Part 1: Outline
Verse1- Obadiah receives a vision from the Lord. This vision is concerning Edom and that an envoy has been sent among the nations to battle against Edom.
Verse 2- God is revealing that he will make Edom small compared to other nations surrounding it. He greatly despises Edom for its sin.
Verse 3-  Edom’s arrogance will be its downfall to Earth. Edom is arrogant because of where it is established in the mountains, so it cannot be destroyed.
Verse 4- Compares Edom’s location to an eagle’s nest and how high it is compared to the stars. God is going to bring Edom down.
Verse 5- Compares Edom’s destruction to robber’s staling from people and gardeners stealing from the garden. This is used to show that God will take all away from Edom.
Verse 6- The kingdom of Esau will be ransacked and searched out. The descendants of Esau will have no more.
Verse 7- All of Edom’s allies will turn on Edom leading to its destruction.
Verse 8- God will wipe out the pagan wisdom of Edom, so it will not be a source of corruption to any.
Verse 9- Every man will be cut off from Edom by slaughter.
Verse 10- Edom will be judged for the violence that it has done to its brother Israel.
Verse 11- The destruction of Israel was done by Edom and by the its allies. They ransacked Israel as well.
Verse 12- Edom Gloated because of Israel’s destruction and rejoiced also to the destruction of Judah. Edom helped contribute to these horrific events.
Verse 13- They gloated over the calamity of Israel and the ransacking of their wealth.
Verse 14-  Edom also killed those who fled the destruction of Israel and took many as prisoners.
Verse 15-  The day of the Lord will be the day will God will judge Edom and every nation that is prideful towards their evil ways.
Verse 16- They will drink the wrath of the Lord and cease to exist.
Verse 17- Those of Mount Zion will escape Judgement and will be holy. The house of Jacob will regain their lost possessions.
Verse 18- Israel will be like a raging fire and Edom will be as stubble. This means that Israel will continue and Edom will have no survivors. The Lord has spoken.
Verse 19 and 20- The surrounding nations of Mount Zion will surround the territories that all of Israel’s enemies have lived including Edom.
Verse 21- Those who destroy Edom will ascend to Mount Zion and will judge the mountain of Esau. This is will be the Lord’s kingdom.
 
Part 2: Oracle Structure
The Oracle structure for the Book of Obadiah is set up as a lawsuit. The defendants are Edom which the charge being for its arrogance for what it has done to Israel. God is the Plaintiff, Prosecutor, Jury, Judge, etc. against the people of Edom. Edom is found guilty and will be destroyed by its past allies and will be ransacked of all the wealth Edom has. This will have happened no matter what because God is tired of Edom’s pride and sin towards Israel. This resolves the final conflict between Jacob and Esau’s descendants.  God is the Judge, Jury, and Executor for every nation that contains pride for sin. This will happen on the final court case which will be the Day of the Lord. The Book of Obadiah is a prophecy concerning Edom and every nation that is filled with lust towards pride and sin.
 
Part 3: Connection to the Kingdom
God’s kingdom will be filled with the righteous and faithful. It will be free of sin and will only have pride for God. This will be fulfilled on the Day of the Lord when the kingdom comes to Earth. This will be the second coming of Christ when he comes to judge every nation and every person according to the works they have done. Just like Edom, every sinful nation will be judged and will be punished for sin towards God. There’s some eschatology here concerning the end of the first Earth and the beginning of the new Earth. God will establish his kingdom once and for all in the new Heavens and Earth.
 
Part 4: Application
There is a simple application we must follow. We must not be prideful and sinful or we will be judged like Edom. We all know that as Humans we cannot accomplish this, so Christ accomplished this for us on the Cross. The Cross is the first major step in God’s plan for establishing his Kingdom. The second step was the Resurrection of Christ and the revival of the Church. The final Step will be his day when he judges all nations. Until this day comes, we must be prideful for God and not for ourselves.
 
Sources:
Bible Translations: NASB, ESV, NIV
Video: The Bible Project: The Book of Obadiah
Book: How to read the Bible for all it’s Worth
Encountering the Old Testament
Bible Commentary: The Interpreters Bible Volume 6
 
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Part 1: Outline of The book of Matthew
Chapter 1- The genealogy of Jesus from the line of David and from the line of Abraham.
The virgin birth of Christ through Mary. Immanuel which means God with us.
Chapter 2- The Magi visit Jerusalem looking for Christ. Herod heard this and commands that Christ be found and killed in fear of losing his power. Magi visit Bethlehem and give their Gifts. Herod dies and Joseph receives visions to go to Nazareth.
Chapter 3-  Introduces who John the Baptist is and his relation to Jesus. Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist.
Chapter4- Jesus fasts in the desert for forty days. Is tempted by Satan 3 times. Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee. Meets Peter and Andrew.
Chapter5-7- Sermon on the Mount. Marriage and Divorce discussed. Teaching of lust and hate in the heart commits adultery and murder. Teaching about giving to the poor and how to pray. Judge others is addressed as well as the coming of the Kingdom.
Chapter8-9- Jesus starts to bring the kingdom to earth. Heals the leper and heals the centurion’s daughter. Jesus forgives the sins of the paralytic and Pharisees start to see Jesus as a problem.
Chapter 10- Jesus give instructions to his disciples on preaching and spreading the word. If any don’t take you in, then you leave and dust your field from that town. Jesus also takes about the cost of following him and the worth of it.
Chapter 11- John starts to doubt the divinity of Jesus and Jesus gives his reply. Jesus also talks about his divinity and relationship with the father.
Chapter 12- The Sabbath is brought up by the Pharisees and Jesus answer them by saying that he is the lord of the Sabbath. He starts to cast demons out of people and the Pharisees start to get concern.
Chapter 13- Jesus starts talking in style of parables. He teaches on the parable of the Sower. He talks about the purpose of parables. He explains the parable of the Sower. He talks about the parable of weeds and explains the meaning of the parable of weeds. He teaches about the parable of the Mustard Seed and the leaven. The last three parables consist of the hidden treasure, pearl of great value, and the net. Jesus ends up being rejected in his Hometown.
Chapter 14- John the Baptist is Beheaded. Jesus mourns over his death. The crowd comes to Jesus and he feeds over five thousand people. Jesus heals the sick men at the land of Gennesaret.
Chapter 15- The Pharisees challenge Jesus on Tradition and the commandments and responds to them as he usually does. Jesus teaches that what comes out of the mouth of man defiles him. Jesus has mercy on the Canaanite woman for her faith. Jesus heals more people in a crowd of lame and blind. Jesus feeds another crowd of over five thousand people.
Chapter 16- The Pharisees and Sadducees try and test Jesus by asking for signs. Jesus warns the disciples about the way of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Christ asks the disciples who they think he is. Peter confesses that he is the messiah, but mistakes how he will become King. Jesus tells the disciples about his death and resurrection. Jesus tells them to take their Cross along with him.
Chapter 17- The Transfiguration happens when Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus as spirits. This helps establishes his deity even more. Jesus heals the boy with the demon and tells the disciples of their lack of faith. Jesus talks about taxes and tells peter to fish to receive a shekel from the first fish.
Chapter 18- Jesus answers who is the greatest in Heaven by using a child to demonstrate his answer. Jesus talks about how we should get rid of our temptation for sin and to do at any cost.
Jesus teaches the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus talks about what we should do if one of our brother’s sin against us. Jesus teaches the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Chapter 19- Jesus teaches on Divorce and lays the foundations for divorce. Jesus states that Children belong in Heaven. Jesus has the dispute with the young rich man about the cost of following. He tells him to give up all his riches and the young man went away sad.
Chapter 20- The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard is a parable to describe what the Kingdom is like. Jesus predicts his death a third time. Jesus responds to the woman who requests her sons to be in Heaven. Jesus heals the two blind men who came out of Jericho.
Chapter 21- Jesus gets the donkey to fulfill the prophecy of the messiah riding a donkey into Jerusalem. Jesus cleanses the temple from the tax collectors. Jesus curses the fig tree to demonstrates the power of faith. Jesus authority is challenged by the Pharisees. Two more parables are given. These parables are the two sons and the tenants.
Chapter 22- Pericope- Mathew 22:1-14 Parable of the Wedding Feast. Jesus is challenged about taxes and respond by Saying: give unto God’s which is God’s and give unto Caesar’s which is Caesar’s. Sadducees ask about the resurrection and Jesus shows that their position is wrong. Jesus gives the Greatest Commandment which is to love God and your neighbor as thyself. Jesus asks the Pharisees a question about David and they couldn’t answer.
Chapter 23- Jesus gives the Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus morns over Jerusalem.
Chapter 24- Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple since they rejected Jesus. Jesus give the signs of the end times. Jesus talks about the coming of the son of man in the last days. Jesus talks about how nobody knows the time when the son of man will come.
Chapter 25- The parable of the ten virgins and used to represent those prepared for the coming of Christ. The parable of talents is used again to show about those prepared for the end times. Jesus talks about the Final Judgement on Sin and the Devil.
Chapter 26- The Pharisees come up with the plot to kill Jesus. The woman anoints Jesus at Bethany. Judas betrays Jesus to the Pharisees. The final feast takes place during Passover with the disciples. Jesus tells peter that he will deny him three times. Jesus prays at Gethsemane before Judas leads the guards to him. Judas betrays Jesus and the guards arrest him. Jesus is judged by the Caiaphas and the Council. They find him guilty of Blasphemy. Peter denies Jesus three times just how Jesus betrays him.
Chapter 27- Jesus is brought to Pilate and is tested by Pilate. Judas feels guilty for betraying Jesus and hangs himself. Jesus is condemned by the crowd and elect Barabbas to go free from condemnation. Pilate washes his hands and condemns Jesus to be Crucified. The guards mock Jesus by spitting on him and beating him. The crucifixion takes place and Jesus dies on the ninth hour. Jesus is buried by Joseph of Arimathea by request to Pilate. Pilate has guards to defend the tomb from raiders or possibly against the disciples.
Chapter 28- Mary goes to the tomb and is greeted by the angel. The angel tells her that Jesus has risen. Jesus met the disciples and greeted them The disciples fell and knees to worship. The guards give their report to the high priest. The priests give commands to spread a rumor that the disciples stole the body. The great commission is given by Jesus to the disciples to spread the Gospel to all the world.

Pericope Location- Matthew 22:1-14
Context/Parallel Chapter 21 and rest of Chapter 22
Parallel Pericope: Luke 14:15-24
 
Part 2: Outline of the Passage/Pericope
Matthew 22: 1-14

1. Jesus spoke to them in parables and said,
2. The kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king giving a feast for his sons.
3. The king sent his servants to call those who invited to the wedding feast, but they refused to come.
4. He sent the servants out to tell those invited that he has prepared the feast with his calves and everything is ready.
5. They paid no attention and went to a farm and another to his business.
6. The rest seized the servants and killed them.
7. The king was angry and sent his troops to destroy the town where his servants were killed.
8. The king said to his servants that the feast was ready, but the ones invited were not worthy.
9. Go to the main roads and invite as many as you find there.
10. The servants went to the worlds and gather as many as they could. Both bad and good. The wedding hall was filled with Guests.
11. The king came out and saw a man with no wedding garment.
12. He said friend how did you get in here with no wedding garment and the guest was shocked.
13. The king had his servants tied up hands and feet. Then thrown into the outer darkness. The place is filled with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14. For many are called, but few are chosen. 

Part 3: Context
Historical Background:
Took place during the last weeks of Jesus.
Geographically took place in Jerusalem.
Year could roughly be either 33AD or 34AD
Parable is directed toward the historical group of the Pharisees.
Is part of a series of parables in the last weeks of Jesus ministry.
 
Context of pericope (Audience)
It’s for the people listening to the past parables.
This is his crowd and it includes the Pharisees who tested him previously.
It can still be applied to people nowadays.
It’s in context to his ministry in Jerusalem.
The message of the parable represents the kingdom reaching out to sinners.
 
Points of reference:
The punchline of this parable is to demonstrate the invitation Christ.
The Pharisees are the first guests to be invited but reject because of the law.
The other guests invited are the world being invited to be in communion with God.
The man without wedding garments are the ones who were not the ones who were prepared final judgement.
The main point is that many are called, but few are chosen.
 
The catch:
The catchphrase is many are called by the kingdom of God, but few of chosen.
God calls, those who chose him and accept his invitation no matter good or bad.
 
Key words:
Wedding Feast- Communion with God through Christ
Servants- Christi’s followers and disciples
Original guests- Jews and the Pharisees
Servants killed- Persecution of Christians
Second round of guests invited- Those the disciples have evangelized to
Guest without wedding garment- Those who reject God
Invitation- Gospel, call to repentance
Outer Darkness- Hell
Part 4: The Point
My interpretation: The king who sets up the wedding feast is God himself. He had specific invitation for the original guests, but they rejected for reasons for daily life. This represents the Jews who Christ came for, but they rejected for the law. The dinner prepared for the feast represents Christ dying for his people or ones invited. The servants are his disciples who go to spread the invitations to the guests. Of course they reject him, and even kill some of his servants. This seems to indicate the persecution of the church.  The king sending out the army I believe represents the Romans destroying Jerusalem, since they rejected Christ as the messiah. When the king sends his servants to the highway they are to invite as many people as possible. They invite bad and good people to the wedding feast. This would represent sinners and even righteous people. God chose to invite everyone including Jews and Gentiles. Many accept the invitation and come to the feast. The king comes out and notices a man without proper garments. The man is speechless and is put into the outer darkness. I believe this represents the final judgement of man and the man represents one who has not repented. The final line is many are called, but few are chosen. This means that God calls all, but he chooses those who repent and put their faith in him.
 
In Comparison with the Interpreters Commentary: My view has many similarities with the commentary. The first invites were for the Jews, but the Jews rejected this. Both I and the commentary agreed with this point. The commentary agreed upon the idea of the King Being God and the second invites being the gentiles and Jews who turn to Christ. The servants seem to be the disciples according to the commentary and the persecution of the church represents the servants being killed when inviting the first guests. The good and bad represents the judgment of God according to the commentary. I differ from the point of view, but agree with the rest of the commentary.
 
Sources:
Bibles: ESV, NIV, NASB
How to read the Bible for all it’s worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart
The Interpreters Bible Volume 7
Videos:
The Bible Project: Scripture Reading of Matthew
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dv4-n6OYGI
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGCF3OPWN14
 
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Part 1 Outline:
Paul in verse 1-6 talks about the law and how it can get to people. Watch people of false circumcision. We should put no confidence in the flesh. He also references his persecuting days of the church and how he was held up on the law. A Pharisee of the law and that righteousness’ was through the law. We should not put are confidence in just the flesh even if we have good reasons.
Verse 7- All the things he has gained; he has lost when he came to Christ.
Verse 8-  All the things Paul has lost were nothing compared to the knowledge of Christ.
Verse 9-  We do not get righteousness through the law, but from Faith alone in Jesus Christ. Righteousness comes from the basis of faith in God.
Verse 10- He wants to know the power of his resurrection from his sufferings.
Verse 11- Somehow having a glimpse of the power of the resurrection of the dead.
Verse 12- He has attained this and reached a goal, but he presses on to keep hold of what has hold on me of which Christ had hold of me.
Verse 13- Paul doesn’t consider that he has made it on his. He however does consider that he has left the past behind and is moving towards the future.
Verse 14- Paul wishes to press toward the Goal and prize of God in Christ Jesus.
Verse 15- Let those of us who are mature keep in our thinking this way. Those who differ in thinking will be made clear by God.
Verse 16- Let us live to what we have attained.
The overall argument is that the things that we use to have were nothing compared to the things that we will have in Christ. We attain this through Faith and not according to the Law. We must stay according to this to have future knowledge of the power that raised Jesus from the dead. We must forget about the past and stay with Christ through faith to obtain righteousness. Those who have different thinking will get clearance from God. We must live this way for now on.
Difference in wording through the translations, but not enough to effect the message. With three different translations you get the overall message of the passage. NIV and ESV are easier to understand, but the NASB is probably more accurate. Overall, three translations help get the overall message of the passage.
 
Rewritten:
Verse 7- The things that I’ve owned were lost for the sake of Christ.
Verse 8- All things are trash and should be loss compared to knowing Jesus Christ, I have suffered the loss of all my things, but are rubbish compared to the gain of Christ.
Verse 9- I am found in him, but do not have righteousness from the law. Only in Faith through Jesus Christ. The basis for righteousness is Faith in God.
Verse 10- The I may know his power from the resurrection and his suffering and becoming like him from his death.
Verse 11- to attain from the resurrection from the dead.
Verse 12- Not that I have already attained this or am perfect, but that I main remain with him sense he made me one of his.
Verse 13- Brothers, I have not made it on my own, but that I forget about the past and remain on the future.
Verse 14- I keep on the goal and prize and call of God in Jesus Christ.
Verse 15- Let us as we have matured keep this attitude; if any of you have a different attitude, then God will help clear it up.
Verse 16- Let keep the same standard we have attained and live by it.
 
Part 2: Inside the Passage
Key pieces of the passage
The things of which we lose to be with Christ is nothing compared to the knowledge of knowing Christ. Paul was high priest and rich and his righteousness came from the Law. He came to Christ on the way to Damascus and didn’t get the riches of this world. He got beaten and eventually killed for his conversion. He lost everything, but confesses in this passage that it is trash compared to being in union of Christ. He then talks about how righteousness is not obtained from the Law, but through faith. Faith is God in Christ Jesus from the evidence of the resurrection of the Dead Christ. Faith comes from knowing that Christ was raised from the Dead from the Power of God. Through Faith we will come to know this power in Jesus Christ. Attaining to the resurrection of the Dead is based on the power of God. 1st Corinthians 15 talks about how the resurrection is important to the Christian Faith. If the resurrection didn’t occur, then our faith would be useless. When we become truly Christian through the maturing of our old ways then we must look forward to the future as Christians. We must leave the past behind because it doesn’t apply to us anymore. We ourselves could not save ourselves or manage our spiritual lives. We must keep to the future of our Christian Life. God has his prize and goal in mind for us and must go forward with that in mind. We have been matured by God though our Faith in Jesus Christ. If we have doubts or different thinking, then God will help clear it up. We must stay in his word to get his wisdom as Christians. As Christians we must retain this new Christ like attitude as we progress in the future as Christ followers.
 
Faith- Trust based on Evidence for the Biblical definition. God raised Christ from the dead, so that’s why we should put our trust in him.
Law- The way that the Pharisees tried to live by, but in al reality our still not good by works. Righteousness comes through faith in God through Jesus Christ.
Resurrection- Christ being raised from the dead from his suffering on the Cross for the Atonement.
God- Creator of the Heaven and the Earth
Paul- Saul who persecuted the Christians as a Pharisee, but converted when he saw the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus.
 
Resources- NASB Bible, ESV translation, NIV Bible, and The international critical commentary of Philippians and Philemon.
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Part 1: Literary Style
The book of Judges itself is a historical narrative. It uses Historical events of Israel to show Israel’s failures and Gods redemptive power through Judges. Now the judges were not judges that we use in our justice system in modern western civilization. They were individual people that God used to redeem Israel. The understanding of Judges takes place after the affairs with the Canaanites at the end of the book of Joshua. The book is about how Israel itself started to rebel against God and God judges them several times. Israel comes to repentance multiple times and sins again against God anyway. The book of Judges is a spiral event from good too bad to even worse than before. The main theme of the last few chapter’s deal with how Israel did what they thought was right in the sight of their own Eyes and not in God’s eyes. It also demonstrates that God is loving and is always willing to forgive those who come to repentance. God uses judges to redeem Israel several times whenever Israel is captured by one of its enemy nations. He uses Ehud in chapter three to rescue Israel from the Moabites. He ultimately used Joshua to help Israel in the fight against the Canaanites.  Even the Judges themselves fail especially in the case of Gideon. The role of Judges in the overall story of the Old Testament is to show that when the Israelites did things their own ways, then things started to turn out bad for them. The main theme is when we do things in our own ways then we are not holy or perfect. If we do things in God’s ways then we become closer to holiness and perfection. The bottom line is to do things in accordance to God’s way and not our own. The book of judges is not an allegory, but a book of historical events recorded to show why man’s ways are not good, but God’s ways are perfect.

Part 2: Outline of Judges 3: 12-30
12: Israel does evil in the sight of the Lord again. The lord gives power to Eglon the leader of Moab and delivers Israel to the Moabites.
13: Moab teams up with the nations of Ammon and Amalek and take over Israel.
14: Israel serves Moab for 18 years.
15: Israel seeks repentance and calls upon the lord. The lord chose Ehud the son of Gera. He is also a Benjamite and is left handed. He goes to give the daily tribute from Israel to Eglon king of Moab.
16: Ehud makes a sword the size of dagger so he can hide under his cloak.
17: He is the one who presents the tribute to Eglon. By the way Eglon is a very fat man.
18: After the presenting the tribute, Ehud commands those who carried it to leave.
19: He turned away from the idols in Gilgal. He told Eglon that he has a secret message and must be kept in private. All others who attended left.
20: Ehud came to Eglon in his cool roof chamber. They were both alone and Ehud said: I have a message from the Lord for you”. He arose from his seat.
21: Ehud used his left hand and drove the dagger/sword in to Eglon’s fat belly.
22: The handle even went in and fat covered the blade. Ehud did not take the sword out of his belly.
23: He went out of the balcony and locked the doors behind him.
24: The servants come up and saw the doors were locked. They assumed the he was reliving himself in the closet of the cool room.
25: They became worried because Eglon did not opened the doors. The took the key and opened the door and they saw their lord dead.
26: Ehud escaped when the servents were delayed and went by the idols. He escaped to Seirah.
27: He then went to the hill area of Ephraim and blew a trumpet marking the beginning of the invasion. The Israelites were with him and Ehud lead the invasion.
28: Ehud said to pursue them for the lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands. They seized the Jordan across from Moab so nobody could leave.
29: They killed 10,000 Moabites and let no one escape.
30. Moab was left alone and was deserted for the next 80 years.

1. In the larger context of the Book this story demonstrates another time when Israel came to repentance. When they came to repentance and did what God commanded, then they were delivered from the Moabites through Ehud. This story shows that when Israel listened to their God they were successful from their old harmful ways.
2. Gave a clear understanding of the passage through the outline given and displayed event by event of what happened in Judges 12-30.
3. Used three different translations and had to use all three to get full meaning of certain word. At first I thought that the sword was a sword, but it was revealed to be a dagger, so that it could fit under his cloak. I was confused with the word vestibule, but figured out that it meant balcony. Different translation really helped with this exegesis.

Part 3: Inside the Passage

1. Some key pieces of the passage would be Israel sinning against God and being punished. This is a common trend in the book of Judges. We also see Israel comes to repentance and they are delivered from the Moabites through Ehud. This is the main idea of the book Judges which is shown to be God forgiving those who come to repentance. We see this all throughout the Bible, but plays a big part in the Book of Judges. Ehud is the Judge in this passage and kills Eglon the king of Moab by driving a dagger through his stomach. He then wipes out the Moabites with help from the Israelites. This was all done because of the fact God forgave Israel for their sins through their repentance.
2. There is some ambiguity with some the words. Like sword could have meant an actually sword or a dagger. A dagger seems to fit best because it was able to fit under his cloak. It was hard to figure out what vestibule meant, but after reading other translations it means balcony. With multiple translations it’s easier to understand what words mean in the overall context of the passage. The moral truth behind the passage is very clear. If we sin against God and asks for forgiveness: we will be delivered like Israel from Moab/sin.
3. Israel sins against God again and God allows Moab to take Israel over. Israel is under their control for 18 years. God finally hears Israel’s cries for him and uses Ehud to deliver them. Ehud give the daily tribute to Eglon and kills him. He kills him by cutting into his stomach with a dagger. The servants find their leader dead and Ehud escapes. Ehud leads an attack against Moab and wipes Moab out. Moab is left silent for the next 80 years.
4. This part of judges is used to show what happens when you follow God’s will by coming to repentance of our sins.

Part 4: Application
How it can be misapplied:
This could be allegorized to not be an actually event in Hebrew history, but to teach a good moral lesson. The problem would be the moral of the story could not have been learned for Israel without the event actually happening.
 
This could be personalized to someone to mean not to eat badly because it represents Eglon the villain as unhealthy because of his obesity. Obviously this is not the purpose of this actual account in Judges 3.
 
This would be moralized by not being overweight since Ehud kills the overweight villain. The true explicit message is the fact that God was upset with Israel because of their sin. God heard their cries after Moab taking over Israel for 18 years. It shows God’s justice and mercy in the overall context of the story.
 
I wouldn’t say in the passage itself, but in the overall book of Judges there is a common thread.
The common thread in the book of judges was Israel always sinning and rebelling against God. Whenever they repented we see that God used a judge to redeem them from their enemy nations and sin. We see God’s justice at work whenever he punishes both Israel and other nations in the Book of judges. We also can see the Grace of God in the Book of Judges whenever Israel cries out to God. God forgives when we seek him, but judges those who stay in sin. This is the overall message of the book of judges. The application is to stay faithful to God and do what is right in his eyes. As you can tell whenever we do what is right in our own eyes, we tend not to be successful. We also can see from judges that we need to trust God because every time Israel trusted God they won each battle. We must have faith in God based on the evidence he has provided us.
 
There are two great examples used in the Bible that demonstrate these moral lessons taught from Judges 3:12-30. Paul did according what was right in his own eyes, which was living by the law only. He eventually did what was truly right in God’s eyes which was living in accordance to Jesus. He put his faith in Christ and was successful in spreading the Gospel worldwide at his time because he wrote over half on the New Testament. The second example would be Pharaoh when he had control over the Israelites. He did according to his own will which was listening to his pride and hardening his own heart. He did not listen to God and the 10 plagues wreak havoc to Egypt and the Red Sea killed Pharaoh and his armies. Pharaoh did according to his own will and not God’s will. He was destroyed and the Israelites were freed through God using Moses. God also redeemed the Israelites because they cried out to him for help. This also shows God’s mercy and grace in the book of Exodus which comes before Judges.
 
As C.S Lewis puts it “At the end of the day there are two kinds of people. Those who say God’s will be done and those who say my will be done.” God respects both decision and allows people to live their lives the way they want to. As Christians we can apply Judges 3:12-30 to our lives by doing the will of God.
 
Sources:
Three different translations of the Bible:
ESV
NIV
NASB
The Interpreters Bible: Volume 2
The Bible Project Video: Scriptural Reading: The Book of Judges
Miller, Geoffrey P. “Verbal Feud in the Hebrew Bible Judges 3:12-30 and 19-21.” Verbal Feud in the Hebrew Bible Judges 3:12-30 and 19-21, 1 Apr. 1996, pp. 1–14.

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