 Exploring
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Exploring Judges
What's
in a name?
Judges records the history of Israel during the generations that succeeded Joshua. One passage summarizes what happened: "Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them" (2:18-19).
These "judges" (shophetim in the Hebrew Bible and kritai in the Septuagint) were not officials like judges today. Their main task was to "obtain justice for the tribes of Israel in the face of their enemies, annihilate or drive out their oppressors, and so bring salvation, rest and peace to the land" (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, p. 363). Very little is said about how these judges led the nation once they had delivered it.
Scholars sometimes distinguish between the "major" judges, whose feats are related at length in the book, and the "minor" judges, whose leadership is covered in only one or two verses.
Outline
After a prologue (1:1–3:6) describing the events immediately after Joshua’s death, the book is organized as a series of progressively longer stories, each concerning one of the major judges sent by God to deliver Israel from slavery. Brief descriptions of minor judges are occasionally sandwiched between these stories.
The first episode establishes a pattern that is repeated in the other stories: The Israelites sin, and so God allows them to be enslaved; they repent, and God sends a judge to deliver them (3:7-11). The first deliverer was Othniel, a nephew of Caleb, who judged Israel 40 years.
After Othniel died, the Israelites started doing evil again, so God allowed the Moabites to enslave them. When the Israelites cried out to God, he raised up another judge, Ehud. Ehud assassinated the Moabite leader and then led Israel to victory (3:18-30). After Ehud came Shamgar (verse 31).
Then the Israelites sinned again and were subjugated by the Canaanites. Deborah and Barak eventually delivered them (4:1-24) and then sang a song to commemorate their victory (5:1-31). The Midianites were the next to enslave the backsliding Israelites, who were eventually delivered by Gideon (6:1–8:35). An interlude concerning Gideon’s wicked son Abimelech (9:1-57) is followed by accounts of two minor judges, Tola and Jair (10:1-5).
Israel returned to idolatry and was conquered by the Ammonites and Philistines. When the Israelites forsook idolatry, God gave them a victory through Jephthah (11:1–12:7). After Jephthah came three minor judges: Ibzan, Elon and Abdon (12:8-15). The last major judge mentioned in the book is Samson, whose story covers four chapters (13:1–16:31).
The book of Judges concludes with an epilogue relating two events that occurred during the period of the judges and illustrate the moral laxity of the nation at that time (17:1–21:25).
How to read this book
On one level, you can read the book of Judges as a history book about great Israelite heroes and heroines God sent to rescue his people from foreign oppression. In this sense, the book contains some of the most spectacular and inspirational stories in the Old Testament: With primitive weapons, Deborah and Barak destroyed Sisera’s army of 900 chariots (4:13-16). Gideon’s small band of warriors crushed the Midianites (7:19-22). Jephthah inflicted a massive defeat on the Ammonites (11:29-33). And, in perhaps the most famous story, Samson destroyed the Philistines in the temple of their god Dagon (16:23-30).
On another level, however, the book of Judges clearly describes the spiritual deterioration of a people who had forgotten what God had done for them. As you study the book, note how the Israelites failed to learn from their mistakes. Observe their tragic downward spiral into sin.
This dark age of Israel’s history culminates in the last five chapters of Judges (17–21), which relate some of the most gruesome stories in the Bible — episodes of idolatry, theft, rape, murder and civil war. In the end, "every one did what was right in his own eyes" (21:25, NKJV). As we shall see, one reason for this barbaric state of affairs was Israel’s failure to obey God’s command to conquer all the land and drive out the Canaanites.
"The Israelites held the mountains, but the foreign-held valleys, cutting through the land, separated the tribes. Soon each group of isolated Israelites began operating independently. The next generation lost its sense of national identity.... Though descended from 12 brothers, [the Israelites] spent more time fighting each other than the foreign oppressors.... Though [the Israelites] forgot [God], he did not forget them. He gave innumerable new beginnings. Again and again he sent ‘judges’ to rescue them. He would not let them go. God is the real hero of Judges" (The New Student Bible, NIV, pp. 228-229).
Learning about God
Although anarchy existed in Israel during much of the period of the judges, the book leaves no doubt that God was still working out his purpose. The book tells us that:
- God is Judge and Deliverer. When the Israelites fell into idolatry, God caused other nations to defeat and enslave them (2:11-15). But when the Israelites cried out to God for help, he delivered them (2:16-18).
- God is Sovereign. This theme is emphasized throughout Judges. Perhaps this is most clearly seen when God told Gideon to reduce the size of his army "in order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her" (7:2). On occasion, God manifested his supremacy in surprising ways: He empowered Samson to slay 1,000 Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone (15:14-15). He caused the Kishon River to sweep away the Canaanite army (5:21). He used a non-Israelite woman to kill a Canaanite leader with a tent peg (4:21-23).
- God is patient and gracious. The book of Judges is a monument to God’s patience with his people. The refrain "The Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord" recurs like a monotonous litany. Yet, every time the Israelites repented, God forgave them and sent a deliverer.
- God is righteous. Even as God extends his graciousness and patience toward us, he commands us to be righteous. The judges God used to deliver Israel, for the most part, led the people in God’s ways. The wickedness of a nation that had forsaken God, especially as portrayed in Judges 17–21, is in stark contrast to God’s holiness.
Other topics
- IDOLATRY: The book of Judges vividly illustrates the consequences of sinning against God. Israel’s major sin was idolatry, especially the worship of the Canaanite storm and fertility god, Baal (2:11-13, 19; 3:7; 8:33; 10:6). God had specifically and repeatedly warned the Israelites against idolatry (Deuteronomy 4:15-19; 5:7-10; 12:2-3). The judges God used to deliver Israel got rid of the idols, and during those times Israel had peace. But as soon as these judges died, Israel relapsed into idolatry. This epitomized their rejection of God.
- MORAL LEADERSHIP: During much of this period of the judges, Israel lacked strong spiritual direction. Against this bleak background, God inspired certain individuals to lead the nation. In the New Testament, we read of some of these heroic leaders: "Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah...who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised...and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies" (Hebrews 11:32-34).
What this book means for you
The basic message of Judges is brutally simple: Sin leads to slavery; repentance leads to redemption. The book rams its message home as story after story follows the same pattern: The Israelites abandon God, so he allows them to become enslaved. Then they repent and God delivers them.
This provides a fitting background for the teaching of the New Testament — that because Jesus Christ died for your sins and was resurrected, you can, when you look to him, be delivered from the bondage of sin and receive eternal life (Acts 3:19; Romans 5:21).
"The period of the judges was one of the ‘dark ages’ of Israel’s history and the irregularities and problems contained therein must be set against this general background. In its own way it is a faithful witness to the fact of man’s frailty and to his need not of a merely temporal deliverer, but of an eternal Saviour who can effect a perfect redemption" (Arthur E. Cundall, Judges, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, vol. 7, p. 45).
Copyright 2002 Worldwide Church of God