Week 22 (May 25–31): Judges 2–4; 6–8; 13–16

Week Overview

How does the Lord respond when covenant people repeat the same cycle of forgetting, sinning, and crying for help?

Come, Follow Me frames Judges as both warning and encouragement: Israel “broke their covenants with the Lord and turned away from worshipping Him,” lost protection, and fell into captivity. “And yet each time this happened, the Lord gave His covenant people the chance to repent and raised up a deliverer.” These accounts center on the Lord’s willingness to “deliver us and welcome us back as we return to Him” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 25–31. ‘The Lord Raised Up a Deliverer’”).

Key Scripture Moments

1) The repeating cycle of forgetting and relapse

Come, Follow Me points readers to Judges 2:1–19 and 3:5–12 as a pattern: covenant breaking, consequences, crying to the Lord, and deliverance (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “The Lord forgives as often as I repent.”). This suggests a personal application: the same temptation can return after sincere resolve, and the Lord still makes repentance possible.

2) Deborah strengthens others by faith-filled leadership

Deborah’s influence stands out in Judges 4:1–15 (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “I can inspire others to have faith in the Lord.”). Come, Follow Me highlights her question in verse 14: “Is not the Lord gone out before thee?” (Judges 4:14). The guide connects that question to the Lord’s promise to His servants:

“And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88)

3) Gideon learns the Lord’s way of deliverance

Judges 6–8 emphasizes the Lord asking Gideon to trust what “might have seemed unlikely” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “The Lord can work miracles when I trust in His ways.”). For children, Come, Follow Me points to the Lord’s reason for reducing the army:

“And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.” (Judges 7:2)

4) Samson’s covenants and lost strength

Samson’s story is framed as covenant strength gained and then forfeited through disobedience (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “God strengthens me as I am faithful to my covenants.”). Sister Ann M. Dibb’s summary ties Samson’s decline to choices shaped by appetite and habit:

“Samson was born with great potential. His mother was promised, ‘He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines’ [Judges 13:5]. But as Samson grew, he looked more to the world’s temptations than to God’s direction. He made choices because they ‘pleaseth [him] well’ [Judges 14:3] rather than because those choices were right. Repeatedly, the scriptures use the phrase ‘and he went down’ [Judges 14:7] as they tell of Samson’s journeys, actions, and choices. Instead of arising and shining forth to fulfill his great potential, Samson was overcome by the world, lost his God-given power, and died a tragic, early death.” (May 2012, Dibb, “Arise and Shine Forth”)

Hidden Connections

• “The Lord gone out before thee” and the Lord “go[ing] before your face.” Deborah’s confidence in Judges 4:14 aligns with the Lord’s promise in Doctrine and Covenants 84:88 (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, Judges 4 study helps). This suggests that the Lord’s enabling help includes presence, Spirit, and angels, not only improved circumstances.
• Deliverance that prevents self-congratulation. Judges 7:2 gives a stated reason for the Lord’s surprising method: Israel should not say, “Mine own hand hath saved me.” This suggests that the Lord’s miracles often protect humility as much as they provide rescue (Judges 7:2).
• Covenants as a source of strength. Come, Follow Me connects Samson’s Nazarite covenant context (Numbers 6:1–6; Judges 13:7, cited in the lesson) with modern covenant strength (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “God strengthens me as I am faithful to my covenants.”).

Pattern Discovery

A repeated sequence appears across these chapters (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “Jesus Christ is my Deliverer” and “The Lord forgives as often as I repent.”):

1. covenant people “did evil,”
2. suffering follows,
3. they “cried unto the Lord,”
4. the Lord “raised up a deliverer.” This suggests a steady truth about the Lord’s character: He responds to turning hearts with deliverance and renewed opportunity.

Simple Questions

1. Where do Judges 2:1–19 and 3:5–12 show the cycle of forgetting, sin, and return? (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026)
2. If Judges 2:19 described a recurring temptation, what would “forgetting” look like in daily life? (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026)
3. In Judges 4:1–15, what words or actions show Deborah’s faith, and how did others respond? (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026)
4. How does Doctrine and Covenants 84:88 define what it means for the Lord to “go before” His servants? (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88; Come, Follow Me study helps)
5. What does Judges 7:2 say the Lord wanted to prevent in Israel’s thinking? (Judges 7:2)
6. In Sister Dibb’s description, what repeated direction marked Samson’s decline, and what choice pattern drove it? (May 2012, Dibb, “Arise and Shine Forth”)

One Big Idea

The Lord repeatedly delivers covenant people who turn back to Him, and He does it in ways that keep His people from claiming, “Mine own hand hath saved me” (Judges 7:2; Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 25–31. ‘The Lord Raised Up a Deliverer’”).

Living It

• Name the cycle, then interrupt it early. Use the phrases “did evil,” “cried unto the Lord,” and “raised up a deliverer” as a personal check-in when old temptations return (Judges 3:7–9; 3:12–15, referenced in Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026).
• Strengthen someone else’s faith with steady confidence. Deborah’s question, “Is not the Lord gone out before thee?” can become a way to reassure someone facing a hard assignment (Judges 4:14). Pair it with the Lord’s promise: “I will go before your face… and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).
• Seek the Lord’s way of doing the work. Gideon’s account encourages trust when the Lord’s instructions feel unlikely, and Judges 7:2 gives one reason: the Lord guards His people from self-reliance that forgets Him (Judges 7:2; Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “The Lord can work miracles when I trust in His ways.”).

Faith Builder

Come, Follow Me recommends studying “We Talk of Christ” (Nov. 2020, Andersen, “We Talk of Christ”) for reasons and ways to speak more openly about the Savior, connected to Deborah’s example of strengthening others (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, Judges 4 section). For further reading on covenants, see also (May 2024, Oaks, “Covenants and Responsibilities”) and (May 2024, Soares, “Covenant Confidence through Jesus Christ”), as referenced in the lesson.

These accounts invite readers to repent quickly, trust the Lord’s unexpected ways, and keep covenants so His strengthening power can remain present in daily life.