A television program, The People’s Court, involves a real-life judge presiding over actual courtroom cases. The judge sits behind the bench wearing a black robe, pronouncing final decisions pertaining to legal disputes. When you and I hear the term "judge," we probably envision such a person as the one just described. However, the judges described in the Old Testament functioned quite differently. Judges were military leaders who were raised up by the grace of God to govern Israel in times of trial. Psalm 2:10 relates that they enjoyed parallel authority to kings. It has been suggested that they were similar to the American Indian war chief whose authority was limited to the duration of a conflict.
The Hebrew people entered Canaan as a nomadic people with one God. Soon following the death…