Judges chapter 9 part 1

After reading chapter 9:

*Now Gideon had a son named Abimelech by a concubine from Shechem. Abimelech went to Shechem and spoke to his uncles and the rest of his mother's clan. He asked them if they were more inclined to have Gideon's 70 other sons rule over them, or him, one man of their own flesh and blood.
When put like that, they were in favor of Abimelech. They gave him silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and he used it to hire some mercenaries. Abimelech went to Gideon's home in Orphah and murdered his seventy brothers except one who hid,  Jotham the youngest.

*Then the citizens of Shechem gathered at their great tree to crown Abimelech King. During the ceremony, Jothan yelled at them from the top of Mount Gerizim. He told them a story in which an olive tree, a fig tree, and a vine, were each asked to be king. They each turned down the honor, stating that they already had good jobs. When a thorn bush (representing Abimelech) was asked to be king, it  said the people must take refuge in its shade or fire would come out of it and consume the cedars of Lebanon, presumably meaning "if you make your bed, you must lie in it." Next, Jotham said that if they have acted honorably toward Gideon's family, may Abimilech be their joy. (I think he was being facetious.) If they have not acted honorably, may fire come out of Abimelech and consume them all. In other words, he cursed them. Then Jotham fled to hide from Abimelech.

*A bit of review about Shechem: The great tree there is where Abraham had built an altar, sacrificed to Yahweh, and recieved confirmation of the covenant. (Genesis 12) Shechem is where Joseph's bones were buried after the exodus, on a piece of land that had been previously purchased by Jacob.  (Genesis 33- 34) There Jacob had also built an altar and sacrificed to Yahweh. That is also where Jacob's sons, Dinah's brothers, had massacred the inhabitants after demanding their circumcision. In Joshua 20, Shechem was in the territory of Ephraim and designated as one of the cities of refuge. It was given to the Kohathite Levites in Joshua 21. There Joshua renewed Israel's covenant with Yahweh. He took a large stone and set it up under the oak, near the holy place of Yahweh. ( Joshua 24) Now, combine that with the mention that the god Baal-Berith, which means "Lord of the covenant" was worshipped in Shechem. (Judges 8) My study bible calls this ironic and says that the covenant probably referred to a treaty between Canaanite cities. I'm more inclined to think it was an example of religious syncretism.   Does anyone else wonder what happened to the Levites?

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.

Joshua chapter 24 Part 1

After reading chapter 24:

* Then Joshua assembled all the tribes at Shechem. Is this literal or figurative? Did ALL the Israelites really leave their new homes and journey to Shechem? Who minded the land when they were gone? I just keep thinking of the logistics of all these supposed gatherings of over 2 million nomads. Can you imagine the mess (in more ways than one) they left behind when they went back home? It would take years for an area to recover from something like that. Also, is this a separate assembly from the one in chapter 23?

*Now Joshua again talks to all the tribal elders on behalf of Yahweh. He basically gives them an ancestral history starting with Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob, through to Moses and Aaron. He tells them that they saw with their own eyes what happened to the armies of Pharoah in the Red Sea. However, every one  of the people he is talking to was younger than 20, or not born yet, during the exodus. I would venture a guess that only about half the people present could have been alive at the time of the exodus.  All the adults from the exodus perished during the 40 year sojourn in the desert.

*Next, the Israelites are reminded of the battles on the east side of the Jordan, the crossing of the Jordan, and the battles with the nations on the west side of the Jordan. Yahweh claims that they didn't do it on their own with swords and bows, but that he sent his "hornet" ahead of them to drive the people out, whatever that means. He tells them that he is the one that gave them the land and good things that they are now enjoying, even though they did not work for them. Did you ever notice that Yahweh never hands out pats on the back? Except for favored individuals, and not always then, everyone is undeserving, no matter what they have done. It's the same story we are told today: "Whatever you have accomplished is only because God allowed you to accomplish it, without him you would be nothing. So be grateful."

*Now Joshua gives his famous ultimatum. They are to throw away the gods that their ancestors had worshipped in Egypt and worship Yahweh. (Wait a minute. Hadn't they already done that? Maybe not.)If they didn't want to worship Yahweh, they should choose that day who they will serve, the gods of Abraham's ancestors or the gods of the people of the land they were living in. (Did they really have a choice?)As for Joshua and his family, they would serve Yahweh. The people declared Yahweh was their God. Joshua declared them unable to serve Yahweh and doomed to destruction. The people protested that they were sincere. Joshua said okay, but get rid of all those other gods post haste. Apparently this monotheism stuff wasn't necessarily as popular with the Israelites as we might think. There was another covenant with laws drawn up and recorded in the book of the law. How many covenants does that make so far? Then Joshua set up a large stone under the oak near the holy place of Yahweh. (Apparently large trees were still associated with holy places, just as in Abraham's day.) The stone was to be a witness against the people if they went back on their promise to be true to Yahweh.

*Wait. Isn't the holy place of Yahweh now in Shiloh? Isn't that now supposed to be the only holy place of Yahweh? That's why the three eastern tribes were chewed out back in chapter 22. However, the beginning of this story say the Israelites were assembled in Shechem. In fact, that is where Abraham himself once built an altar to Yahweh near a great tree, back in Genesis chapter 12. That is also where Yahweh reiterated his covenant with Abraham. The descendants of Abraham appear to have come full circle. The authors just couldn't resist such a great literary device.

Deuteronomy chapter 12

After reading chapter 12:

* Again, the Israelites are told to destroy all signs of the worship of other gods in the promised land, including alters, idols, sacred stones,  Asherah poles, high places, and under spreading trees. (Hmm. Abraham worshipped under "great trees" numerous times.) The Israelites can only worship in the places and manner in which they are told, not like the surrounding nations, and not like they see fit, as they are doing now, verse 8, since they haven't achieved the promised land yet. When they get there they won't be able to make offerings any where they please.

*They can slaughter animals for anyone in their towns  to eat, but they must not eat the blood. However, free will offerings and gifts to God must be eaten in the place Yahweh (the Levites) chooses. If they want to eat meat and the center of sacrificial worship is too far away, they are free to kill and eat, again except for the blood. But sacred vows must be presented at the altar of the lord, always obeying regulations so it will go well with them.

*Again, they are told not to be curious about other religious practices and attempt to follow them. According to this, the others do detestable things the lord hates, including child sacrifice. However, we have seen that the Yahweh himself has nothing against wholesale slaughter of humans, if he orders it.

Genesis chapter 35

After reading chapter 35:

*After the Dinah episode, God conveniently tells Jacob to move to Bethel. Before they leave, Jacob gathers up all the idols and earrings his household has and buries them under the oak at Shechem. Remember his household now contains all the women and children of Shechem as slaves. The tree is most likely one of the "great trees" that were found near each town. They were where the people of those places went to consult their gods.

*As they pass through the land, nobody bothers them because the "terror of God" was upon them. If this actually happened, it would be more likely they had heard about the massacre and were afraid they would be next. When they got to Bethel, Jacob built an altar. Then Deborah, Rebekah's nurse dies and is buried. What she is doing with them is anybody's guess.

* Verses 9-15 are weirdly redundant and don't seem to fit in the story. There is reiteration of Jacob being named Israel, the promise of the land of Canaan for his descendants, and Jacob naming the place where God talked to him Bethel.

*The storyline continues with verse 16. They are  on the move from Bethel when Rachel gives birth to another son named Benjamin. The birth was difficult and Rachel died. She was buried and Jacob set up a pillar to mark her tomb. They moved on again and while they are in Migdal Eder, Reuben sleeps with his father's concubine Bilhah. Bilhah had been Rachel's slave and was the mother of two of Reuben's brothers, Dan and Naphtali. Here it says she was a concubine, before she was described as a wife.

*Jacob finally reaches his father in Hebron. Isaac had lived 180 years when he dies and Esau and Jacob bury him. The year would be about 1777 B.C.E. , if we attempt to follow biblical chronology.

Genesis chapter 13

After reading chapter 13:

So, Abram, who is now very wealthy, leaves Egypt. He and his entourage go back to the Bethel that isn't named Bethel til chapter 28. There Abram and Lot divvy up the land, because there aren't enough resources for all of them to stay in one place. Lot chose to go east to the well watered plain of the Jordan and Abram stayed in Canaan's hill country.

Again, God talks only to Abram and tells him all the land he sees, north, south, east and west, will be given to his descendants. Later, we will see that Abram's descendants make sure God keeps his promise.

So,Abram travels again, scoping out the land God will give him and ends up traveling south through the hills to Hebron where he builds a barbecue pit, um, altar to the Lord.

So far Abram has built three altars, one in Shechem, one in Bethel, and one in Hebron. Two of those places are said to have sites with "great" trees. There are a few other great trees mentioned in other books of the bible. These trees had special cultic significance. My study bible tells me Canaanites sought advice from thier gods by these trees, maybe Abram followed that practice. The chief Canaanite God was El, whose name appears as part of many place and people names we will encounter in later passages. A couple of examples are Beth-el and Isra-el.

*In many English versions of the Old Testament, when we see the words "the lord,"  the Hebrew is Yahweh. When we see the word God, it is almost always a version of El. Later, we will come upon scriptures that will explain why there are two versions of the supreme being.

Edited.