The books of Judges is exhausting and exhilarating. It’s exhausting because the same thing happens repeatedly. It’s exciting because the Lord does extraordinary things through very ordinary people.
The book’s theme can be found in its final verse: “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jud. 21:25). This is a sad indictment of Israel. The climax of Joshua details Israel’s conquest of Canaan, and their recommitment to God (Josh. 24:1-28). How did things get so bad in Israel? The answer is found in today’s reading. Six times in chapter one we read how particular tribes failed to drive out the remaining inhabitants of Canaan (Jud. 1:21,27,29,30,31,33). Their failure to completely remove the false worship from their territories was considered disobedience (Jud. 2:1-5).
Then to make matters worse, Joshua and his generation died leaving behind an inept generation (Jud. 2:7-10). The new generation abandoned the God of their fathers, and went after the false gods of Canaan (Jud. 2:12). For that purpose the Lord gave them over to various oppressors (Jud. 2:14-15). Furthermore, that generation had never fought a battle before. They had soft hands and jelly spines (Jud. 3:1-2).
“Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them” (Jud. 2:16). Since there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes, the Lord raised up judges. You might be picturing a judge wearing a black robe sitting behind a large desk with a gavel in his hand. Instead, this judge was a deliverer, in the form of a military leader.
Here’s where the story gets exhausting. Israel would backslide and worship false gods. God would send an enemy to oppress Israel. Israel would cry out to God for help. God would raise up a judge. The judge would deliver Israel. The judge would die, and the people would backslide again. Wash and repeat.
What makes the book exciting is God using a crowd of nobodies to do His work. Othniel; Ehud; Deborah; Shamgar; Gideon; Jepthah; and Samson. The apostle Paul would describe these heroes by saying, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Cor. 27-29). And that’s exactly what God does time after time in this exhilarating book.
Though man’s plight, and potential are on display in this book, that is not the main storyline. The overarching story is God’s long-suffering, and love. God desires His people’s complete devotion. And while they fail over and over again, He continues to pursue them. He does this by raising up judges to deliver them. However, God’s greatest display of love was when He gave us a True Deliverer in Jesus Christ.