By Mark Scott One of the great characteristics of God is his interpersonal capacity. He communicates. He called judges to rescue his people (last month’s lessons). He also called prophets to prosecute his people (this month’s lessons). “Prophets don’t prepare messages. Prophets are messages” (Spirit, Word, and Story by Calvin Miller). Moses is often viewed […]
By Dr. Mark Scott I do not like Samson. Like Esau, he was a sensualist (Hebrews 12:16, 17). He lived by his glands instead of his God. He was a playboy. The Samson narrative in Judges (chapters 13-16) is filled with rebellion, sexual immorality, anger, revenge, disappointment, heartache, and a glimmer of hope. That being […]
By Dr. Mark Scott In the book of Judges, the judges get progressively worse as we go along. We’ve gone from Deborah and Barak (good) to Gideon (all right) to Jephthah (not stunning) and next week to Samson (terrible). The enemies of Israel in our lessons also get progressively worse, from the Canaanites to the […]
By Dr. Mark Scott Damon Runyan said, “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” That is, unless you are God. When God is in the equation, swiftness and strength are not necessary. He can make up what anyone lacks. Gideon’s self-confession was […]
By Dr. Mark Scott The book of Judges is one of the darker books of the Bible. It covers a time frame from 1370 to 1040 BC. God called several leaders to help Israel during those dark days, but none of them achieved the status that Joshua or Samuel enjoyed (the leaders who bookend this […]
