Our nation's rule is only one short era in the world's history

By John Pearring

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121920.cfm
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25
Luke 1:5-25

The Book of Judges isn’t the most referred to set of scriptures for Catholics, but the stories are barn burners. We’ve got Gideon, Samuel, Deborah (the only woman Judge), murderers, fornicators, thieves, and then Samson — the one named in this Saturday’s reading. There are 15 Judges in Israeli history, dating from 1,375 BC with Micah (an idolator — yet another abomination) to 1,043 when the last Judge, Samuel, anoints Saul as the first King of Israel.

That’s 330 years of Israeli rule by God through the jurisdiction of military might wielded by the Judges. Their rule, mostly antagonistic, clashes with the more theological era of Joshua which preceded them. 

Around 1,000 BC, when the Psalms began to be written, an already ancient cry had taken place over and over again, reflected from the failures of every era of Israeli, Hebrew, and Jewish history:

Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked. 
(Psalm 71)

In every story of the Judges a theme of deliverance repeats over and over again. The hope of rescue from the wicked is constant. One leader loses the nation, and then another wins it back. Samson, of course, is the enslaved one who crushes the Philistines in an implosion of falling beams that can only be described as the worst structural design of a city building in human history. 

The deliverance stories of humanity actually begin quite early in scripture with Able, the second son of Adam and Eve. He’s the “good son,” but after Cain kills Able that task is left to a host of children, from Cain’s son Enoch to Adam and Eve’s third son, Seth. Seth and the others beget a huge population, but mimicking the offenses of Cain these people offend God enough to wipe out the progeny of Adam and Eve completely in a flood. Fortunately, Noah represents a delivering remnant. And the delivering stories go on from there, century after century.

We get the building of Babel around 2,100 BC, a tower which represents the advance of humanity into another egregious direction — the usurping of God’s creation. From that abomination, comes the destruction of Babel and yet another deliverer — Abraham. He begins the formation of a nation which will be charged with witnessing to the true God. Rather than wipe out man again, God simply wipes out humanities communication, muddling the world with nations of different languages. Abraham is meant to build a bridge of people who will turn back to God.

Thus begins the scriptural type of older couples, beyond their fertile years, of birthing children who will be deliverers. We get Isaac, an only son, who typifies the Messiah. Then Jacob, a second son, and the patriarch for the nation of Jacob’s twelve sones, which was then named Israel

The strange story of Joseph, the youngest and only worthy of Jacob’s progeny, nonetheless brings us the eventual nation of Judah. Judah, though, one of the worst of the sons of Jacob. Yet, Judah’s tribe eventually wins out as the nation of the Chosen People, still present today. 

From Joseph, around 1,875 BC we get two of the eventual 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph’s two sons are named in scripture as two tribes of Israel — Ephraim and Manasseh. I mention it, because one tribe, the Levites, was the only tribe not of land-based reward. They were the priests, who lived off the generosity of the other tribes. So, lists of the 12 tribes that include both Ephraim and Manasseh, duly separates the Tribe of Levi because it owned no land. The next deliverer, Moses, came from the Tribe of Levi.

Moses in 1,486 BC is surely the most popular hero in Hebrew history. He is responsible for leading the Israelites out of 400 years of oppression and slavery in Egypt. After 40 years of desert wandering, the migrant nation of Israel is handed off to Joshua who sets up the entire structure of the nation in the lands given to them by God. Joshua’s history accounts for almost 40 more years.

Then, comes the Judges. About a quarter through the book of Judges, after all kinds of continued idolatry and shenanigans, we read about the first of the Judges, Othniel as finally appointed by God. Thus, we get to our story of Samson, the son of Zorah and Manoah. It’s about this time that the Psalm 71, which we heard in today’s readings, were written:

For you are my hope, O LORD;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength. 
(Psalm 71)

I’ll not go through the fascinating story of Sampson. It’s a tragic comedy in my mind. 

Following Samson, only one judge remains before Israel calls for God to appoint them a King. Samuel is the last Judge, and then the beginning of the three great Kings of Israel, Saul, David, and Solomon. Then, unfortunately, we get around 40 mostly not so great kings from 930 to 586 BC. That’s 350 years, which coincides closely with the history of provincial governors and presidents over the life of independent nation building in our US of A. The similarity is very interesting to me.

All these years of history from Adam and Eve to the Judges are fairly astounding in their scope.

Noah is calculated at about 2,500 BC. We’ll leave the historical dating of Adam and Eve up to future archeology finds. Hopping straight to the Judges, Deborah is my hinge in history. She was a judge with a fellow named Barak (a now famous namesake). Deborah sits in history at 1,235 BC, smack dab in the middle of time between Noah and Jesus. It’s another 1,200 years from Deborah before Jesus’ death and resurrection. And another 2000 years until today. 

To put in context the immensity of history within these timeframes, consider that the era of the Judges begins around 1,375 BC and ends with the last Judge, Samuel, taking on his role after the death of Samson at 1,075 BC. That’s another 300 years of history that coincides with our US history. 

The history of the colonies and our current nation as the United States goes back a full 400 years. The Plymouth Colony and the Province of Maine were founded in the early 1600’s. Our nation’s history, even including our beginnings as British holdings, like the history of the Judges and the Kings, all represent some of the shortest in human history. 

Interestingly, how many citizens know even our short history?

The Old Testaments scriptures tell us tales of both woe and wonder that cover 2,500 years of tribes, judges, kings, and prophets. The New Testament scriptures were written in only 50 years. The complications of the Jewish faith expand over 5,000 years and form the foundation and settings for our Christian and Catholic faith today.

What importance can we place on our own era? How many judges, prophets, rulers and kings have we seen in our time? How should we look upon our history and God’s place in it? I refer to the last of the Psalms we read as a way to look at our times.

I will treat of the mighty works of the LORD;
O God, I will tell of your singular justice.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.