Judges chapter 6

After reading chapter 6:

* The last sentence of chapter five was " then the land had rest for forty years," forty being one of the bible's magical numbers. Now we again see Israel backsliding. So, Yahweh gave them to the Midianites for seven years (another magical number). They were reduced to hiding in caves and other secluded places. Whenever they planted crops, their crops were destroyed by invading Midianites and Amalekites from the east. The odd thing about this is that back in Numbers chapter 31, all the Midianite males were killed, their towns and  camps burned,  and their virgin women taken as plunder. The apparently resurrected Midianites harassed and plundered the Israelites, causing poverty and distress. Again they cried to Yahweh for help.

*Yahweh sent the Israelites a prophet who gave them a review lesson in history then said their troubles were their own fault for not listening to Yahweh and for following other gods. Then, one day an angel of Yahweh, appearing as a man, visited Gideon and said Yahweh was with Gideon. He was naturally sceptical. The angel said he was sending Gideon to save Israel. Gideon was naturally sceptical, again. He asked for a sign but first made some food as an offering and gave it to the Angel under the oak in Ophrah. Remember that great trees, often oaks, were ancient places of cultic worship and where people communed with gods. We have seen this motif in the bible before.

*The angel had Gideon put the food on a rock, then he incinerated it with his staff. This surprised Gideon who apparently hadn't realized he was a REAL angel. The angel said "Peace, do not be afraid." Then Gideon built an altar to Yahweh on the spot and called it Yahweh is Peace (shalom). This passage is one of the reasons Peace is considered one of the names of God. That night, according to Yahweh's instruction, Gideon destroyed his father's altar to Baal, cut down the Asherah pole, and used the wood in the fire for the sacrifice of one of his father's bulls on the altar to Yahweh. This was done at night, in secret, because of course none of that was his property.

*In the morning all was discovered. Gideon was denounced as the culprit by a hostile crowd and his execution was demanded. Gideon's father, Joash, seems to have been a rational man. He argued that if Baal needed defending, couldn't he defend himself? This seemed to placate the mob and they settled for calling Gideon names.

*Now all those marauding easterners joined forces and came across the Jordan. Gideon was the beneficiary of the spirit of the lord and blew a trumpet summoning help. Then Gideon tested Yahweh's promise of help by placing a wool fleece on the threshing floor and seeing if it would be wet in the morning, but the ground dry.  It was. The next day he requested another test. This time asking for the fleece to be dry and the ground wet. It was. In spite of having the spirit of Yahweh, and personally meeting the angel of the lord, Gideon wasn't taking any chances.

Edited: The Midianites were exterminated in Numbers 31, not 13.

Deuteronomy chapter 25

After reading chapter 25:

*More miscellaneous rules and laws:

-Disputes are taken to court where judges will decide a suitable number of lashes with a whip for the guilty party. No more than forty lashes, or the person may be degraded. (What does degraded mean in this context?)

-Let your ox eat some of the grain it is treading  while it is working.

-A widow must not marry outside her husband's family. She has to marry his brother, if he has one. Any children she has are considered the dead husband's, so his name will not be "blotted out." This is what is known as Levirate marriage. It was common practice in many parts of the East. However, if the brother doesn't want to marry the widow, she can accuse him in the presence of the village elders, take off his sandal, and spit in his face. Then his family will be called "the family of the unsandaled." Big whoop.

-If a woman's husband gets in a fight and the woman tries to help by grabbing the other man's private parts, she gets her hand cut off as punishment. Wow.  This seems pretty harsh, but remember chapter 23 says that no one with damaged testicles could participate in the assembly of the lord. After all, Yahweh cares more about men's testicles than women's hands.

-Merchants must use accurate and honest weights.

-The Israelites are to remember their grudge against the Amalekites and destroy them when they take over the promised land.

Exodus chapter 17

After reading chapter 17:

*The Israelite hordes travelled from place to place as Yahweh directed. At Rephidim, there was no water and they quarreled with Moses. Moses shifts the blame to God. God told him to walk ahead of the people, along with some of the elders. He was to take the magic staff and strike a certain rock so water would flow out if it. He did as God said and it worked; there was enough water for all those people. I don't understand why it is so shocking that people would get upset and doubt god's providential care when they don't have enough food or water.

*While they were in Rephidim, the Amalekites attacked Israel. It doesn't say why. We are now introduced to Joshua, who Moses tells to take some men to go fight the Amalekites. Moses went to stand on a hill with the magic staff. While Joshua fought the Amalekites, Moses would hold up his hands and the battle would be in favor of the Israelites. When Moses lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. His arms got tired. So, Aaron and Hur stood on each side and held up his hands til sunset. Joshua's army won the fight. I guess that was to prove that the Israelites needed Moses.

*Yahweh told Moses to write this on a scroll, but he doesn't say what "this" is. Then he says he will completely blot out the memory of Amalekites and Yahweh will be at war with the Amalekites for many generations. The Amalekites will appear again later.

*After reading the Wikipedia article on the Amalekites, it seems to me that there is no definite concrete evidence for their existence.

Edited.