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1 Liberty University John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Content Essay: Judges Assignment Submitted to Dr. Daniel Warner OBST 515_BO4_202340 Linda Coney September 17, 2023

2 Content Essay Judges Assignment “Judges is a tragic sequel to Joshua. In Joshua, the people were obedient to God in conquering the land. In Judges, they were disobedient, idolatrous, and often defeated. Judges 1:1– 3:6 focus on the closing days of the Book of Joshua. Judges 2:6– 9 gives a review of Joshua’s death (cf. Josh. 24:28– 31). The account describes seven distinct cycles of Israel’s drifting away from the Lord, starting even before Joshua’s death and with a full departure.” 1 (MacArthur 2005) The book of Judges is one of destruction and violence. There were more losses than victories because there was so much disunity among the tribes. The children of Israel rebelled between idolatry and disbelief in God. There was also no leader among them. One of the most violent and bloodiest books in the bible. Recurring Cycles The recurring cycles that appear throughout the whole book of Judges are cycles of repeated corrupt sin, cycles of bondage, repentance, and devotion, then it starts all over again. “The account describes seven distinct cycles of Israel’s drifting away from the Lord, starting even before Joshua’s death and with a full apostacy afterward. Five basic reasons are evident for these cycles of Israel’s moral and spiritual decline: (1) disobedience toward God in failing to drive the 1 MacArthur, John F. 2005. The Macarthur Bible Commentary . Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson.

3 Canaanites out of the land (Judges 1:10, 21, 35); (2) idolatry (2:12); (3) intermarriage with wicked Canaanites (3:5,6); (4) not obeying the judges (2:17); and (5) turning away from God after the death of the judges (2:19).” 2 “This second prologue introduces the theological context of the period of the judges. Here is the account of another full generation that grew up knowing neither the Lord nor His doings. This unfortunate failure of the people over time to educate their own children contributed to many of the moral and spiritual breakdowns of Israel during this era.” 3 (Rydelnik et al. 2014) This is explaining why they behaved in the way they did. They did not acknowledge and did not believe in God, so they did what they wanted to do. There sin grew because they were unwilling to submit to God, but rather submit to Baal. They were surrounded by this ungodly culture, and we tend to adapt to what is around us or what is familiar to us. The answer to the sin problem in Israel is not given all at once. In the progress of revelation, God chose at this time to reveal to Israel that sin is a corrosive problem that cannot be solved without His grace. Even the divinely empowered temporal solutions— the judges themselves— would not be the answer to the underlying sin problem. On the deepest level this is an object lesson about the need for Messiah, the great King.” 4 (Rydelnik et al. 2014) Reminds me of today, how there is so much 2 MacArthur, John F. 2005. The Macarthur Bible Commentary . Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson. Pg.776. 3 Rydelnik, Michael, John Hart, John Jelinek, John M Koessler, Walter Mccord, John Mcmath, William H Marty, et al. 2014. The Moody Bible Commentary . S.I.: Moody Publishers. Pg. 586 4 Ibid. Pg. 586

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4 wickedness in the world, and it seems as though many have lost their fear of the Lord, or they just want to do what they want to do. There are consequences to sin. The grace of God was being given to the children of Israel time and time again. They continued in this pattern repeatedly. Hammond says, “Every Israelite in Judges who dies violently at the hand of another fellow Israelite! No Israelite is said to be put to death by any Midianite or Moabite or Philistine. It is a book about kindred killing kindred. That is a gruesome part of the savagery of the era.” 5 (Hamilton 2008) Prophetic Significance There is a prophetic significance to the recurring cycles in Judges and the concluding statement of Judges 21:25. This passage pinpoints the reason why in each story they were in misery. This book simply tells us that mankind cannot rule by themselves without God. There was no peace, no unity, no leader, much chaos, no order and much violence and bloodshed. You cannot leave God out and expect everything will be fine. Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” 6 ( KJV/AMP Parallel Bible, Large Print. 2018) 5 Hamilton, Victor P. 2008. Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra- Nehemiah, Esther . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic. Pg. 169 6 KJV/AMP Parallel Bible, Large Print. 2018. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. Pg. 522

5 To describe or explain what the Israelites did, in those days that angered God. The Israelites lived in unbelief, and so they worshipped the goddess of fertility, Ashtaroth, they worshipped Baals, because there was more than one and they were involved with cults. They did all sorts of evil at the sight of the Lord and corrupted themselves. They had no leader to give them instructions so there was no order. It was a total disaster. Hamilton mentions, “It is inevitable that if a nation chooses to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh (3:7-16:31) then it will also choose to do what Is right in their own eyes (chs. 17-21) Israel’s sin is not only apostasy and idolatry (3:7-16:31) but arrogance and presumption (chs. 17-21)” 7 (Hamilton 2008) Central Message/Relationship to the rest of the Old Testament “Yet the message conveyed is that the Lord alone is the true Judge of his people (Judges 11:27), and He hands out blessings and punishment.” 8 (Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H Wayne House 1999) The central message tells us that in order to have great followers of God, you must have great leaders of God who will carry out the plans or instructions of God for the people. People will perish without a vision or a godly leader to follow. I think the relationship to the rest of the Old Testament is that it sends out a big statement, that this is what will happen when God is not present in one’s life or in this case with a people. There is a 7 Hamilton, Victor P. 2008. Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra- Nehemiah, Esther . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic. Pg. 165 8 Radmacher, Earl D, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H Wayne House. 1999. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary . Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers. Pg. 309

6 similarity to other books of the Bible when God is with his children and his presence is with them and they follow in obedience, for example Moses and Joshua. How they are blessed and not cursed and victorious in battle. “The book of Judges is a historical narrative that contrasts God’s faithfulness with Israels’ apostasy. Despite the repeated falling away of his people, God provided deliverers, the judges, time and time again. He did not do this unthinkingly or mechanically, nor was he manipulated by Israels’ cries for help (Judges 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:6;10:10) He did not spare Israel from the consequences of its actions, as its constant trouble with foreign oppressors indicate. Rather God delivered Israel from oppression because of his promise to Abraham and his descendants.” 9 (Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H Wayne House 1999) This is very important, because it shows that no matter how much the Israelites, ignored God and did not acknowledge his authority and followed other false gods, He kept his promise to them. He made a covenant with the children of Israel when they were at Mt. Sinai. God is faithful, he is a covenant keeping God. Bibliography 9 Ibid Pg. 303

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7 Hamilton, Victor P. 2008. Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic KJV/AMP Parallel Bible, Large Print. 2018. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. MacArthur, John F. 2005. The Macarthur Bible Commentary . Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson. Radmacher, Earl D, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H Wayne House. 1999. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary . Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers. Rydelnik, Michael, John Hart, John Jelinek, John M Koessler, Walter Mccord, John Mcmath, William H Marty, et al. 2014. The Moody Bible Commentary . S.I.: Moody Publishers.

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