With these chapters in Judges we see the downward cycle of sin with the people of Israel. The cycle of Judges starts with the Jews worshipping other gods, then they are oppressed by an enemy, they finally cry out to God to save them, so the Lord raised up a Judge who overcame the enemy, and then there was peace in the land until the Judge died, and the cycle started all over again. Gideon started off fearful, then he became confident, but ultimately prideful as he made an ephod which only the High Priest was to wear. The next main character was Abimelech which was Gideon's illegitimate son. After Gideon had died, Abimelech killed 69 of his brothers so he could become king. One brother escaped, and he shouted a curse on Abimelech and all who helped him kill his brothers, then he ran for his life! After Abimelech, two minor judges are mentioned, Tola and Jair, then the story of Jephthah. The cycle had started again, and they people were crying out to the Lord, but this time God told them to cry out to the idols they worshipped, "so I will no longer save you." This time we do not see the Lord raise up a judge, instead the people raised one up, Jephthah. Ultimately the Lord did have His Spirit come upon him as he won against the Ammonites. Jephthah foolishly made a vow to the Lord for success, and he willingly said he'd give the first thing that came out of his house when he returned home, and sadly it was his only daughter. Jephthah's story ends with a civil fight against the tribe of Ephraim. Jephthah's side killed 42,000 Ephraimites, and their land. Now Israel is fighting Israel. The last three minor judges covered in this section are: Ibzan of Bethlehem who led for 7 years and intermarried his children, Elon the Zebulunite who led for 10 years, and Abdon of Ephraim who led for 8 years and then died.
