Home / Judges: Verse by Verse / Judges (Introduction)
Introduction to Judges
- Passage
- Judges (Introduction)
- Taught
- July 27, 2025
- Series
- Judges: Verse by Verse
Summary
The class opens the book of Judges with its Hebrew name, shophetim: leaders, deliverers and arbiters of justice who served during a formative period in Israel’s history. The slides separate the major judges (such as Gideon) from the minor judges (such as Tola) and place the book on the timeline of the Old Testament, between Joshua and the kings.
Judges 2:11–16 sets the pattern for the whole book: a new generation does evil, abandons the Lord and serves the Baals, God’s anger is kindled and He gives them into the hands of enemies, and then He raises up judges to save them. The lesson calls this the cycle of the judges.
The slides give five purposes for the book: to chronicle Israel’s spiritual decline, to show God’s justice and mercy, to highlight God’s use of imperfect people, to prepare for Israel’s monarchy, and to warn against cultural compromise.
The book at a glance
Before the first chapter, the lesson sets up how to read everything that follows.
- The name. Shophetim: judges, deliverers and arbiters of justice.
- The pattern. Sin, oppression, a cry for help, and a deliverer raised up by God.
- The setting. After Joshua and before the kings, when a generation arose that did not know the Lord.
Five purposes of the book
The slides list why Judges was written:
- To chronicle Israel’s spiritual decline.
- To demonstrate God’s justice and mercy.
- To highlight God’s use of imperfect people.
- To prepare for Israel’s monarchy.
- To warn against cultural compromise.
Questions to talk about
- Am I living with a faith I received from others, or one I know firsthand?Judges 2:10 describes a generation that did not know the Lord or the work He had done for Israel.
- Where do I see the cycle of drifting, distress, crying out and rescue in my own life?God raised up judges in response to Israel’s groaning (Judges 2:18).