The One Year Bible: "You Give Love a Bad Name"

 

This week's reading, which was all in 2 Samuel could have been ripped from the script of a steamy soap opera.  Lies, betrayal, murder, jealousy, sex. It's all there.  And of course, love.  It's what makes the world go round. It's what makes you do crazy things, as one Hollywood A-Lister recently insisted.  But what we like to call love--the actions (or inactions) we sometimes take an account of "love"--can have disastrous consequences.  In two stories we see the so-called love of a man for a woman causing tremendous harm, not least to the women the men were obsessed with.  There is the famous story of David and Bathsheba.  After David caught sight of Bathsheba bathing, he took advantage of his kingly power to sleep with her and then had her husband murdered to hide his sin.  Less well known, is the story of David's son Amnon who became obsessed with his half-sister Tamar and raped her.  While the Bible tells us nothing about Bathsheba's perspective on her liaison with David--whether she was a willing participant or, like her stepdaughter, was coerced, we know how Tamar felt.  She was devastated and her life was ruined.

According to some translations of the Bible, David did not punish his son Amnon "because he loved him, for he was his firstborn."  This time so-called "love" caused David not to act when he should have, allowing the crime against his daughter to go unaddressed.  It would fall to Tamar's brother, the handsome and charismatic Absalom to take matters into his own hands,  who out of  love for his sister, avenges his sister's honor by murdering Amnon.

Later on, Absalom foments a rebellion against his father and ends up being killed during the ensuing civil war.  David is crushed by his son's death and kind of falls apart, openly grieving over his death and casting a pall over the relief that rebellion had been crushed and the king's family and supporters spared certain death.  Joab had to pull David aside and give him the "pull yourself together, man" speech.  "You had a lot of people put their lives on the line for you, Your Majesty.  And for you to now conduct yourself this way is a slap in the face."  You know when the counsel of the ethically problematic Joab is on target, you've wandered pretty far off the path.

"Love" that cause you to do wrong, or that allows wrong to go unaddressed is unworthy of the name.

Highlights from 2 Samuel 6:12-2 Samuel 19:30 (with selections from 1 Chronicles and the Psalms)

• David and Bathsheba

• Amnon and Tamar

• Absalom's Rebellion

Fun Facts:

• Do you know about David's dirty dancing?  Okay, it wasn't dirty, exactly.  It's hard to tell what it was.  The best I can tell from the Biblical account is that his exuberant dancing as the Ark was returned to Jerusalem was undignified, unbefitting a king, and drew the inappropriate attentions of the servant girls of the kingdom.  At least that's how David's wife Michal saw it. She expressed her disgust and David clapped back essentially saying, "I'm more than happy to look like a fool to you, and even in my own eyes, but the servant girls are still going to think I'm pretty awesome."  The Bible tells us that after this testy spousal exchange Michal remained childless the rest of her life.  Whether that was some sort of consequence for her contempt for David, or simply because David chose to occupy himself with his other wives (and the wife of another man, in at least one instance) is unclear.

• Do you know how to get David mad?  You might try to kill him or steal his kingdom, but David's temper typically didn't flare when people came for him.  He trusted God to provide for him and didn't seem to feel a strong need to defend himself.  But, let someone mistreat one of his men and David got hot. We saw this is in the story of Nabal last week. We see it again this week when he sends envoys to the Ammonites to honor the passing of their King Nahash, who had been a friend to David during his years of exile.  Well, Nahash's son Hanun receives what turns out to be some deadly counsel from his advisors.  They tell the king not to trust the envoys and so he shaves off half their beards and cuts off their robes at the waist, and sends them home, exposed and humiliated.   David was furious and went to war with the Ammonites. It's too bad David's anger on behalf of his humiliated men couldn't have been extended to his poor daughter, Tamar!

• Do you know who the creep Jonadab is? This grimy guy was David's nephew, the son of his brother Shimea.   He was the one that came up with scheme to for his buddy Amnon to "hook up" with Tamar.  Then later on when Absalom kills Amnon, it's Jonadab that appears on the scene, acting all innocent, to set the record straight that only Amnon had been killed and not all of David's sons, as the king had initially been told.  Jonadab fails to mention that if he hadn't put Amnon up raping Tamar, Amnon would likely still be alive.

What Stood Out to Me

Joab

Almost every story in this week's reading was compelling.  The human drama is fascinating.  And not only are the stories interesting, but the people in the stories are among the most complex in the Bible. These are not one-dimensional heroes or villains, easily categorized saints or sinners.  In these stories good people do bad things, and bad people do good things.  One character in particular really stands out--Joab.  David's military commander and right hand man is a fascinating guy.  He is a cold, pragmatic man who on more than one occasion disregarded King David's commands when he felt they were too "soft."  Joab is rough man who lives by a violent code of honor.  He gets things done, does the dirty work he feels no one else will.  I'm sure if you were to ask Joab he'd say he has no regrets. He did things his way.  He did what he had to do. 

But as we'll see in upcoming readings, Joab's cold methods did not escape David's notice. In the end, David will hold him to account.  Tune in next week to see how. In the meantime, go check out the book of 2 Samuel. It's a page-turner.

92: The One in the Spring

 

No this isn't graduation. This is the awards ceremony at the end of the Spring Track & Field Meet and Picnic, Sunday, April 26, 1992. Our class claimed another moral victory (since we didn't have an an actual victory).  Many of my classmates donned their robes to remind everyone that we were out of there in a few weeks.

On Sunday, April 26, 1992, our senior class participated in the last competitive event of the school year. The mood of the spring picnic was very different from the fall. At least for me.  

Once again our class didn't win. (I don't recall if we were dead last again, or not. It would not surprise me if we were). Once again, I watched from the sidelines rather than participating. Once again those musclebound juniors took first place.  But the way we all approached the track and field meet, also known as the spring picnic appeared to have changed.  This time we let the juniors enjoy their victory. There was no petty flag stealing, no unsportsmanlike taunts. I was more positive, and more reflective. 

Instead of sneering at the whole event, I chose instead to ponder the beauty of the hard-won victory. I had forgotten until I read about it in my journal, how the girls of our class actually dropped the rope during tug of war, only to pick it back up again, and end up winning the contest.

More than any specific events of the day, I remember clearly how I felt. That sense of bittersweet peace and wonder was captured in the quiet of Maloney living room, late Sunday afternoon, when I left the picnic for awhile and went to Chandra's house and listened to her practice for graduation.

Here's my journal account of that day.  It was a long entry, mostly some thoughtful reflections on a couple of close friendships. I've left a lot of that out, to focus on the events of the day:

"Today was the picnic and we lost again, for the final time.  This is the very last picnic for the class of 1992.  Three weeks from today we will be alumni of F.L.A.  No one really felt bad that we lost; my thing when the juniors went crazy when they were announced the winners was 'What are they cheering for.  They're stuck here for another year.' But we played hard and placed in quite a few events.  Sipho Nkosi got Athlete of the Day.  It was awesome at the awards ceremony.  Half of our class showed up in their robes and they played 'Pomp & Circumstance'.  Seniors Rule. What can I say.

Athlete of the Day, Sipho Nkosi on the winners podium

We spent most of the day, or I did anyway, hanging out at my car with Greg, Chris, and Carissa and various other people, listening to my Beatles and Kings X tapes.

We had our barbeque and that was real good. Also wandered around the fields, talked to the War Pig (not us [by "us"  I meant the group of us that had been sowing mischief around campus for the past month or so--they included Joey Gravell, Mark Reams, Erik Wyand and a few others], but Lena and Tonya's crowd. I jokingly refer to them as the War Pig.  Little do they [except for Tonya] know. . .) [apparently, I told Tonya that I was part of the War Pig? So much for secrecy!] and also Chandra.  Went over to Chandra's for a little while this afternoon. . .

At the Barbeque

On the field. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the events themselves

I was watching Chandra practice her piece that she's playing for graduation when I was at her house and it was so incredible.  I was absolutely awestruck.  That something of such awe and beauty and power could come from her.  As I watched her hands flying over those keys producing those gorgeous sounds, I can't describe how I felt.  It was just incredible.  I have gained so much respect and admiration for Chandra and other musicians because watching her play was like watching a small miracle.

You can watch Chandra's actual performance of "Malaguena" at graduation here.  Just fast foward to the 14:26 mark.

Another thing I found interesting was was watching people in competition today.  It was really fascinating to watch people I knew so well just pouring their hearts into something like that.  Watching the Tug of War and watching our girls drop the rope, pick it up and still win and watching the guys give everything they had, it was really something.  And no matter what they say there is something really nice about winning.  Watching the faces of my classmates when they won. It was just very interesting, to watch people give everything they have and watch it pay off.  That's what's so alluring about the winning team, particularly when the victory is hard won.  That is about all for today."

The One Year Bible: Five Things I Love About David

David is one of my favorite Bible characters-maybe my most favorite. There's just something about him that is so refreshing.  It's hard to put my finger on, but I love this guy.  After giving it some thought I've identified five reasons why I love David:

1. I love that David didn't reward murderous treachery--even when it was in his favor.  Okay, I know this seems kind of "obvious."  Of course any king (or mob boss) on the rise can't tolerate disloyalty.  But David seemed to understand that any one willing to kill (or take credited for killing) to ingratiate himself with the winning side was someone not to be trusted.  On more than one occasion men seeking to curry favor with the up and coming king eagerly reported their personal involvement in the destruction of David's enemies.  It did not end well for them. We have the Amalekite who rushed to report Saul's death to David and decided to embellish the story by taking credit for Saul's death.  David was horrified that this man was willing to kill the Lord's anointed (something David himself had been unwilling to do) and had him executed.  And when two brothers, Baanah and Recab murdered Saul's son Ishbosheth while he slept, clearing the way for David to claim the throne, they suffered the same fate.

2. I love that David trusts God to avenge him.  David never felt the need to take the kingdom.  He believed if it was his to have, God would work it out.  Even though Saul was out to kill him, twice David elected not to kill Saul when he had the chance.  David's philosophy wasn't "kill or be killed", and it was "Don't kill and trust God to handle my enemies."  One of the bonuses to this approach is that prevents a vicious cycle from starting. When we insist on exacting our own vengeance we make ourselves the target for the vengeance of those we have harmed.

3. I love that David isn't perfect and when confronted with his wrong doing, he owns up to it.  David definitely did wrong at times (His most famous wrongdoing is still to come in 2 Samuel).  But when confronted, David accepted correction and changed course.  David's ego wasn't so big that he couldn't see the error of his own ways when they were pointed out.  This is evident in the story of Nabal and Abigail, and how she was able to prevent from David from killing Nabal (1 Samuel 25).

4. I love that David is generous and kind. When David and his men had to go recover their families and property from a raiding band of Amalekites (2 Samuel 30), there were 200 of his men that were too tired to keep up the pursuit.  When the battle was won the men who did the fighting wanted to keep all the spoils for themselves. It seemed fair--after all they did the fighting, the 200 didn't.  But David insisted that the loot be shared equally with those that stayed behind.  "No, my brothers! Don't be selfish with what the Lord has given us," David said. "He has kept us safe and helped us defeat the band of raiders that attacked us. Who will listen when you talk like this? We share and share alike--those who go to battle, and those who guard the equipment."  David understood that when God gives you the victory you don't get to be greedy about the rewards of that victory.

5. I love that David loves God. One of the things I like about David is he is the first person I've come across in the Bible that seems to really, really love God. Noah was obedient. Abraham was faithful..  Joseph was good.  Moses was powerful (albeit also a little cranky).  Many people were blessed by God and used by Him in mighty ways.  But I never got the sense that any of these Bible heroes really liked God the way David does, really rejoiced just to be around Him.  Maybe David was just better at expressing it. I don't know.  It's no wonder that David was able to trust God with taking care of his enemies.  It's much easier to trust Someone you love, and to love Someone you trust.

The Highlights of 1 Samuel 22-2 Samuel (plus portions of the Psalms and 1 Chronicles)

• David and His Band on the Run

• David Spares Saul's Life More than Once

• The Fall of Saul and The Rise of David

• The Ark Returns (Sort of): The Unfortunate Uzzah's Undoing

Fun Facts

A few more pieces of movie trivia:

Did you know how we showed the development of David's army? 1 Samuel 22:1-2 says that David, on the run from Saul, was initially joined by members of his family. But "then others began coming--men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented--until David was captain of about 400 men."  We illustrated this gathering through a music montage, showing petty criminals, people on the run, mistreated on the job and so on, taking off and joining up with David.  

Did you know how we showed the passage of time while David was on the run? Our actor Anson was only in the ninth grade and not able to grow a beard of any significance.  So to show the time passing, we started by using face paint to color in first scruff, then a short beard.  Finally we gave him Goliath's old full beard to show he'd been hiding out for quite some time.

Do you know why I hate that low down dirty Doeg?  Doeg is one of the most despicable people I've read about in the Bible.  He happened to be around when David came to the priest Ahimelech seeking food and supplies while on the run from Saul.  Now David lied to the priest saying that he was on an important top secret mission for Saul, so there was no reason for anyone to think Ahimelech had been disloyal to Saul.  But none of that mattered to Doeg.  Like a stool pigeon in a Mafia movie, he told it all to Saul when he had the opportunity.  Saul, by this time is really coming apart at the seams.  He is totally paranoid and unreasonable. And when he hauls in  the poor unsuspecting Ahimelech he immediately accuses him of treachery and demands that his soldiers kill him and his family.  The soldiers refused to kill the Lord's priests.  But you know who has no qualms at all about killing these innocents priests in order to please Saul?  That's right, Doeg.  He murdered 85 priests that day, then went back to the priests' town of Nob and killed all their families too, including the children and even the animals.  A real big man, that Doeg.  I hate that guy.

Did you know how we filmed the scene with Saul and the medium?  Saul finally hits rock bottom, when desperate for the Lord's guidance (but not for the Lord Himself--big difference between Saul and David), he seeks out a medium who can get him in touch with the now deceased Samuel.  Saul was now breaking his own law which had banned mediums in the land of Israel.  We filmed this scene in a dark, cramped, junk-filled storage container on campus.  Ninth grader Shoko played the part of the medium, complete with a glass fishing buoy to represent a crystal ball.  I reprised my role as Samuel one more time. I held up a scary looking demon-like mask in front of my face and then Aaron used a blurring function on the camera while I removed the mask to make it look as if the spirit was transforming into the appearance of Samuel.  I delivered the lines as written in the Bible (1 Samuel 28:16-19) but when I came to the line "The Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me," I repeated the line "you will be with me " twice more in a crazy, maniacal voice, accompanied by some demonic laughter.

You know when you read the account in the Bible the famed "witch of Endor" doesn't seem such a bad sort. She gives Saul a little food, helps him calm down (as he is understandably freaked out by the message he has received), before sending him on his way. Nothing more is said about her.

Do you know why there wasn't a sequel  to our movie Saul and David?  Our film ends with the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, with both Danny as Saul and Manny as Jonathan pulling off great death scenes.  Saul's is a dramatic suicide and Jonathan's a slow-motion battle scene.  We end with a long shot of David receiving news of the battle's outcome amidst swelling music. At first I thought it would be fun to film a sequel based on 2 Samuel. But it quickly became apparent that making a family-friendly film of 2 Samuel would be very difficult.  The violence starts early on with the slaying of Amalekite who claimed credit for killing Saul. It gets worse by chapter 2 with Saul's general, Abner's gruesome killing of Abishai, the brother of David's main general Joab.  While I'm sure 8th grader Cory would have relished pretending to run someone through with butt end of a spear, I think we would have gotten in trouble for such a gory scene, even if it was strictly Biblical.  Likewise with Joab's revenge killing of Abner who had recently defected to David's side.

And one non-movie trivia fun fact:

Did you know about the Strange Love Triangle of Michal, David, and Palti?  After David went on the run, Saul married off his daughter Michal (who was already married to David and had helped him escape, the worthless wrench!), to another guy named Palti.  Well, when Abner defected to David's side in the war for the throne after Saul's death, part of the deal was that David would get his wife back.  In an unusual tale of marital love in the Bible, her husband Palti follows after Abner as he is returning Michal to David, "weeping as he went."  This guy was really broken up about losing Michal!  Abner finally had to tell him to go home.  "Listen man, it's over. Let her go. She ain't gonna be your wife no mo'!" The Bible says "So Palti returned." Poor guy.  This would not be the first time David helped himself to another man's wife. However at least in this case, David had been married to her first.  Michal is an interesting one, by the way.  We'll talk more about her next week.

What Stood Out to Me

Abigail

I always notice the level-headed, strong women of the Bible.  There's no shortage of them.  For a Book coming out of a patriarchal time when women were supposedly of little value, over and over we see a pattern of smart, independent women stuck with loser guys. Abigail is one of those awesome women. Nabal, Abigail's husband is known to be a jerk. The community knows it, people who work for him know it, his wife knows it.  In fact, his name Nabal means "fool".  When David politely asks if he'd be willing to share any extra provisions he might have, Nabal responds with a rude and insulting no.  David is incensed by this reply and in the heat of anger vows to kill Nabal.   Meanwhile one of the servants (who clearly knows who the reasonable person in the family is regardless of who holds the "head of the house" title) runs to tell it all to Abigail.  She quickly intervenes, meeting David on the way and humbly taking responsibility for her husband's shenanigans.  Essentially she says, "Listen, everyone knows that guy is in idiot. It's my bad. I didn't even see your guys come in. They should have talked to me."  Then she goes on to reprimand David for his rush to take revenge, and reminds him of who he is and who God is. David is calmed by her words and decides not to kill anyone. (Nabal ends up stroking out the next day anyway and eventually Abigail becomes David's wife. Well, one of them anyway. Along with Ahinoam and Michal--and more to come. This is still the patriarchy after all!)

Kudos to my students, ninth graders Nei and Jimmy, that played the roles of Abigail and Nabal in our movie.  Jimmy is such a nice guy, but also a great actor, so he really played up the baddie Nabal.  And for Nei the acting was easy as she's just as smart and kind in real life as Abigail was.

Uzzah

Uzzah's always been a puzzlah.  David was in the process of bringing the Ark to Jersualem, and Uzzah was one of the priests tending the cart the Ark was being drawn on.  The oxen pulling the ark stumbled and Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark.  The Ark was fine.  Uzzah was not.  He dropped dead on the spot.  The Bible says that "Lord's anger was aroused against Uzzah, and He struck him dead."  It seems so harsh right? He was only trying to help.  Was God really so petty as all that?  Does God strike us down, regardless of the intentions of our hearts, just because we did the wrong thing.  There are plenty of think pieces out there that will insist that if God wants to be petty, He can because He's God. I suppose that argument is technically true--but it's not very helpful. When we insist that the moral rules God expects us to abide by don't apply to Him because He's God, it makes the whole notion of a "good" God pointless. Good is whatever He says is good. 

I take a different approach to the story of Uzzah.  As in other stories,  I tend to think that was the Biblical writer's understanding of what happened.  Uzzah touches the Ark, Uzzah dies, the Lord must have struck Him down. It's notable to that nowhere in this story does God Himself speak on what He purportedly did. There's no reprimand of Uzzah or David or anyone else in the story.  The celebration dies as quickly as Uzzah did, and the Ark is left on the property of Obed-Edom while David figures out what to do next. This entire episode as well as what follows (which we'll catch next week) happened without any input or guidance from God. My conclusion is that the Ark still contained some live electrical current of God's Holiness and when Uzzah reached out, he was "electrocuted" so to speak just as if he'd touched a live wire.  There's a significant difference between a man being "struck down" arbitrarily by God and a man "struck down" by accidental contact with His Power.

 

The One Year Bible: Better (Not) Call Saul

 

The question I've been pondering this week is this:  Why did God call Saul?  Unlike New Testament Saul who turned into the Apostle Paul, a giant of faith, Old Testament Saul remained just Saul and turned out to be severely lacking in faith.  He failed to be faithful almost as soon as he became king.  Quick on the heels of anointing Saul, God announced that his crown would be taken from him and given to a more worthy man.

So why did God pick Saul when he was doomed to failure?  Here's what I've concluded. This question presumes that a monarchy would have worked out, if only God had chosen the right man.  But I think God made it clear that any king was not going to be good for Israel.  A theocratic monarchy was not God's ideal form of government.  God allowed Israel to have a king because it's what they wanted.  It was a case of "Okay, but this is a bad idea."  It really didn't matter who God chose.  The form of government itself was flawed.  As we will see as we continue through the Old Testament, good kings were rare, and even icons like David would end up making mistakes that led to tragedy for the king and kingdom.  While the Israelites might have believed that the chaos of the period of the judges was due to lack of kingly leadership, God understood that the problem of faithlessness wouldn't be solved by a monarch.  God's preferred approach was a pure theocracy, where He reigned as Sovereign, with the priests acting more as administrators than awe-inspiring leaders, and judges were called upon as needed rather than claiming a throne by right.

 I think God called Saul because he looked the part of what the people thought they wanted in a king.  He was physically commanding, literally head and shoulders above everyone else.  God knew that if he chose someone less obviously "perfect" for the job, those shortcomings would be blamed for his failure. After letting Israel experience a king "suited" for the job, God said "Now let's try this again, with the kind of person I like" and this time He picked the shepherd boy, David.  Of course, David would prove to have problems of his own too.  But God had already established the pitfalls of royalty through the example of Saul.

Saul had royal bearing, but he was jealous, temperamental, and impulsive.  Most of us know how jealous he was David.  Not many know that long before he became obsessed with killing David, he almost killed his own son, Jonathan.  Saul had rashly declared that anyone who ate any food before he had "avenged himself" on the Philistines would be put to death.  It was a boneheaded order--just the kind of grandiose, kingly command that Saul tended to be fond of.  It made no sense to insist that his men keep fighting with no food.  Jonathan, not knowing about the command, ate a bit of honey.  When this came to Saul's attention, in a move reminiscent of Jephthah, Saul insisted Jonathan be executed.  In a moment that had to be awkward for the supposed king, the people of Israel intervened and basically told their king, "Uh, no, we're not going to let that happen."  So Saul had to back down.  Pretty lame for a king--experiencing back talk from his son in front of everyone and then having his own army refuse to carry out his commands.

The Bible says that "God was sorry he ever made Saul king", but I think that was the writer's interpretation of God's feelings.  It was like the author heard God say "Boy, was this guy a mistake" and assumed that God had been taken by surprise as he, the author ,was by Saul's failure.  What he missed, but what I think is evident to us, is that God had know from the start that a king--any king--was going to be a mistake.

Highlights of 1 Samuel 1:9-1 Samuel 21

• The Boy Samuel

• The Ark is Lost to the Raiders of Philistine

• Saul Called

• Saul Uncalled

• David and Goliath

• Saul and David

Fun Facts:  Saul & David Movie Trivia Edition

About half way through the 2000-2001 school year, my ninth grade Bible class arrived at the stories of  1 Samuel in our curriculum.  Rather than go through the usual lessons and review questions in the textbook, I decided we'd make a movie about the stories of Saul and David.  It seemed like a fun way to learn these Bible stories. Well, what started out as a scheduled two week shoot turned into six weeks of filming.  The finished product was a memorable feature length film that we debuted on the "big screen" of our church.  Though short on the budget and film-making expertise, we made up for those deficits with creativity, a sense of fun, and a lot of heart. Herewith some "movie trivia" based on our film on 1 Samuel:

• Did you know how we kept our "PG-13" rating?  Okay, our film was unrated.  But still, this was a group of high school freshman trying to make a family friendly film out of some pretty adult source material.  When it came to Samuel (played by yours truly) slaying King Agag, we accomplished that with some artful blood spatter and sound effects.  When Saul tasked David with bringing him 100 Philistine foreskins as the price of marrying his daughter, we changed it to 100 ears (which we recreated with a bowlful of torn up tortillas drenched in red-dyed corn syrup which I admit is still pretty gory.  But at least it didn't involve penises!)

• Did you know how we created Goliath and handled his death?  For the part of Goliath, we put seventh grader Evan, wearing a fake beard, on the shoulders of eighth grader Jeffrey and had them wear a long trench coat, making Evan into a misshapen giant.  Camera action created the illusion of the stone striking Goliath in the forehead.  From a distance, we showed David, played by ninth grader Anson  rushing up to the stricken giant, and pulling out Goliath's sword and decapitating him. (We had removed Evan and replaced his head with a basketball now wearing the fake beard). According to the Bible, that's how Goliath was killed, not the blow from the sling stone. However, the part where David drop kicked Goliath's head across the battlefield was a piece of artistic license on our part.

• Did you know how we made do with our limited costume budget?  The school had exactly two military jackets in our costume trunk--an Army coat and U.S. Marines dress jacket. I don't know where they came from. The green army coat was Saul's (played by ninth grader Danny) key costume piece. The iconic black Marine jacket with red trim was worn by ninth grader Manny, who played Saul's son, Jonathan.  In the scene from 1 Samuel 18 where Jonathan gives David his tunic, sword, bow and belt, we had Jonathan give David the Marine jacket, which David wore for the rest of the film as his signature costume piece.

Saul's costume

Jonathan's costume, which he eventually passed on to David

• Did you know one of my favorite lines was a mangled word?  During the scene where Saul confronts his daughter--David's wife--Michal (played by ninth grader Abbie) for allowing David to escape, Danny ad-libbed the line: "How could you betray me, you worthless wrench!"  I'm not sure whether Danny meant to say "wretch"  or "wench" but it came out as a tool, and it makes me chuckle every time I think of it, even 22 years later.

• Did you know which parts of 1 Samuel we left out of our film?  Our movie begins with the anointing of Saul as king--the early chapters that cover Samuel's growing up years, the loss of the Ark, and how Saul was chosen to be king were all left out.  We also chose not to do the scene in 1 Samuel 19 lies on the ground naked and prophesies all day and all night long.  We also left out the part where David pretended to be insane while on the run from Saul.  David was hiding out amongst the Philistines and to convince them that he was no longer a threat to them, he pretended to be crazy "scratching on doors and drooling down his beard" (1 Samuel 21: 12-15).

What Stood Out to Me

The Eli Effect

One of my great fears as a parent, especially now that I have a full-on teenager, is that I will end up being an Eli.  A father who loses his sons because he didn't do what he needed to do to raise them correctly. Parenting your child towards not just success, but decency, in favor with God and man, is the most important task a person can have.  The fear of failing in that task--unintentionally through permissiveness and inattention--are constant worries of mine.  I can just hear the sermon:  "How many of us are Eli's, unleashing tepid reprimands but shirking the hard work of reigning in his wayward sons.  Our goal should be to be Samuel, faithful to God no matter the cost, speaking the hard truths, setting an example of righteousness for his children" etc etc.

Except, I guess Samuel failed too. 1 Samuel 8:2-3 tell us that Samuel's sons Joel and Abijah were "greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice."  How could Samuel have failed too? We can speculate that he was too busy serving the Lord to look after his home, but that's pure speculation.  We don't know what--if anything--Samuel did "wrong." 

I'm not sure what the answer is.   I pray that I will do the best I can and that God will preserve my children.  Because the reality is that even if we are not Eli's, our children are their own people.  They will make their own decisions.  And even a Samuel cannot guarantee the outcome they want.

The Loss of the Ark

 It was a tremendous shock to Israel to lose the Ark. Such a loss should have been impossible.  How could the enemy even approach the holy Ark and live? It was the horrific news of the ark's capture more than the deaths of Hophni and Phineas in battle that lead to the death of their father Eli and Phineas' wife.

I think somewhere along the way the Israelites lost sight of what the Ark was.  They had come to see the Ark as the visible manifestation of God's presence--kind of like an idol.  As long as they had the Ark, they could not lose.  They no longer understood that having the Ark was not the same as having God. It was just a wooden box overlaid with gold.  But God had not left. He was there, as He always had been. It was His presence, not the Ark itself that caused the Philistine idol of Dagan to fall down. It was His radioactive Holiness that caused the outburst of illness wherever the Ark went in Philistia, and seventy men in Israel to perish after looking inside when it was returned.  God was still there. But when Israel headed off into battle, taking His box with them, they went without Him.  And without His help, the Ark was useless.

The Message of David and Goliath: A Bible Story Classic

Rich Mullins sums it up better than I ever could with this song from his early days.

I'm gonna tell you a story
That you've probably heard
And at the risk of being redundant
I'm gonna tell you something
That may not thrill you
But it could not hurt
Well it comes out of the sacred
Writing of the Israelites
It's the story of David
And how he slew Goliath

Well now the king of his country
He didn't trust in him much
And so to David's alarm
He tried to fit him in his armor
But the thing was so heavy
David couldn't stand up
So he left it by the river
Where he gathered five smooth stones
I guess it's safe to say he figured
He wasn't going out alone
He's not alone

What trouble are giants
What's wrong with being small
The bigger they come
You know the harder they fall
When you're fighting for Zion
And you're on the Lord's side
Well I think you're gonna find
They ain't no trouble at all (Trouble at all)
No trouble at all
No trouble at all
No trouble

Now there must have been some laughter
Among the Philistines
At the sight of this scrawny little shepherd
Coming out to meet the record-breaking mammoth of a man
Who was a killing machine
But it didn't shake David
'Cause he was smart enough to know
It's more the size of who you put your faith in
Than the size of your foe

What trouble are giants
What's wrong with being small
The bigger they come
You know the harder they fall
When you're fighting for Zion
And you're on the Lord's side
I think you're gonna find
It ain't no trouble at all

--Rich Mullins, "What Trouble Are Giants"

92: The One on the Road Pt 2: The Trip

The Class of 92 in the Windy City

My journal account of the senior class trip is pretty sparse, unfortunately.  It's not that I didn't write. I wrote everyday of the trip.  But it was almost entirely the ruminations of angsty teen.  It's really too bad, because it really was a pretty epic trip. And when I wasn't too busy being miserable, I managed to have a great time.  And that's what I tend to remember.  I remember that I was miserable, but those emotions don't come back when I think about the trip.  Our senior class trip has strangely proved to be more fun in memory than when I experienced it.  

Tuesday, April 7, 1992

The Forgotten Day

We arrived in Chicago in the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 7, 1992 (I'm guessing they didn't have strict rules about how many hours bus drivers could be on on the roads in those days). 

I remember being very tired as we set out seven hours or so later, to see the sights Tuesday morning, but that's about all.  The only reason I know what we did is the photos I took.  We went to Brookfield Zoo in the morning and the Art Institute of Chicago in the afternoon. 

Wednesday, April 8, 1992

The Famous People I Didn't See

Wednesday morning we did a river cruise tour of downtown Chicago, and then did some shopping at the Water Tower Mall in the afternoon. It was here that I missed the first of two opportunities to see someone famous. At our 30 year reunion last month, Heather Caplin and Jacque Chamberlain regaled me with their story of running into Axl Rose at the Water Tower Mall.  That's right, the temperamental lead singer of Gun's N Roses!  In 1992, it didn't get much bigger than that.  The songs off their double album Use Your Illusion I & II, ballads like "November Rain" and "Don't Cry" as well the song featured in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, "You Could be Mine" were all over the radio.  Even as the Seattle sound of "alternative" bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam were remaking the rock world, Guns N' Roses was the last triumphant middle finger of 80's style hard rock.  Heather and Jacque can tell the story better than I can, but  I know they were able to exchange a few words ("Do people tell you you look like Axl Rose?" and "Yeah, I get that a lot") and they trailed him through the mall for awhile before his security finally chased them off. 

I didn't take this photo, despite that I had a camera with me on Wednesday, April 8, 1992.  Heather and Jacque didn't take it either as they figured they wouldn't need their cameras for a trip to the mall. This is a Getty Images photo probably not even taken in Chicagol

Heather and Jacque say that when they told their friends who they'd seen, their classmates didn't believe them!  But I believe them. And it's not just because their excitement over the encounter is still there 30 years later. I did a little research and confirmed that it was very likely Axl Rose would have been in Chicago that day. GNR had a show booked at the Rosemont Horizon in the Chicago area for April 9, 1992--the next day.

I can't be too sad about missing Axl. That was a case of being in the right place at the right time and I wasn't.  The second opportunity, though was my own choice.  I had an opportunity--like everyone else in my class--to see the NBA legend Michael Jordan and his equally legendary team the 1992 Chicago Bulls play the Milwaukee Bucks.  On the other hand, I could go see the award-winning, hot-off-broadway, "Hamilton" of the 1990's, play Shear Madness.  Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little.  The audience-involved mystery was not exactly a once a in  life-time experience.  In fact, Shear Madness would turn out to be the second longest running play in American theater and you can still see it today. In fact, you can see it right now at the Kennedy Center.  Honestly, it wasn't memorable. I don't remember "whodunnit" or anything else about the play for that matter.

On the way to Shear Madness instead of on the way to see Michael Jordan. Now that's sheer madness. The "turban" I'm wearing was lent to me by Chandra or Geri, because I'd lost my coat and somehow that translated into me needing a hat.

Ralph Rosenow, Chandra, and Geri on the bus with me on our way to the play.

It was worth $19 in 1992.  Do you know how much that ticket is worth today? (The stub is worthless, but a standard ticket at the Kennedy Center will cost you $58 for a seat at tomorrow's performance)

But it was more than seeing Jordan on the court that I missed. I also missed seeing him after the game. I'm not sure of the details (since I wasn't there. . .grrrr), but I'm told that somehow some of my classmates were able to get down to where the athletes were exiting the arena after the game.  They saw Jordan leave the building, sign a few autographs for select fans, and then get into his high end sports car.  I'm told that Frank Modeste was bold enough to step in front of his car, causing him to stop for a moment while Frank did. . .I'm not sure what, perhaps take a picture? Then they watched Michael Jordan peel away and drive off into the night.  Now that's a story for your grandchildren!

I didn't take this photo either.  Because I wasn't there!

Illicit Activities

Silliness in the hotel room

The other thing I remember from the class trip, which also took place on Wednesday, was a certain amount of rumored partying that went on that night. It was partying that I had decided I was going to join. I can't remember which room or rooms these illicit activities were happening in and I'll never know if they actually happened. Because when I slipped out of my room, ready to break the rules, Dr. Vining happened to be standing right outside the door:

 "Hi, Sean.  What do you need?" She asked.

"Oh! Hi Dr. Vining! I was. . .uh. . well, I was. . .uh. . . Actually, I'm just gonna go back in my room here."

And that was that.  My roommates and I did end up raiding the minibar--poking holes in the bottom of the cans, puffing up the snack bags so they looked full, and refilling the bottles with water, in attempt to hide our theft. As a seasoned trip leader now, I'm appalled that our chaperones didn't think to ask the hotel to clear the minibar in the rooms ahead of our arrival.  There wasn't enough in the bar to make for much, but still.  I'm glad now that my party plans were foiled.  I don't think I'm cut out for that life, and knowing my mindset, I don't think it would have gone well for me.

Thursday, April 9, 1992

Stuck in the Chicago: The Ordeal

Perhaps my most vivid memory of the class trip was one of abandonment.  I, along with a couple of classmates were left behind by the class at the Museum of Science and Industry.  We waited for hours in the brutal cold before we finally gave up and took a cab to what we knew was the next stop on our itinerary. It's been suggested that it was our own fault, that we were late for the pick-up.  Well, we're not gonna litigate those little details right now.  All I know is we were left behind, and in the days before cell phones there was nothing to be done about it, but wait--which we did for awhile--or set out on our own, which we finally did.  Here's the account from my journal (one of the few class trip events I actually wrote about):

"We left the hotel sometime after 9:30 and were dropped off at the Museum of Science & Industry. Waited around for about half an hour and then Lena, Tonya, Linda and I took off for the Shedd's Aquarium, about a 10 minute drive [on the bus], and thus our adventure began.  We looked around there and met Chris and Carissa who told us that they were going to pick some of us up at the aquarium when it was time to go.  We'd already been notified of the change from pick up at 7 PM to pick up at 4 PM at the Science and Industry Museum.

Anyway, we went over to the Planetarium, ate and saw the sky show. Afterward we went to the Field Museum for a little, and then around 3:40 decided to head back to the Museum of Science & Industry for our pick-up. 10 minute bus ride, remember.  That 10 minute was almost an hour back. We got back about 4:30 and missed our rides. 

Now Dr. Vining had said that in case some people didn't hear about the four o'clock pick up, they'd send a bus back at 7 to get them. So we figured we'd stay and wait for that bus.  We ended up waiting 2 and a half hours, and the bus never showed.  It wasn't bad. Lena was really mad and Linda was quite cheerful and Tonya and I just made the best of it.  It was cold, though.  We about froze.  Finally, just after seven we decided to take a cab to Hard Rock Cafe where the class was supposed to go next.  They weren't there so we took another taxi to the Sears Tower where we found everyone. 

I can't believe they let this happen.  The sponsors are so irresponsible. Went to Hard Rock, then left. That's all."

Friday, April 10, 1992

Jennifer E and Chandra on the bus ride to North Carolina, Friday, April 10, 1992

Me and Jenny Burrill getting ready to raft

Greg Wedel, Captain of our ship (or our raft anyway)

Rafting

On Friday we began the long journey home, with two days of stops along the way.  The first stop, after an all night drive, was in North Carolina for white water rafting.  Even thought it was my first experience rafting, I don't remember much about it at all.  The most memorable rafting trip I've been on so far was an all day excursion with  my 8th graders in tropical North Queensland, Australia in 2008.  Our senior rafting trip just didn't stand out for me like that. I did, however, take quite a few pictures.

After rafting, we hopped back on the bus and continued on to Cohutta Springs, Georgia where we'd spend the Sabbath hours at the Adventist camp there.

Saturday, Apri1 11-Sunday, April 12, 1992

Greg and I at the Braves game, Saturday evening, April 11, 1992, Atlanta, Georgia

Mae Williams and Rachel Berlus enjoying the game.

After a quiet Sabbath at Cohutta Springs we continued on to Atlanta.  We spent the evening watching an Atlanta Braves game.  Afterwards, my roommates--Chris Cotta, Greg Wedel, Jeff O'Connor--and I stayed up all night being hyper and crazy.  Sunday morning, we continued on and by Sunday afternoon we were back home again.

I have to applaud our sponsors who planned the trip for us-"Captain" Coolidge, Mrs. Kovalski, Mr. Pomeroy and Dr. Vining.  They planned a full and complete class trip with a variety of experiences for us.  I admire their' courage in leading two coachfuls of seniors on this trip. I personally am quite happy taking 8th graders on trips--they can't get into the kind of trouble high school seniors can! I wish I hadn't been so morose during the trip, but I'm glad my memories are positive at least. It's quite possible that my recollections of that trip helped shape the kind of trips that I plan for my students today.  At the end of May I'll be taking 20 8th graders and seven chaperones on an epic trip to Oahu, Hawaii.  Hopefully they'll have a great time in the moment and in memory as well.

The One Year Bible: Rock N' Roll Bible

 

The reading for the past two weeks finished out the second half of Joshua--which was mostly a rather dull recounting of how the Promised Land was divvied up among the people of Israel-- and ended with the charming story of Ruth and the prelude to the story of the prophet Samuel. In between was the book of Judges.  And wow, what a book! Cinematic, violent, and full of tough guys and even tougher women.  If it were a movie, it would be rated R, for sure.  And the soundtrack? It would have to rock n' roll.  I can just see the trailer--Ehud running King Eglon through with a sword (Judges 3:12-30), Jael handling business with Sisera (Judges 4:17-22), Gideon, Samson and his antics and you can totally hear Guns N' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle"  or Queen's "We Will Rock You" playing in the background.

I'm guessing I'm not supposed to suggest such a thing about the stories of the Holy Bible, but Judges just doesn't have that "Biblical" feel.  It feels like an action flick or a comic book film.  These judges are larger than life and there's never a dull moment in this book. It's not surprising that the only children's stories to come out of the book of Judges are Gideon and Samson (and even Samson is really pretty PG-13).  The rest of the stories don't go well with a Sabbath morning children's story.

On closer inspection, though, it's clear to me that most of the judges, even Samson with his storied strength, aren't very strong. They are fearful (Barak and Gideon), impulsive (Jephthah), petty and selfish (Samson), and just plain sick (The unnamed Levite who allowed his wife to be sexually assaulted and murdered).  None of them seem particularly bright, certainly not fit to be well. . .judging anyone.  I'm trying to think if there was even one judge who was actually a solid, decent man. 

The women of Judges, on the other hand, mean business. Whether it's the leadership of the prophetess Deborah, the fearlessness of Jael, the resolve of Jephthah's daughter, or even the savvy Delilah, who even if she wasn't exactly "good" was at least intelligent.  Certainly there are women in this book who suffer at the hands of awful men--the aforementioned Levite's concubine and the poor women of Shiloh--but I do appreciate the stories of the strong women of Judges.

Highlights from Joshua, 12:7 through the end of the book,  Judges, Ruth and 1 Samuel 1:1-8 (with selections from 1 Chronicles 2:9-55 and 1 Chronicles 4:1-23)

• Choose Today Whom You Will Serve: Joshua's Final Words to Israel

• Deborah Schools Barak, Jael Strikes Sisera

• 300: Gideon and His Men

• Jephthah Sacrifices His Daughter

• Samson: The World's Strongest Weakling

• The Horrifying Tale of the Levite and His Concubine

• Ruth: A Breath of Fresh Air

• The Prayer of Jabez

• An Introduction to the Parents of the Prophet Samuel

Fun Facts

• Do you know who really conquered Jerusalem? It's not clear at all.  The Bible gives contradictory accounts of the conquest of this most important city, sometimes in the same chapter! In the first chapter of Judges it appears Judah conquered Jerusalem in vs. 8, only for it be described in vs. 21 as remaining under the control of the Jebusites "to this day". There is at least one other account of Jerusalem being conquered (or not) before David is described as taking it later in the Bible.  In the research I did online, it appears there's some disagreement as to when exactly Jerusalem was conquered and by whom.  To me it seems possible that it might have been conquered and reconquered by the both the Jebusites and the people of Israel over the years.  That's a pattern of conquest of Jerusalem that has continued to the present.

• Did you know what happened to Gideon after his well-known victory over the Midianites with only 300 men? It's not pretty.  There are some atrocities committed by Gideon against some towns that refused to provide him and his men with food as he was concluding his defeat of the Midianites. Then there's some idol worship as Gideon creates an ephod which becomes an object of worship. Here Gideon humbly declines to lead the people of Israel, declaring "The LORD will rule over you", but then leads the people astray by making the ephod. Finally, after Gideon's death there is a violent conflict between seventy of his sons and his bastard child, named Abimelech for control of Shechem.  It's all very sad. Read about it in Judges 9.

• Do you know what would happen if you couldn't pronounce "shibboleth" correctly?  You got killed, that's what happened. This came about after the judge Jephthah had defeated the Ammonites. He got into a ridiculous fight with the tribe of Ephraim, who were angry because Jephthah hadn't called them to join the battle against the Ammonites (even though Jephthah had asked for their help and they had refused. Now that the victory is won, Ephraim wants to conveniently rewrite history and literally go to war over their version of events!). In the ensuing civil war, the word "shibboleth" was used a test to determine whether escaping fugitives from the battle were Ephraimites or not.  The men of Ephraim pronounced it "sibboleth" and got killed on the spot.  A pretty sitty deal for the men of Ephraim who couldn't manage that "sh" sound.

• Do you know whether this quote comes from a movie or the Bible?  "Watch what you say! There are some short-tempered men around here who might get angry and kill you and your family." You can totally hear some mob boss murmuring those words in a not so thinly veiled threat. But no this isn't Goodfellas.  This would be the men of Dan in Judges 18 who were in the process of stealing an idol and a priest from the family of a guy named Micah.  When Micah chased after these guys and protested the theft, this was the men of Dan's reply.  Micah, just like a guy in a mafia film, got the hint and turned around and went home, helplessly accepting the theft.

• Do you know who Jabez' father is?  It's not clear in 1 Chronicles 4:9, the passage that launched a best-selling book and thousand Bible studies.  In the midst of the genealogy of Judah, where each man is listed as father of this person or that, we read "There was a man named Jabez" with no mention of who is father is (or for that matter who he might have fathered). This despite the fact that he is noted as being "more honorable than any of his brothers." We do have mention of his mother though because she gave him his name because of the pain she suffered during his birth. (Apparently Bruce Wilkinson, who started the Jabez craze, interpreted this as her "cursing" him, which is not at all obvious to me from the passage.  And there are people who take strong exception to Wilkinson's interpretation).  Back when "The Prayer of Jabez" was all the rage, I was never a big fan.  Something felt a little too convenient, a little too pat, with a whiff of prosperity gospel about the whole thing. It just seems like there's too much context missing to build a whole Bible study around this one guy, without cluttering it with your own biases.

What Stood Out To Me

The Violence

The violence in the book of Judges is graphic, constant and brutal.  It begins in the very first chapter with the relatively mild maiming of Adoni-bezek, a Canaanite king conquered by the tribe of Judah,  who had his thumbs and big toes cut off.  At least he lives. By the end of Judges we will see a woman sexually assaulted and murdered, and then her body cut into twelve pieces and sent to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. In between there is Ehud who coolly stabbed the corpulent King Eglon, with the sword literally getting lost in Eglon's rolls of fat. It's a scene that would fit comfortably in The Game of Thrones.  There is Shamgar, who's main claim to fame is that he killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.  There is Jael, the woman who lured the general of the Israel's enemies into her tent under a pretense of protection (their families had been tight so Sisera had reason to trust her) only to drive a tent stake through his head while he slept.  Jael, is later described in a victory song in Judges 5 as "most blessed among women" a phrase I associate with the milder and less violent Virgin Mary. This song also takes cruel joy in imagining the experience of Sisera's mother as she waits expectantly--and in vain--for him return from battle. Rough stuff!) 

Then there's Samson who used violence his whole life to get what he wanted and to express his frustration. No one ever taught this man-child to use his words.  Samson's violence could be so casual, almost incidental, as in the case of killing the lion and then the murder of 30 men to pay off the Philistines who were tipped off on his riddle about the dead lion.  Whether destroying property or killing people, none of it was a big deal to Samson. He was a petty, small man, inclined to act impulsively and to think with his "small head" rather than the long-haired one on his shoulders.  Right up to the day of his death, violence was the answer to every question for Samson.

We also read about the poor people of Laish,  who were minding their own business not bothering anybody.  They were massacred by the tribe of Dan, who, having failed to conquer the land allotted to them when they arrived in Canaan, decided to go after the easy pickings of Laish instead. The town was inhabited by Sidonians who were too far from their countrymen to get any help.  The tribe of Dan were straight up bullies. 

And finally we have the Levite and his concubine, a gory story of the brutal gang rape and murder of a woman and then her subsequent dismemberment by her husband.  This eventually led to the tribe of Benjamin being almost entirely wiped out (Benjamites were responsible for the woman's grisly death), and the murder of the people of Jabesh-Gilead.

The Ill-Considered Vows

Jephthah was a rough man from a rough background.  But he was a judge who delivered Israel.  When challenging the Ammonites, he laid down this dare: " You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the LORD our God gives us" (Judges 11:24).  If only Jephthah could have followed his own advice.  He spoke boldly about how God would give them victory, but he didn't entirely trust God.  Just to be sure, he vowed to sacrifice as a burnt offering the first thing that came out of his home to greet him if God gave him a win. Now there was no precedent for this type of sacrifice or this type of vow in Mosaic law. God had pretty strict rules on what, when and where a burnt offering was to be made. Jephthah wasn't following any of that.   And the worst  part is, when his daughter came rushing out of the house, rejoicing in her dad's triumph, Jephthah kept the vow!  This despite, specific instructions from God on how to get out of an ill-considered vow.  His daughter stoically accepted her fate, only asking for some time to mourn with her friends the life she would have had before allowing herself to sacrificed. 

 Another ill-considered vow arrives at the sordid end of the book of Judges. Eleven of the twelve tribes of Judah have banded together to virtually erase the tribe of Benjamin for their role in the assault and murder of the Levite's concubine. This civil war was won at great cost, as the united tribes were repulsed three times before finally defeating Benjamin.  This suggests to me that the Levite wasn't exactly innocent either as he was the one who stood by and allowed his wife to be cast to the Benjamite wolves.  There was a price to be paid for his sin too. 

Anyway, Israel vowed that they would not give any of their daughters in marriage to the tribe of Benjamin.  Once the bloodletting was over and Israel realized they'd almost wiped out their brother, remorse set in.  But the they were bound by their oath. Their horrific solution was a fitting end to a blood soaked book.  They found the men of one town--Jabesh-Gilead--who had not joined them in the war, and massacred everyone in that town except for the virgin girls.  These girls were given out to the men of Benjamin that remained.  However, they were still short on girls for the tattered remnants of Benjamin.  So they had these last men hide out in the fields near Shiloh where a festival was going on.  When the young women came out to dance, the men were instructed to rush in and grab a woman they liked and make her his wife.  When the fathers and brothers of these girls came to complain they were encouraged to hush up and let it go.  After all, this way, the tribe of Benjamin survived, and yet the people of Israel kept their vow since the men of Shiloh didn't technically "give" their daughters in marriage.  They were taken. (Liam Neeson would not have done well in the town of Shiloh).

In the concubine, the women of Jabesh-Gilead, and the girls of Shiloh we once again see women paying the price for men's boneheaded decisions.

"Every man did what was right in his own eyes"  

This phrase appears a number of times throughout the book of Judges.  It's a statement that this was a kind of "Wild West" period for Israel. Every man was a law unto himself, with glory for the strong (and "going down in a blaze of glory" if you weren't careful).  People did what they wanted.  You could have your own priest apparently, as revealed in the story of Micah, who hired himself a priest and set up his own private system of worship of the Lord, complete with a sacred ephod and some idols (Never mind that none of this was according to God's instructions).  This lasted until both idols and priest were usurped by ruffians from the tribe of Dan.  That's the thing about everyone doing what they want.  Such an approach favors the strong.

We tend to read the statement "all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes" as a statement of the moral environment at the time. But that's not what the author of Judges seems to be saying.  It seems to be more on a commentary on the lack of king, as the phrase is often paired with the statement that Israel had no king. It's about a lack of order, a lack of consistency rather than a lack of moral fiber.  But when Israel shifted to a monarchy, it's fundamental moral and spiritual problems weren't solved. Israel was simply more uniform in it's abandoning of God, following the leadership of the king in doing so rather than their own inclinations. I just think it's worth noting this is a statement about the disorganization of Israel rather than a condemnation of following individual conscience.

Ruth

After the machismo of Judges, Ruth comes as a breath of fresh air. Finally, we meet in Ruth and Boaz people of integrity, humility, and courage. The book of Judges is populated by men with rock star egos, the type who sleep with lots of women and are likely to trash hotel rooms (or rip the gates off a city or burn down someone's farmland).  The book of Ruth is a departure from all that.  It's a beautiful, quiet story of loyalty, compassion, and love in the wake of tragedy.  There are still the cultural practices that seem a bit strange to modern readers, but the spirit is different.  The rock n' roll ethos of Judges is exciting and entertaining for sure, but in the end these guys don't have staying power.  They are not built for the long term, and they don't represent what God is about. Ruth's quiet commitment to Naomi and her God, her hard work gleaning in the fields to provide for her mother-in-law, Boaz's generosity, care and appreciation for Ruth don't get the adrenaline pumping. But they are the values that are close to the heart of God and they come as a welcome relief.