20140222 Saturday, February 22 2014
Judges 02: The Rise Of The Judges

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"The LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them"

There have been a few relatively-brief times in the history of the Israelite nation when they were acceptably faithful and obedient to the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God). One was in the time of Joshua, when the Israelites first entered the Promised Land (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Joshua). Another was in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the people of Judah returned from their Babylonian exile (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Return Of Judah).

Jacob, who the LORD renamed as "Israel" (see Genesis 32: The Origin Of Israel) led the Israelites as a father because they were only a family during Jacob/Israel's lifetime (see Genesis 46: The First Census Of Israel). Four centuries later, Moses was the first to lead the Israelites as a nation (see Exodus 1: I Will There Make Of Thee A Great Nation and Numbers 1: The First Sinai Census). The adult generation that Moses led out of Egypt became liberal rebels soon afterward however (see Exodus 13: Liberation, Not Liberal-ation) - the reason that they were given to wander aimlessly in the Sinai until they all died off (see Deuteronomy 1: Why A Book Of Deuteronomy In The Bible? and Deuteronomy 2: The Israelite Wanderland). Joshua led the righteous next-generation Israelites across the Jordan River, but by the end of Joshua's life, the Israelites were drifting toward apostasy again.

"2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 2:3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

2:4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 2:5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD." (Judges 2:1-4 KJV)

The stark warning and reminder delivered that generation from the mistake that it was about to make. So it was that "the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel."

"2:6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. 2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.

2:8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 2:9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash." (Judges 2:6-9 KJV)

Throughout their history, the Israelites seemed to alternate a generation of strong, righteous people with a generation of self-destructive liberal fools, so after the passing of the generation of Joshua, "the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger." Their moral weakness was also a patriotic weakness whereby "they could not any longer stand before their enemies."

"2:10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 2:11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 2:12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 2:13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 2:14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 2:15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed." (Judges 2:10-15 KJV)

After a time of their self-imposed hard lessons, "the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them." It would be a repeated cycle through the entire two-century era of the Judges.

"2:16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 2:17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. 2:18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 2:19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

2:20 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 2:21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 2:22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 2:23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua." (Judges 2:16-23 KJV)

Fact Finder: Where was the era of the Judges located in the history of Israel? What did "judges" mean?
See Israel In History and Prophecy: The Judges