Who are these guys?
Who are these guys - Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephthah, David and Samuel? David we know, he was the little boy who killed the
giant Goliath and as King David purloined Bathsheba and then arranged for her
husband to be killed in battle. (1 Samuel 16 – 2 Samuel 24).
Samson was the ultra-strong man who in the process
of bringing down the temple of the god Dagon managed to kill approximately 3000
Philistines. But he was only in the temple as a result of his malleability at
the hands of a pretty woman. (Judges 13-16).
Samuel, the child, heard God calling him in the
Temple and as he grew older he continued to follow God’s promptings. However he
appointed his dishonest sons to lead Israel after him. This was the catalyst
for the people of Israel asking for a king (1 Samuel 8).
Gideon was called by God to lead Israel in the fight
against the Midianites (Judges 6-8). It is an exciting story, particularly all
the testing Gideon does of God and the way in which God aids his battles. But
God did not guide Gideon to build and worship a golden ephod.
Barak, a big strong man chosen by God to lead the
army would not go to battle without Deborah the prophet being at his side (Judges4,5).
Jephthah is probably the least known of these people
but one I remember because of his desire to stick to his oaths, a bit like the
Herod/John the Baptist story. Jephthah was so happy and thankful that had won
the battle that he sacrificed his daughter (Judges 11).
Why are these people so important to us today? They
are examples of God’s use of flawed people like you and me.
Jane Brown
Christ, Mary, Saints, and Angels in Glory, by Mazzola Bedoli, Girolamo, approximately 1500-1569, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN, http://diglib.library.
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