Judges 1-3 Something, Something Something, Dark Side

Judges 1-3

Surprise!!! Judges starts out with the Israelites at war with the Canaanites!
We get a new leading man (pun intended) in Judah.

Fair warning.  My comments are going to be fairly snarky.

Adonibezek tries to run but is caught and has his thumbs and big toes cut off.  More twisted violence from God's chosen people.

1:12 is a retelling of Caleb giving his daughter away as a prize for killing .  The original telling is in Joshua 15.

More instances of God not being able to fulfill his covenant with the Israelites.  Apparently, some people are more powerful then God.  Or maybe he was on vacation when the Israelites went to war.

I'm going to argue semantics here but are they saying COULDN'T drive out or DIDN'T drive out.
Why did they allow these people to stay and live?

Chapter 2 acknowledges that God doesn't like the peaceful cohabitation.

Then things take a turn for the worse.

The next generation (I'm unclear on passage of time) turns away from God, which, of course, pisses him off greatly.  He somehow sells them to the enemy (would love to know how that process went down) but then, "raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them."
Who is this Judge? The Holy Spirit?  It says that the judge dies.  So confused 


Chapter 3 is a repeat of chapter 2.  Can the editing of this book be any worse?


My favorite part about these chapters is that there is so much vagary (40 years pass, Israelites screw up again, 18 years pass) and then we get an ULTRA detailed account of an assassination by a zealot!!!


Ehud, the assassin then leads a raid into Moab that kills thousands of hikers.

Sometimes reading the OT gives me a headache.

Joshua 13-16 And She Lighted Off Her Ass

Joshua 13-16

Joshua is old. There is still much land to conquer.  How much time has passed between chapter 12 and 13?  5 years?

God and Joshua (I tend to first write Moses when I talk about interaction with God.  It's really ingrained in my brain!) discuss the borders of the promised land.

Here is a map of how the land was divided up.

At 14:7 we suddenly go to first person.  Is it Caleb speaking?  Why does he get the center stage all of a sudden?

15:63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.

16:10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.

What the heck?  God couldn't drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem?