Their failures and His faithfulness. Key verse 2:18. It fits 2 Tim. for these “last days.” “From Gilgal to Bochim” (2:1 and see verses 10-19 with 17:6 and 21:25); that is, from self-judgment of the flesh in His presence (which is the secret of power), to disobedience and weeping (powerlessness). God intervenes in mercy from time to time, raising up from unlikely material, twelve judges (Eli and Samuel after them. Abimelech in chapter 9 is not called a judge.) It records 7 declensions, 7 servitudes, 7 nations, 7 deliverances. Chapters 17-21 actually precede chapters 1-16, although not according to the divinely moral design of the book.