20th Week in Ord. Time, Monday – 21st August 2023 – Judges 2,11-19; Mt 19,16-22
Deliverers for God
The first reading describes the Israelites after the time of Joshua and how they turned away from the Lord until the Lord raised up judges to bring them back. After the death of Joshua, the Israelites -in spite of the solemn promises they made- started to intermingle with the native Canaanites and worshiped the gods of the surrounding people. The male god was addressed as ‘Baal’ meaning ‘master’ or ‘lord’. The female deity was known as ‘Ashtarte’, a beautiful goddess of war and fertility. Thus, the descendants of the Exodus started to deviate from the way of the Lord, the God who had saved them. Because of their disloyalty they found themselves the victims of their enemies. Yahweh was no longer with them in their struggles. God sent “judges” to aid the Israelites both in military and spiritual matters. The term ‘judges’ does not have common meaning but indicates war leaders and deliverers of the people. They are very different in character and ability from each other, but what they do share is a divine calling to save their people. Therefore, the primary role of the judges seems to have been to help overthrow the oppressors of the children of Israelites. In raising judges from them God shows that he was willing to take care of them, if they returned to Him and followed the commands of the Lord.
