I am perplexed and amused at the same time as I stand back in the wings of political arguments over which candidate will “save the world” and which one will “cause ultimate destruction.”  It seems those with few facts to back their argument speak passionately louder, thinking that volume will produce solidarity.  And sometimes we fall for that unless we search for truth.  I have lived long enough to research and prayerfully vote in countless elections to know that as a nation we might plan, manipulate, and politic for power but God decides the outcome.  God, in his sovereignty will work through the most unlikely candidate to accomplish His will.  Remember how he used Pilot, Herod, and the religious leaders to accomplish His ultimate plan to save us through Jesus Christ, His Son? No matter who a nation chooses as its leader; Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.  God gave His Son that honor. (Philippians 1)

Yes, we may plan; but God decides.  And we are grateful He does!  “May Your Kingdom come; May Your Will be done”.

There will be a bit of a “shock and awe” factor as we read the pages of Judges. Eugene Peterson’s introduction prepares us with what lies ahead for us in our study:

“Sex and violence, rape and massacre, brutality and deceit do not seem to be congenial materials for use in developing a story of salvation. Given the Bible’s subject matter—God and salvation, living well and loving deeply—we quite naturally expect to find in its pages leaders for u s who are good, noble, honorable men and women showing us the way.  So it is always something of a shock to enter the pages of the Book of Judges and find ourselves immersed in nearly unrelieved mayhem.”

“It might not gravel our sensibilities so much if these flawed and reprobate leaders were held up as negative moral examples, with lurid, hellfire descriptions of the punishing consequences of living such bad lives.  But the story is not told quite that way.  There is a kind of matter-of-fact in difference in the tone of the narration, almost as if God is saying, ‘Well, if this is all you’re going to give me to work with, I’ll use these men and women, just as they are, and get on with working out the story of salvation.’ These people are even given a measure of dignity as they find their place in the story; they are most certainly not employed for the sake of vilification.”

“God, it turns out, does not require good people in order to do good work.  He can and does work with us in whatever moral and spiritual condition he finds us.  God, we are learning, does some of his best work using the most unlikely people.”  “If God found a way to significantly include these leaders (“judges”) in what we know is on its way to becoming a glorious conclusion, he can certainly use us along with our sometimes impossible friends, and neighbors!”

“Twice in Judges (17:6 and 21:25) there is the telling refrain: ‘At that time there was no king in Israel. People did whatever they felt like doing.’  But we readers know that there was a king in Israel: GOD was king.  And so, while the lack of an earthly king accounts for the moral and political anarchy, the presence of the sovereign God, however obscurely realized, means that the reality of the kingdom is never in doubt.” –Peterson, Introduction to Judges, The Message Bible

Whew, are we ready to jump in?  May God’s Holy Spirit teach us what will be most helpful to our growing relationship with God through Jesus, His Son.

Judges 1

Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?”

² The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.”

³ The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, “Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.” So the Simeonites went with them.

⁴ When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. ⁵ It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. ⁶ Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

⁷ Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

⁹ After that, Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. ¹⁰ They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. ¹¹ From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

¹² And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” ¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.

¹⁴ One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”

¹⁵ She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

¹⁶ The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.

¹⁷ Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah. ¹⁸ Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron—each city with its territory.

¹⁹ The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron. ²⁰ As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. ²¹ The Benjamites, however, did not drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

²² Now the tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), ²⁴ the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.” ²⁵ So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. ²⁶ He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

²⁷ But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. ²⁸ When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. ²⁹ Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. ³⁰ Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. ³¹ Nor did Asher drive out those living in Akko or Sidon or Ahlab or Akzib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob. ³² The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. ³³ Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. ³⁴ The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. ³⁵ And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. ³⁶ The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We will recall in the writings of Moses; God commanded Israel to destroy every enemy in the promised land. Yet, Israel decided to leave some “harmless” enemies alone. Not only was Israel disobedient, but the “harmless” residents of the land of Israel rose up to become dangerous enemies over time.  The gods of the Canaanites seemed harmless and kind of fun; their lack of values and morals, though not of God, will be tolerated but certainly not engaged in—until they succumbed to them.

Judges chronicles the dark ages of Israel, the death of Israel. The death of the heart.  Over three centuries, they suffer memory lapse concerning the commandments of God and God, as the focus of their worship.  Israel will begin to accept a new moral code that is not of God as “everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 21:25).  This is what happens when God is ignored and passions of self-satisfaction are worshiped.

Could this be a warning for our times?  I’ll let you ponder over that.  But what we know is this: our choices have consequences.  God foresees potential danger in our lives. He gives commands that, if followed, can protect us from dangerous consequences. If we neglect certain commands, we may reap painful consequences later.

Nothing escapes the notice of God.  But above all, God knows all and is always at work to accomplish His salvation work in and through all who will believe and follow Him. God does not rely on the leaders of our known world; God, the Creator of heaven and earth, has already decided the outcome that will be best for all who believe in Him—the hope of eternal life where Jesus is King and His love is forever!  

A new generation rose up after all who worked alongside Joshua’s generation had died.  “They did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2). Instead of exhibiting spiritual fervor, Israel sank into apathy; instead of obeying the Lord, the people moved into apostasy; and instead of the nation enjoying law and order, the land was filled with anarchy. Indeed, for Israel it was the worst of times.

But for God, all would be lost—but all is not lost but found in Jesus!  Stay tuned to see God at work in the least likely for our good and His glory!  It will be a bumpy ride but lessons will be learned as God works His power into fulfilling His story of salvation for all!

Lord,

We, as your followers, can become apathic to all you do for us and in us if we are not careful.  The gods of goods and our passion to desire them can overtake and replace your blessings of growing in your character and in our relationship with you that far exceeds what this world has to offer.  I repent of apathy and complacence.  Keep me aware of Your Holy Presence who guides me to all that is truth.  Make your desires be mine.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

In Jesus Name, Amen