Outline
Introduction — Everything in the Bible is there with a purpose, so it is with the book of Judges.
Discussion:
- Consider the book itself.
A. It is carefully organized to show the apostasy of God’s people.
B. It also shows God’s means of redemption when the people were willing. - Consider Judges as a revelation of what God is like.
A. A God whose plans are complete and carefully thought out in advance.
B. A God whose reasons are sublime.
C. A God whose instructions are very clear.
D. The God we follow today is the same God who ruled over the Jews in the time of judges. In these respects He has not changed. His plans are clear. His reasons for sublime, and His instructions are clear and definite. - Consider God’s people.
A. The failure of the Jews were primarily religious failures.
B. Their failures were with reason but without justification.
C. Their failures were the source of their own troubles.
D. Difficulties led them back to dependence toward God. - Consider the Divine Restoration.
A. It was done through leaders.
B. It required a surge of faith.
C. It demanded a commitment to the task.
Conclusion — Judges is a story of impermanent penitence. It reveals a God who gave the people up to a lower spiritual order at their own insistence.
A. This meant they gave to their sons and daughters a poorer heritage spiritually than that which they had received.
B. Is this what we are doing today?
Introduction
Judges is an easy book to read and an interesting one. I recall reading several years ago of a scout leader who had a troop of boys on a camping trip. During the day there was plenty to do. In the evenings the leader hit upon the plan of telling the boys the stories of the book of Judges. They sat each evening enthralled to hear the stirring events of long ago.
In World War 1 the famed British General Allenby led British troops into Palestine. He found himself at a strategic disadvantage before a superior force of the enemy. He was in need of a strategy for battle. Going to his tent he found a Bible his mother had packed in his trunk and re-read the story of Gideon. He realized that the position of the Midianites in the book of Judges and that of his enemy was essentially the same. Substituting machine guns for candles and the trumpets that the men of Gideon used, Allenby decided upon the identical tactic and the next day won a crushing victory.
But the messages of Judges is a more significant one than just something interesting or something entertaining. Everything which the Holy Spirit ever did has been done with a purpose. The book of Judges reveals such a purpose, and the effort of this study is to discover that purpose and relate it to our lives today.
Discussion
Consider the book itself.
The seventh book of the Bible covers a period of Jewish history from the death of Joshua to the death of Samson. Twenty-one chapters are divided into three parts:
- An introduction – chapter 1 through 3:6
- The history of several judges – chapter 3:7 through 16:31
- A two-fold appendix – chapter 17 through 21
As the Holy Spirit always wrote carefully and with a plan, each one of these parts of the book of Judges has an appropriate relationship to every other part. In the introduction the author surveys the behavior of the Israelites toward the Canaanites who are left in the land after the death of Joshua. He closes his survey with a reproof of the Jews by the angel of the Lord. He then describes in a general manner the attitude of Israel to the Lord its God and that of the Lord to His people during the time of the judges. He represents this period as a constant alternation between humiliation through oppression when the nation fell away from its God, and deliverance out of the power of its enemies by the judges who God raised up and endowed with the power of His Spirit. These attitudes on the part of Israel and God’s concern manifested by the deliverance which He brought become the framework for the major part of the book
In the next section of the book of Judges there are several oppressions of Israel on the part of foreign nations and deliverances by the judges whom God raised up. Each of these oppressions is introduced by the common phrase, “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord” or “And the children of Israel again did evil”.
There are six major oppression cited. First is the oppression by Mesopotamia and the relief wrought by Othniel; second, the oppression of the Moabites by King Eglon and the deliverance wrought by Ehud (associated with this is the victory achieved by Shamgar over the Philistines). Next, there is the subjugation of Israel by Jabin, the king of Canaan, and the deliverance wrought by the prophetess Deborah and Barak, the judge. Fourth, the Midianites oppress Israel, and deliverance comes through Gideon. This deliverance was followed by the three years reign of his son, Abimelech. Next, Israel is given into the power of the Ammonites and the Philistines and is delivered by Jephthah. Last of all, comes the oppression by the Philistines and the life and works of Samson in opposition to the Philistine’s tyranny.
Including Deborah, there were 13 judges mentioned in the book. Specific events in the lives of eight of these are discussed. Of the other five, Tola, Jair, Izban, Elon, and Abdon, we are merely told they judged Israel for a given number of years.
The Bible student may wonder about the connection between the last five chapters and the previous sections of the book. In chapters 17 and 18 there is the account of the worship of images by the Ephraimite, Micah, and the transportation of that worship by the tribe of Dan in the settlement of their new city in northern Palestine. On the surface this part has no clear connection to what has been related earlier. This is followed by one of the most infamous events in the Bible, the reproachable conduct of the inhabitants of Gibeah and the war of revenge which was waged by the congregation of Israel against the tribe of Benjamin as a punishment for the crime. With this sordid event, the book of Judges closes.
Why were these two events included? The Holy Spirit had a reason. Based on human understanding we would say that whereas much of the book concerns itself with general descriptions, these events picture in detail the religious and moral conditions during the judges and by this means they provide a better understanding of the entire book. The introduction of the book, then, depicts the basis on which the deeds of the judges were founded and the two events, added somewhat like appendices, which conclude the book, furnish further evidence of the spirit of the age as manifested in those deeds.
Someone has liken the heart of the book of Judges to a cycle: seven apostasies, seven servitudes, seven deliverances. The key word is “confusion”. The key verse in judges 17:6, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
As the central characters of the book or called judges, consider for a moment their role. These men were first of all deliverers who led their followers out of the power of pagan enemies. They also had the function of administering laws. They had the responsibility of procuring right. Later on in 1 Samuel 7: 5-6 the people ask Samuel to give them a king to “judge us”. Jotham, in 2 Kings 15:5 is said to have judged the nation. Deuteronomy 17:9, 17, and 19 indicates there would be one who would stand by the high priest as the supreme judge over the people.
Other peoples of the lands had similar personalities. The Tyrennians had their judges, and the Carthaginians had their Suffettes. The judges of the Bible were different. They were raised up directly by the Lord and endowed by Him with miraculous power to work His way. Once established in power, they exercised this through their lifetime, but unlike the chief judges of other peoples, they did not pass on their authority to another person. The judges did not follow one another in a continuous line of unbroken succession. They were men for special periods. The ordinary administration of justice and government of the country still remained in the hands of the heads of the tribes and the elders of the people. It is understood that most of the judges delivered those tribes who happen to be oppressed by their enemies at a particular time.
Consider a God who worked in such a way.
The book of Judges is written from God’s point of view. These successes and failures of the people are measured not in terms of man’s judgment but reflect what God was thinking of his people. Consequently, the book of Judges, even though it describes human events over a period of 350 years of Jewish history, is, first of all, a revelation of what God is like.
The book of Judges reflects the fact that God plans carefully in advance. His plans are complete and comprehensive. The book of Judges reflects a part of God’s plan. His plan was to choose a separate people and keep them apart from all others and through this people to raise up a Messiah. Divine foreknowledge would be proved in this way about this chosen people. A law would be given to this group, and their experience under this law would serve as a laboratory for all mankind to establish the need of a Redeemer who would be selected from the lineage of this people. The reasons behind the actions of God are sublime ones. The divine reasons were to bless all mankind with a Savior.
Not only are our Lord’s reasons good but also His instructions are clear. God dealt with Israel on this basis. He gave them a land; he gave them a law; he gave them a task; he gave them a promise. The Israelites were told to abolish the remnants of the people in the land. They were forbidden to intermarry with the alien peoples. The instructions were clear, and the reasoning was sound.
The message of Judges is a message of God. The same God who sat above the circle of the earth and looked down upon the people living in that little land of Palestine 3000 years ago, still sits up on the circle of the earth, and He is essentially the same. He has a plan, and the reasons supporting His plan are the best possible reasons. To man He has given instructions that are clear. Isaiah 18:4 reveals that God is still concerned about history. His plan is that Jesus Christ should be the center of all human existence and that through Him Jehovah might be glorified.
Judges mirrors the people of God in in the long-ago.
The Jews were the chosen people of the old dispensation as Christians are today. Their actions are a type of the actions of Christians. One author is writing about the book of Judges used most of his book to discuss the political, economical, and social problems which the Jews faced in the settlement of this new land. They had to learn new ways to earn a living in a new country. Instead of being wanderers, as they had been for a generation in the wilderness, they had to settle cities and communities. Instead of being slaves, as they had been in Egypt, they were now free. They had to establish their own system of order and jurisprudence under the law of Moses. These points are of interest, but the major problem of the Jews in the land of Palestine was not political nor social nor economical. Their real problem was a religious one. The heart of all their other problems was the matter of their relationship with God.
Judges cites the failures of God’s people — their failure as they became pagan, their failure in the lack of complete obedience. These failures were without justification. It is true they were with reason, but they were without justification. Israel went after false gods. They knew enough of the true God. And what they knew implied there was no comparison between Jehovah and Baal. The Jews were guilty of the lack of complete obedience. They did not drive the Canaanites from the land as commanded. Prior experience should have taught them that God’s people needed to be separate.
Like the Jews of old, reasons can be assigned to our failures as Christians, but these reasons are without justification. During the time of the judges the failures of the Jews were the very root and source of their troubles. Peoples that rose up to plague them were related to the peoples who should have been dealt with earlier. Emerson cites that there is a law of compensation that works in all the world. Sometimes seeds are slow to sprout, but the seeds of our sin do rise up to curse us. As it was with the Jews, so it is with us. Our difficulties can be traced back to our own failures.
The Jews were led by difficulty back to dependence upon God, and with renewed dependence upon God they comprehended the need for repentance. The cry of Samson in judges 16: 28 was typical of the cry of all the Jews when, by difficulty, they were led back to God: “And Samson called unto the Lord and said, ‘Oh, Lord God, remember me I pray thee and strengthen me.’” As it was with the Jews, so may it be with us. May the difficulties that we encounter personally and in the church become avenues of divine grace because they lead us to a greater dependence upon God.
Consider the Divine Restoration.
God’s avenues for achieving his will among the Jews was the use of men. These men were leaders. Leaders are essential for any significant undertaking. Modern leaders often develop plans of action to make others’ interests become a reality. This is a concise definition of leadership in the world of secular events. God’s work, too, is dependent upon leaders. However, there is a special quality for leaders who would lead in the religious realm. Theirs must be a keener sensitivity to the will of God and a greater hunger to see that God’s will be done.
Great things need to be done in the church. The church today needs to be taking mighty strides. For this to be done there must be great leaders. The prayer that Jesus encouraged his disciples to pray should be our prayer, “Lord, raise up workers for the harvest of the fields are now white unto the harvest”
Leaders mean so much. There’s an old saying that an army of stags led by a lion is more impressive than an army of lions led by stag. I would like to call upon this group to rededicate itself to the task of developing and discovering more and better leadership in the churches of our Lord. For this to be done I’m sure that more mothers must have Hannah’s dream of rearing a son who will be a mighty servant of God. Very few parents today are praying, “Lord, help my son to become a preacher of the gospel.” When people, who are blessed in the church, have such a limited conception of the need and the importance of the work of the church, the church cannot grow as it should.
The restoration of God’s people required a surge of faith. Four of the judges are mentioned in the honor roll of faith given in Hebrews 11. The leaders who moved against mighty obstacles had to be men of faith as well as the determination, and the faith of those leaders had to be matched, in part, by the faith of those who followed.
May I say for God’s people today, with enemies rising up all around us with a false faith in materialism and secularism, to overcome these enemies there must be a surge of faith in Jehovah. We need to venture more; we need to be more aggressive. We do not venture more because we do not believe enough. Gideon moved against the Midianites not only because of oppression but also because of a confidence in victory which was produced by faith. I want to say to you that we are not aggressive enough today in the battles that we are waging against the enemies of the Lord because our faith is weak!
For God’s people to be restored and to receive the blessings that Jehovah planned for them, it took even more than a surge of faith. He demanded a commitment to the task. The trumpets blew; the people had to assemble. Men had to be armed, and forces had to march. This was no task for the faint-hearted nor for the light-hearted. God’s people were faced with mighty foes who must be hurled back by men who were committed to the task. And I say to you, that only to the extent that the Lord’s people are aroused and committed to the understanding of who our enemies are and what it is going to take to overcome them, can we be victorious. In the final analysis, unless we are committed to this task, we will not win.
Who are our enemies? The Philistines, the Canaanites, the Midianites, the men of Moab? No. The atheist, the modernists, the infidels, the materialists, the Catholics, those who have a sectarian or denominationalized understanding of Christianity–these false dogmas are our enemies. Also, there are enemies on the inside – love of money, worldliness, lack of commitment, lukewarm Christianity. These are our enemies, and we must be committed against them.
The message of Judges is the message of God giving His people up.
The sad thing about the book of Judges is that with all the cycle of apostasy and restoration, at the end of this era the Jews began a period of lower spiritual Insight, lowered spiritual achievement. The era of the Judges was the preface for the period of the Kings. The people desired kings, not because of the will of the Lord, but because of the limitation of their own outlook, “To be like the nations around them.”
Then, the book of Judges contains a great spiritual tragedy. It is interesting to note that God did not disown His people. He did not forsake them utterly, but by their own rebellious, stubbornness, and lack of spiritual vision, they began to live on a lower spiritual plane. The people of the time of judges gave to the people of the time of the kings less of a heritage than they had received from the days of Joshua.
This does not mean that God was faithless. Through all this God was faithful to his own character and to his own promise, but God, with sadness, adjusts to man’s refusal to keep Him sovereign. As Addison Alexander wrote in “The Middle Line”:
There is a time, we know not when
A point, we know not where
That marks the destiny of men
To Glory or despair.
There is a line by us unseen
That crosses every path
The hidden boundary between
God’s patience and his wrath.
To pass that limit is to die,
To die as if by stealth
It does not quench the beaming eye,
Or pale the glow of health.
Like the Jews of old we have received a rich spiritual heritage – a heritage that began at Pentecost when people redeemed by a Christ bowed themselves directly under His authority by subjecting themselves to the apostles’ word, utterly and completely.
Conclusion
This heritage was renewed less than two centuries ago when the restorers walked the hills and the valleys of Ohio, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and Virginia to proclaim that men should be Christians and Christians only. This was the way to honor the Messiah.
Some of us here have visited the places where our Christian heritage began. We have been privileged to retrace the steps of Jesus and the apostles, to stand on Mars Hill, to overlook the Acropolis. We have also visited Bethany and the old Cane Ridge meeting house where many of the events of the renewing of our heritage took place. But I wonder as I view these places – what is the heritage we are passing on to the next generation? When the decade is past, these soaring 60’s, then the 70s, whatever they might be termed and then maybe the 80s, what then? When those of us who are a part of this generation will by virtue of our three score years and ten have passed on, and the young people now will have received the heritage that we have preserved for them and be carrying on the work of the New Testament Christianity, what will that heritage be? Will we have given them as much as we have received?
Will we give them a heritage corrupted by worldliness and weakened by a sectarian spirit? Will we give them a spiritual heritage in which the lukewarm is the normal and considered to be the average? Will we give them a heritage in which we rely on tricks rather than on substance to win interest in the gospel of Christ? Will they be ignorant of God’s word because we have been so little concerned about it?
And if this be their heritage, what tragedies await them in their future? Many serious tragedies befell the Jews in their later history. Some of these events had their roots in the period of the judges. If we are insistent that we will be a lukewarm, uncommitted people, God will give us up. In so doing we will make the decision to spiritually impair the heritage which we give to our children. Ours is the responsibility!
Questions for Class Discussion
- What were the functions of a judge?
- To what do you attribute the lowered spirituality of the Jews after the time of Joshua?
- List the people who are left in the land contrary to the will of our Lord.
- What are the characteristics that distinguish the men of Jehovah selected as judges from their fellows?
- Compare the song of Deborah in Judges 5 and that of Moses in Exodus 15. What are similarities and differences?
- What man who ruled for a time as a judge was the most personally ambitious?
- Would you say from Hebrews 11:32 that Samson was penitent about some of his acts before his death?
- Name other characters of The Bible in addition to Samson whose birth was foretold by an angel.
- What does chapter 18 reflect about the spiritual character of Israel during the days of the judges?
- Judges 19 and 20 indicate that when sin comes into the camp, there follows tension and division. Is this always true? If not, why not?
- God did not desire for the Jews to have an earthly king. This was their own idea. What were the spiritual advantages in not having a king?