JUSTICE IN JUDGES
INTRODUCTION
1. The darkest period in Israel’s history is perhaps the one of the Judges.
A. This time is marked by repeated departures from the Lord and repeated judgments by the Lord.
B. This is the time of Israel’s history that is marked by anarchy and chaos.
C. A third generation has risen that “knew not the Lord”. (2:10,11)
D. A time when God raised up Judges (dictators) to help steer the course and solve the problems of the nation. When the judge was alive and leading it, the nation would follow God. As soon as the judge died, the nation would go away from God again. (2:19)
E. To understand this book it is first necessary to understand what has been called the cycle of the book. This cycle, or repeated set of events, occurs seven times in the book, and the basic pattern is outlined in 2:11-19. The cycle is:
The people did evil.
God set up a judge. CYCLE They forsook God.
REPEATED
SEVEN
They repented. TIMES God delivered
them to enemies.
They were distressed.
2. Israel’s prevailing sin:
A. In making league with the inhabitants of Canaan whom they were commanded to destroy. (Judges 2:2; Deut. 7:1,2; 7:24; cf. Judges 1:21-33;3:5 ,6)
B. In becoming involved in the wicked practices of the Canaanites which were forbidden by the law. (Lev. 18:3, 24-30)
C. In becoming involved in their idolatry. (Ex. 23:23,24; Deut. 7:5) (Contrast Judges 2:11; 3:7; 8:33,34; 8:24-27)
COVERAGE - about 450 years from the death of Joshua to the death of Samson - Acts 13:20
CIRCUMSTANCES
1. To preserve a written record of Israel’s checkered history during this period. (2:16-19)
2. To demonstrate the wickedness of man and the chaos he introduces, when every man does that which is right in his own eyes. (17:6; 21:25)
AUTHOR - probably Samuel the Prophet, the last judge in Israel, during his partial retirement from leadership of the people when Saul became king. Jewish tradition favors Samuel’s authorship.
KEY STATEMENT - “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (17:6; 21:25)
MESSAGES OF THE BOOK
1. It is a revelation of the perpetual proneness of the human heart to wander away from God.
2. It shows the awful possibility for spiritual declension after great spiritual blessing.
3. It is a book of deliverance: while there are seven apostasies and seven periods of servitude, there are also seven cries to God and seven deliverances.
4. Failure through compromise. (cf. II Cor. 6:14-18)
5. “No one was capable of such leadership as Joshua had exercised. The fourfold cycle so common in Israel’s history (REBELLION, RETRIBUTION, REPENTANCE, RESTORATION) occurs repeatedly. Joshua is a book of victory; Judges is a book of defeat. Joshua, the leader, had died but God remained. There was no necessity for defeat.”
--Scofield Bible; Introduction to Judges
SPIRITUAL LESSONS
1. The key phrase of the book also gives us the key to the nature of the human heart.
2. Observe that every man did that which was right in his own eyes, not that which was wrong.
3. Man’s idea of what is right and what is wrong is often exactly opposite to God’s. (Isa. 55:8,9)
4. This becomes evident when we realize that one of the constantly recurring phrases is “and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord”. (2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1)
5. God will punish if we sin. (cf. 2:14)
6. He is ever ready to pardon and will use us though we are weak instruments. (I John 1:9)
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
I. CONQUEST AND WARFARE (1:1-2:5) The Cause for Declension
A. Incomplete victory (1)
1. Judah came closer to keeping God’s commands in conquest. (1:1-20)
2. The other tribes completely failed in conquest. (1:21-36)
B. Incomplete affection (2)
1. The Lord’s rebuke (2:1-5)
2. The new generation (2:10-15)
II. COMPROMISE AND WOE (2:10-16:13) The Path of Declension
A. First oppression (3:7-11)
1. Sin - Idolatry
2. Punishment - 8 years (Mesopotamia)
3. Deliverer - Othniel
B. Second oppression (3:12-31)
1. Sin - immorality and idolatry
2. Punishment - 18 years (Moabites, Ammonites, Amalekites)
3. Deliverers - Ehud & Shamgar
C. Third oppression (4-5)
1. Sin - departed from God
2. Punishment - 20 years (Canaanites)
3. Deliverers - Deborah & Barak
D. Fourth oppression (6-8:32)
1. Sin - departed from God
2. Punishment - 7 years (Midianites)
3. Deliverer - Gideon
.E. Fifth oppression (8:33-10:5)
1. Sin - departed from God
2. Punishment - civil war
3. Deliverers - Tola & Jair
F. Sixth oppression (10:6-12:15)
1. Sin - idolatry increased
2. Punishment - 18 years (Ammonites)
3. Deliverers - Jepthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon
G. Seventh oppression (13-16)
1. Sin - departed from God
2. Punishment - 40 years (Philistines)
3. Deliverer - Samson
III. CORRUPTION AND WAYWARDNESS (17-21) The Results of Declension
A. Religious perversion (17-18)
1. The false religion of Micah (17)
2. The false religion of Micah becomes that of the tribe of Dan. (18)
B. National pollution (19-21)
1. In the moral realm (19)
2. In the political realm (20-21)