Judges
The book of Joshua speaks of a high-point in the history of God’s people, Israel. By faith, they took possession of the land which the Lord had provided for them. The book of Judges tells of the downward slope - “ ... The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil ... “ (Judges 2:10-15). Although this was a bad time in the history of Israel, there was also some encouragement - “Then the Lord would send judges to rescue them from those who robbed them” (Judges 2:16). Sadly, the people wouldn’t listen to the judges (Judges 2:17-19). There were difficult times ahead for the people of Israel. The Lord allowed the nations to remain in the land. This was His way of testing His people (Judges 2:20-23).
The book of Joshua speaks of a high-point in the history of God’s people, Israel. By faith, they took possession of the land which the Lord had provided for them. The book of Judges tells of the downward slope - “ ... The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil ... “ (Judges 2:10-15). Although this was a bad time in the history of Israel, there was also some encouragement - “Then the Lord would send judges to rescue them from those who robbed them” (Judges 2:16). Sadly, the people wouldn’t listen to the judges (Judges 2:17-19). There were difficult times ahead for the people of Israel. The Lord allowed the nations to remain in the land. This was His way of testing His people (Judges 2:20-23).
In the book of Judges, we see both sin and salvation -
“The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil” (Judges
3:7,12); “Then the people of Israel dried out to the Lord for help”
(Judges 3:9,15); “The Lord sent a saviour to rescue them” (Judges
3:9,15). Viewed from the point of view of human sin, this was a bad time
in the history of Israel. They were a wayward people. They were prone
to wandering away from the Lord. Viewed from the point of view of divine
grace, there is the great encouragement that God continues to love His
people.He puts into their hearts a desire to return to Him. He responds
to their cry from the heart. He sends His blessing. This is His way of
showing us that His love for us remains constant, even when our love for
Him has grown very weak.
As we read of Israel’s military
exploits, we must recognize the spiritual dimension. This is brought out
well in the song of victory in Judges 5. It begins with the words,
“Praise the Lord!” (Judges 5:2). It is a song of praise to God - “I will
sing a song to the Lord. I will make music to the Lord God of Israel”
(Judges 5:3). The victories gained by Israel were “the victories of the
Lord” (Judges 5:11). When we worship the Lord, we are strengthened to go
on, living for Him - “I must march on with strength!” (Judges 5:21).
The
story of Gideon is the story of the Lord at work. This is summed up in
(a) Gideon’s call - “The Lord is with you, brave man ... You will rescue
Israel from Midian with the strength you have. I am sending you”
(Judges 6:12,14). (b) Gideon’s victory over the Midianites - “Attack!
The Lord will hand Midian’s camp over to you” (Judges 7:15). There is
also a warning for us. Even those who have been used by the Lord can
fall into Satan’s trap. Gideon made a gold idol, and “it became a trap
for Gideon and his family” (Judges 8:27).
“The people of Israel
again did what the Lord considered evil ... The Lord became angry with
the people of Israel ... Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord
for help” (Judges 10:6-7,10). We don’t deserve to be blessed by the
Lord. In mercy, He blesses us, far more than we could ever deserve. The
time of the judges was not a time of the greatest blessing. In life’s
low points, we must hold on to our conviction that God is there with us,
even when He seems to be far away. We must keep on believing that God
is with us at all times.
In the story of Jephthah (Judges 11 & 12), we learn that we need wisdom as well as sincerity. We need to have knowledge of God’s will as well as a desire to do His will.
In the story of Jephthah (Judges 11 & 12), we learn that we need wisdom as well as sincerity. We need to have knowledge of God’s will as well as a desire to do His will.
Samson
was to “dedicated to God from his birth” (Judges 13:5). His early life
is described in terms of God’s blessing - “The boy grew up,and the Lord
blessed him” (Judges 13:24). Samson’s adult life can be viewed at two
levels - (a) Samson’s selfishness - “Get her for me! She’s the one I
want!”; and (b) God’s sovereignty - “the Lord was behind” this (Judges
14:3-4). We see this pattern continuing throughout Samson’s life. There
is victory: “he called out to the Lord, and said, ‘You have given me
this great victory.’” There is defeat: “he saw a prostitute and slept
with her” (Judges 15:18; 16:1). This combination of defeat and victory
continues all the way through to the time of Samson’s death. He was a
prisoner of the Philistines (Judges 16:21,23-24). He was used by God to
bring the Philistines down (Judges 16:28-30). The story of Samson is a
story of divine grace, triumphing over human sin.
In Judges 17
& 18, the chief character is Micah. This was not the prophet, Micah.
This man was a worshipper of idols! He did what he wanted - not what
God wanted (Judges 17:6). What a contrast to the prophet, Micah (Micah
6:8)! This worshipper of idols tried to keep on the right side of God:
“Now I know that the Lord will be good to me. I have a Levite as a
priest” (Judges 17:13). This is ‘salvation by works’ - trying to earn
one’s own salvation. The message of the prophet, Micah is very
different. Salvation is by grace (Micah 7:18-20). The idolater, Micah,
had a bad influence on others (Judges 18:30-31). The voice of the
prophet, Micah, was very different: “The voice of the Lord calls out to
the city. The fear of Your Name is wisdom” (Micah 6:9).
The sinful
and shameful times, described in the book of Judges, are summed up in
the book’s final verses of chapters 19, 20 & 21. “Never has such a
thing happened or been seen from the time the people of Israel came out
of Egypt until today” (Judges 19:30). “Then the men of Israel went back
to attack the rest of the territory of Benjamin ... “ (Judges 20:48).
“Everyone did what he considered right” (Judges 21:25). It was an
‘anything goes’ situation/ Left to our own resources, we will go from
bad to worse - further and further into sin,further and further away
from God. There is only one thing that can be done in a situation like
this. We must repent. We must return to the Lord with our whole heart.
When there is a true return to the Lord, even the most sinful people can
be mightily transformed. We do not see this at the end of the book of
Judges. We see the reverse of this - ‘where grace abounded, sin did much
more abound.’ As we see the same thing happening in our own day, we
must pray for the triumph of God’s grace over human sin.
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