A. Historical Background
1. The book of Judges concerns itself with the history of God's Chosen People, Israel, during the period between the death of J __ __ __ __ __ and the establishment of m __ __ __ __ __ __ __. The time line of this book extends approximately from B.C.1375 - 1055, about 320 years.
a. Joshua, trained meticulously by Moses, had served God as both the m __ __ __ __ __ __ __
and the s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ leader of the fledgling nation. He had led them into the
long, arduous and largely successful invasion of the Promised Land of C __ __ __ __ __ and had consistently encouraged and exhorted the Israelites to honour the covenant with God which they had entered into at Mt. Sinai.
ref: Exodus 33:12 - 34:28
Joshua 24:1-28
b. Joshua, already 80 years old at the time the conquest of Cannan began, lived long enough to establish the nation of Israel and to, as God directed, divide the land among the twelve tribes (actually, eleven tribes and two "half-tribes"). But at the time of his death, the single great failure of the campaign loomed before him. He and the armies of Israel had not yet accomplished God's primary military command to them: the absolute annihilation of all the Canaanites.
ref: Genesis 15:1-16
Deuteronomy 9:1-6
Deuteronomy 20:10-18
Judges 1:27-36
c. So, then, the book of Judges begins with the record of Israel's m __ __ __ __ __ __ __ failure. Just as God had warned, and in spite of their resounding affirmation of Joshua's call for them to faithfully s __ __ __ __ the Lord, their military failure would result in their
ultimate m __ __ __ __ failure, which is encapsulated in a phrase which appears several times in the last few chapters of the book:
Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
d. God, however, is both long-suffering towards the failures and short-comings of His people and faithful to keep His own promises. Just as He continually forgives imperfect Christians in this day and age, He did not abandon His people in the early days of Israel. And just as we all too often continue in our bent to sinning -- even after He forgives and cleanses us -- the people of Israel again and again fell back into their idolatrous wickedness. The Bible record makes it clear that God is faithful to keep His promises -- those attached to our obedience as well as those attached to our disobedience. Sin always bears consequences! The history of God's relationship with Israel during the three centuries covered in the book of Judges is presented as a sort of introduction to the book in Judges 2:8-23 [ NIV ].
Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they for-sook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In His anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as He had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
Then the Lord raised up judges, who served them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listed to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the Lord's commands. 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. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to Me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did." The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; He did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.
d. The Bible record indicates that there were a total of ____ of these "judges." One of them was a woman -- D __ __ __ __ __ __ -- and she is the only one in the list who is shown to have ever made a "judicial" decision ( Judges 4:4-5 ). The last two judges -- E __ __ and the great S __ __ __ __ __ -- do not appear in this book. The record of their activities is contained in the book of 1 Samuel, which we hope to study in the autumn of 1997, the Lord willing.
e. Scholars have divided Israel's history during this time into six epochs, each one dominated by one or more of these judges, whose periods of leadership sometimes apparently overlapped.
B. Literary Background
1. Authorship of the book of Judges has traditionally been attributed to S __ __ __ __ __. There is much evidence to indicate that the author lived and wrote from the perspective of a united and stable monarchy. Many scholars believe that the book was not written by a single person. There is strong evidence for this, too, partcularly in the section 1:1 - 2:5, which seems to constitute an inconsistent and difficult break in a "natural" connection between Joshua 24 and the record of the death of Joshua in Judges 2:6.
2. Judges 2:6 - 16:31 is a tightly-constructed chronology of the six epochs, each one marked by the phrase, "the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord." Nearly all scholars accept the possibility of Samuel's authorship for this section.
3. Judges 17:1 - 21:25 form a grim appendix to the book. The events recorded in this section are not chronological, but have a close connection to the rest of the book. They depict the depth of the awful corruption of Israel's moral fiber during this period of her history, wickedness which penetrated deep into the nation, extending even to the priestly tribe of Levi. Contained in this final section is also the record of the horrible civil war which nearly obliterated the entire tribe of B __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
4. The purpose of the book of Judges is to show that the s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ condition of Israel -- and of all people -- determined its e __ __ __ __ __ __, p __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __, and m __ __ __ __ __ __ __ condition. As in the rest of Scripture, o __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ to God is rewarded with much b __ __ __ __ __ __ __; disobedience brings about chaos, failure, and destruction.
a. "The book of Judges shows that Israel failed to realize her divinely intended goal without a king. Israel was unable to govern herself according to the Mosaic law and thereby provided that she needed a king." - Herbert Wolf: "Judges," in Volume 3 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary
b. "The Old Testament period is not a plane. It is a pathway, often tortuous, sometimes descending rather than ascending. But it is not aimless, and with the New Testament it forms one great and complex movement. The ages of spiritual and moral degeneracy are delineated accurately. 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 witness to the fact of man's frailty and to his need not of a merely temporal delieverer, but of an eternal Saviour who can effect a perfect redemption." - Cundall, Arthur and Morris, Leon: Judges and Ruth
5. The literary form of the book of Judges is that of e __ __ __ literature, but with a distinctly theocratic world view. The judges are, like the "heroes" of other epic narratives, deeply flawed: strong and weak, principled and compromising, reverent and profane. They sometimes reflect a deep devotion to God, but often times sinned flagrantly before Him. The motives and
behaviour of some of the judges -- particularly J __ __ __ __ __ __ __ and S __ __ __ __ __ , are open to serious question. How could God use such men? Beside the simple facts that an omnicient and omnipotent God can work in any way He chooses and that His working through such flawed vessels as Samson in no way constitutes His approval of his lifestyle, we will see in our study of the book of Judges affirmation of the character of God:
a. God is r __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
The misery which overtook Israel was not the result of the failure of God, but the inevitable result of their forsaking a holy God, whose vision and purity had been for generations set before them. Their sin before Him was an affront to His righteousness and as such was visited by stern and painful judgement.
b. God is s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
"Throughout Israel's long and chequered history the Hebrew historians, prophets and poets retained a profound consciousness of the Lord's sovereignty. It may well be necessary to remind the people of God in our own troubled generation that this sovereignty remains unimpaired. He is still on the throne." - Cundall & Morris: Op. cit.
c. God is g __ __ __ __ __ __ __ and l __ __ __ - s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
The record contained in Judges is consistent with that of the entire canon of Scripture.
Psalm 86:15 [ NKJV ]
But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
2 Peter 3:9, 14-15a [ NKJV ]
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation....
6. It must also be said that our study of this book will perplex us with its apparent approval of cruelty and killing. The details of some of the stories are gross and repulsive, leaving nothing to the imagination. "Few books portray so complete a picture of human depravity as does Judges" (Wolf). We need to keep in mind the following:
a. the concept of herem, the thing consecrated by God for d __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __;
b. the fact that terrible sin can be committed even by one who sincerely -- but mistakenly --believes that he / she is pleasing God;
c. that God's sovereign will is done even through inconsistent and wicked people;
"Now, as we wonder how God could use some of those leaders to deliver Israel, we can also wonder how and why He would continue putting up with the people of Israel with all of their rebellion and faithlessness. But even as we ponder such questions, the truth begins to seep through; we see that our sin; our lack of loyalty, and our faithlessness are also revolting." Robert L. Cate: Discovering Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel
D. Conclusion
1. You might recall from last year's study of the book of Joshua that, after the initial conquests of Jericho and Ai, Joshua assembled the entire nation at the altar he had built on Mount Ebal and read to them the complete Mosaic law, including all the "blessings and curses" God had attached to obedience and disobedience of that law ( See Joshua 8:30-35 ).
2. He probably read what we know as the book of Deuteronomy. Chapter 6 of that book outlines the responsibilities of those who serve the Lord. They are completely applicable to modern-day Christians.
a. L __ __ __ and o __ __ __ Jehovah as the only true God (v.1-5).
b. T __ __ __ __ your children God's laws (v.6-9).
c. Be t __ __ __ __ __ __ __ for God's blessings (v.10-15).
d. S __ __ __ __ __ __ __ yourself from the evil influence of the world around you (v.16-25).
3. There are many Christians who know God personally and have a genuine faith relationship with Jesus Christ, but who obey God only selectively and treat Christ's commands as optional and/or situational. In addition, there are many Christians who have settled into an "agreement" with the world, compromising their faith with the material gods of our age in a vain and dangerous attempt to "serve two masters." It is most unlikely that any of us who are believers, on the day we received Christ by faith, earnestly promised Him that we would fully accept His gift of salvation but only conditionally accept His Lordship in our lives. Nearly all of us, at one time or another, has promised God that we would, indeed, change in order that His will might be done in our lives. Like Israel at the time of the Judges, we have much unfinished business with God, yet live as though we have satisfied all the conditions of our relationship with Him.
Such behaviour "f __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __" the grace of God in that it will bear terrible consequences attached to those promises of God attached to disobedience ("curses"). Do you stand on such a precarious precipice? Our study of the book of Judges will reveal the seriousness of the stubborn sin we might choose to characterize as "weaknesses" or mere "lapses" in our otherwise "solid" walk. The result for Israel was moral decay, the loss of God's fellowship and protection, and slavery to the gods of the world.
a. "From a human standpoint, this book points us to the best and worst of human choices, actions, and commitments. From the standpoint of God, we discover {anew} His love, His mercy, His righteousness, and His power. In this book we can hear God calling us to love, devotion and faithfulness. We can also hear Him warning us of the consequences of choosing to follow our own ways instead of His."
- Robert L. Cate: Op. cit.
b. Judges 2:1-4 [ NIV ]
The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed Me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
c. Ephesians 4:17-24 [ TLB ]
Let me say this, then, speaking for the Lord: Live no longer as the unsaved do, for they are blinded and confused. Their closed hearts are full of darkness; they are far away from the live of God because they have shut their minds against Him, and they cannot understand His ways. They don't care anymore about right and wrong and have given themselves over to impure ways. They stop at nothing, being driven by their evil minds and reckless lusts.
But that isn't the way Christ taught you! If you have really heard His voice and learned from Him the truths concerning Himself, then throw off your old evil nature -- the old you that was a partner in your evil ways -- rotten through and through, full of lust and shame.
`Now your attitudes and thoughts must be all constantly changing for the better. Yes, you must be a new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourself with this new nature.
D I S C U S S I O N G U I D E_________
1. A Christian world view insists that history is "His Story." Explain what you think this term means.
2. Read Judges 2:11-15. Note the images of God "handing His people over" to raiders, "selling them" to their enemies, and actually fighting against them [ NIV ] to defeat them!
a. How does one justify God's actions as described in these verses?
b. Describe a situation in the life of a professing Christian where God might intervene in such ways.
3. Throughout their history the faith of the Israelites was challenged by their pagan neighbors. Read Judges 2:20 - 3:6.
a. What was God's reason for "abandoning" His people to their neighbors?
b. What is difficult about living among people who don't share your convictions or practices?
4. We will see in the book of Judges that, whenever things were going well, Israel fell into idolatry. What does this tell us about the notion, "If God will only bless me, then I'll serve Him"?
5. Read Ephesians 4:11-16.
a. List the "spiritual leaders" God has provided for His church. (not listed specifically in this passage)
b. What is His intended purpose as a result of the faithful ministry of these leaders?
c. Think of spiritual leaders in your life -- past as well as present -- whose gifted ministries have benefitted you. In what ways were / are you dependent on them? Is this good or bad?
6. What is different in the way the Holy Spirit empowered men during the time of the judges and the way He empowers Christians today? Cite Scripture in support of your answer.
