The last five chapters of the book of Judges doesn’t really seem to fit
with the rest of the book. There are no judges, and the stories exist
seemingly devoid of context. But these chapters serve as a conclusion
that reinforces and solidifies the main themes of the book as a whole.
What can we learn from these horrific stories?
(Preaching through Judges. This book was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 15, 2024.)
The story of Samson is both heroic and tragic. Samson’s supernatural strength creates several memorable moments, but his lack of any other kind of strength led him into sorrow, anger, and despair. What can we learn from this tragic judge?
(Preaching through Judges. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 8, 2024.)
The story of Judges is one of a steady decline in Israel away from God and further into unrighteousness. The judges themselves were not exempt from this digression. The sequence of Gideon-Jephthah-Samson highlights how even the leaders in Israel fell further and further from God. What can we learn from Jephthah’s failure?
(Preaching on Judges. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 1, 2024.)
The story of Abimelech in Judges 9 is really the conclusion to Gideon’s story, and brings up many of the themes we have seen throughout our study of Judges: foreshadowing against kings, the rule of God versus the rule of men, and the tension between boldness and arrogance, insecurity and humility.
(Preaching through Judges. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on August 11, 2024.)
Many (if not most) Christians are familiar with the first two-thirds of Gideon’s story, with good reason. It’s full of great lessons and easy-to-remember events. But to fully situate Gideon in the context of Judges, we need to consider his whole story. How did Gideon’s success and failures echo down to Israel after his death?
(Preaching through Judges. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on August 4, 2024.)
The story of Deborah, Barak, and Jael gives us a little bit more insight into the actual day-to-day job of a Judge in Israel, as well as reminding us what exactly God is looking for in His servants.
(Preaching through Judges. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on July 14, 2024.)
We wrap up our introduction to the book of Judges by considering the variance in detail between each judge’s story, and some of the reasons why the cycle of evil persisted as it did throughout the book.
(Preaching through Judges. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on July 7, 2024.)
We begin our study of Judges by setting the stage in Israel and asking the question: is Israelite history one of mostly faithfulness with occasional bouts of rebellion, or one of mostly faithlessness with occasional instances of repentance?
(Preaching through Judges. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on June 9, 2024.)
Watts in the Word 