must remove these to bring us to the point of true dependence on him alone.”
– K. Lawson Younger, Judges, Ruth (The NIV Application Commentary), p. 193

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations,

there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

 Judges Lecture 5, page 2

times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all
the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is
why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
– 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (NIV)
IV. The Lord encourages Gideon with another sign (7:8b–14)

“ ‘God says it; I believe it; that settles it’ may be snazzy bumper-sticker theology, but
it doesn’t always neatly cover the struggles of believing experience.”
– Ralph Davis, Such a Great Salvation, p. 99 n. 4

V. Gideon and Israel attack and route Midian (Judges 7:15–23; 8:10–12, 18–21)

VI. Israel’s request: for Gideon to be their king (Judges 8:22–23)

VII. Gideon makes an ephod (Judges 8:24–27a)

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.”
Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue this
raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will
certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
1 Samuel 30:7–8 (NIV)

VIII. The sad ending (8:27b)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has
eternal life…”
– John 5:24 (NASB)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 5, page 3

33
Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed
over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34Then the Spirit of the LORD came
upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent
messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun
and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.
36
Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—3 look,
I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the
ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38And
that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung
out the dew—a bowlful of water.
39
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more
request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the
ground covered with dew.” 40That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the
ground was covered with dew.

Judges 7
1
Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring
of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2The
L ORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.
In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,
3
announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave
Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
4
But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the
water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go;
but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
5
So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those
who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”
6
Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their
knees to drink.
7
The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and
give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” 8So
Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took
over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in
the valley. 9During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the
camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10If you are afraid to attack, go down
to the camp with your servant Purah 11and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you
will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the
outposts of the camp. 12The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 5, page 4

had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the
sand on the seashore.
13
Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was
saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the
tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
14
His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of
Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”
15
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to
the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into
your hands.” 16Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets
and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

17
“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do
exactly as I do. 18When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around
the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’ “
19
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of
the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and
broke the jars that were in their hands. 20The three companies blew the trumpets and
smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands
the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
21
While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as
they fled.
22
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the
camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward
Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23Israelites from Naphtali,
Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.
– Judges 6:33–7:23 (NIV)

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all
that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand
swordsmen had fallen. Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and
Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of
Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.
– Judges 8:10–12 (NIV)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 5, page 5

22
The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—
because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.” 23But Gideon told them, “I will not
rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 24And he said,
“I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the
plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

25
They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each
man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26The weight of the gold rings he asked for
came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the
purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’
necks. 27Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All
Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and
his family.
– Judges 8:22–27 (NIV)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 6, page 1

THE STORY OF JEPHTHAH

JUDGES 10:6–12:7

Intro/setting:
I. Israel’s distress: forsaking the Lord leads to severe oppression from enemies (10:6–
16)

6
The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the
Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the
gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and
did not serve him.
7
So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the
hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 who that year shattered and crushed
them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan
in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. 9The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight
against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great distress.
– Judges 10:6–9 (ESV)

A. Why does the Lord respond so harshly?

The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers;
and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into
the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant
which I have made with them.”
– Deuteronomy 31:16 (NASB)

B. Israel “seeks” the Lord (Judges 10:10)

C. The Lord calls their bluff (Judges 10:11–14)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 6, page 2

D. The Lord’s extreme mercy

II. Israel’s deliverance (Judges 10:17–11:40)

A. Jephthah introduced (Judges 11:1–3)

All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around [David],
and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
– 1 Samuel 22:2 (NIV)

B. The elders of Gilead make Jephthah their leader (Judges 11:4–11)

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and
commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.
– Judges 11:11 (NIV)

C. Jephthah’s diplomatic attempt with the Ammonites (Judges 11:12–28)

D. Jephthah makes a vow and defeats the Ammonites (Judges 11:29–33)

A vow is not a way of bargaining with the Lord (I’ll scratch your back if you
scratch mine). The Lord does not make such bargains! Rather, a vow is a way of
making sure that you give the appropriate expression of thanksgiving and praise to
the Lord if he answers your prayer.

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites
into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me
when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it
up for a burnt offering.”
– Judges 11:30–31 (ESV)

E. Jephthah carries out his vow (11:34–40)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary

Judges Lecture 6, page 3

F. The lesson for Israel

G. The lesson for us

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
– Luke 9:23 (NIV)

© Spring 2007, Jay Sklar and Covenant Theological Seminary