The Book of Judges and and the book of Joshua are pictures of our walk with God. The Book of Judges speaks a lot about failure, recovery, and backsliding. The cycle that we see repeating several times in this book is as follows:
- When Israel is blessed by God with a godly and devoted judge, the people are devoted to God. Usually during that judge's lifetime the people follow the Lord quite well. As soon as the judge passes from the scene, the people slip back into disobedience. The people become lazy and begin to backslide from their devotion to the Lord. After a while they deliberately start to disobey and start following other gods.
- The Lord will then raise up some kind of enemy to remind them about the covenant the Israelites have agreed to keep. The people don't respond to it, so God gives them out to bondage. That's what happens when we give in to sin in our lives, bondage is the result (John 8:34).
- Eventually the Israelites find themselves in such a heavy burden that they begin to cry out to the Lord for help. The Bible texts don't say that they call out for repentance, for a new heart. They want relief. After a time, which may be years, the Lord raises up a new deliverer/judge, and the cycle starts again.
way to learn things. It stands as a warning to us not to compromise obedience to the Lord. We need to deal with sin in our lives.
Most monarchies in our time have kings with limited power, but we have nations ruled by autocrats. Many times these autocrats are/become corrupt and start wars
to gain popularity and honor, or to gain a historical legacy, see The Book of Esther.
The Angel of the Lord said he brought them out of Egypt and brought them into the land he swore to give to their ancestors. He said that he would never break his covenant with them, and they wouldn't make a covenant with the people of that land, but they would break down their altars. Yet they had disobeyed him. He asked them why they had done it. He also said that he won't drive out the people of the land before them; they would become traps and their gods snares to them. The people wept loudly and offered sacrifices to the Lord. (Jdg 2:1–5).
Most bible scholars believe that the Angel of the Lord in this case is the
pre-incarnated Jesus Christ. The people had broken the covenant with the Lord.
The people wept when they heard this. There is something called worldly sorrow which isn't the same as godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is basically being sad about being caught. They may cry but that's not true repentance. They will break the covenant again if given the opportunity to do so. Godly sorrow means true repentance that leads to a change of mind that results in a change of direction, meaning that the person won't do it again. In this case there was no change in their lives, it's an example of worldly sorrow. We may be deceived by this, but God knows exactly what kind of sorrow it is.
After Joshua and his generation died, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the wrath of the Lord because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel, the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies around, whom they could no longer resist. Whenever Israel went out to battle, the Lord's hand was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress. Then the Lord raised up judges, who rescued them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they didn't listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and delivered them from the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to even more corrupt ways than their ancestors, and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. Therefore the Lord became very angry with Israel and said that he wouldn't drive away any of the people that Joshua left behind when he died. The Lord would use them to test Israel and see if they would keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did. (Jdg 2:10–23, Psalm 106:34–43).
The people opened up for Man-Made Religion. They came up with their own religious rules. This shows what happen to a people who lose sight of the word of God, when they stop to fear God, see To Fear the Lord in Fear of Man. It affects us religiously.
It also leads to moral decay, a rejection of the moral values of God's word, see Israel's Version of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Knowing the Lord isn't just knowing intellectually about the Lord and his attributes, see God's Attributes. It's also about having a relationship with the Lord that can be given by spending time in the word and in prayer. We choose to follow the Lord. The first generation compromised but served the Lord. The next generation chose to follow the world, the people around them. This resulted in them no longer being able to withstand the enemies around them.
Bad things that happen to us don't necessarily mean that God wants us to pay attention to some sin in our lives. We live in a fallen world. But God uses these things when there is a choice not to follow the Lord, to disobey the Lord, or to live a life of sin. The natural consequences of sin will then affect us. When we compromise obedience to the Lord, it leads to defeat and bondage. God allows it in our lives to help us understand what is happening. God had explained to the Israelites the consequences of not following the Old Covenant with him. Because they were in great distress because of this, they were open to the Lord to accept the judges he sent to them. But when the judge died, they returned to their sin and became even more corrupt.
These were the nations the Lord left to test all the Israelites who hadn't experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this to also teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had no previous battle experience):
- The five rulers of the Philistines.
- All the Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains, from mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
We can see here how God works among his people. This is a picture of our walk with Jesus. In many ways it's about warfare. We face difficulties in our lives. God doesn't always take them away from us. God tests us. We also need to learn how to deal with them, through his word and through his Spirit. Difficulties are key elements in remaining strong in the Lord and in revealing what is truly in our hearts
(Eph 6:10–12). There is then a risk for us to compromise and integrate ourselves with the people of the world (1 Cor 15:33, 2 Cor 6:14–16a), and become lukewarm Christians, see Laodicea in The Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation.
Judges
The Book of Judges mentions twelve leaders who judged Israel:
1. Othniel:
The Israelites did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord and served the Baals and the Asherahs. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of
Aram-Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for 8 years. But when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up Othniel for them as a deliverer.
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became the judge of Israel and went out to war. The Lord gave the king into his hands. The land then had peace for 40 years until Othniel died. (Jdg 3:7–11).
When we have victories in our lives, we may think we are doing everything right. We make the mistaken assumption that good things from God means I am right in what I am doing. We forget that God is merciful and good and blesses us in spite of ourselves. They never asked themselves if they needed to change anything in their lives. They thought that it was OK for them to go back and serve Baal. It's important that we give God the glory and honor for the victories we have in our lives.
2. Ehud:
The Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil, the Lord gave Eglon, king of Moab, power over Israel. To get the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms (which usually refers to Jericho). The Israelites were subject to
Eglon for 18 years. Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them
Ehud as deliverer. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon. Afterwards he returned back to Eglon and said he had a secret message for him. The king then told his attendants to leave them, and they all left. Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone and said he had a message from God for him, but then killed him with his sword. Ehud escaped and ordered the Israelites to follow him, for the Lord had given Moab into their hands. They followed him down and took the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab; they didn't allow anyone to cross. At that time they struck down about 10,000 Moabites. Moab became subject to Israel, and the land had peace for 80 years. (Jdg 3:12–30).
God was merciful to Israel and gave them time to reflect on this undeserved victory and to change their lives to obedience to God's word.
3. Shamgar:
After Ehud came Shamgar, who struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.
He also saved Israel. (Jdg 3:31).
Shamgar probably acted during the time of peace at the time of Ehud.
4. Deborah:
The Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord when Ehud was dead. The Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, with Sisera in command of his army. He had 900 chariots equipped with iron and cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. The people cried out to the Lord for help.
(Jdg 4:1–3).
Deborah, a prophetess, led Israel at that time. She sent for Barak and
told him that the Lord commanded him to take 10,000 men and lead them up to
Mount Tabor. God would lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and deliver him into their hands.
Barak told her that if she went with him he would go, but if she didn’t he won’t go. She replied that she would go, but because of the path he took, the honor wouldn't be his, for the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.
Deborah accompanied Barak to Kedesh. There Barak summoned 10,000 men.
Deborah also went up with him. (Jdg 4:4–10).
Sisera called all his men and his 900 chariots equipped with iron. Then Deborah
told Barak that this was the day the Lord had given Sisera into his hands and that the Lord had gone before him. Barak went down Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword. Sisera dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot.
Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; no man was left. Sisera meanwhile fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin and that family. Jael went out to meet Sisera and told him to go in. He entered her tent and she covered him with a blanket. Jael picked up a tent peg and a hammer and quietly walked over to him as he lay sleeping. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground and he died. Just then Barak came by chasing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. She told Barak to come in and see the man he was looking for. He went in with her, and there laid Sisera dead with the tent peg through his temple. On that day God subdued Jabin before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin until they destroyed him. Then the land had peace for 40 years. (Jdg 4:11–5:31).
Barak saying he would only go if Deborah went with him is called conditional obedience. Certain conditions must then be met in order to comply. Deborah agreed to his demand but said that then he wouldn't get the glory of the victory, it would go to the woman Jabin. The Israelites were relieved by the victory that God miraculously gave them, but it didn't result in repentance in their lives. See also
Can a woman be a leader in a congregation? in The Woman's Place in the Congregation.
5. Gideon:
See Gideon in Gideon and Abimelech.
6. Tola:
Tola arose to save Israel after Abimelech (see Abimelech in
Gideon and Abimelech). He led Israel for 23 years. (Jdg 10:1–2).
7. Jair:
He led Israel for 22 years. (Jdg 10:3–5).
8. Jephthah:
See Jephthah the Judge.
9. Ibzan:
10. Elon:
11. Abdon:
He led Israel for 8 years. (Jdg 12:13–15).
12. Samson:
See also The Old Testament of the Bible.
