The students read the Deborah story, Jael story, Jephthath’s daughter, and the Levite and the concubine. I then asked them to vote on which was the most offensive and seemed furthest from their world today. The vote was publicly displayed on the screen.
After the gave their justifications and asked some questions, I showed them news reports from the last month that recorded violence against women. Some were as brutal as judges. I then asked how far the Bible seemed from their world now.
There were some interesting comments. One student recognized, “So the point of Judges is that Israel is just like the rest of the nations?” “Even Sodom is referenced at the end.” One student made a remark I found particularly insightful: “Isn’t it interesting that when women are objectified it goes badly for Israel but when women’s leadership is deferred to, it goes well?”
