Day 19: Judges 15:12-1 Samuel 2:29 - 90 Day Challenge

Three Books--One Day

One of the busiest readings yet!

Okay, can we just talk about how our reading starts out with Samson being handed over to the Philistines, then striking down ONE THOUSAND MEN WITH A DONKEY'S JAWBONE, then stayed the night with a prostitute, then married a woman who betrayed him to the Philistines for some silver. You better believe that the Philistines cut off all the hair on Samson's head to weaken him (that was, of course, his weakness--getting his hair cut) before throwing him into prison forever. That all happened in the first chapter and a half! 

(Just look at all those braids!!)


This is how the reading continues: 
  1. The Philistines brought Samson out when he was close to his death, to entertain them. When Samson was brought out, weak and blind, he called upon the Lord to provide him with strength, and he brought the entire temple down with his hands, killing both himself and all the Philistines with him. 
  2. A man named Micah made idols of God, and had a Levite man come live with him, to be his personal priest, in order to seek favor from God. 
    1. Some Danites came by Micah's house, and stole the idols. The priest asked them what they were doing, and they asked the priest to come with them, since a priest would be better off serving a whole tribe rather than one house. 
    2. The Danites then took over the city of Laish, with the Levite and Moses's grandson (Jonathon) as their priests. 
  3. At this point, we reach one of the ugliest chapters of the Bible. Remember, there's no king of Israel at this time--anything goes. 
    1. A levite man's wife leaves him and returns to her father. He goes to win her back, and she travels home with him. They stay in a man's home in the tribe of the Benjaminites, and during the night--the men of the town pound on the door and demand to "know" the levite man. (Again, "know" does not mean introduce themselves, it means they want to viciously gang-rape this man. Remind anyone of Sodom?)
    2. The man who owned the house throws the levite man's wife and his own virgin daughter out to the crowd. The crowd violently rapes and assaults the wife and she is found dead at the door the next morning.
    3. The levite man chops his wife into twelve pieces, and sends one to each of the tribes of Israel. When the word of this crime spreads to the Israelites, they are all outraged.
  4. All of Israel (excluding the Benjaminites) gather to discuss what to do. They try to convince the Benjaminites to give up the guilty men, but they refuse. So, they go to battle with the Benjaminites. They lose the first round, but the Lord promises He will deliver the Benjaminites into the hands of Israel. Israel ambushes the Benjaminites and burns every Benjaminite city down. 
  5. The Book of Judges ends with the remaining Benjaminites kidnapping women and taking them as their wives. But then, we begin the book of Ruth!
  6. Ruth's father-in-law, brother-in-law, and husband all die, but she remains loyal to her mother-in-law (Naomi) and stays with her. They travel back to Naomi's homeland, where they run into a distant relative, Boaz, who Ruth works for. 
    1. Boaz and Ruth fall in love, Naomi approves, and they get married! They have a baby, and Naomi gets to be a grandma! The women in the village tell Naomi that Ruth is "better than seven sons," and from Ruth's son, Obed, King David is descended. (He's important later on.)
  7. Then, we arrive at the first book of Samuel! The scene is set with Elkanah and Hannah, one of his wives who cannot conceive. She goes to the Lord and she has a child, who she dedicates in service to the Lord. This child is--you guessed it--Samuel! He serves in a house of the Lord under Eli, the priest. (Also, every year, his mother makes him a very fancy robe, aw!)
  8. We then hear a prayer of Joy from Hannah, and have the opportunity to read one of the most uplifting verses yet--1 Samuel 2:8 "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats hem with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; upon them he has set the world." 
    1. Eli  the priest has two sons, who are wicked and sinful, and at the end of our reading God confronts them about their awful behaviors. 
There were so many different narratives happening in today's reading! It's crazy! 

I really loved Hannah's Prayer from 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Reading it truly brought me so much peace. 


What were your favorite parts of the reading? Any questions or differing interpretations? I'd love to hear some!

 Tomorrow's reading will be 1 Samuel 2:30-1 Samuel 15:35.
Have an absolutely blessed day!
Jill Jafarace
Director of Student Ministry
New Leaf UMC



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