Final family business lessons from the book of Judges
Some of what I learned by studying Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson
In my study of the biblical book of Judges, and in particular Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson, I was interested in the idea of repeating cycles. The book of Judges is chock full of examples of Israel’s cycle of forgetting God, behaving poorly, crying out in despair, being sent a leader (a Judge), followed by a time of peace. Then the cycle repeats.
Family businesses go through cycles of success, then drama or conflict, followed by the reconfiguration of the business and the family’s relationships. I wondered: How do patterns of individual behavior, and family choices between generations, influence those cycles?
One lesson is that at the family level, our parents matter. Gideon’s father stood up for him when he destroyed his community’s altar to Baal, and Gideon, although he tested God along the way, trusted God so much that he shrunk his army by over 99% to fight the Midianites. But Jephthah’s parents disowned him and he was running with a bad crowd before being called to lead Israel. I sense Jephthah’s craving for a relationship he never had with his family made him extremely zealous in his relationship with God. Samson’s parents made him a Nazirite before his birth, and through his strength he wreaked havoc on the Philistines, right up until the end. But his choices about women felt almost like he could disregard, even flaunt, some of what might be expected of a dedicated servant of God.
Another lesson at the individual level, is that a negative cycle can be the result of, or influenced by, our own poor choices. Gideon and his family became ensnared by the gold Ephod he created to honor God. Jephthah was all but destroyed by his vow to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his front door, which turned out to be his only child. And Samson’s lust for Philistine women was eventually the seed of his downfall.
Two questions for reflection: In your family, how have choices made by your parents (or prior generations) influenced who you are, or how you behave? Are there behavioral responses (made by you or others in the current generation) that have set you or your family back?
Beginning next week, and for the remainder of the year, I plan to study and reflect on some key moments in the life of Moses. As always, thanks for reading and reflecting with me!