Old Testament Characters (Part 7)
Introduction to Judges: Some Needed Lessons About God

"Straight ahead lies yesterday!"

Dr. Harry Rimmer used to make that statement when referring to biblical
history and prophecy; and then he would add, "Future events cast their
shadows before them."

In other words, "it’s all happened before." The saying is right: "Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

I think that we today are living in a period similar to that described in
the Book of Judges
·    There is no king in Israel.
·    People are doing what is right in their own eyes.
·    God’s people can’t seem to work together.
·    People are in bondage to various enemies.

But here and there, God is raising up men and women who:
· believe Him
· confront the enemy
· and win the victory!

The challenge of the Book of Judges is—be available! No matter how dark
the day, God can still work through people who will trust His Word, yield
to His Spirit, and do His bidding. (We begin a study now of some of
those Old Testament characters who are included in God’s book of Judges).

I. THEME
The book picks up the story of Israel after the death of Joshua (Jdg.
1:1). This is a book filled with defeat and disgrace, as we see in the
key verse (17:6): "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

The opening chapters of this book are important:
· understand the social and religious circumstances of this time
· why the Canaanites are still living in this land
· why the Israelites are so easily led into a series of apostasies
· why the disciplines of God are focused upon Israel

When Joshua was Israel’s leader, all the tribes worked together in
obeying the will of God. In this book you don’t find the nation working
together as a unit. When God needed someone to deliver His people, He
called that person out of one of the tribes and told him or her what to
do.

A. They failed to conquer the land (1:1-36)
Verses 1-18 record the early victories of Judah and Simeon, while the
rest of the chapter is a record of repeated defeats. These two tribes
were able to take Bezek (v. 4), Jerusalem (v. 8), Hebron (v. 10), Debir
(v. 11), Zephath (v. 17), Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron (v. 18).

Initially the people of Israel wisely sought God’s guidance and asked the
Lord which tribe was to engage the enemy first.

Judah believed God’s promise, obeyed God’s counsel, and even asked the
people of the tribe of Simeon to go to battle with them. Since Leah had
given birth to Judah and Simeon, these tribes were blood brothers (Gen.
35:23).

With God’s help, the two tribes conquered the Canaanites at Bezek (Judges
1:4-7), captured, humiliated, and incapacitated one of their kings by
cutting off his thumbs and big toes.

With those handicaps, he wouldn’t be able to run easily or use a weapon
successfully. Thus the "lord of Bezek" was paid back for what he had done
to seventy other kings, al-though he may have been exaggerating a bit
when he made this claim.

Jerusalem (Judges 1:8) was Israel’s next trophy; but though the
Israelites conquered the city, they didn’t occupy it (v. 21).

They next attacked the area south and west of Jerusalem, which included
Hebron (Judges 1:9-10, 20) This meant fighting in the hill country, the
south (Negev), and the foothills. Joshua had promised Hebron to Caleb
because of his faithfulness to the Lord at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13-14;
Josh. 14:6-15; Deut. 1:34-36).

Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai were descendants of the giant Anak whose
people had frightened ten of the twelve Jewish spies who first explored
the land (Num. 13:22, 28). Even though Caleb and Joshua, the other two
spies, had the faith needed to overcome the enemy, the people wouldn’t
listen to them.

Faith must have run in Caleb’s family, because the city of Debir (Judges
1:11-16)1-3 was taken by Othniel, Caleb’s nephew (3:9; Josh. 15:17).
Othniel later was called to serve as Israel’s first judge (Judges
3:7-11).

The Kenites (1:16) were an ancient people (Gen. 15:19) who are thought to
have been nomadic metal workers. According to Judges 4:11, the Kenites
were descended from Moses’ brother-in-law Hobab, and thus were allies of
Israel.

The city of palms was Jericho, a deserted and condemned city (Josh.
6:26), so the Kenites moved to another part of the land under the
protection of the tribe of Judah.

After Judah and Simeon destroyed Hormah (Judges 1:17), the army of Judah
turned its attention to the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and
Ekron (vv. 18-19). Because the Philistines had iron chariots, the Jews
couldn’t easily defeat them on level ground, but they did claim the hill
country.

What is important about the military history is that "the Lord was with
Judah" (v. 19), and that’s what gave them victory. "If God be for us, who
can be against us?"

The people of Joseph took Bethel (v. 22), but the rest of the tribes were
unable to drive out the enemy. What began as a series of victories, led
by the Lord, ended as a series of compromises. Judah could not drive out
the inhabitants of the valley, Benjamin could not overcome the Jebusites
(v. 21); and the other tribes likewise "settled down" with the hea-then
nations (vv. 27-36).

Benjamin, Ephraim, Manasseh, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan all failed
to overcome the enemy and had to allow these godless nations to continue
living in their tribal territo-ries. The enemy even chased the tribe of
Dan out of the plains into the mountains!

The Jebusites remained in Jerusalem (v. 21), and the Canaanites who
remained were finally pressed "into forced labor" when the Jews became
stronger (v. 28). Eventually Solomon conscripted these Canaanite peoples
to build the temple (1 Kings 9:20-22; 2 Chron. 8:7-8), but this was no
compensation for the problems the Canaanites caused the Jews.

This series of tribal defeats was the first indication that Israel was no
longer walking by faith and trusting God to give them victory.

The priests possessed a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy and were
commanded to read it publicly to the nation every year during the Feast
of Tabernacles (Deut. 31:9-13). Had they been faithful to do their job,
the spiritual leaders would have read Deuteronomy 7 and warned the
Israelites not to spare their pagan neighbors.

The priests also would have reminded the people of God’s promises that He
would help them defeat their enemies (Deut. 31:1-8). It was by receiving
and obeying the Book of the Law that Joshua had grown in faith and
courage (Josh. 1:1-9; Rom. 10:17), and that same Word would have enabled
the new generation to overcome their enemies and claim their inheritance.

The first step the new generation took toward defeat and slavery was
neglecting
the Word of God, and generations ever since have made that same mistake.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will
heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from
the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

But wasn’t it cruel and unjust for God to command Israel to exterminate
the nations in Canaan? Not in the least! To begin with, He had been
patient with these nations for centu-ries and had mercifully withheld His
judgment (Gen. 15:16; 2 Peter 3:9).

Their society, and especially their religion, was unspeakably wicked
(Rom. 1:18ff) and should have been wiped out years before Israel appeared
on the scene.

Something else is true: These nations had been warned by the judgments
God had inflicted on others, especially on Egypt and the nations east of
the Jordan (Josh. 2:8-13).

Rahab and her family had sufficient information to be able to repent and
believe, and
God saved them (Josh. 2; 6:22-25). Therefore, we have every right to
conclude that
God would have saved anybody who had turned to Him. These nations were
sinning against a flood of light in rejecting God’s truth and going their
own way.

God didn’t want the filth of the Canaanite society and religion to
contaminate His people Israel:
· Israel was God’s special people, chosen to fulfill divine purposes in
this world.
· Israel would give the world the knowledge of the true God, the Holy
Scriptures, and the Savior.
· In order to accomplish God’s purposes, the nation had to be separated
from all other nations
· if Israel was polluted, how could the Holy Son of God come into the
world?
· "God is perpetually at war with sin," wrote G. Campbell Morgan. "That
is the whole explanation of the extermination of the Canaanites."

The main deity in Canaan was Baal, god of rainfall and fertility, and
Ashtoreth was his spouse. If you wanted to have fruitful orchards and
vineyards, flourishing crops, and in-creasing flocks and herds, you
worshiped Baal by visiting a temple prostitute.

This combination of idolatry, immorality, and agricultural success was
difficult for men to resist, which explains why God told Israel to wipe
out the Canaanite religion completely.

They forsook what the Lord had done and what He said (vv. 6-13). ...so
they forfeited what the Lord had promised (vv. 14-15)
In the Old Testament, the "angel of the Lord" is generally interpreted to
be the Lord Himself, who occasionally came to earth (a theophany) to
deliver an important message. The fact that God Himself came to give the
message shows how serious things had become in Israel.

The Lord had kept His covenant with Israel; not one word of His promises
had failed (Josh. 23:5, 10, 15; 1 Kings 8:56). He had asked them to keep
their covenant with Him by obeying His law and destroying the Canaanite
religious system—their altars, temples, and idols. But Israel disobeyed
the Lord and not only spared the Canaanites and their godless religious
system but also began to follow the enemy’s lifestyle themselves.

In His covenant, God promised to bless Israel if the people obeyed Him
and to discipline them if they disobeyed Him (see Deut. 27-28). God is
always faithful to His Word, whether in blessing us or chastening us; for
in both, He displays His integrity and His love (Heb. 12:1-11).

God would prefer to bestow the positive blessings of life that bring us
enjoyment, but He doesn’t hesitate to remove those blessings if our
suffering will motivate us to return to Him in repentance(this is exactly
the teaching of Luke 13:1-5).

By their disobedience, the nation of Israel made it clear that they
wanted the Canaanites to remain in the land. God let them have their way
(Ps. 106:15), but He warned them of the tragic consequences.

The nations in the land of Canaan would become thorns that would afflict
Israel and traps that would ensnare them. Israel would look to the
Canaanites for pleasures but would only experience pain; they would
rejoice in their freedom only to see that freedom turn into their
bondage.

No wonder the people wept when they heard the message! However, their
sorrow was because of the consequences of their sins and not because the
wickedness of their sins had convicted them.

When they went out to fight their enemies, Israel was defeated, because
the Lord wasn’t with His people. This is what Moses had said would happen
(Deut. 28:25-26); but that isn’t all: Israel’s enemies eventually became
their masters!

God permitted one nation after another to invade the Promised Land and
enslave His people, making life so miserable for them that they cried
out for help. Had the Jews obeyed the Lord, their armies would have been
victorious; but left to themselves, they were de-feated and humiliated.

They failed to learn from what the Lord did (vv. 16-23).
Whenever Israel turned away from the Lord to worship idols, He chastened
them severely; and when in their misery they turned back to Him, He
liberated them. But just as soon as they were free and their situation
was comfortable again, Israel went right back into the same old sins.

"And the Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. . . .
Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them
into the hand of . . ." is the oft-repeated statement that records the
sad cyclical nature of Israel’s sins (3:7-8, see also v. 12; 4:1-4; 6:1;
10:6-7; 13:1).

The people wasted their suffering. They didn’t learn the lessons God
wanted them to learn and profit from His chastening.

God delivered His people by raising up judges, who defeated the enemy and
set Israel free. The Hebrew word translated "judge" means "to save, to
rescue." The judges were deliverers who won great military victories
with the help of the Lord. But the judges were also leaders who helped
the people settle their disputes (4:4-5).

The judges came from different tribes and functioned locally rather than
nationally; and in some cases, their terms of office overlapped. The
cycle of disobedience, discipline, de-spair, and deliverance is seen
today whenever God’s people turn away from His Word and go their own way.


God’s mercy toward His people (2:1-4).
The tribe of Judah was not able to hold on to the key Philistine cities
they had taken (1:18; 3:3); and as we saw in chapter 1, the other tribes
failed to conquer the Canaanite nations. These surviving nations adopted
a "good neighbor" policy toward Israel that eventually defeated Israel
from within.

God could have judged Israel for sparing the wicked Canaanite nations,
but in His mercy He spared them because He had purposes for them to
fulfill:
· He would use the enemy to train Israel, to help the new generation
learn the meaning of war
· God also used the Canaanite nations to test Israel and reveal whether
or not His people would obey the regulations Moses had given them from
the Lord (Judges 3:4)

Of course, Israel should have been a witness to the surviving pagan
nations and sought to win them to faith in the true and living God, but
they failed in that responsibility as well. What a difference it would
have made in subsequent national history if the Jews had won the
Canaanites to the Lord instead of the Canaanites winning the Jews to
Baal!

Last modified: April 18, 2006