Worship Wars John Stevenson 2018 Maps by David

Worship Wars © John Stevenson, 2018 Maps by David P. Barrett, used by permission

Prologue in two parts (1 -2) Othniel Narrative (3: 7 -11) Ehud Narrative (3: 12 -31) Judge is social outcast Oppressors from east of the Jordan Deborah/Barak Narrative (4 -5) Woman slays enemy with blow to head Gideon Narrative (6: 1 – 8: 32) Abimelech Narrative (8: 33 – 10: 5) Woman slays enemy with blow to head Jephthah Narrative (10: 6 – 12: 15) Judge is social outcast Oppressors from east of the Jordan Samson Narrative (13 -16) Epilogue in two parts (17 -21)

Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah (Judges 17: 1)

Judges 17: 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. ” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD. ”

Judges 17: 3 He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you. ”

Judges 17: 4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah.

Judges 17: 5 And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest. Beth Elohim

Judges 17: 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there (Judges 17: 7). ! Bethlehem

Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah (Judges 17: 8). ! Bethlehem

Micah said to him, “Where do you come from? ” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place” (Judges 17: 9). ! Bethlehem

Judges 17: 10 -11 Micah then said to him, “Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance. ” So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

Judges 17: 12 -13 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest. ”

Judges 18: 1 In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.

Judges 18: 2 a So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land to search it; and they said to them, "Go, search the land. ”

And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. (Judges 18: 2 b). ! Bethlehem

Judges 18: 6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the LORD’S approval. ”

Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure… (Judges 18: 7 a) ! Laish

…for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. (Judges 18: 7) ! Laish

They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish (Judges 18: 29). ! Laish

Judges 18: 30 -31 The sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh.

Judge 17 -18 Judge 19 -21 Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim The Levite was from Bethlehem His concubine’s father lived in Bethlehem The Tribe of Dan are the “villains” The Tribe of Benjamin are the “villains”

Judges 19: 1 Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.

But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months (Judges 19: 2). ! Bethlehem

Judges 19: 3 Then her husband arose and went after her to speak tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him.

Gibeah ! ! Jerusalem ! Bethlehem But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he !arose and departed. Jericho and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him (Judges 19: 10).

Gibeah ! ! Jerusalem ! Bethlehem When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone; and the ! servant said to his Jericho master, “Please come, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it” (Judges 19: 11).

Gibeah ! ! Jerusalem ! Bethlehem However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the ! city of foreigners who Jericho are not of the sons of Israel; but we will go on as far as Gibeah. ” (Judges 19: 12).

Judges 19: 14 -15 So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. 15 They turned aside there in order to enter and lodge in Gibeah. When they entered, they sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

Judges 19: 16 Then behold, an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites.

Judges 19: 20 -21 The old man said, “Peace to you. Only let me take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the open square. ” 21 So he took him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

Judges 19: 22 While they were celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have relations with him. ” l[; Y: lib. -yn. Eb. yven>a;

Judges 19: 23 -24 Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my fellows, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this act of folly. 24 Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man. ”

Judges 19: 25 -26 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn. 26 As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight.

Judges 19: 28 -29 He said to her, “Get up and let us go, ” but there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his home. 29 When he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.

Judges 20: 1 Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah.

Judges 20: 12 -13 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has taken place among you? 13 Now then, deliver up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel. ” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.

Judges 20: 14 The sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel.

• First Battle: Benjamin wins – 22, 000 of the men of Judah killed • Second Battle: Benjamin wins – 18, 000 men of Israel killed • Third Battle: Benjamin defeated – Only 600 men from Benjamin survive

Judges 21: 1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage. ”

Judges 21: 6 -7 And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage? ”

Judges 21: 8 And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah? ” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

All put to the sword except 400 Plan #1: virgins who are given in Punishment of marriage to the men of Jabesh-gilead Benjamin. Plan #2: Operation Shiloh Benjamites allowed to “kidnap” wives from the Daughters of Shiloh who come down to dance at the festival.

Judges 21: 24 -25 The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Levite from Bethlehem becomes a priest to the people of Dan 19: 1 Concubine from Bethlehem murdered in Gibeah and sparks war against tribe of Benjamin Ruth and Naomi return to Bethlehem where Ruth has grandfather of David 17: 1