At first glance, Judges appears to be one of the most bizarre books of the Bible.  The behavior of Israel collectively, and the men of God specifically, can leave us scratching our heads because they are so out of character with God.  In Judges the concept of descriptive versus prescriptive truth is probably best displayed.  Just because they did it, doesn’t mean God sanctioned it.  God isn’t telling us to do what they did (prescriptive truth), He is telling us what they did (descriptive truth).

Despite their failures, God was not limited by the foolishness or rebelliousness of man in maintaining His faithfulness to Israel.  God used imperfect people to accomplish His perfect plan.  These truths can be a great comfort to us today as we live in chaotic and wicked times and recognize that we are but frail and imperfect vessels.  We can also learn to avoid the common spiritual pitfalls that can shipwreck believers and negatively impact the spiritual generations to come.

This study began in October 2016 and was completed in March 2018.