This week we begin the book of Judges.  In some ways, Judges is the most depressing book in the Bible, and in other ways, it is the most hopeful.  It's depressing in that the cycle of sin repeats itself over and over again, and the savior-judges get worse and worse (pay attention to that decline as you read).  It's hopeful only from a New Testament perspective, knowing that we need more than a human savior-judge; we need Jesus Christ.  What every judge failed to do, Christ does.  As the weight of sin increases throughout the book, keep your eyes on Jesus, the one who paid the price for sin and truly rescues us from sin.  Please consider doing one or more of the readings using the audio links.  Sometimes we hear things through our ears that we don't hear in our minds when we read.  We enter into our rhythm of LEARN, READ, INTERACT.

From How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens, Michael Williams makes these points about Judges:

Phrase: Rebellion and rescue
Theme: God raises up judges to rescue his errant people from the consequences of their rebellion.
Christ-Focus: God raised up Christ, the ultimate judge, to rescue us from our sin and its consequences (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
Implications: By the power of the Spirit of Christ, we may count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11-14).
Questions: Are you overcoming the world, or do you feel as if it is overcoming you? In what areas are you most in need of divine rescue?

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