October 17, 2013 – Judith 1

Looking at the introduction to Judith, it appears that this is a story, not to be taken as factual, but to offer hope and reliance in God in a most difficult situation.  We start off seeing that Nebuchadnezzar is king and asking for help.  When he gets none, he vows to conquer and destroy all those nations that did not come so support him, this includes Israel and Jerusalem.  The introduction says that this story and the characters to not fit into any known actual history, which is why it is just a narrative story to bring hope.  But having been reading Jeremiah, we understand the context of a story that takes place during this time period.