When the judges ruled - workload solution?

by Julie Swannell

 

I was surprised to find Ruth so early in the Old Testament.  As a girl, I learnt quite a few of the names of the books of the Bible by heart: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles...  At that point I must have stopped memorising, because I have to look them up after that.  [Memo to self: learn the rest of the books so I don’t have to spend time searching!]  It is so interesting that this tiny, somewhat homely book of Ruth is right plonk in the middle of all the swirling, big-character names of the surrounding books.  Quite a comfort really.

I had wondered what the little phrase “when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1: 1) means,
and finally found my answer in The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, p. 528/9.  Here we learn that a judge can be either a civil magistrate, or one whom God raised up to lead.  It seems that before the system of kings was in place these judges were put in charge of communities.  The Bible Dictionary lists twelve* of them, including one woman, Deborah.

 

JUDGE.

1.     “A civil magistrate (Ex. 21:22; Deut. 16:18).  On the advice of his father-in-law, and in order to relieve himself of over-work, Moses organized the judiciary of Israel; henceforth he himself acted only in matters of great importance and for the adjudication of cases of less moment he assigned a judge to each 1000, to each 100, to each 50, and to each 10 (Ex. 18: 13-26).”

I’ve always loved to hear this solution to Moses’ work load!  It seems like good practice all round, doesn’t it?  Maybe we can use the same principle in our branch church work: don’t leave all the work to one person – learn to delegate.  Not always easy, but necessary.  It’s interesting that Mary Baker Eddy worked harder than any of her students and yet she was diligent in handing over appropriate responsibilities.

“In the judicial system that he organized, Moses included these officials, and they retained...their hereditary function of judging. ...With the establishment of the kingdom the king became the supreme judge in civil matters.”

 

The Bible Dictionary continues:

2.     “A man whom God raised up to lead a revolt against foreign oppressors...and...was looked to by the people to maintain their rights.” 

 

*The twelve judges:

1)     Othniel of Judah, deliverer of Israel from the king of Mesopotamia

2)     Ehud who expelled the Moabites and Ammonites

3)     Shamgar, smiter of 600 Philistines and saviour of Israel

4)     Deborah, associated with Barak, who led Naphtali and Zebulun to victory again the n. Canaanites

5)     Gideon, who drove the Midianites from the territory of Israel

6)     Tola

7)     Jair

8)     Jepthah subduer of the Ammonites

9)     Ibzn

10)  Elon

11)  Abdon

12)  Samson, the troubler of the Philistines.

 

Note also that “Eli and Samuel also judged Israel, but the former acted in his official capacity as high priest and the latter as a prophet of the Lord.  These judges did not form an unbroken succession of rulers, but appeared sporadically.” And “they were often local heroes.”

 

All was not well during this period it seems, with cruelty, idolatry, and ruthlessness.  It is therefore such a relief to read about kind and upright characters like Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz.  Does this show us that even when a society seems far from God-like, the spirit of truth and love persists and shines through in ordinary lives that might just become extraordinary.  Maybe this is why we have it right here in our Book of books.