Ep 373 | Judges, Come Follow Me 2026 (May 25-31)

About this episode

The episode discusses the themes and stories of the judges in the Book of Judges, including the pride cycle and the consequences of forgetting God.

→ Watch on YouTube → Detailed Show Notes → Timestamps: (00:00) A brief overview of these chapters. (06:25) The pride cycle explained. (11:29) The pride cycle illustrated in the Book of Judges. (15:56) Successive generations of Israelites forget God and the things he has done for them. (17:56) The theme of denigrating the northern tribes of Israel. (21:33) Othniel is the first judge. Ehud, the second judge, brings a “gift” to Eglon, the fat king of Moab. (27:24) Deborah is the third judge. How her story compares to the Ishtar myth. (36:51) Gideon is the fourth judge and humbly trusts in God. (47:43) Gideon refuses the invitation to be the king of Israel and teaches that Israel should make God their King. (53:20) Samson is the 7th judge and is blessed with great strength. His ultimate destruction is symbolic of the descent of the House of Israel. Other myths of the ancient world, those of Nergal and Oedipus, may indicate that Samson’s story contains recontextualized tropes from older times. (1:11:00) Abimelech is the 5th judge and slays his seventy brothers. (1:14:15) Jephthah is the 6th judge and makes a rash vow and sacrifices his only daughter. (1:17:47) In the first epilogue…

People in this episode

Hosts: Mike Day, Bryce Dunford

Topics covered

• Judges
• Pride Cycle
• Israelite History
• Biblical Judges
• Civil War
• False Religion
• God as King

Keywords

• Judges
• Pride Cycle
• Israel
• Biblical History
• Othniel
• Gideon
• Samson
• Civil War
• False Religion

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Book of Judges, Ishtar myth, Nergal, Oedipus

More episodes of Talking Scripture

• Ep 376 | 1 Samuel 17-31, 2 Samuel 1-7, Come Follow Me 2026 (June 15-21) · June 11, 2026 · 1h 3m
• Ep 375 | 1 Samuel 8-16, Come Follow Me 2026 (June 8-14) · June 4, 2026 · 47 min
• Ep 374 | Ruth; 1 Samuel 1-7, Come Follow Me 2026 (June 1-7) · May 28, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Ep 372 | Joshua, Come Follow Me 2026 (May 18-24) · May 14, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Ep 371 | Deuteronomy, Come Follow Me 2026 (May 11-17) · May 7, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Ep 370 | Numbers, Come Follow Me 2026 (May 4-10) · April 30, 2026 · 1h 27m