Judges..

I've been reading the book of Judges..... Pretty interesting stuff.... The people turn their back on God, an enemy attacks, they repent, a leader rises up to save the day....

Most of these "leaders" don't seem to do a very good job keeping the county on track once they have defeated the enemy....

Gideon, for example, wins the battle and the people ask him to be king. He says no, instead each of you give me a gold earring. They say okay - this is a huge amount of gold. What does he do? He melts it down and makes an ephod.... The sort of thing that got them in trouble in the first place....

And what was Jepthah thinking? He leads the people into a battle, but first vows to offer "whatever comes out of his door to greet him when he gets home" as a sacrifice if he wins. His daughter came out and he was heartbroken, but he still sacrificed her. Who did he think was going to come out? His dog? A servant? His wife?