Keeping the faith in a hostile world—Judges chapters 1-2 Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts (Scripture Reading: 2:6-19)
The slogan of the Outback Steak House is “No Rules—Just Right”…but I suspect that if you showed up and didn’t wait for the hostess, took a table ahead of people waiting, ordered something not on the menu, then walked out without paying your bill, the manager would think differently!
Our society has strong feelings against judgmental attitudes—people don’t like being told what they’re doing is wrong. Yet God has spoken, His rules are clear (He didn’t give us the “Ten Suggestions”), and so it’s important we know both the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience in life. We see these consequences unfold in the Book of Judges, which has been called “one of the saddest books in the Bible.”
The Judges of the OT arose during a period of internal anarchy and external conflict, covering the time between the death of Joshua and the anointing of King Saul. Ch 2 states, “The Lord raised up judges who saved Israel out of the hands of raiders. Yet they would not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them” (16-17). It was a disastrous time in Hebrew history. God’s people were led to Canaan to conquer the land, but instead they became infected with the idolatry of Canaan; a major theme of this book is the “Canaanization of Israel”. They were to make no treaties with the inhabitants, and no intermarriage. Nonetheless, they were content to settle among the Canaanites, and most could not be distinguished from their neighbors. They became a permissive society, drawing their standards from those around them. Their obedience was incomplete; they mutilated a captured king (1:6, they copied pagan practice though they were told to kill him), and pressed the Canaanites into forced labor (1:28), instead of driving them out completely (note: the term Canaanites refers to all the inhabitants of the land west of the Jordan River).
This book displays a clash of values. Paul urges us to prevent the world from fitting us into its mold (Rom 12:1-2); we have to guard against becoming secular in our thinking, which can result in compromising our behavior. Sometimes we are content to be “Canaanized”; we grow far too comfortable living as the world dictates. The President of Johns Hopkins University warnss, “Failure to rally around a set of values means that we are turning out highly-educated, highly-skilled barbarians.” We answer to a higher authority; God has called us to higher standards. Israel’s incomplete obedience led to compromise with idolatry, inter-marriage, and eventually to everyone doing “as they saw fit” (17:6, 21:25)…”No rules”.
We can slip into a sense of false security when we read about Israel’s idolatry—after all, we’re not bowing down to idols! We forget that the old gods are still with us; they’ve simply updated their appearance, accommodating the times. They still claim to provide meaning to life and they still promise to provide for our personal desires. They still demand wholehearted commitment from their worshippers. Today’s most popular idols are materialism, comfort, power, and sensual immorality. The modern idols are no less demonic than the ancient ones. We need to be free from all idols, ancient and modern, and Christ offers such freedom!
The outcome of Israel’s compromise was the shocking reality that their real enemy became God Himself. He ensured that when they went out to battle, the outcome was defeat. However, in His grace, God raised up leaders to bring Israel back in line.
The Judges were deliverers, charged with restoring the peace. They were spiritual as well as political leaders. Twelve judges are listed, though it’s possible there may have been more (Eli & Samuel perhaps), and we should note that their judgeships overlapped. Some are given a lot of detail, while others are simply mentioned; a selective (not all-inclusive) presentation. We see in this book how everything rises and falls on leadership. We also discover that God uses fallible, imperfect people to accomplish His work--we’re shown the strengths and weaknesses of the Judges. They were unlikely leaders, proving the grace and power of God.
Throughout the time of the Judges, we see Israel going through cycles covering 6 stages:
1. Rest—enjoying the blessings of the land of promise.
2. Rebellion—the people divorcing themselves from God, following after idolatry and becoming captive to sin.
3. Retribution—God withdrawing His protection, delivering them into the hands of enemy oppressors.
4. Repentance—Israel crying to God for help, wanting to turn from their self-destructive, sinful practices.
5. Restoration—God raising judges to deliver His people from oppression.
6.Revival—Israel is led back to a life of fellowship with Him.
Then the cycle is repeated. As we study Old Testament history, it’d be smart to ask ourselves: Why do we disobey God’s word, even though we understand the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience?
The period of the Judges was a time of war. The Jewish nation was charged with driving out the Canaanites. I’ve wondered why God would give His people an occupied promised land? You’d think this “land of milk and honey” would be vacant, open to development—but instead of simply arriving and settling down, the Jews have to conquer Canaan. After the hardships of the wilderness they are forced to deal with internal and external conflict. Possibly God’s reason was to cause His people to trust in His power to grant them victory as they take possession of the land.
This brings up an issue we’ve had to struggle with, the sober reality of war. We find it uncomfortable reading how God directed Israel to invade Canaan. We have to remind ourselves that the inhabitants were depraved, pagan idolaters, under the wrath of God. They were not innocent people. The conquest was an act of divine justice. In our age, war may at times also be regarded as morally acceptable. Before considering war, all other options are considered, and then we appraise our motives—i.e. why are we engaging in war? Is our cause just? Is right on our side? (As an Army Chaplain I had to struggle with the ethics of war, and studied what is called “Just-War Theory”).
The conquest of Canaan was a declared war with legitimate authority and a reasonable hope for success. Killing people is not the objective of a just war, only the unavoidable consequence. There are moral differences between killing in combat, and committing cold-blooded murder. Murder is personal, unauthorized, and motivated by hatred and revenge. The goal of a just-war is to subdue an enemy’s will to fight and achieve objectives that cannot be reached through normal diplomacy. Throughout Scripture God is called the “Lord of hosts”. The word “hosts” refer to armies. David praised God for training his hands for battle (Ps 144).
Does God’s directive to ancient Israel apply to today? Should the Jews forcibly drive out the Arabs and oppose any creation of a Palestinian state? Both the Arabs and Jews claim the same land as their own. Both are children of Abraham. My view is that they both need to learn to live together, yet maintain separate identities. Abraham’s failure to trust Jehovah caused this division (Sarah & Isaac/Hagar & Ishmael), and it is something Israel has to live with. They must protect their inheritance but strive for peace.
In the Book of Judges we see a chosen nation risking assimilation by a pagan culture. God warns Israel that the Canaanites will be “thorns in their sides, and their gods a snare to them” (2:3). We see the Cancer of evil influence…and how the next generation forsook righteousness (2:10). Parents are to bring up their children properly, and children are expected to respond wisely to parental training—this second generation was held responsible for their own spiritual failings. We’re told they didn’t “know” God; a better rendering is that they did not regard or acknowledge God as Lord. The challenge of this book for us is maintaining commitment to God in a hostile, pagan environment.
In our pluralistic society it’s uncomfortable to stand out, or to appear intolerant. Yet God has called us to be distinct, to show by what we say and do that we belong to Christ. We are not to dilute the Gospel. We proclaim Jesus as the only Savior and Lord, which sets us apart. The word “saint” literally means one set apart—we are compelled to be different from our unbelieving world, living our distinctive Biblical values and priorities and convictions—even if that means we don’t quite fit in. We’re “in” the world, but not “of” the world. It’s been said, “Aim at Heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you will get neither.”
We have several elementary school teachers in our congregation—they know that if they leave the classroom for awhile, all sorts of mischief can occur. They are like the judges of Israel, who came to instruct and restrain God’s children.
As we study this book, we’ll encounter familiar heroes such as Gideon, Deborah, and Samson, along with some lesser-known individuals. A theme throughout the Book of Judges is that the God Who rightly casts us to the ground should stoop to lift us up. No book of the Bible so clearly reveals our human frailty, but throughout we see unmistakable signs of God’s patience and compassion.
