Road to Revelation: Judges

Judges starts strong with the tribe of Judah capturing land all over the place but before chapter 1 is over the tribes of Israel have failed to complete the command of the Lord to drive out the people in the land and not to mix with them.  We see in the following chapters the consequences of those actions; idolatry creeps in… (Key Verse: ch 2:1-3)

Joshua’s death is noted in ch.2 but sadly less than 2 generations later the people of Israel no longer know the Lord and serve the Baals etc.  As a consequence God allows the other nations in the land to plunder them and finally they cry out to the Lord in distress so God sends them judges—great men to lead them and defeat their enemies.  And like the future kings of Israel, the Judges are a mixed bunch; some are faithful to the Lord, many are not...

Honour Roll:
Deborah, a prophetess (ch 4-5)is a high point in Judges, she was faithful to the Lord and the only judge who acted like the judges Moses’ appointed to help him.  Her song of praise to the Lord for victory is recorded in ch. 5.

Gideon struggled with his faith (due to ignorance) and seemed to come out on top but inadvertently led the people into idolatry at the end of his life (ch.8) DOH!  Abimelech his son is abysmal (see what I did there)

Jephthah: By the time of Jephthah knowledge of the character of God and his law was at an all time low.  (ch 11) Jephthah  sacrificed his daughter to the Lord [which is expressly forbidden in the law] and he didn’t know that vows made to the Lord can be taken back (Lev. 27).

Samson: He was Israel’s greatest war hero, not their greatest spiritual leader, but his story ends with some kind of faith on his part for he is name dropped in Hebrews 11.

After Samson things deteriorated rapidly into wickedness of the like not seen since Sodom (ch 19), idolatry and eventually civil war.  The people who were sent to drive out the foreigners and their customs so detested by the Lord have become worse than them.

Takeaway: The key verse which sums up the book of Judges is the last verse in the book “in those days there was no king in Israel.  Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25) and is repeated throughout.  The writer of Judges comments in this verse that the people could not govern themselves, even if they had the instructions/laws of how to do it.  They needed a leader to look to for leadership and guidance.  They had God and should have looked to Him but, like us, they were too weak in their faith to do that.

They needed a saviour king!  The writer of Judges is referring to the kings to come, that Israel would be more faithful with a king to lead them but he is also prophesying that Israel needs an ultimate king to change their hearts...

And many generations after Samson and the other judges He came!  Jesus Christ! (Heb 1).  The promised king from the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7).  A unique king who was also a prophet (one who brings the word of the Lord to the people) who leads his people not by the sword but humbles himself and serves them.  Who brings them good news of his kingdom which transcends all earthly kingdoms and goes on forever (Luke 6:20-26, 7:20-28) (Revelation 22).