Judges Essay

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Interpretive Essay The Book of Judges OBST 515_B01 Old Testament Orientation I Anne Rector September 17, 2023

The purpose of the book of Judges is to explore God's position during the years between Joshua and David. The Lord had provided land for the Israelites and they had solidified their covenant of faithfulness to Him at Shechem (Josh. 24). What followed was a demonstration of unfaithfulness and failure, eventually brought to an end by God himself with the installation of a king. The message of the book is that the problem of Israel not receiving God's blessings was not the fault of God, but their systematic continuance of being disobedient. 1 The period of the judges was characterized by tribal acts of depravity, illustrated by the two sets of recurring refrains in this book. Each cycle in chapters 3-16 is introduced by the observation that "the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord" (2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1, 10:6; 13:1), indicating their tendency toward apostasy. The second refrain is an inclusio, appearing at the beginning and end of chapters 17-21 (17:6; 21:25): "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did as he saw fit." The first half of the phrase is used in two other places as well (18:1, 19:1), sustaining the narrative. This last refrain could be taken as a sponsorship for a monarchy, what it actually proves is that tribal leadership, even with a slate of non-judicial judges, was ineffective in maintaining the Israelites covenant with God. 2 The first section of Judges (2: 1-5) describes the failure of Israel in carrying out the Lord's directions to rid the land of the Canaanites. The result was that the land was neither possessed nor controlled by them, due to their willful disobedience. Failure to purge led in turn to the apostasy of Israel that characterizes their record in the period of judges. Judges chapter 1 allows for no possibility to blame the Lord; the Lord's refusal to drive out the 1 Mark Rooker, The Word and the World (Grand Rapids: B & H Academic, 2010), 401. 2 Leon Morris, Judges and Ruth (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 93.

inhabitants of Canaan was a direct result of the people's rebellion, and is reflected in the message from "the angel of the Lord" at the end of the section. The next part (2:6 – 3:6) introduces the cycles that constitute the theological framework of the period. Formulas are used within this section to demonstrate these cycles. First, the people did evil in the eyes of the Lord—usually described in broad terms as an umbrella for the practice of worshipping Canaanite deities. 3 Usually, the punishment was the Lord sending foreign oppressors. Then, the people would eventually cry out to the Lord to deliver them. However, there is no indication that the people offered to repent. Throughout these cycles, they would cry for help, but with the exception of Chapter 10: 10-16, nothing is recorded of their voluntarily reforming or repenting. Nevertheless, God always raised up a deliverer in his mercy and compassion. The deliverer would institute release from the foreign aggressor, at least during the deliverer's lifetime, yet, once he died, the repeat of rebellion and self-will would begin again. This recurrence of apostasy begins in Chapter 2, and is followed by six full repetitions in Chapters 3-16. Chapters 17-21 show that the Israelites failed to establish a just and righteous social order. They had no consistency of morality and cultural ethics. Judges is a book of messiness and depression. The institution of monarchy was a viable option to help the people do what was right in the sight of the Lord, and by doing so, avert further oppression. 4 3 John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 78- 79. 4 Eugene Merrill, An Historical Survey of the Old Testament (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1998), 185.

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Bibliography Merrill, Eugene. An Historical Survey of the Old Testament . Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1998. Morris, Leon. Judges and Ruth. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001. Rooker, Mark. The Word and the World . Grand Rapids: B & H Academic, 2010. Walton, John . Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament . Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.

Judges Essay

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