Trouble in the Land (Judges 1:1–2:10)

What should be our attitude when we read books of the Old Testament? The New Testament gives us guidelines for how to do so. Paul reminded Timothy that ‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:16). When Paul referred to the Scriptures in that verse he had the Old Testament in mind. So using the Old Testament properly will result in balanced Christian living.

Another New Testament verse to bear in mind is what Luke says about the instruction given by Jesus on the day of his resurrection to the two disciples he spoke to on the road to Emmaus: ‘And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself’ (Luke 24:27). That verse suggests that there is something about Jesus is each of the Old Testament writings, which means that we should be on the lookout for signs of his presence in the Book of Judges.

The Book of Judges is a set of accounts of various leaders that guided Israel after it had reached the Promised Land. As far as Israel was concerned, we are not to imagine an organised country – a long time would pass before that could be said about them. But they were a people in progress, and sometimes they took two steps forward and then a step back as they sought to take control of the Promised Land.

This situation reminds us of a basic principle of the kingdom of God, which is that its growth may be slow and messy at time – just think of how Samson led the people and the kind of activities in which he engaged. If we are looking for a perfect display of the kingdom we are not reading the Bible correctly. After all, most of the letters of Paul were written to churches in which growth was slow and some things were messy.

Chapter 1 sets the scene as it were, and we can see that things seemed to have a bright beginning. Verse 1 tells us that there was a united spirit of discovering God’s will, probably through the high priest and the Urim and Thummim, and verses 2-18 describe ongoing success in battle, particularly in the southern section of the land. But the rest of the chapter describes mixed fortunes for Israel in the northern section of the country, with some of the tribes more successful than others.

The book opens with a mention of an important landmark – the death of the faithful leader Joshua. Obviously this was an important milestone because things had gone very well under the leadership of Joshua: ‘And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel’ (2:7). But their removal from this life brought about almost instant departure from dedication to God.

This crisis brings to mind three factors at least. First, the kingdom is as strong as its leaders. When Joshua and his fellow leaders were there, things were marked by progress. Now that they were gone, declension accelerated. So we can say that weak leadership is a sign of trouble ahead. Second, the subjects of the kingdom should respect the leaders, and this respect was missing from the generation that followed Joshua. Because it was missing, the people quickly departed from God. Third, it is easy to forget the great things that the Lord has done in the past for his people. Those aspects help us appreciate why the people of Israel were now not finding rest in the Promised Land.

The contents of a book tell us why the author wrote it. When we read it we can see clearly whether the author is criticising or commending his subject. Now we don’t know who the author of Judges was, but we get a clue to his purpose in verse 21: ‘But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.’ It was David who removed the Jebusites from Jerusalem several hundred years after the death of Joshua. The author of Judges wrote his book at some stage between the death of Joshua and the triumph of David.

Six challenging lessons

It is clear from this first chapter that unity is important when God’s people participate in the Lord’s battles. One of the differences between the campaign in the southern section and the campaign in the northern section is that in the former two tribes fought together (Judah and Simeon) whereas in the latter each tribe fought by itself. It is the case that Simeon’s territory was enclosed within that of Judah. Nevertheless they fought alongside one another.

Moreover, the various campaigns described in his chapter show the longterm consequences of partial obedience, which of course is the same as partial disobedience. The failure to drive out all the inhabitants in obedience to God’s commandments resulted in centuries of religious compromise among the Israelites and was one of the reasons why God had to send deliverers and judges to his people.

Third, the account reminds us that God knows how to deal with wicked and tyrannical rulers. We see this reality clearly in what happened to Adoni-bezek, the king whose defeat is described in verses 5-7. He had been cruel to others and now found himself experiencing justice. We need not worry that any of the wicked rulers of today will not face divine judgement sooner or later. That is one lesson that history confirms again and again.

A fourth lesson that is highlighted in this brief survey of these campaigns is that it is possible to live a long and faithful life and this reality is displayed in the life of Caleb. Several decades before, he and Joshua were the two faithful spies out of the group of twelve who were not daunted by the residents of Canaan. And we can see from verse 12 that he still believes that Israel can conquer. His friend Joshua may have gone, but Caleb knew that God was still there and could help his people do great exploits.

Fifth, we see in Caleb’s daughter Achsah someone who wanted blessings from God. In her case, she wanted water for the fields she already possessed and she went to the one who could give it to her, her father. Is she not a picture of how we can go to our heavenly Father and obtain from him freely further blessings to enhance the ones he has already given to us? We can see in her request a picture of the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:11: ‘If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?’

Sixth, we can see in this chapter a powerful contrast between two families. On the one hand, there are the Kenites (v. 16) and on the other hand there is the man who helped the tribe of Joseph take the city of Bethel (vv. 22-26). The Kenites are the descendants of Hobab, the man to whom Moses had said, ‘We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, “I will give it to you.” Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.’ Initially Hobab was reluctant to go, but this verse tells us that he went (Num. 10:29-30). He identified himself with Israel and shared in their blessings. In contrast, the man from Bethel was spared when his city was destroyed, but he chose to ignore that act of divine favour and went away and lived with other pagans. We see in these families the choices that people make that have eternal consequences. Hobab made a choice that took him to heaven, the man from Bethel made a choice that took him and his family to a lost eternity.

A divine visit

We mentioned earlier that Jesus had taught his disciples about himself from the Old Testament. Perhaps one of the passages he mentioned was Judges 2:1-5 because he does appear in this incident. We are told that the ‘angel of the Lord’ appeared and spoke to the Israelites about their sins. Yet we can see that the speaker is not an ordinary angel because he claims in verse 1 to have brought the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land in fulfilment of a commitment he had made to the Israelites. Moreover, in verse 2 he reminds them of their duty to him, particularly with regard to destroying all the pagan worship sites, and charges them with not having done so. And in verse 3 he pronounces a punishment on them because of their sins. So here we have a divine visit to a rebellious people. Who was the angel? ‘The angel of the Lord’ is an Old Testament description of the Son of God before he became human.

The writer says that the visiting Preacher had come from Gilgal. Gilgal was the last place previously in which the angel of the Lord had appeared. On that occasion he had appeared to Joshua as the real Commander of the army of the Lord (Josh. 5:13-15). He has come now to Bochim in a manner similar to how he visited the seven churches of Asia, which was to assess his people. There was not a town or village called Bochim; instead it was a special name given to the location where they were gathered because there the community all wept.

It would seem that the visit occurred during one of the feasts of Israel because it was during them that people from each of the tribes would gather together. Moreover we are told in verse 5 that the visit took place during a time of sacrifice, and that too would fit in with an occasion such as one of the feasts.

The One who comes to them comes as their previous Deliverer (v. 1). When he says that he brought the listeners out of Egypt, he does not mean that they all experienced that deliverance personally. Most of the people who came out of Egypt died in the desert, and several decades had past since they entered the Promised Land. Even if some of the children who had left Egypt had survived into old age, the fact is that most of the listeners had never been in Egypt. So how can they be addressed as if they had been? The answer is that all God’s people share in his blessings. Israel was a unity and subsequent generations were responsible for what they did with blessings that previous generations had received, whether it was the deliverance from Egypt or the entrance into the Land.

The One who comes to them comes as their present Assessor (v. 2). Although they had shared in the blessings they had refused to apply the responsibilities of the covenant. They may have had their reasons. The one that seems to be stressed in Judges 1 is that the Israelites benefitted from making the inhabitants of Canaan into slaves. They allowed the Canaanites to stay, although God had forbidden it. Eventually the time of assessment came.

The One who comes to them comes as their powerful Judge (v. 3). His sentence here is not that they will be thrown out of the Promised Land. Instead he states that he will allow them to reap the bitter consequences of what they had sowed. Because they had compromised his requirements in the sense of allowing the Canaanites to stay in the Land, those Canaanites would be a persistent threat and their gods a persistent temptation. Here we have a divine explanation for the events recorded in the Book of Judges. As we look through it together in coming weeks, we should remember that this is what is happening.

This is a very solemn event. The response of the people was tears. They all participate so it was a corporate response. Yet it was not a response that was able to remove the penalty. Instead they realised that their sins would have a permanent effect on future generations. It is obvious that the future failures described in the Book of Judges was divine judgement sent because of the refusal of the generation after the time of Joshua to do what the Lord had commanded.

Perhaps that is where we are today, experiencing the consequences of previous departures from the Lord by our forefathers. Or maybe we are the ones who are going to cause future generations to know God’s reduced favour. We will discover throughout the Book of Judges that the God who pronounced judgement also provided times of mercy, which is very encouraging.

So there was repentance in response to the message that had been delivered by the Son of God. Yet there was also regret because a line had been crossed which would reverberate throughout the history of Israel. Hopefully there was also resolve to serve the Lord as best as they could whatever times they lived in.