
MANual Lessons from Judges
No one likes to go before a judge. We also don’t want anyone to judge us, especially those who do not sit behind a courtroom bench. But the book of Judges shows us that judges are heroes too when they help us return to godly behavior and right living. This week’s lesson from The MANual, an NIV (New International Version) translation of the Bible, describes the work of 12 judges — men and women, who heroically delivered the people of Israel from their oppressors, despite repeated cycles of disobedience. Here Come The Judge(s) With apologies to comedian Flip Wilson, I paraphrase a line from one of his famous bits to open this lesson. The 21 chapters in the book of Judges cover a time span of 325 years and six successive periods of oppression and deliverance. The setting is the land of Canaan which is modern-day Israel. God helped the Israelites conquer