There were a number of things that I found interesting in this reading.
Last week, I read through a book called "God: A Brief History" by Paul E. Capetz and in it he argued that monotheism developed slowly among the Israelites and that what they actually practiced for much of their history was much more like henotheism. It's not hard to see that when we read passages like these where the Israelites are constantly turning to serve the "Baals and Ashtoreths" and worship the "various gods of the people around them" (Judges 2:12-13). I do think, however, that the Israelites were at least wrestling with the idea of monotheism at this time. In Judges 6, the voice of the LORD speaks to Gideon and commands him to destroy an altar to Baal and to cut down an Asherah pole. After he does this and the townsfolk find out, they go to Joash (Gideon's father) and demand that he hand over his son to them, saying "He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it." Joash's response is intriguing: "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." The people seem to agree, because they decide to leave Gideon alone and "Let Baal contend with him."
It's also interesting the strong role that women play in this passage. We're introduced to Deborah, a judge who was also a prophetess and who led Israel (Judges 4:4). Jael is another interesting woman. She kills Sisera, the commander of a Canaanite army, by driving a peg through his temple into the ground. Fun stuff.
Also, I have to say, the ordeal with Ehud and the king of Moab in Judges 3 seems to pretty funny to me.
