“Tongues of Angels, Words of Prophets: Experiencing the Voice of Yahweh in the Book of Judges”

The mention of the book of Judges calls forth images of battle, tales of murder and intrigue, and stories of outrageous characters who engage in unbelieveable behavior. Pentecostals have taken note of the empowering activity of the Spirit of Yahweh,1 and they have observed the questionable moral character of the judges upon whom the Spirit descends. 2 The topic of divine speech, however, rarely surfaces in discussions of Judges. Notwithstanding its apparent obscurity, the speech of Yahweh figures prominently in nine episodes of Judges, episodes that are crucial to the development of the narrative.3 In these episodes, Yahweh speaks in response to the priestly inquiry; he speaks through the angel of Yahweh; he speaks through prophets; and he speaks directly, with the means of communication unstated.4 It is the purpose of this paper to survey the divine communication in Judges by examining each of the nine episodes in which God's speech is reported.