Judges

     "We will serve the Lord, for He is our God," the Israelites promise in Joshua 24:18 as their leader makes his final address to the people.
     "You will not be able to serve the Lord," Joshua points out in the next verse.
     "We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice," the people argue.
     Of course, Joshua has been around long enough to know better.  He is one of only two people still living who were with the Israelites throughout the wilderness wandering.  Joshua was with Moses when the great law-giver descended from Mt. Sinai to discover the Israelites worshipping a golden calf.  Joshua was one of the two spies who tried to convince the people they could conquer Canaan.  He was present through all the grumbling, complaining and rebelling.
     It must have been of little encouragement to Joshua when he received the allegiance of the people upon taking over the leadership from Moses.
     "Just as we obeyed Moses in all things," the people promise in Joshua 1:17, "so we will obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses."
     By the close of the book, however, the people have done a relatively good job of being faithful under the leadership of Joshua.  But verses such as Joshua 15:63 and 16:10 warn of trouble to come in the future.  The Israelites have not completely eliminated the heathen inhabitants of the country.
     The first chapter of the book of Judges tells of Israelite victories after the death of Joshua.  But it also contains storm clouds on the horizon as we read of more heathen inhabitants who are left in the land.
     "And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua," Judges 2:7 reveals, "and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel."
     But, as Joshua has warned, the people do not remain faithful to God.
     "Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals," Judges 2:11-13 states, and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger.
     "So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Astartes."
     This is the beginning phase of a cycle that is repeated throughout the book of Judges.  The people abandon God and turn to idols.  So God sends an oppressor to cause them to repent.  The people cry out to God.  God sends a deliverer to free the people.  Then the people turn back to idolatry and the cycle starts all over again.
     The deliverer is called a "judge."  This does not mean a judge in the sense that is used today.  It is usually a military leader who, with the help of God, guides the people to victory over the oppressors.  Judges 2:11-19 presents an explanation of this cycle.
     At the root of the problem is the fact that the Israelites allowed some of the people to remain in the land they conquered.
     "And the sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;" Judges 3:5-7 explains, "and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
     "And the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth."
     As a result, God sends the first oppressor, the Mesopotamian king Cushan-rishathaim.  After eight years of servitude the Israelites cry out to the Lord.  God then raises up Othniel, the nephew and son-in-law of Caleb, to deliver the Israelites.  They then enjoy 40 years of peace and independence while Othniel leads them.  Now the first cycle has ended.
     "Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord," Judges 3:12 informs us.  "So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord."
     The second cycle has begun.  The Israelites serve Eglon eighteen years before they cry out to the Lord for help.  God then sends Ehud to deliver the people.
     Ehud carries the tribute to Eglon, then he gains a private meeting with the Moabite king on the pretense of delivering a secret message.  When all other people have been sent from the room Ehud explains that the message is from God.  But the message is not what Eglon is expecting.  Ehud pulls an 18-inch sword from his cloak and thrusts it into the king's stomach.  He then climbs out from the roof before the servants discover what has happened.
     Ehud calls the Israelites together to chase away the Moabites.  Then come eighty years of peace.

     After the death of Ehud a man named Shamgar judges the Israelites.  The little we know about him from Judges 3:31 is that he kills 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.
     Would anyone like to guess what the next line is?
     "Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord," we read in Judges 4:1.
     The Lord turns them over to Jabin, king of Canaan.  Jabin's general Sisera commands an army that boasts 900 iron chariots.  The severe oppression at the hand of Jabin lasts 20 years before God selects Deborah, the only woman judge, to free the people.
     Deborah sends for Barak to lead the Israelite army.  He accepts on the condition that Deborah will accompany him.  Deborah agrees, but she informs him that a woman will receive the honor of stopping Sisera.
     Through the power of God the Israelites have no trouble routing the Canaanites, but Sisera escapes.  He finds refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of an ally.  But Jael takes a tent peg and drives it through his head while he is sleeping.
     Forty years of peace follow.
     "Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord;" Judges 6:1 says, "and the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian seven years."
     The next judge is a man named Gideon.
     Gideon's first undertaking is to destroy the altar of Baal and the idol of Asherah beside it.  He then offers a sacrifice to God.  The next morning the people of the area are very upset when they discover what has happened.
     They approach Joash, Gideon's father, and demand that the son be killed.
     Although the altar and idol actually belonged to Joash and he, more than anyone, should have been infuriated, his reply demonstrates a great deal of wisdom.
     "Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him?" Joash chides in Judges 6:31.  "Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning.  If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar."
     Gideon then requests and receives a couple of signs before he accepts the fact that God will be with him.
     He first asks that a fleece left out overnight be wet while the ground remains dry.  The next night he wants the fleece to be dry and the ground wet.
     When Gideon calls for an army he is answered by 32,000 volunteers.  God says that there are too many men, leaving the possibility that the Israelites might claim to have delivered themselves by their own power.  Those who are afraid are allowed to return home, but 10,000 remain.  The army is further reduced by the way they drink water.  Gideon is finally left with only 300 men armed with trumpets, empty pitchers and torches.
     The men surround the enemy camp and then break the pitchers, blow the trumpets and hold up the torches.  The Midianite soldiers kill each other in the confusion.
     The Israelites follow God as long as Gideon lives, but they turn to idols as soon as he dies.  The accounts of several other judges are recorded in the book, but the most famous of these is the strong man Samson.
     As frequently happens in the Old Testament, there is a couple who are not able to have children.  An angel appears to the wife of Manoah and promises that she will bear a son.  This son is to be a Nazarite, someone who is not allowed to cut his hair or drink wine or strong drink.  He grows up to be a man of extraordinary strength, and God uses this strength to relieve the oppression from the Philistines.  Take the time to read the interesting story of Samson beginning in Judges chapter 13.
     After a great deal of nagging, Samson reveals the secret of his strength to Delilah.  If his hair is cut he will become like any other man.  As soon as he is asleep Delilah calls for someone to cut Samson's hair.
     The Philistines immediately subdue Samson and put out his eyes.  Some time later Samson is called to a pagan feast so the Philistines can make fun of him.  He prays for his old strength so he can pull down the entire building, killing 3,000 Philistines along with himself.
     What lesson can we learn from the judges?  It is easy for us to look back with scorn on the Israelites who never seem to learn.  Over and over again they turn from God and start worshipping idols.  But, then, are we any different?
     The Israelites allowed bad influences to convince them to follow the wrong pathway.  Instead of accepting the truth, they preferred to believe a lie.  This led to certain oppression.  Only when they turned to God could they find deliverance.
     Today we allow those around us to influence us with their gods of money, materialism and greed.  And we follow along with those who lure us with man-made religious philosophies.
     But now, as much as ever, we must obey the truth if we want to be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)