430 A SHORT VÌEW OF S RIPTURE HISTORY. Sudden blaze of lamps, the sound of the trumpets, and loud shouting ; Judges vii. 20-23. 53. Q. Did Gideon reign over Israel after this great vic- tory ? A. No, he refused, for he said God was their king; Judges viii. 23. 54. Q. Did Gideon's sons govern Israel afterwards. A. None of Gideon's threescore and ten sons set up themselves, but Abimelech,the son of his concubine, made himself king ; Judges ix. 1, 2, 6. 55. Q.. How did Abimelech advance himself to the king- dom ? A, He slew all his threescore and ten brothers, except the youngest, who escaped : Judges ix. 5. 56. Q. How was Abimelech slain ? A. 'When he was besieg- ing a city, a, woman cast a piece of mill-stone upon his head ; Judges ix. 51-53. 57. Q. Who was Jephthah ? A. A mighty man of valour, who delivered Israel from the power of the Ammonites ; Judges xi. 1, 32, 33. 58. Q. What was remarkable concerning him ? A. He made` a rash vow to sacrifice to God the first thing that came to meet , him after his victory, and that happened to be his daughter, and only child ; Judges xi. 30, 81, 34. Note, It is a matter of doubt and controversy among the learned, whetherJephthah, being a soldier in those days of igno- rance, did not really offer his daughter for a sacrifice, according to his vow, as the scripture seems to express it or whether he only restrained her frommarriage and bearing children, which in those days was accounted like a sacrifice, and as a sentence of death passed on them. 59. Q. Who was Sampson ? A. The son of Manoah, and he delivered Israel from the hands of the Philistines ; Judges xiii. and xiv. and xv. and xvi. 60. Q. What was his character ? A. He was the strongest of men, but he does not seem to have been.the wisest or the best. 61. Q. Wherein did his strength lie ? A. He was a Nazarite, devoted to God from his birth, and so was bound to let his hair grow, and then God was with him but when his hair was cut, God left him ; Judges xiii. 7. and xvi. 17. 62. Q. What instances did he give of his great strength A. He tore a lion asunder, he broke all the cords with which hewas bound, he slew a thousand Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass ; and when he fell in love with a harlot in Gaza, and the Philistines beset the city gates, he carried away the gates and gate posts of the city with him, when he made his way out and escaped; Judges xiv. 5, 6. and xv. 13, I4. and xvi. '3,11,13. 63. Q. What befel him afterwards ? A. He fell in love with Delilah, another of the Philistine women, who cut` off his
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