Catechesis Notes for the Week — Two Meditations on the Book of Judges for This Week:

Deborah the Prophetess Judges Israel — “In Deborah we see a picture of the Church. She seeks men to hear the Word of God and believe it. When Brak would not trust the Word of the Lord, Deborah spoke of the woman who would cling fast to the Word and destroy the oppressor of Israel. So it is that Jael serves as a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary who heard the Word and believed. The Word of God and our faith is our victory over Satan. Jael took a wooden tent peg to crush the head of Sisera just as Jesus’ heel would crush the head of the serpent by the wood of the cross. The Seed of the woman has defeated sin and death for us. As Jael gave her enemy milk, so we serve the milk of the Word that it may overcome our enemy until he is finally cast into the outer darkness.”

The Angel of the Lord Appears to Gideon — “The Angel of the Lord came to Gideon at the winepress to indicate that He had been threshing Israel and crushing them like grain or grapes that He might produce better wine. The wine and wheat remind us of the Blessed Sacrament by which the Lord is with us as we share in His sufferings that we might also share in His glory. We are called to cling to the Word of the Lord by faith, as did Gideon. That his faith might be strengthened, Gideon asked for a sign in accordance with the Lord’s mercy. In mercy God has recognized our fleshly weakness and given us the signs of Baptism and the Supper that we might cling to His Word of promise. The sacrifice of the goat and the unleavened bread reminded Gideon of Passover, but also anticipated the sacrifice of Christ. The Angel of the Lord would take on flesh that the staff of the cross might consume Him. Indeed, the rock of sacrifice reminds us that Christ is the Rock of our salvation and the Rock that accompanied Israel in the wilderness. In His resurrection our Lord speaks to us the Word of peace and promises us freedom from the power of death. As Gideon (whose name means “the one who bruises or breaks”) cut down the false god, so Christ has destroyed all gods by the wood of His cross.” From Bible Stories for Daily Prayer: Old Testament Stories—Year II, The Giving of the Law to the Establishing of the Monarchy, by Karl F. Fabrizius. © Concordia Catechetical Academy 2006. Used by permission.CP231112