The Bible in Poetry: The Judges

             Extracted from the Bible In Poetry

                   From Genesis to Revelation

Enter the Judges

Joshua soon had passed away and along the judges came,

A whole new way developed, things were not the same;

Othniel was the first to judge but there were thirteen in all,

Ehud, Shamar and Barak had also received that call.

Deborah was the only woman and she made one demand,

That should she have to fight, Barak would be on hand;

Gideon was the timid judge that defeated a mighty army,

With just three hundred men, God gave a great victory.

Tola, Jair and Jephthah of whom I will tell you now,

Excited concerning a battle Jephthah made a rash vow;

The first to come out the door he pledged to offer up,

That his daughter was that one was sure a bitter cup.

Ibzan had thirty daughters the same number as his sons.

Then there came behind him Judges Elon and Abdon;

Next in line was Samson, the strongest man of all,

In love with a Philistine woman, Delilah devised his fall.

Urged to disclose the source from which he got his strength,

He pointed out his hair and told her note the length;

In her lap he lay a sleeping, encircled by her arm,

He did not know his hair was cut, he was exposed to harm.

“The Philistines are on you,” she shouted out aloud,

Samson, rising from his sleep attacked the robust crowd;

He was soon to discover his super strength had gone,

Thus came his days of slavery, he was quite forlorn.

Tied to a temple pillar he was the object of their fun,

His sight had been removed and he was quite undone;

He prayed to God above for strength to end the strife,

And more he killed at death than those he killed in life.

Then there was Eli who was Samuel’s predecessor,

His sons Hophni and Phinehas, each a cruel oppressor;

Both forfeited their lives when the ark of God was taken,

Biblical history recalls how the people they had forsaken.

When Judge Eli had heard he was so very distraught,

Knowing full well he had not trained them as he ought;

But God had chosen Samuel to put in Eli’s place,

So Samuel grew up in the temple right before his face.

Samuel was that judge, the last to rule the land,

Israel was his charge but God was his command;

He ruled with iron fist to keep them all in check,

Then they made a choice they came to soon regret.

Israel told Samuel, “Tell God we want a king,”

God told Samuel that they’re safe under his wing;

But they were so insistent to have a king to see,

They ignored  the warning of impending misery.

A Love Story

Now here’s a love story of how Boaz met his Ruth,

Tragic and romantic but it’s the straight up truth;

First her husband passed away and she was left alone,

Naomi, her mother-in-law, suggested she go back home.

Ruth was quite determined, with Naomi she would stay,

“Where you die there bury me, to your God I shall pray.”

She found her love in a barley field, Boaz was his name,

From the moment that he saw her, she was his to claim.

Soon they got to marry, she gave birth to a son,

Into that same lineage God’s promised Son did come;

Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse,

Jesse was the father of David, the throne his destiny.

Stewart Russell © 2013