Books Jesus Read

Chapter 4 Uncompromising Standards – Judith

Background The account of Hagar the handmaid from Genesis 16:1–6 teaches that the temptation to compromise becomes impossible to resist when enough is at stake! The apocryphal tale of Judith and Holofernes develops this theme at length, inviting readers to weigh their own convictions against the sacrifice of comfort, conformity, and personal safety. This fictional account tells of Israel’s resistance to military oppression by the Gentiles hundreds of years before the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes. Judith, a powerless widow, demonstrates her faith by calling on God for strength, by her strict adherence to the law and ceremonial purity, and finally by using what she has—beauty and an awareness of male weakness—to conquer the commander of enemy

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