Judith-In God We Have the Victory; Judith 13:1-14

 

Rev. George Miller

August 22, 2021

Judith 13: 1-14

 

Here we are- celebrating 101 years of Women receiving the right to vote, an act of justice that was not easy to obtain or achieved overnight.

 

The Suffragette Movement was an act of faith, a belief in what is right, and in many ways a war against patriarchal structures that thought women were at their best when they were quiet, stayed home, and did things like pray for rain.

 

But the heroes of the Movement were not the kind to stay quiet, go unseen, or simply pray when they could also do.

 

These outspoken, courageous women like Ida B. Wells, Alice Paul, and Lucy Stone who were committed to the empowerment of women.

 

Women, who for over 100 years fought for what was right.  Women who marched, petitioned, spoke, argued with folk who said they were out of line.

 

Be quiet.  Go back home.  Let the men take care of stuff.

 

But these tenacious, audacious women refused to give up the battle, even though many of them did not live long enough to see that they won the war.

 

Susan B. Johnson, Frances Harper, Elizabeth Stanton who hacked away at their oppression until finally in 1920 women left the tent of misogyny and stepped out into a new world.

 

The Women’s Right to Vote was not something causally given or easily obtained, but something that women fought for, until the sword of justice landed on their side.

 

To all our brave, beautiful women- we celebrate not only the Right to Vote, but we celebrate YOU, doing what it takes to get what is right, even when it’s not easy, even when it feels like an army of 132,000 naysayers surround you.

 

Victory is yours.

 

Can we get an “Amen!”  Amen indeed.

 

So, although today’s story may seem a bit shocking, today’s story is 100% fitting.  But first- a recap.

 

The enemy King plans to kill all people who won’t worship him as God.  General Holofernes has surrounded the citizens of Judea, cutting off their water supply.

 

The people are just 2 days from death by dehydration or by war.

 

Judith, a widowed woman with strong faith in her God and knowledge of her ancestors decides to take action. 

 

As a woman who knows a thing or two about how men think, she dresses herself up, putting on perfume, jewelry, finery like its armor.  She brings seductive foods and designer plates.

 

Her maid carries lambskins so Judith can recline upon them like model.

 

Judith and her maid leave the city, purposely falling into the hands of the enemy.

 

Everyone’s amazed at how beautiful she is.  Her beauty bewitches and beguiles them. 

 

In a camp filled with 132,000 men, Judith uses her words, her wit, her looks as a weapon. 

 

She is an enchantress of the most powerful kind.  She tells them what they want to hear.  She does clever wordplay on the term “Lord”.

 

She makes Holofernes think he has a chance with her.  She strokes his ego, convincing him that he has a chance to get whatever he wants, be it her or the Judeans. 

 

Holofernes gives her the finest things.  He allows her to go out each night to pray.  Judith baths in the fresh spring.  She asks God to direct her in the way of triumph.

 

On the 4^th night there, with the fate of the Jewish people hanging in balance, it comes time for Judith to act.

 

General Holofernes is have a banquet, VIP only.  He tells his servant to persuade Judith to join them in drink and merriment. 

 

The General says “It would be a disgrace if we let such a woman go without having sex with her.  If we don’t seduce her, she’ll laugh at us.”

 

The servant comes to Judith. “Let this pretty girl come and join our lord for a night of wine.”

 

Judith says “Who am I to refuse my lord?  Whatever makes him happy, I will do- it will give me great joy.

 

She puts on her sexiest outfit.  Her maid puts out the lambskins.  Judith lays before Holofernes.  He’s thinking how he’s been waiting for this moment to ravish her. 

 

They drink and they drink, until eventually everyone leaves the tent but Judith and the General.

 

And here is General Holofernes, the second most powerful man in the land, dead drunk, laid out on the bed, too tired to lift his head or open an eye.

 

As the maid keeps watch, Judith, who’s been so patient, stands beside the bed, prays to God to look upon her hands.

 

With the General laying limp and out cold, Judith moves with purpose to the bedpost, she take down his sword, she grabs a hold of his hair.  With a final prayer for strength, she strikes his neck not once but twice. 

 

She rolls his headless body off the bed, pulls down his canopy, gives his head to the maid, who places it in her grocery bag, and like “that!” they leave the camp like they did every night, the 132,000 soldiers assuming the “pretty girl” and her maid are simply out for another night of petty prayer…

 

And here ends our reading for today.

 

Judith and her maid defeat the enemy, make a mockery of his masculinity, and they do it all within the confines of faith, prayer, and trust in God.

 

So…. what do we do with this story?  What is this story saying to us about God?  What is it saying to us about the people of God?

 

Are Judith’s actions to be condoned, imitated, studied, and repeated?

 

Is there any wonder this book has been left out of most Bibles? 

 

Where is the Good News?

 

Well, the Good News is all over the place, if you know how to look for it.

 

1^st- remember that the Bible was written by oppressed people as a testimony to the ways in which God looked after them.

 

The Old Testament is not a book about winners who constantly get to win.

 

The Old Testament is about the lowly, the ignored, put down upon, forgotten, and the hopeless who find their hope in the Lord.

 

The Bible is about those who are always having to overcome obstacles and through the love of God, defeat the enemy, whatever that enemy may be.

 

Abraham and Sarah- how do you overcome the enemy of childlessness when no children was seen as death?

 

Jacob- how do you secure your blessing when everything, from birthright, to marriage is something you have to wrestle for?

 

Joseph- how do you overcome the enemy of family abuse, and having a lifetime of lies thrust upon you?

 

Jochebed, Mother of Moses- what do you do when the Pharaoh says your son’s very existence is a threat and he should be annihilated?

 

Moses- what do you do when your request for freedom is ignored again and again by a system that wants to not only see you dead, but your people subservient and silent?

 

David- what do you do you’re your enemy who is bigger than you?

 

What do you do when you are oppressed, put down, facing a difficult task, when defeat is all but assured?

 

Do you become a victim, or a victor?

 

The answer, biblically speaking to “What do you do?” is this-

 

You put your trust in God.

 

You get up and go.

 

You hold on even if leaves you with a limp.

 

You fight for your family.

 

You keep demanding what is right, no matter how many “no’s” you hear.

 

You use whatever you have, to do whatever you need, even if they’re just  small insigificant stones.

 

You keep wandering through that wilderness, trusting that somehow you will emerge at your Promised Land, leaning on your beloved.

 

So what kind of Good News could Judith be telling us?

 

Think of the Suffragette Movement, how brave women like Susan B. and Ida B. did not stop, they did not quit.

 

10 years, 20 years, 30 years, they kept hacking and hacking away until they received what they deserved.

 

Though what Judith does is bloody, we got to admire that Judith got it done.

 

Sometimes in life it takes more than once to cut off your enemy’s head.  Sometimes you fail, so you try try again.

 

Now, we know this is a bit off-color, dark humor.  But think of the truth.

 

How many things in your own life have been real easy to achieve?  How many things have you had to fight for, work at, struggle with?

 

How often do people give up, how often do they give in, how often do people walk away in defeat?

 

What if, for today, we took this story as a metaphor: Holofernes representing all the obstacles in our way, all the things that have hurt us, held us back, all the things that scare us.

 

What if Holofernes represented an illness that may be in your body?

 

What if Holofernes represented the injustice you have faced?

 

What if Holofernes represents you own self-doubt and all the negative things you say to yourself?

 

In that case, Judith becomes that metaphor for how we can hack away at that which seems to control us.

 

That chronic conditions are a reality, but it does not mean they have to control us completely.

 

Injustice is not something to idly accept, but to fight against and destroy.

 

Self-doubt is something that’s best left powerless the moment we wake up and leave your bed.

 

Maybe it is good to think of how we each possess our own inner Judith.  How we each have a warrior inside.

 

Following our lesson from Song Of Solomon 8, it’s good to note, that she does not do this alone.  Not only does Judith have her maid, she has her God.

 

Throughout this story there is no doubt that everything Judith does, everywhere she goes, is under the guidance of God. 

 

Judith welcomes God into her life.  Calls upon God.  Leans upon God.  Finds her faith in God.

 

She saves herself herself and liberates her people through God.

 

So, as we come to the climax of today’s book and as we celebrate Women’s Equality, let us continue to find ways to reach out to God, to hold God near.

 

To know that in God we have the victory.  With God we have a way to fight our battles and face our enemies, whatever and whoever they may be.

 

For that, we can say “Amen.”