Judges – Page 3 – Old Testament Survey

Judges 10-12

The next two judges are not listed with mighty actions but are listed as judging for a combined total of 45 years which is mighty enough. Tola is mentioned as a mighty warrior in 1 Chronicles 7 and Jair is mentioned in a list of importance later in 1 Chronicles.

Judges 10.1-2: The pattern that produced Tola is incomplete. There is an implied relapse, retribution, and repentance due to the sending of Tola.

Rescue: God raised Tola to save Israel
Rest: 23 years of peace

Judges 10.3-5: The same pattern holds for Jair. It is incomplete with an implied relapse, retribution, repentance, and rescue.

Rest: 22 years of peace

In looking at Jair’s method of judging, I see wisdom. He uses his thirty sons as circuit judges ruling more than thirty towns or territories, which allow Jair to judge/rule over all the area without the burden. This is reminiscent of what Moses’ father-in-law Jethro advised him to do in Exodus 18.

A period after these two judges presents the Israelites returning/relapsing to idol worship. This time it is so bad that God washes His hands of His people and refuses to rescue them. He reminded them of what He had already done for them then informed them that He would not do the same again.

They repent, remove their idols, and cry out to God. God hears and brings a deliverer, a judge, to rule over them. Second Chronicles 7.12-22 reminds us that God listens to those who are repentant and will supply a ruler. It also states that He will bring judgment on those who refuse to follow Him. Where does our nation stand? Where does the church in America fall? What about your life?

Judges 10.6-12.7: Jephthah is mentioned as a hero of the faith in 1 Samuel 12 and Hebrews 11. He is a different judge in that he was a social outcast, rejected by his family do to his father’s promiscuity. He was told he was worthless, so he behaved as someone who is worthless would be expected to behave. What we tell others can influence them to become like those whom we described. If I tell my daughter she is a godly girl and full of virtue, she will tend to walk that way. If I tell her she is not smart, she will tend to believe that as valid, whether it is true or not. What are the implications from this in our daily dialogue with others?

When the leaders of the tribes recognized their troubles and Jephthah’s gifts, they called on him. To Jephthah’s credit, he turned to God for help and recognized that his victory would come from God.

Jephthah recounts the history of Israel as his defense to the king of the Ammonites. He knows what God has done for His people. Do we know what God has done for us and through us for others? Do we remember His greatness?

Jephthah’s logic is well-thought. The Ammonites have no basis for attacking the Israelites. So, Jephthah asks the king why he would do this. The king does not answer and is defeated.

The vow Jephthah made should remind us not to make rash vows. We need to take every thought captive to determine if it is alignment with God’s Word (2 Corinthians 10.4-5). He promised to offer whatever came through his doors as a sacrifice, a burnt offering to the Lord, if God gave him the victory. Having only one child, a daughter, who did he think would come through the door? Also, isn’t human sacrificing forbidden by God? Many commentators grapple with this passage and attempt to make it less horrific. We need to remember the beginning of chapter 11. Jephthah is born from the actions his father took with a prostitute. It is commonly held that she was a foreign woman. Jephthah did not live in Israel but in the land of Tob (Syria) where human sacrifices were common. He, in the situation he found himself in, called on God in light of how he was raised to know god. So, it seems as though he did offer his daughter as a burnt offering. This passage states what he did, it does not claim he was right in doing what he did.

Jealousy is evident in Judges 12.1-7. Because of this jealousy, the Ephraimites are almost destroyed. The remainder of Judges contains accounts of judges that are based in the territory of Ephraim. When a study is conducted, at a later date, of Ephraim, it will show that this tribe was the cause of much trouble for Israel. When you picture Ephraim, picture Samaria.

Relapse: the people served the Canaanite gods
Retribution: Philistines and Ammonites oppressed Israel for 18 years
Repentance: The people acknowledged their sins and cried out to God.
Rescue: The son of a prostitute led the people to victory
Rest: 6 years of peace

After all these years and all these troubles the Israelites found themselves in due to their rebellion, you would think they would learn. However, the book of Judges continues and so does the cycle. Judges 12.8 introduces three judges and twenty-five years of time. Each ruled in separate territories, Elon in the north (Galilee), Abdon in the middle (Samaria), and Ibzan in the south (around Jerusalem/Bethlehem). This chapter is the only mention of these three judges in the Scripture. There is no mention of relapse, retribution, repentance, nor rescue. All are implied because a judge was sent.

What can be said of your life? Which portion of the cycle are you in? Are you returning to old ways, being judged because of them, in a period of repentance, is God rescuing you from your sin, or are you in a period of rest? What state do you find yourself in? Tough questions.

Judges 9

Judges 9 reintroduces one of the seventy sons of Gideon (called Jerubbaal here) who is Abimelech (Judges 8). He is listed shamefully in 2 Samuel 11. It is interesting that when something bad is occurring Gideon is called Jerubbaal.

He is conniving and deadly. His desire is to do the one thing his father refused to do. He wanted to be king over Shechem (think Samaria). He brought his mother on board (did James and John do this in the New Testament?) to aid in this plot. She convinced her clan that her son was the best son of Gideon to rule. Abimelech then began the extermination of his brothers. All died except one, Jotham the youngest. God always seems to bring the one back to haunt those who exterminated the others.

Abimelech becomes the name of a Philistine ruler and Jotham is the name of a good ruler of Judah and an ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1).

Continuing with the story, Jotham pronounces a curse on Abimelech and the cities that promoted him. The curse is interesting to me because Jotham is asking us if we are serving the purpose for which we were created or are we attempting to be something we are not. Or, to quote the Wizard from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, “Be what you is, not what you is not. Folks that are what is, is the happiest lot.” The bramble bush made promises it could not keep. The common method of destroying them was to burn them, thus the curse.

The conclusion of the matter in Judges 9 is that the curse of Jotham is completed as stated. Those who allowed Abimelech to have power were consumed by fire and he would die.

When we attempt to live outside of the purpose for which God made us, our lives are lived for less greatness than He designed. Are you living in the purpose of God? If you do not know what that purpose is, read through passages that offer commands such as Romans 12.1-2, 1 Thessalonians 4.3f, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, etc. Ephesians 6 commands that we do the will of God from the heart.

When we do the known will of God, He reveals more of His purpose and will for our lives.

Judges 6-8

Judges 6 introduces us to Gideon who is only mentioned outside of Judges 6-8 in Hebrews 11 before Barak. However, his alias “Jerubbaal” is mentioned in 1 Samuel 12 along with Barak and this name is used in reference to the next judge, his son Abimelech. Gideon comes onto the scene after “the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” again. The phrase, in the NRSV, “was evil in the sight of the LORD” eight times in Judges, thirty-four times in the history of the kings (mostly in the northern kingdom), and once in Jeremiah. A common phrase that does not occur in the New Testament. I guess we will find out what that is when we get there.

What was the evil? It seems they were worshiping the gods of the Amorites (verse 10). The Midianites and Amalekites were cruel people who would allow the Israelites hope for a season and then would crush that hope by removing from their hands all they had worked for during that season. God is a jealous God who does not allow people to replace Him with that which is not a god at all. His reply in verse 10 to the Israelite’s plea in verse 7 is interesting. He basically tells them that they call to Him as God and yet worship other gods and, it is implied, that He will not listen to their pleading because they do not listen to His. However, they do repent and then He listens. This is something we need to understand as we go through the Scriptures. God hears our pleas/prayers when we are in right fellowship with Him. In order to have fellowship with Him, we need to be in right relationship with Him too. We cannot have fellowship with someone we do not have a relationship with and we cannot have meaningful relationship with someone we are not getting to know on a personal level. This is why, I believe, Gideon went through the measures he did when God called him. If we are in fellowship with someone we know and are getting to know better, when they speak we will recognize their voice. Jesus tells us that His sheep know His voice.

Gideon is wondering who is speaking to him. If you notice, in verse 11-18, he is asking about those things he remembers his ancestors doing. He wants to know where the God of those adventures is and why He is not present with the Israelites. He wants to create his own adventures to remember. God is gracious and gives Gideon a sign and a command to tear down the altar his father has to Baal. This is Gideon’s first test to see if he fears man more than God.

What area of our lives are we being tested to see whether we fear God or man?

To his credit, he accomplishes the task (although under the cover of night).

Gideon then tests God. This is an anomaly in the Scripture. It is not suggest we “throw out a fleece” to determine what God has called us to do.

Judges 7-Throughout the book of Judges, God is intent on letting the people know that He is the one who delivers not the people. Zechariah tells us that it is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit that God produces much. In this section, God hones the army of Israel down from 32,000 to 300. He then commands Gideon to give them trumpets and lamps for battle. With these men and these tactics Gideon conquers and kills more than 100,000 men.

Judges 8 is a strange chapter. People refused to help Gideon in fear of the men he was pursuing. He vows to destroy them for not caring for him and does so after he is victorious over the Midianites. He then asks his youngest son to kill the kings but he does not because he is too young. There is much taunting in this passage.

Gideon is called to be the king. The people ask him and his sons and grandsons to rule over them. He refuses and gives credit to God. The next judge, his son, attempts to be king. Gideon then makes an altar that was not to God. He rules, dies, and the people turn to Baal once more.

The cyclical pattern we see in these chapters is as follows:

Relapse: The people did evil in the eyes of God
Retribution: 7 years of captivity to the Midianites
Repentance: After great persecution, the Israelites finally cried to God for help.
Rescue: God used Gideon to deliver the nation
Rest: 40 years of peace

What do we make a stumbling block for ourselves? How do we prostitute ourselves? When we are gone from our sphere of influence, what legacy will we have left? Who will have drawn closer to God and who will walk away?

Judges 4-5

Judges 4-A woman, Deborah (Judges 4 and 5 only), is presented as a prophetess who is, as I see it, given the title of Judge by default (the absence of male leadership). This brings great controversy, not because I believe women are to be barefoot and pregnant but because God mandated men to lead. She knows it is not her position to lead the armies. She calls Barak (1 Samuel 12 and Hebrews 11) and informs him that God called him to fight the Canaanite army of King Jabin. His response is a disclosure on the character of the men in that area of that era. He doesn’t ask for God’s presence but asks for Deborah’s presence instead. She grants him that favor but insists, I believe, that his victory will not have glory because he insisted on her and not God to go with him. Yet, he is listed in the men of faith listing of Hebrews 11. These battles were in the north by the Sea of Galilee dealing with Naphtali and Zebulun, even though she was from the central region of Ephraim, think Samaria.

The battle ensues. God uses Barak to panic Sisera who flees. He runs to a tent of a descendant of Moses. A woman, as predicted in verse 9, becomes Sisera’s downfall. Jael invites him in for protection then slays him with a tent peg through the temple. Jabin and his arm of the Canaanite armies are done.

Judges 5 is a poetic rendering of Judges 4 with greater detail of who was and was not involved in the battle along with the angst of those involved. It mentions Shamgar who was given a sentence in Judges 3. Poetry is another genre that I enjoy, but not at this point; maybe later I will attempt a study on the poems of the Old Testament.

Looking at the pattern we see,

Relapse: After Ehud died, the people did evil in the sight of God
Retribution: Cruel oppression by the king of Canaan (Jabin) for 20 years.
Repentance: The people cried to God to deliver them
Rescue: Deborah, Barak and Jael defeated Sisera and his army
Rest: 40 years of peace

God will get His work accomplished despite what we do but He chooses us to bring us blessings as we choose to obey Him. Whatever the cost of obedience, the blessing of doing His work will always go beyond it.

What is God calling you to do that you are wanting someone else to do for or with you? Should you be calling on Him to give you the power to do it yourself? Sometimes we use the excuse that we are not good enough, don’t know enough, or others in an attempt to switch the responsibility to others. If God calls us, He empowers and enables us to do His work.

Tomorrow we look at Judges 6-8 and the judge called Gideon.

Judges 3

One thing to add about the judges, we are not to think of them being consecutive or in order ruling over all of Israel. Each judge judged portions of Israel, some at overlapping times.

This opening paragraph is quite odd. God is stating that He purposely left the nations before the Israelites to training them for war to defend the nation against intruders and to test the loyalty of the people. The ending paragraph states they failed the first command against syncretism. They intermarried those in the land resulting in false worship. Paul would later ask what part does the Holy Spirit have with Baal [actually Christ and Belial] (2 Corinthians 6.14-15)?

Othniel is found in Judges 1 and Joshua 15 (and is mentioned in 1 and 2 Chronicles). He is the one who married his uncle Caleb’s daughter. Looking at these verses in light of the pattern we see:

Relapse: Israelites forgot God and served the Baals and Asherahs
Retribution: Oppression by the King of Aram (Cushan-Rishathaim)
Repentance: The people cried to God to deliver them
Rescue: The Holy Spirit came upon Othniel who delivered them
Rest: 40 years of peace

In watching this pattern unfold, each time, watch who is doing all the action other than the sinning. It is always God allowing, giving, raising, etc. He is the sovereign in control of all things; He is not the author, but He is in control.

Ehud is mentioned again in the Scripture in a list of descendants.

Relapse: They did evil in the eyes of God
Retribution: The King of Moab ruled Israel with the Ammonites and Amalekites
Repentance: The people cried to God to deliver them
Rescue: Ehud killed Eglon (king of Moab) with deceptive tactics (being left-handed was different and he used the way God created him to accomplish God’s purposes, no one else could have done what he did)
Rest: 80 years of peace

Shamgar is only mentioned here and in the song that Deborah sings in Judges 6.

Nothing is stated about the Israelite’s relapse, retribution, repentance, or rest. It merely states that God rescued the Israelites from the Philistines.

Our next look at the book of Judges will take a close look at a woman judge, Deborah.

Judges 1-2

I am starting Judges today and will continue for nine more days. Moses died and had his replacement in Joshua. Joshua dies and there is no one to replace him. What transpires is interesting and we call it the book of Judges. What happens when there is an absence of leadership? Someone will arise.

Judges 1-The two tribes enveloped within each other make a pact with each to fight for each other until their land is cleared of all the “-ites.” Simeon fights for Judah, then Judah reciprocates and fights for Simeon. They destroy all in the land, almost. That is the epitome of syncretism–“almost.” We have gotten rid of almost all our sin . . . destruction seems to loom in the syncretic philosophy.

If God was going before them (end of Joshua), why couldn’t Judah drive out the inhabitants of the plain (19), why couldn’t Benjamin drive out the Jebusites (21), why couldn’t Manasseh drive out Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo (27), and et al? Does making them your slaves count as destroying them? This is indeed the chapter of the “almosts” or the “did nots.” It seems there were small pockets, seemingly insignificant to the Israelites (with the exception of the overwhelming chariots), and all would later become points of contention and destruction for the Israelites. This raises the question: What areas of our lives are we not destroying because they appear to be too strong or too insignificant? These are our pet sins or worst habits. It returns the topic to the question: Why did the Israelites fail in occupying the land?

Caleb gives his daughter to marry his youngest brother’s son–his nephew.

This brings us to the answer.

Judges 2-The Israelites did not obey God’s command. When we disobey His commands, we tend to lose the power or the will to do the great things He has planned for us (2 Corinthians 10.12-13 implies this). The only power we have is after we have repented and returned to what He has commanded and called fur us to accomplish.

Isn’t verse seven a bit haunting? Look at it closely and you can see what it implies. As long as Joshua or those who remembered (remember this is a key word in our faith) Joshua were alive, the Israelites did what God commanded. The implication is when those who knew Joshua died, so did the remembering of all that God did for them. When this happens, sin follows. This is not the first time God introduces this concept in the Bible. Another example is when the Pharaoh who knew Joseph had been replaced by another leader who did not know Joseph, the Israelites were enslaved (Exodus 1).

We don’t have to read too much further to remove the implication and find that God states it plainly, read verses 11ff. The pattern we see established here will be presented throughout the book. It is, Relapse, Retribution, Repentance, Rescue, and Rest. They/we go back into sin, God judges us for not trusting Him, we repent of our sins, He rescues us from that which oppresses us, we then have a period of growth, but, then, because we do not remember what He has done for us we return to our former ways. This cycle repeats for as long as we refuse to truly honor the Sabbath day of remembering what God has done for us, repenting of those things we did for us and not for Him, seeking His wisdom in how to conquer them, and asking Him to guide you to do those things that He has commanded you to do. When we can look back on our week and say “It is good,” like He did, then our lives are in alignment with His will. When we look back and see that it is not all good, then we repent, plan, and rely on Him to make the next week “good.”

How good is your week?