Reflection

We are in the Book of Judges, chapter 12.

“The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, ‘Let me cross over,’ the men of Gilead asked him, ‘Are you an Ephraimite?’ If he replied, ‘No,’ they said, ‘All right, say “Shibboleth”. If he said, ‘Sibboleth’, because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.” (verses 5-6).

“Shibboleth” means ‘an ear of corn’ or ‘flood.’ Correct pronunciation became life and death. It is one of the Bible’s horror stories. The word has lived on, being applied to words and phrases used as passwords and ways to identify loyalties and belonging amongst people. Its horror lives on as history fills with times when one group has tested the identity of another in order to defame, abuse, limit, control and destroy. Think of the Nazis getting Jews to wear the star of David, Rwandan genocide growing from the test of being Hutu or Tutsi, a child in school having to know the latest in thing to avoid bullying.

Colombian artist, Doris Salcedo, often creates work focussed upon mourning growing out of trauma and loss. Some of her family disappeared during Colombia’s brutal recent past. She hopes that her work invites contemplation and empathy.

Shibboleth was a 548-foot crack up to two feet deep running down the entrance hall of London’s Tate Modern for six months. It was created by casting Colombian rocks in fresh concrete across Tate’s floor. A visible scar remains there to this day. Of this piece, Salcedo said: “It represents borders, the experience of immigrants, the experience of segregation, the experience of racial hatred. It is the experience of a Third World person coming into the heart of Europe.”

Prayer

How we love to police the categories that we create;
the insiders and the outsiders,
the accepted and the unacceptable,
the good and the bad.
Then, to confound our thinking and undo our divisiveness,
you walk along arm in arm with untouchables,
party with notorious sinners,
promise paradise to convicts.
Jesus, be relentless with us;
unpick our partisan ways.
Teach us the hospitality you embody.
Amen.

Reflection

2015 was the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta (the ‘Great Charter’), King John’s response to rebellion. It recognised that neither monarch nor government were above the law and introduced concepts around individual freedoms that have remained central in the laws of many nations. It is a text that has shaped history. The British Library, Ruskin School of Art and University of Oxford wanted to commemorate the moment. Parker’s idea was chosen.

Parker is known for sculptures and installations in public spaces as well as art galleries. She is fascinated by the stuff from which the world around us is made, “My work is all about the potential of materials…”

Parker’s first materials were the pixels of her computer’s screen. She took a screenshot of the English Wikipedia article about the document on 15th June, 2014. Her “snapshot” was printed onto fabric 4.9 feet wide and 43 feet long. She then arranged for 200 people to hand-stitch every letter, line and image. The digital became the physicality of needles and thread and many fingers.

Most of the text was sewn by those who had lost their liberty; 36 prisoners in 13 English prisons. They were supervised by the charity Fine Cell Work which teaches needlework to enable offenders to earn a living creating beautiful things. The Embroiderer’s Guild and others did the images. Many individuals contributed. Julian Assange stitched the word ‘freedom,’ Edward Snowden ‘liberty,’ Doreen Lawrence (Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon) ‘justice,’ ‘denial,’ and ‘delay,’ Shami Chakrabarti ‘Charter of Liberties.’        

This is a phenomenal exercise in the power not only of materials (old and new) but of ideas. Parker’s concept has been made real through the skills and commitment of hundreds. Magna Carta’s possibilities are made real only as people enshrine them in systems, laws, attitudes and choices.

Jesus calls us to such wonders too. “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like… It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” (Mark 4: 30-32)

Prayer

In the midst of all the words,
all the philosophies and posts,
all claims of truth and falsehood,
Jesus, let us listen.
Let us truly hear you amidst the noise
of all that claims our time, attention and affection.
Take us to the Bible today.
Take us to prayer.
Take us to praise, confession, intercession, action.
Dwell powerfully with us wherever we find ourselves.
Show us your way.
Amen.

Monday, 11 May 2026 Art, Scripture and Faith 1
 

 

Brick House by Simone Leigh (2019) 
 

Scripture, Faith, and Art

Dear Friends,

I hope you found our journey through the book of Judges with Janet Tollington interesting.  Janet’s love of the Old Testament is something she willingly shares with us and we’re grateful for the time and effort she put into producing that series.  

For the next week we are going to be looking at Scripture, Faith, and Art with the Revd Neil Thorogood who, from July, will be the Assembly Moderator.  Neil writes:

“E.H Gombrich first published his monumental The Story of Art in 1950. It quickly became a classic textbook on art history. He was, for 17 years, a professor of classical art at the University of London and his book primarily explores the western traditions of visual art. My copy is of the sixteenth edition, revised and published in 1995. It’s a book that has inspired and captivated many key artists. Bridget Riley remembers it was “the first history of art I read as a 19-year-old art student. It was a revelation and I could not put it down. It pushed open the door on some of the greatest achievements of the human spirit.” And this is Antony Gormley, “I read [it] at school at the age of 15 with curiosity and growing compulsion. It planted in me a feeling of the centrality of art in human experience.”
So, plenty to praise and celebrate. Gombrich himself acknowledges that no one book can cover everything. But one of the critiques reveals a staggering absence and silence. The first edition includes no women artists at all; my sixteenth includes only one! It was in response to this absence and silencing that art historian Katy Hessel published The Story of Art Without Men in 2022. 

“This week’s series of Daily Devotions takes a lead from Hessel. Together, we will reflect upon artworks created by women starting with one in 2019, ending with one in 1568. With each, we will explore how art can open scripture and speak to faith. And, as we do, we might also wonder which other voices are silenced, and whose stories never get told.”

I hope you enjoy the series.

With every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship
 

Judges 21:2-7, 8b, 10-14, 17-25 

And the people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.  They said, ‘O Lord, the God of Israel, why has it come to pass that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?’ 

On the next day, the people got up early, and built an altar there, and offered burnt-offerings and sacrifices of well-being.  Then the Israelites said, ‘Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?’ For a solemn oath had been taken concerning whoever did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, ‘That one shall be put to death.’  But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin their kin, and said, ‘One tribe is cut off from Israel this day.  What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?’  Then they said, ‘Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?’ It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp, to the assembly.  So the congregation sent twelve thousand soldiers there and commanded them, ‘Go, put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword, including the women and the little ones.  This is what you shall do; every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.’  And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man and brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. 

Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead; but they did not suffice for them.  And they said, ‘There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, in order that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel.  Yet we cannot give any of our daughters to them as wives.’ For the Israelites had sworn, ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.’  So they said, ‘Look, the yearly festival of the Lord is taking place at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.’  And they instructed the Benjaminites, saying, ‘Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,  and watch; when the young women of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and each of you carry off a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.  Then if their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, “Be generous and allow us to have them; because we did not capture in battle a wife for each man. But neither did you incur guilt by giving your daughters to them.”’  The Benjaminites did so; they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they abducted. Then they went and returned to their territory, and rebuilt the towns, and lived in them.  So the Israelites departed from there at that time by tribes and families, and they went out from there to their own territories. In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

Reflection

Israel gathers at Bethel to bewail the fact that only 11 tribes remain instead of 12, with no future hope for the surviving refugees of Benjamin.  They ask God why it’s happened without any realisation that it’s resulted from their own choices and actions!  But it’s a rhetorical question; they don’t expect, or wait for, any answer.  They’ve made solemn oaths that offer no way out; but still they don’t seek the wisdom of God about what to do.

Instead they justify a decision to eradicate the entire population of one of their communities, except for the virgin daughters of marriageable age.  They proclaim peace with Benjamin, invite the refugees to return and give them the girls as wives; but they are 200 short of the required number.

So they come up with another plan, encouraging those without a wife to go and abduct a girl from Shiloh – during a religious festival! – and take her as a wife, (i.e. rape her).  They argue that even if the men of Shiloh complain, it will be a fait accompli and their anger can be assuaged by telling them: ‘you haven’t been attacked, nor have you incurred guilt by breaking your oaths’.

These appalling stories represent total moral collapse and illustrate the level to which human nature can sink when God is left out the equation.  They show how one bad decision leads to another in a downward spiral; and how adept humanity is at self-justification while falsely claiming that allegiance to God is being maintained.  Our capacity for righteous self-deception seems boundless when we stray from our covenant relationship with God.

The book ends hoping for a king as the answer to a broken society; but history has shown that systems of human leadership are inadequate by themselves.  God alone is sovereign, with the answers; and the power to inspire humanity to work towards a world where all can live and flourish.

We will get things wrong; but the good news is that God still loves us, forgives us and journeys with us until we reach our destination – God’s eternal realm of rest.

Prayer

Eternal God, help me to learn from stories of old as well as realities in my own experience.

Forgive me when I turn away from unpalatable truths; or stray from your paths; or forget you altogether as I pursue my own agenda.

Guide me through the companionship of Christ and the activity of your Spirit.  Fill me and the world with hope that your loving purposes will prevail.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Judges 20:1, 3b-13, 18-21, 26-27a, 28b, 35-36a, 47-48 

Then all the Israelites came out, from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled in one body before the Lord at Mizpah…(Now the Benjaminites heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites said, ‘Tell us, how did this criminal act come about?’  The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, ‘I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.  The lords of Gibeah rose up against me, and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she died.  Then I took my concubine and cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the whole extent of Israel’s territory; for they have committed a vile outrage in Israel.  So now, you Israelites, all of you, give your advice and counsel here and now.’ 

All the people got up as one, saying, ‘We will not any of us go to our tents, nor will any of us return to our houses.  But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot.  We will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the troops, who are going to repay  Gibeah of Benjamin for all the disgrace that they have done in Israel.’  So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one.  The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, ‘What crime is this that has been committed among you?  Now then, hand over those scoundrels in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death, and purge the evil from Israel.’ But the Benjaminites would not listen to their kinsfolk, the Israelites…The Israelites proceeded to go up to Bethel, where they inquired of God, ‘Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?’ And the Lord answered, ‘Judah shall go up first.’   Then the Israelites got up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.  The Israelites went out to battle against Benjamin; and the Israelites drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah.  The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and struck down on that day twenty-two thousand of the Israelites…

Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the Lord; they fasted that day until evening. Then they offered burnt-offerings and sacrifices of well-being before the Lord.  And the Israelites inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days…and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, ‘Shall we go out once more to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites, or shall we desist?’ The Lord answered, ‘Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.’…

The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the Israelites destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day, all of them armed. Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated.  The Israelites gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted to the troops in ambush that they had stationed against Gibeah…But six hundred turned and fled towards the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months.  Meanwhile, the Israelites turned back against the Benjaminites, and put them to the sword—the city, the people, the animals, and all that remained. Also the remaining towns they set on fire.

Reflection

The response by Israel starts positively.  The tribes gather and try to establish firsthand from the Levite what had happened in Gibeah.  They go there and ask that the guilty men are handed over to be punished; but Benjamin refuses and begins to prepare for a fight against their kindred tribes.

This is civil war; but the question they ask of God mirrors the one asked in Judges 1:1  – Who shall go first?  God gives the same answer, Judah.  Israel holds to the presumption that violence is the only way to overcome opposition and achieve justice, despite all the stories in Judges showing that it fails to produce the desired result or lasting peace.  God again isn’t consulted about how to respond; but only asked to choose the leading tribe.

The first battle results in huge losses on both sides and Israel then asks God, ‘shall we go again’?  If God says ‘no’, will it look as though Gibeah has got away with their crime?  How do you stop a war without a just resolution?  How do you persuade your own people that the losses they have suffered were necessary and worthwhile?

These are questions that equally apply today in the civil wars and conflicts between nations that rage around the globe.  There are no easy answers; but with God’s help there surely has to be another way.

In our story God says ‘yes’ and on the third attack in v.35 God defeats Benjamin, implying judgment against them.  But the fighting between the tribes continues with vast numbers being slaughtered until just 600 from Benjamin flee into the wilderness.  Israel kills the remaining people and livestock and burns the villages to the ground.  Total devastation, not justice meted out on the actual perpetrators of the crime.

The barbaric murder of a single concubine has escalated into the annihilation of an entire tribe, an outcome not decreed by God.  However, as we shall see tomorrow, God will get the blame!

Prayer ​

God of justice, we pray for leaders of societies caught up in violence.  Guide them in ways that lead to a just resolution.  Grant them wisdom to discern alternative ways to right wrongs.

Have compassion on all who suffer because of human aggression.  Guide us to be agents of your love and mercy wherever there’s need.

May your Church witness to your ways of justice and peace as we live in obedience to Christ, in whose name we pray.  Amen

Selected verses from Judges 19:1-4, 9-12, 15-30 

In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite, residing in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine became angry with him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for some four months.  Then her husband set out after her, to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. When he reached her father’s house, the girl’s father saw him and came with joy to meet him. His father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him for three days; so they ate and drank, and he stayed there…When the man with his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, ‘Look, the day has worn on until it is almost evening. Spend the night. See, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early in the morning for your journey, and go home.’

But the man would not spend the night; he got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, ‘Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it.’ But his master said to him, ‘We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel; but we will continue on to Gibeah.’..They turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night.

Then at evening there was an old man coming from his work in the field. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah. (The people of the place were Benjaminites.)  When the old man looked up and saw the wayfarer in the open square of the city, he said, ‘Where are you going and where do you come from?’  He answered him, ‘We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home. Nobody has offered to take me in.  We your servants have straw and fodder for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and the woman and the young man along with us. We need nothing more.’  The old man said, ‘Peace be to you. I will care for all your wants; only do not spend the night in the square.’  So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys; they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the city, a depraved lot, surrounded the house, and started pounding on the door. They said to the old man, the master of the house, ‘Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may have intercourse with him.’  And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, ‘No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Since this man is my guest, do not do this vile thing.  Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Ravish them and do whatever you want to them; but against this man do not do such a vile thing.’  But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them. They wantonly raped her, and abused her all through the night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.  As morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.

In the morning her master got up, opened the doors of the house, and when he went out to go on his way, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.  ‘Get up,’ he said to her, ‘we are going.’ But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey; and the man set out for his home.  When he had entered his house, he took a knife, and grasping his concubine he cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.  Then he commanded the men whom he sent, saying, ‘Thus shall you say to all the Israelites, “Has such a thing ever happened since the day that the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until this day? Consider it, take counsel, and speak out.”’

Reflection

This is a horrific story about abuse of power expressed in sexual ways which ends with an innocent woman’s death.  Every character contributes in some way to this outcome; but mention of Bethlehem (David’s home) and Gibeah (Saul’s home) suggest the story has been carefully shaped to foreshadow and validate the supremacy of Judah’s Davidic monarchy over Saul’s (Israelite) version.  We get a hint that monarchy per se may not be the answer to the breakdown of tribal cohesion.

The story focuses on hospitality, about expectations of where this will be offered and to whom.  It implies that foreigners (Jebusites) will fail to respond generously to God’s people and then reveals that the failure lies among God’s people as the Levite and his concubine are ignored by the people of Benjamin when they seek shelter.  It’s a temporary resident from Ephraim who provides hospitality, at no charge; and then becomes the focus of the marauding locals.

The old man protects his (male) guest by offering his own virgin daughter and his guest’s concubine to satisfy the townsfolk’s lusts.  Although v.25 is ambiguous it probably says the Levite then threw out his concubine to save his host’s virgin daughter. Whoever acted, the concubine was gang raped and left for dead.

The story ends with her corpse being divided into twelve pieces and sent round all the tribes of Israel as ‘evidence’ of the wickedness of Gibeah/Benjamin, implying that a response is required.  Even here, though, no reference is made to God.

Sadly we still hear of gang rapes, of sexual acts being used to humiliate, abuse, both men and women in our society; of vulnerable individuals being ‘sacrificed’ for the sake of male, or family, honour.  Such horrors are contrary to God’s loving purposes.  They require a response from us, the body of Christ; a response challenging society to reset its moral compass.  One that strives for justice and renewal; that offers hope to all who are ‘survivors’ of inhumanity in this fallen world.

Prayer​

Loving God, we pray for all who are abused, trafficked, dehumanised around the world.  May they be rescued from their situation and upheld by true love and compassion.

We pray for those whose lust for power or desire for sexual gratification leads them to perpetrate such evil acts against others.  May they be prevented from inflicting further harm and transformed by your Spirit to change their ways.

Teach us to play our part in transforming society until it mirrors your realm.  In the name of Christ Amen.

Judges 18:1-11, 13b – 20, 27-30a 

In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself a territory to live in; for until then no territory among the tribes of Israel had been allotted to them.  So the Danites sent five valiant men from the whole number of their clan, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it; and they said to them, ‘Go, explore the land.’ When they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they stayed there.  While they were at Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, ‘Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?’  He said to them, ‘Micah did such and such for me, and he hired me, and I have become his priest.’  Then they said to him, ‘Inquire of God that we may know whether the mission we are undertaking will succeed.’  The priest replied, ‘Go in peace. The mission you are on is under the eye of the Lord.’

The five men went on, and when they came to Laish, they observed the people who were there living securely, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing on earth, and possessing wealth. Furthermore, they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with Aram.  When they came to their kinsfolk at Zorah and Eshtaol, they said to them, ‘What do you report?’  They said, ‘Come, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, but enter in and possess the land.  When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is broad—God has indeed given it into your hands—a place where there is no lack of anything on earth.’ Six hundred men of the Danite clan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol…From there they passed on to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land (that is, Laish) said to their comrades, ‘Do you know that in these buildings there are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? Now therefore consider what you will do.’  So they turned in that direction and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and greeted him.  While the six hundred men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate, the five men who had gone to spy out the land proceeded to enter and take the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim. The priest was standing by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. When the men went into Micah’s house and took the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim, the priest said to them, ‘What are you doing?’  They said to him, ‘Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one person, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?’  Then the priest accepted the offer. He took the ephod, the teraphim, and the idol, and went along with the people…The Danites, having taken what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, put them to the sword, and burned down the city.  There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with Aram.  It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city, and lived in it. They named the city Dan, after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was formerly Laish. Then the Danites set up the idol for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity.

Reflection

This story tells of the migration of the Danites from the area between Judah and Philistia (recall the Samson stories) to the far north of Israel.  It implies that the sanctuary at Dan, one of two established in the Northern Kingdom, was corrupt from the outset.

The story is told from the perspective of Judah, the kingdom that survived the Assyrian invasion in the 8th century bce.  Judah regarded everything about their northern neighbours (Israel) as ‘bad’ and contrary to God’s will, whereas Judah was ‘good’, the faithful people of God.  Are we ever guilty of viewing other Christians or faith groups in such biased ways?

We’re reminded that there’s no king as a group of Danites are sent to seek a suitable territory for the tribe.  They travel through Ephraim and reach Micah’s house (yesterday’s story). Discovering he has a shrine served by a Levite, they ask him to inquire of God about their mission; and he gives them assurance.  They travel on to Laish, a city of peaceful, unsuspecting, people in a well-resourced area and then report back to their tribe.

An army of Danites accompany the group back to Micah’s home where they seize the idol and religious vessels. They’re challenged by the Levite; but they persuade him to go with them, arguing that it’s better to serve a tribe than an individual!  They reach Laish, slaughter its citizens and burn it down – because Laish has no deliverer.  The city is rebuilt, renamed Dan; and the idol is set up as the Danite’s ‘god’.

The text suggests that God approves Dan’s search for a new homeland, watching over their mission (v.6); but God neither authorises nor condones the annihilation of Laish.  The Danites claim divine sanction (v.10) but all their decisions and actions are taken without seeking God’s will.  The territory was ‘broad’ and fruitful – its peaceful people might have welcomed Dan to share the good things of God, if only they had followed the ways of God and arrived in peace.

A warning against self-justification!

Prayer

Forgiving God, we are amazed that you still love us despite the failures of your people, our forebears, through human history.

We confess that their stories too often show us ourselves and our attitudes towards others who are also your much loved children.

Help us to grow into your likeness as the body of Christ and to do your will, not our own, that justice and peace might prevail.  Amen.

Judges 17: 1-13 

There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, ‘The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and even spoke it in my hearing—that silver is in my possession; I took it; but now I will return it to you.’ And his mother said, ‘May my son be blessed by the Lord!’  Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, ‘I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal.’  So when he returned the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah.  This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.  In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah. He was a Levite residing there.  This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live wherever he could find a place. He came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim to carry on his work. Micah said to him, ‘From where do you come?’ He replied, ‘I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to live wherever I can find a place.’  Then Micah said to him, ‘Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your living.’  The Levite agreed to stay with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons.  So Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.  Then Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest.’

Reflection

In this latter section of Judges we will frequently encounter the idea that Israel’s problems all stem from having no king (v.6).  Sometimes this is accompanied by the idea that this results in the absence of a shared public sense of morality. We now recognise that ethical norms are based on cultural, faith and political ideologies and that they cannot be imposed (or enforced) effectively by any leader or institution.  We cannot assume that a Christian king means Christian values are accepted as valid by society at large.

The focus of this passage is religious corruption.  It’s set in Ephraim where Micah (= ‘who is like Yahweh’ [Israel’s God]) has stolen money from his mother.  He returns it after she’s cursed the unknown thief; and she dedicates the silver to God, so that her son can make an idol from the metal.  Less than 20% of the silver is handed over for this purpose and it’s put in Micah’s household shrine.  One of his sons becomes his personal priest.  All this contravenes Israel’s faith; it’s much like Canaanite religious traditions.

A Levite (the tribe set aside as holy to God) from Bethlehem in Judah, is seeking a place to fulfil his vocation.  He visits Micah who offers him a home and stipend if he’ll serve as priest in Micah’s household shrine; and he agrees.  This contravenes God’s commands again.  Levites belong to God, to serve the altar only in official Israelite sanctuaries.

Micah proclaims that God will prosper him because he now has his own Levitical priest!  None of the characters in this story have remained faithful to God; and each one has acted, spoken or decided in ways that led another astray.  How easily the central tenets of their faith have been abandoned as each ‘did what was right in their own eyes’.

May we never forget the importance of testing our ideas about ministry and mission within the body of Christ, lest we lose our way in pursuit of false gods.

Prayer

Holy God, you taught us how to live through your commands and through Jesus who shared our human condition.

We know that your ways lead to fullness of life for all creation; yet too often we stray down paths that offer false hopes.  Forgive our foolishness.

Draw us back to you and strengthen our faith.  Save us from waywardness that might cause others to lose their way in life too.

For the sake of Christ.  Amen

After this he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, ‘Coax him, and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we may overpower him, so that we may bind him in order to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’  So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and how you could be bound, so that one could subdue you.’  Samson said to her, ‘If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried out, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.’  Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not dried out, and she bound him with them.  While men were lying in wait in an inner chamber, she said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he snapped the bowstrings, as a strand of fibre snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.  Then she said to him, ‘How can you say, “I love you”, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me three times now and have not told me what makes your strength so great.’  Finally, after she had nagged him with her words day after day, and pestered him, he was tired to death.  So he told her his whole secret, 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 were shaved, then my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be like anyone else.’

When Delilah realized that he had told her his whole secret, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, ‘This time come up, for he has told his whole secret to me.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands.  She let him fall asleep on her lap; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken, and his strength left him. Then she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.  So the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles; and he ground at the mill in the prison.  But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, ‘Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.’  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.’  And when their hearts were merry, they said, ‘Call Samson, and let him entertain us.’ So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars;  and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the hand, ‘Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.’  Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed.

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, ‘Lord God, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.’ 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.  Then Samson said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life.  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 his father Manoah. He had judged Israel for twenty years.

Reflection

Samson and Delilah have been portrayed in art, films and songs; and several novels are based on this story-line.  However, it’s no love story, nor is Delilah to be understood as a seductress.  She’s probably Philistine, or allied with them; and throughout she serves their interests.  

Samson appears besotted by Delilah but she doesn’t respond with affection towards him.  At the Philistines’ behest, she asks Samson directly to reveal the source of his strength and how he might be subdued.  She relays his answer, which three times proves to be a lie.  She mocks and nags him until he reveals his Nazirite status and the connection between his uncut hair and his strength.  She tells the Philistines, who reward her for the information.  She lulls Samson to sleep, like a mother nursing a baby in her lap, summons a barber and Samson’s head is shaved.

This time the Philistines seize him, blind him, and treat him like an animal set to turn a mill-stone.  As time passes, his hair regrows.  The Philistines praise their god, Dagon, for victory over Samson; and abuse him as an entertainer at their feast, in a manner reminiscent of ‘freak shows’ of times past.

At last Samson calls on God for strength (v.28); but even now it’s to empower revenge for his own blindness, with no thought of delivering Israel from Philistine oppression.  His strength returns and Samson literally brings the house down, killing countless Philistines – and himself.  His brothers claim his body for burial in the family tomb.

The final words repeat 15.20, perhaps suggesting that chapter 16 is a parallel narrative to chapters 14-15.  The 20 year period may link back to words in 13:5 that Manoah’s son would only ‘begin to deliver Israel’.  Samson didn’t bring deliverance, nor rest to the land; and no more deliverers were raised up.

A system relying on flawed human individuals as deliverers, rather than God, has failed.  A warning that all human institutions are imperfect?

Prayer

Sovereign God, we recognise how susceptible we are to popular interpretations that distort the received biblical text.  Forgive us when we fail to read your written word, or grapple with its oft-times unsavoury content.

Open us to Christ, your living Word, and your Spirit’s guidance, that we may find truth for our day in stories such as this.

May we appreciate the fallibility of all political systems and their leaders, as we pray for them and our world, putting our trust in you alone.  Amen.