Chapter 8: "I Need a Hero"

Main point: The book of Judges presents the inevitable downward spiral that happens when God’s people give in to sin and partial obedience. It displays God’s holiness through his judgment of his people’s sin as well as his grace in his working through and for deeply sinful people. Judges reveals that God’s people desperately need godly leadership and lasting salvation.

Judges 13:1–5 ESV

1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:24–25 ESV

24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 14:1–20 ESV

1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” 4 His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. 5 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson’s eyes. 8 After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. 9 He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. 10 His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. 11 As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 And Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, 13 but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” 14 And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” And in three days they could not solve the riddle. 15 On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” 16 And Samson’s wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” 17 She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. 18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.” 19 And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house. 20 And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

When Samson later returns to take his wife and finds that she’s been married to his best man, he gets mad and torches the Philistines’ fields. They, in turn, pressure the Israelites to give up Samson so they can kill him.

Judges 15:11–16 ESV

11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. 14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. 16 And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.”

Judges 15:20–16:31 ESV

20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. 1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron. 4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” 7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. 10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.” 11 And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. 13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web. 15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” 25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained. 28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Think of some non-biblical heroes, either real or fictional. What are some of the traits that heroes have in common? Examples: Superman, Veterans, famous leaders (Washington, Lincoln, etc.). bravery/courage, selflessness, moral purity, etc.

How do you feel and how do you react when you find out a major moral failing or character flaw in one of your heroes? Many people dismiss the moral failings of their heroes to maintain the image of heroism; some discard the hero and all that he stood for altogether. Morally compromised heroes make us uncomfortable.

In pop-culture, the superheroes Superman and Batman represent two diametrically opposing types of heroes. Heroes like Superman (and this would include characters like Captain America, Luke Skywalker, and many more) represents the flawless, idealistic hero—completely selfless, always brave and collected under pressure, morally pure and incorruptible, uses their unlimited power for good, and virtually undefeatable.

Heroes like Batman, on the other hand, represents a more realistic, gritty type of hero. This would include "heroes” like Batman, Han Solo, Tony Stark, or Captain Jack Sparrow. He’s somewhat flawed, operates outside the law, lives in the gray, willing to get his hands dirty.

Superman is the hero we want to show up when we need help, but he’s so perfect that he’s almost unrelatable. We know we could never be like him. Batman is a bit more relatable. He lets his anger get to him. He’s got some baggage. And if we were going to be a hero ourselves, most of us would be more like batman than superman.

What is really important for us to realize is that the “heroes” in Judges are a lot more like Batman (or Captain Jack Sparrow, for that matter) than they are like Captain America or Superman.

Principles for Interpreting Judges:

1. Do not expect all of the Judges to be morally pure or heroic. The hero of the story is God.

Resist the temptation to whitewash the “heroes'” sins. They are recorded in full display for a reason. Their flaws are not a sidenote in the story, they are the point of the story.

Remember what we talked about in chapter 1:

...the first question that we ought to ask ourself whenever we read a story from the Bible is “What does this story tell me about God? What is God doing in this story? How does God feel about what is going on in this story?”

If we don’t ask those questions, we’ll inadvertently change the main character of the book. Sometimes, we’ll make the human heroes the center of the story we’re reading, or worse, we’ll even make ourselves the main character.

The most common interpretive error that I see people making in Judges and the following books in the OT is attempting to whitewash, downplay, or dismiss the sins of the main characters.

What is Samson’s attitude towards choosing a wife (Jdg. 14:3)? “She is right in my eyes” echoes back to Gen. 3, and implies a lustful, sinful craving. He desires a Philistine woman in direct contrast to God’s prohibition on such marriages.

What are some good things that Samson did? What did he do wrong? How can we describe and summarize Samson in a way that does justice to both his example of faith and his sinfulness? Right: He led his people to victory over the Philistines, prayed to and relied upon God at the end of his life Wrong: married foreign women, visited prostitutes, broke his vows, was vengeful, etc.

2. The Judges are examples for us of the faithfulness of God to sinners.

The point of Judges is not about how awesome Gideon and Samson were, let alone that you should model your life after them.

Numbers 6:4–6 ESV

4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. 5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. 6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body.

Judges 13:7 says that Samson was to be a Nazirite all his life. What are the three things Samson was forbidden to do as a Nazirite? (see Num. 6:1-8) 1) Drink wine/alcohol, 2) Have contact with a corpse/become unclean, 3) Cut his hair.

Judges 14:8–10 ESV

8 After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. 9 He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. 10 His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do.

What issue is there with Samson’s actions in Jdg. 14:8-9? He violates the prohibition against defiling himself with a dead body. The word translated “feast” refers to parties involving wine/alcohol, so Samson almost certainly also violates the prohibition against drinking alcohol/wine.

Yet even after violating two of his three Nazirite vows, God still enables him to overcome his enemies in Jdg. 14:19. Then, after visiting a prostitute in Jdg. 16:1, God still spares him from an ambush.

Finally, in Judges 16, Samson crosses the final line.

Judges 16:17–20 ESV

17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

What final element of Samson’s Nazirite vow does he break with Delilah? His vow to never cut his hair.

Does it surprise you that God doesn’t step in and judge Samson sooner? Why do you think that is? God’s grace towards Samson is surprising, scandalously so. Samson breaks all kinds of laws and yet God continually blesses him with victory after victory. Samson’s story intentionally magnifies the grace and mercy of God.

God spares Samson judgement time after time even though he deserves it. As an outsider, it seems obvious that all of Samson’s sin will catch up to him, yet Samson seems to think he can continue on indefinitely and still enjoy the blessings of God.

Samson thought he could still enjoy the victories provided by God despite sinning repeatedly against him. Why do we often think that we can continue sinning and not suffer the consequences? Sin has a numbing effect and it is deceptive. When God is patient with us and does bring down judgment, we often wrongly interpret that as our invulnerability or God’s laxness in judgment, instead of his patience to lead us to repentance.

2 Peter 3:4–10 ESV

4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

3. Be extremely cautious when trying to draw normative examples from the lives of the Judges.

Judges 11:29–40 ESV

29 Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 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.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

What is the lesson that we ought to learn from Jepthah’s vow? The lesson is “don’t make rash vows.” Jephthah’s vow is not an example to “keep your vow to the Lord, no matter what.”

Similarly, in the story of Deborah and Barak, the point is not—as many have tried to make it—that there are no positions of leadership that are restricted from women, but that the men of Israel (Barak) are not stepping up and fulfilling their God-ordained positions of leadership. Deborah rebukes Barak for not leading the army in confidence, and the fact that a woman (Jael) kills Sisera is meant is a shame to him for not having the courage to lead.

Judges 4:9 ESV

9 And 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.

A lot of the stories in Judges depict morally ambiguous situations that are very difficult to correctly develop moral principles from. That’s the point. The point is that sin and compromise make life difficult and messy.

4. Judges depicts the nation of Israel and its Judges getting more and more morally corrupt with each passing generation.

So, the further along you are in the book of Judges, the worse the stories get, and the worse God’s judgments get.

Othniel (Jdg. 3:7-11) has nothing negative said of him.

Deborah (Jdg. 4-5) is portrayed positively, but Barak is rebuked as a coward who shirks his leadership responsibility.

Gideon (Jdg. 6-9) is portrayed as reluctant and wavering, but mostly obedient. But he leaves a legacy of unfaithfulness and idolatry, especially in his son Abimelech.

Jepthah (Jdg. 10-12) is portrayed as a “mighty warrior,” but keeps ungodly friends and makes a ridiculous, rash vow, capping his legacy with child sacrifice.

By the time you reach Jephthah and Samson, the line between Israel's savior and Israel's problem is becoming disturbingly blurry.

Samson (Jdg. 13-16) is a blundering, womanizing, unfaithful man whose only positive quality seems to be his ability to slaughter lots of Philistines.

Jdg. 17-21 portrays almost complete moral and political anarchy, with the only “leadership” coming from a mercenary Levite who hires himself out to be a pagan priest.

5. The book of Judges anticipates a godly King to give leadership to God’s people.

The last few chapters of Judges are some of the darkest in Israel’s history. There is no law and order, everyone is just doing whatever they want, and the nation is not even able to be distinguished from the pagan cities and nations around it.

The Levite and his Concubine

Read Judges 19.

Who were the Levites? What was their job in Israel? How does the character of this Levite compare to what you’d expect for a Levite?

Read Genesis 19:1-14. What similarities do you see in the two passages? What do you think the point of Judges 19 is? Both passages describe cities that have descended into total moral anarchy and debauchery. Gibeah, however, is an Israelite city, and yet it is as bad—if not worse—than Sodom and Gomorrah. Both cities are overthrown by God’s judgment. The point is that Israel has become indistinguishable from the worst of the pagan cities in history, and will inevitably face judgment if they do not repent.

Judges 17:6 ESV

6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 18:1 ESV

1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.

Judges 19:1 ESV

1 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

Judges 21:25 ESV

25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

If the book of Judges had a theme song, it would be “I Need a Hero,” by Bonnie Tyler.

Where have all the good men gone And where are all the Gods? Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night, I toss and I turn And I dream of what I need

I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong And he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light He's gotta be sure And it's gotta be soon And he's gotta be larger than life Larger than life (ah, ah)

The stories of the Judges are not stories of how God uses extraordinary people to do extraordinary things, but stories of how an extraordinary God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.