I had to study this one before I could write about it. It’s still technically my first reading, but unlike everything else in this First Reading series on Judges, I had to spend time with this story before I could write about it with any clarity. I will start this one off with a warning: … More First Reading of Judges: 19, The Levite’s Concubine
Because of the utter moral failure of Israel after the death of Joshua, God never allowed portions of the Promised Land to be fully occupied by the Israelites. The Israelites intermarried with Canaanites and adopted the customs and idol-worship of Canaan. Israelites gave their favor to false gods, so God removed his favor from Israel. … More First Reading of Judges: 18, Unholy Conquest
If you’re still with me in Judges, welcome back! We are in the home stretch, now. This First Reading series on Judges just keeps getting longer. I would apologize if I weren’t enjoying it so much. The act of going over it all and looking at my notes and taking the time to sit and write … More First Reading of Judges: 17, Micah and His Levite
Chapter 16 of Judges brings a close to the story of Samson. Samson’s character is more fleshed out and his story is more elaborately told than any other person’s in Judges. Not even Gideon is illuminated in the way that Samson is. When the Bible highlights someone so strongly, I take it to mean that … More First Reading of Judges: 16, Blinding of Samson
So, in the past few days, the Nix household has been visited by a series of unfortunate events. First, I got sick. Next, my daughter got sick. After that, my husband had to leave for a two-week work assignment. So it’s been a little longer than I planned between Judges installments. I’m sorry about that, … More First Reading of Judges: 15, Fall of Samson
Welcome to Part 4 of my First Reading of the Book of Judges. This post will discuss chapter 14, which covers the early adulthood and marriage of Samson. It is absolutely packed with symbolism and allusions and deeper meanings. I had so many thoughts to share with you from this chapter. In fact, I wish … More First Reading of Judges: 14, Rise of Samson
If you haven’t read Part 1 or Part 2 of my First Reading of Judges series, go and have a look at those. Remember that when you read anything here entitled “First Reading,” it means that what you’re reading is my first thoughts and ideas from the first time I studied that piece of Scripture in adult … More First Reading of Judges: 13, New Ruler & New Rescuer
If you haven’t read Part 1 of my First Reading of Judges, go and check that out to catch up to this point. Today, I’m going to talk about chapters 11 and 12. I was going to do the entire second half of Judges, but these last stories are bigger, more upsetting, and take more … More First Reading of Judges: 11-12, Jephthah & His Daughter
I’m not sure how this should go, but I’ve been considering how to format an “entire book” post for a couple of weeks now. I decided that I was overthinking it to death and that I should just jump in before I end up chucking the whole project. The format of these “First Reading” posts … More First Reading of Judges: 1-10, Israel & Idols
