The Deteriorated Condition of the Period of the Judges (Judges 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1)

Wayne Galloway
07/11/13 - N/A

Series: Studies in the Book of Judges

Introduction:

1.  When I was a child and studied about the judges they were often presented as great heroes of Israel, men who did great things—Gideon defeated the Midianites with 300 men; Samson brought down the house with the great strength given him by God.  Indeed some of them are presented in Heb. 11 as exemplifying enduring faith. 2.  While they may have been heroes as far as their military exploits were concerned they were not moral heroes by any stretch of the imagination. 3.  As a matter of fact, it appears that they reflect the severity of the general moral decay characteristic of Israel during the period between Joshua and the kings. 4.  “But,” you object, “They were used by God.”  Yes they were.  But often God uses immoral men to accomplish his purposes.  Ex.  Pharaoh.  The Assyrians.  The Babylonians.  Cyrus.  Let a man be careful not to assume that because God is using him that this means that God approves of his immoral behavior.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 5.  In this lesson we will survey some of the judges, observing their behavior, suggesting that it reflects the moral decay of the nation of Israel that happened in conjunction with the infiltration of idolatry into Israelite thought.

Discussion:

(Some have suggested that the order in which the Judges are presented reflects a going from bad to worse, that this is part of the literary structure of the text.  As you study the book see if you see such a progression.) I.  On the basis of our previous studies we have observed that you become like what you worship.

A.  If you worship a golden calf that can neither see nor hear, then you become blind and deaf, and cannot see nor hear the things that God is trying to communicate.  (Consider G. K. Beale’s We Become What We Worship A Biblical Theology of Idolatry.)

B.  As you study through the book of Judges in the coming weeks pay particular attention to the influence of idolatry on the Israelites.

C.  There is much evidence in the book itself of the gods they worshiped.

1.  10:6—Baals, Ashtaroth, gods of Aram, gods of Sidon, gods of Moab, gods of Ammon, gods of the Philistines.  While it is not within the scope of this lesson to examine all of these gods perhaps a future lesson can do this.  I am sure that the study of those worship systems can give us great insight into the practices of Israel during this period.

2.  3:6 says, “They served their gods.”   3:7 identifies Baals and the Asheroth.

3.  9:4-5 identifies Baal-berith.

4.  11:24 identfies Chemosh, god of the Amorites.

5.  21:25 says, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  That’s the nature of man-made religions.  Great care needs to be given that we not go in that direction (Col. 2:20-23).  Note in the Colossians text the significance of having died with Christ and having been raised with Him and how resurrection is out of harmony with “self-made religion” (Col. 2:20-3:1ff).

II.  Not all of the major characters in the book of Judges are judges.  Abimelech attempted to establish himself as a king and Micah, toward the end of the book, is a man who established his own religion.  The book closes with the rape and murder of the Levite’s concubine that lead to a civil war between the men of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin.

A.  There is certainly evidence here of things waxing worse and worse in Israel.  At least things wax worse and worse in the way the writer of Judges records his accounts.

B.  Let us survey the characters now (as time permits) and see the dark side of these heroes.

1.  Othniel—not much known about him.  He is the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

2.  Ehud—was an assassin (3:15-23).

3.  Shamgar—struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.

4.  Deborah and Barak (4:4ff).

a.  The fact that a woman had to serve as a military leader seems to reflect negatively on the men of Israel (4:9).

b.  Jael’s killing Sisera may be designed to reflect negatively on the men of Israel (4:17ff).

5.  Gideon.

a.  Question the Lord’s presence among Israel (6:13).

b.  Hesitant in faith (6:11ff).

c.  Fearful (6:27).

d.  Made a golden ephod and Israel worshiped it (8:27).

6.  Abimelech.

a.  Son of Jerubbaal, i.e., Gideon.

b.  Killed his 70 brothers in order to set himself up as king.

c.  Did so with the help of worthless and reckless men hired with money from the temple of Baal-berith (9:4-5).

d.  9:53-57—his end.

7. Tola.

8.  And Jair (10:1-5).

9.  Jephthah (11:1ff).

a.  Son of a harlot, exiled from his family.

b.  Allied himself with “worthless fellows” (a gang).

c.  Made head and chief over the Gileadites.

d.  Known for his vow (29ff).

e.  Fought against Ephraim of Israel in a civil conflict and killed 42,000.

10.  Ibzan (11:8-10) – known for giving his children to marriages outside the family.

11.  Elon.

12.  Abdon.

13.  Samson (14:1ff-16-31).

a.  Married a woman of Timnah, a Philistine (cf. Ibzan in12:8).

b.  Wife given to his best man.

c.  Went in to a harlot in Gaza.

d.  Loved a women in Sorek—Delilah, who extracted his secret relative to his strength.

14.  Micah and his mother were idol worshipers (17:1-6).

a.  Hired a Levite as his priest (17:7ff).

b.  Set up his own religion.

c.  Danites took his idols and his priest (18:14ff).  Set up their own religion.

15.  The final account in Judges is that of the Levite whose concubine was raped and murdered (19:1ff).

a.  He cut her body up and sent it throughout Israel as a call to come and fight against those who committed this act of treachery (29-30).

b.  “They have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel” (20:6).

c.   Representatives from the tribes of Israel called for the culprits (the worthless fellows of Gibeah) that we may put them to death (20:12-13).

d.  But the Benjaminites would not give them up.  A civil war ensued.

1)  Israel lost 40,000 men in battle with Benjamin.

2)  45,000 men of Benjamin died.

3)  Israel would not give their daughters to Benjamin in marriage.

4)  We will consider the rest of that story in a later lesson.

Conclusion:

1.  Conditions in the nation of Israel were deplorable. 2.  The writer of Judges would warn us with their history. 3.  Do not forsake the Lord.    Do not serve idols.  Do not create your own religion.  Do not allow the gods of the nations to become your gods.  Do not allow the influence of false worshipers to control you. 4.  Do not allow yourself to be indifferent to the deterioration of the society in which you live.