Judges

REAL heroes are hard to find these days.

Modern research and the media have made

the foibles and weaknesses of our leaders

very apparent; we search in vain for men and

women to emulate. The music, movie, and

sports industries produce a steady stream of

“stars” who shoot to the top and then quickly

fade from view.

Judges is a book about heroes—12 men

and women who delivered Israel from its oppressors. These judges were not perfect; in fact, they included an assassin, a sexually promiscuous man, and a person who broke ail the laws of hospitality. But they were submissive to God, and God used them. Judges is also a book about sin and its consequences. Like a minor cut or abrasion that becomes infected when left untreated, sin grows and soon poisons the whole body. The book of Joshua ends with the nation taking a stand for God, ready to experience all the blessings of the Promised Land. After settling in Canaan, however, the Israelites lost their spiritual commitment and motivation. When Joshua and the elders died, the nation experienced a leadership vacuum, leaving them without a strong central government. Instead of enjoying freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land, Israel entered the dark ages of her history.

Simply stated, the reason for this rapid decline was sin—individual and corporate. The first step away from God was incomplete obedience (1:11—2:5); the Israelites refused to eliminate the enemy completely from the tand. This led to intermarriage and idolatry (2:6—3:7) and everyone doing “whatever seemed right” (17:6). Before long the Israelites became captives. Out of their desperation they begged God to rescue them. In faithfulness to his promise and out of his loving-kindness, God would raise up a judge to deliver his people, and for a time there would be peace. Then complacency and disobedience would set in, and the cycle would begin again.

The book of Judges spans a period of over 325 years, recording six successive periods of oppression and deliverance, and the careers of 12 deliverers. Their captors included the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Philistines, Canaanites, Midianites, and Ammonites. God used a variety of deliverers—from Othniel to Samson—to lead his people to freedom and true worship. God’s deliverance through the judges is a powerful demonstration of his love and mercy toward his people.

As you read the book of Judges, take a good look at these heroes from Jewish history. Note their dependence on God and obedience to his commands. Observe Israel’s repeated downward spiral into sin, refusing to learn from history and living only forthe moment. But most of all, stand in awe of God's mercy as he delivers his people over and over again.

🖼 Map, chart or picture (see the original page image) — text in this graphic: I

The tribes had compromised God’s command to drive out the inhabitants of the land. Incomplete removal of evil often means disaster in the end. We must beware of compromising with wickedness.

Repeatedly we see the nation of Israel sinning against God and God allowing suffering to come upon the land and the people. Sin always has its consequences. Where there is sin we can expect suffering to follow. Rather than living in an endless cycle of abandoning God and then crying out to him for rescue, we should seek to live a consistent life of faithfulness.

Despite the efforts of Israel’s judges, the people still would not turn wholeheartedly to God. They all did whatever they thought was best for themselves. The result was the spiritual, moral, and political decline of the nation. Our lives will also fall into decline and decay unless we live by the guidelines God has given us.

🖼 Map, chart or picture (see the original page image) — text in this graphic: ee rw

IMPORTANCE

🖼 Map, chart or picture (see the original page image) — text in this graphic: a

🖼 Map, chart or picture (see the original page image)

IN JUDGES

king. Ehud then escaped, only to return

with an army that chased out the Moab-

ites and freed Israel from its appressors

(3:12-31).

3 Hazor After Ehud’s death, King Jabin

of Hazor conquered Israel and oppressed

the people for 20 years. Then Deborah

became Israel’s leader. She summoned

Barak to fight Commander Sisera, the

leader of King Jabin's army. Together

Deborah and Barak led their army into

battle against Jabin’s forces in the land

. 5: ‘ between Mount Tabor and the Kishon

Mediterranean i cn erg: I River and conquered them (4:1-—5:31).

. i 4 Hill of Moreh After 40 years of peace,

the Midianites began to harass the Israel-

ites by destroying their flocks and crops.

When the Israelites finally cried out to

God, he chose Gideon, a poor and hum-

ble farmer, to be their deliverer. After

struggling with doubt and feelings of

inferiority, Gideon took courage and

knocked down his town’s altar to Baal,

causing a great uproar among the citi-

zens. Filled with the Spirit of God, he

attacked the vast army of Midian, which

was camped near the Hill of Moreh. With

just a handful of men he sent the enemy

running away in confusion (6:1—7:25).

5 Shechem Even great leaders make mis-

takes. Gideon’s relations with a concubine

in Shechem resulted in the birth of a son

named Abimelech. Abimelech turned out

to be treacherous and power hungry—

stirring up the people to proclaim him

king. To carry out his plan, he went so

far as to kitl 69 of his 70 half brothers.

Eventually some men of Shechem

rebelled against Abimelech, but he gath-

ered together an army and defeated them.

His lust for power led him to ransack two

other cities, but he was killed by a woman

who dropped a millstone onto his head

(8:28—9:57).

G Land of Ammon Again Israel turned

completely from God; so God turned from

them. But when the Ammonites mobilized

their army to attack, Israel threw away

her idots and called upon God once again.

Jephthah, a prostitute’s son who had

been run out of Israel, was asked to 1 Bokim The book of Judges opens with the Israelites continuing return and lead Israel's forces against the enemy. After defeating The broken lines (—-—+) indicate modern boundaries.

their conquest of the Promised Land. Their failure to obey God the Ammonites, Jephthah became involved in a war with the

and destroy all the evij inhabitants soon came back to tribe of Ephraim over a misunderstanding (10:1—12:15).

haunt them in two ways: (1) The enemies reorganized and 7 Timnah {srael’s next judge, Samson, was a miracle child prom-

counterattacked, and (2) Israel turned away from God, adopting ised by God to a barren couple. He was the one who would

the evil and idolatrous practices of the inhabitants of the land. begin to free Israel from their next and most powerful oppres-

The angel of the LORD appeared at Bokim to inform the Israelites sor, the Philistines. According to God's command, Samson

that their sin and disobedience had broken their agreement was to be a Nazirite—-one who took a vow to be set apart for

with God and would result in punishment through oppression special service to God. One of the stipulations of the vow was

(4:13:11). that Samson's hair could never be cut. But when Samson grew 2 Jericho The nation of Moab was one of the first to oppress up, he did not always take his special responsibility to God

Israel. Moab’s King Egion conquered much of!srael—including seriously. He even fell in love with a Philistine girl in Timnah and

the city of Jericho— and forced the people to pay unreasonable asked to marry her. Before the wedding, Samson held a party

taxes. The messenger chosen to deliver this tax money to for some men in the city, using a riddle to place a bet with them.

King Eglon was named Ehud. But he had more than money to The men, however, forced Samson's fiancée into giving the

deliver, for he drew his hidden sword and killed the Moabite answer. Furious at being tricked, Samson paid his bet with the