A funny thing happened while studying Judges...

I know, that title sounds ridiculous. Judges was not one of the books I was looking forward to studying when I decided to do this school. You know, I thought Hebrews, John, Isaiah, Genesis might be cool, but not Judges!
Some weird stuff happens in Judges. The famous stories of Gideon, Samson, and Deborah are in this book, but it also has the story of the Levite who chops up his concubine and the guy who offers his daughter as a burnt offering to God. It’s certainly an interesting book.
But I realized something in the midst of doing my Judges homework. In the past, I have always approached the Old Testament accusingly. God acts so strange and it’s so hard to understand why He does what He does in there. I’ve learned to separate the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New. He has always seemed to be so different, like he underwent a personality exchange sometime after Malachi. I’ve heard so many of these OT stories over and over again and I’ve never been able to reconcile this strange God of laws and judgment with the God of love who sent Jesus to save us and draw us near (which is probably why I’ve never liked Revelation much either). I guess I’ve always just been a bit angry at God when I read the stories of the OT.
In SBS, we have to draw up charts and analyze the scripture paragraph by paragraph. We observe and examine what it says first, then move on to interpretation – lots of why questions and figuring out what it might have meant to the original readers, and then move on to timeless truths and personal application.
I realized sometime around my 12th or 13th chart that I was seeing the same timeless truth in Judges over and over again – God is constant. He is faithful. He doesn’t change. That forced me to think. If God doesn’t change, then He is the same God who sent Jesus as He was in the OT.
As I processed this, I began to see the subtle change that is coming over me and my view of God. I’ve been amazed to see His love in the Old testament, His heart for His people, His faithfulness, His goodness. I am in awe of Him. I don’t understand everything He does in the Old Testament. Not even close. But I’ve started to let go of my right to understand it all. God is God. To quote one of our SBS teachers “God is the good guy”. Even when He doesn’t seem like it, He is the good guy. He is the hero of even these OT books.
There have been many times, even in books like Numbers and Joshua, where I have had to stop and silently worship this amazing God. How unspeakably awe-inspiring He is and how amazed I am that He loves me. What more can I say? Thank you, Lord.