The Very Real Slippery Slope of the Judges
- mww
- Jan 19, 2017
- 14 min read
God’s patience is amazing, but His children can still cross the line.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Joshua 2:11-19
This passage is a summary of Judges. Here’s what we take from it: Anything other than wholehearted devotion to God alone is no devotion at all. Believers who turn from God should expect to experience discipline. And if they turn back to Him in repentance, He will forgive and deliver.
The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. (2:11)
Getting Started: Things to Think About
Your Best “Car-in-a-Ditch” Story.
One way you might start your lesson out is by asking for “funny” car fails (nothing involving serious injury of course!). I enjoy the Allstate “Mayhem” commercials and seeing all the creative ways people can drive their car into a ditch or a pond or a pole or a wall. It usually involves distraction, and then there’s the horrible moment of “I’m going into a ditch!” Making sure that everything turned out okay, ask your storyteller to explain his or her feelings throughout the event and then the aftermath. What did it take to get the car out and fix it? How “painful” was that process? And then ask about the long-term outcome. My experience has been that there are two kinds of responses: those people who get paranoid about what happened and a super-diligent to make sure it never happens again, and those people who really aren’t that bothered by it and let it happen again. Then introduce the theme of Judges: the people of Israel were distracted from God and got themselves into a world of trouble which God bailed them out from. But they didn’t care enough to prevent it from happening again . . .
“Help, I’m in a Rut!”
You could also try “Have you felt like you’re trapped in a rut or endless cycle?” Maybe you feel like work is going nowhere, or your spiritual life is completely stagnant? The danger of the “rut” is the feeling of helplessness—like there’s nothing you can do about it. Sadly, lots of people feel that way (ask your group members how they feel about their physical health or spiritual health, then ask what they’re doing to improve it). That’s where the people of Israel were in the book of Judges: woe is us, we’re doomed to fail, we’re destined for judgment, things will never get better, look how bad things are. But the truth is that God has given us the ability to make a change! We don’t have to stay in our rut! But—we have to make a change. The book of Judges proves that God hears the prayers of His children even when they are far from Him, but He doesn’t “fix” everything. It’s up to us to partner with Him in making our lives and our world a better place. That might get your group interested in this book . . .
This Week's Big Idea: The Book of Judges
Watch that Bible Project video on Judges and download their poster (all free)—super useful. The purpose of the book of Judges is to demonstrate that the people of Israel could not govern themselves; they needed divine leadership.
When Joshua left them, they were supposed to stand together against the evil influence of the Canaanites. But instead, they actually became like the Canaanites! This led them into the cycle you see repeated throughout the book: (1) sin leads to (2) judgement/oppression which leads to (3) repentance and supplication which leads to (4) deliverance which leads to (5) peace. But instead of using peace as a motivation to “stay clean”, they get lax, which leads them right back into sin. The book is meant to be a horrifying warning of what God’s children are capable of when they choose to go their own way and lead themselves.
Judges: Author, Date, and Timeline
I found this awesome website where a Bible geek made the way-too-technical-and-complicated timeline chart that I have always wanted to make but don’t have the time. What I like so much about it is he is willing to use question marks rather than act like a know-it-all.
Here’s a much simpler overview:
This book explains how we get from the great victory under Joshua to the dolorous condition of the people crying out for a king so they can be like everybody else. Joshua’s appointed elders led Israel for 25 years before a Mesopotamian king conquered them for 8 years. Then God sent Othniel for 39 years of peace. Then the Moabites conquered them for 18 years. Then God sent Ehud for 79 years of peace. Then the Hazorites conquered the north for 20 years. Then God sent Deborah and Barak for 39 years of peace. Then the Midianites for 8 years of war. Then Gideon for 40 years of peace, followed by Abimelech, Tola, and Jair for another 47 years of kind-of peace. Then 18 years of war with the Ammonites. Then the final judges (including Samson) and not a whole lot of peace.
The first five judges (this includes Shamgar, who leads sometime during/after Ehud’s rule) are okay and even good. They conquer the enemy and lead the people to repent which leads to peace. But the peace only lasts for a generation before sin and war comes again! But once we get to Gideon, we see that even the judges aren’t really that great (we’ve romanticized Gideon, but he wasn’t very great, and his sons were even worse). And as the judges go off the rails, the “peace” they bring isn’t that peaceful, and we eventually get to the womanizing and violent Samson. The end of Samson’s life corresponds with the victories of the new king Saul over the Philistines, which is how the book fits into the chronology of the later OT history books (esp. 1/2 Samuel).
Here’s what the long view says about this timeline: Joshua died somewhere around 1400 BC. Saul became king somewhere around 1050 BC. That’s more than 300 years of steady decline described in this short book. If you think about the ups and downs of our country and how discouraging it has been, imagine this happening for another 100 years or more, with each cycle getting worse and worse. Actually, I can imagine that—what can we do to stop it?
What We Know about the Book. As with Joshua: not much. It’s an anonymous book, but it reads like a collection of memoirs and court records. Because it speaks so highly of a godly king, it might have been compiled and released by someone like Hezekiah who wanted to keep Judah from following the failure of Israel. But it also might have been put together by Samuel in preparation for such a king. To me, the language implies that some time has passed.
Themes of Judges
How did we get to the place where God’s people completely fall apart? It’s simple: they didn’t obey on the front end. God told them to eliminate the Canaanites in the land. Why? In order to prevent the Israelites from drifting into false ethics and worship. Well, they didn’t and so they did. They participated in their neighbors’ religions, which led to prostitution and child sacrifice. It also made them vulnerable to alliances of the Canaanites against them. Most importantly, it caused them not to teach their children the ways of the Lord (because they didn’t really believe them). The purpose of this book is both to explain what the Israelites did wrong and also to explain what God would have had them do right. In other words, when failure and exile eventually come, there will be no doubt why. This book also demonstrates two great truths about God: (1) He is merciful, and (2) He is just. Yes, God forgives and He remains true to His covenants, but He does not overlook the sin of His people.
Key Verse: 2:10
Even though 2:11-19 summarizes the entire book, 2:10 sets the tone and must not be overlooked: “After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel.” The Israelites failed to follow God because they were not taught so. It has been well said that the church is just one generation away from extinction. Yes, God always reserves a remnant unto Himself, but do we want to be the generation who finds out why God goes through that secondary plan? The young Israelites didn’t know the big deal about God, so they abandoned Him for the gods of their peers.
Part 1: Abandonment (2:11-13)
The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They infuriated the Lord, for they abandoned Him and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreths.
Our focal passage this week has been called an “executive summary” of Judges, making this a perfect time to hit the high (low?) points of the book. I would strongly recommend having your group read 2:1-10 aloud together. Those words are the equivalent of hearing ominous Jaws music in the background—they make us realize that bad things are coming. And how do you think Joshua must have felt, knowing that all he worked for would soon be for nothing? And the reasons are pathetic. In addition to the ones I give you in the sidebar, my guess is that sexual rituals were tempting, as well as getting to have a little idol to put in your home (the sense that “god” is watching over you). Note that nobody forced the Israelites to abandon God—they did so willingly on their own. And because God is rightfully jealous, He was infuriated by this outrage. If you need to, remind your group what you talked about previously with respect to Baal and Astoreth and their evil, wicked worship practices.
The truth is that every time we sin, we are giving into some kind of idolatry (usually worshiping ourself and our perceived needs). Ask your group to think about the times they have turned their back on God; do they realize such is the equivalent of abandoning God completely? Then ask them to think about the “gains” they received from their sin. Was it worth it?
Aside: Why Worship False Gods???
This is the ultimate question. After all God had done for them, why would the Israelites two-time Him? Well, in the first place, the younger Israelites were not taught what God had done for them. In the second place, the Israelites (and their neighbors) were semi-nomadic farmers and herdsmen, moving where conditions allowed the best crops and fields. (The Book of Ruth gives a good picture of life during this era.) Droughts and famines were pretty common—judgment on Israel’s unfaithfulness; life was hard. Well, the locals had specific rituals designed to encourage rain and fertile fields: worship practices for Baal and Asherah. And they had enough “evidence” to believe that they worked. In a classic “hedge your bet” move, the Israelites added the worship of Baal and Asherah to their religion, thinking it couldn’t hurt. (Ironically, those very practices were the reasons why God was making it hard on them in the first place.) Then, in a classic “slippery slope” episode, the little additional worships of these false gods led directly to them abandoning the true God completely.
Part 2: Oppression (2:14-15)
The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies. Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them and brought disaster on them, just as He had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.
This lesson is as simple as it comes. The Israelites abandoned God, so He removed His protection and special privileges from them. This is part of a larger question that may come up: “Why is God letting this happen to me?” There are people out there who truly believe that whenever some kind of disaster comes into your life, it is because God is punishing you for something you’ve done wrong. Okay—I have said before that bad things often happen in our world simply our world is filled with sin, and we suffer the consequences of sin in general. BUT—in this case, it is clear that God is punishing them for their sin. If God did it to them, He can do it to us. So let’s not test God’s patience by living in sin!
If you have group members who struggle with the idea of a God who allows (or causes) calamity on His children, there are two approaches you can take. Today, we think of two forms of punishment: rehabilitative and punitive. When my kids make bad decisions, sometimes I try to stop them, and sometimes I let them go through with it. I also know some parents whose kids have made really, really bad decisions (my kids haven’t put me in that position yet, thank God), and they have had no choice but to go with a major punishment (even involving the court system) because their actions demanded it. If that’s still too hard for your group members to follow, step back to society at large. I believe strongly in second chances, but even I have some lines where I stop feeling sorry for such-and-such person and believe that they deserve what’s coming to them (strangely, animal abuse is one of those lines). God has those lines. “Anger burned” is literally “Yahweh’s nostrils glowed.” Yeah, that’s terrifying.
And God’s people suffered. They suffered in keeping with their sins. They “got in bed” with their neighbors, so they became caught up in the political schemes and revenge cycles of their neighbors. Their only military edge was the presence of God, and obviously that was gone! They didn’t secure their borders, so they were vulnerable to all manner of raids. But nothing happened that they shouldn’t have expected—God made this very clear to them! But . . . even God’s punitive justice is rehabilitative because their suffering drove them to repentance.
Part 3: Repentance (2:16-19)
1The Lord raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders, but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their ancestors did. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their ancestors, following other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ways.
Note that the judges didn’t serve on their own account or by appointment of the people—God called them to it. As your group reads this book, they will discover that sometimes God’s judges did things that we would find horrifying (murder, assassination, Jephthah’s child sacrifice). I truly believe those things to be a consequence of “a generation who did not know the Lord” or His law. Neglecting God’s Word left the Israelites with many mistaken impressions about God’s will. We see that in our world today, friends! That’s why Sunday School is so important—we want our church members to know God’s Word so they won’t go and do terrible things in the name of Jesus. This isn’t a game. Anyway, we see in these verses that the judge would indeed deliver the people from their enemies, but after the judge died, the people would be worse than before! I’ve always thought of this like a pendulum, something that swings but can never get back to its original height (because of losses to friction and air resistance) unless more energy is put into the system. This is a true downward spiral.
Wouldn’t you think that after even a brief revival that things would be better, not worse for Israel? That’s certainly what we teach in American seminaries: you may not be able to maintain all of the energy and excitement from a revival meeting, but your church will be better off than it was before. That’s a good observation, so let me say two things about it. (1) That’s not entirely true. The data suggests that even an amazing revival only benefits a church for a few years at most. Unless the people continue in their devotion to God, every church dies out. (2) Remember that today we have the Holy Spirit. When people are saved, they are utterly transformed by God. That was not the case in the old days. The judge was filled with the Spirit, but the people were on their own. And most of them did not have the discipline or devotion to stay committed to Yahweh. And those that did had to suffer the consequences of their neighbors.
I would recommend taking a big-picture approach to the book in your lesson today. God’s people were in an awful, awful cycle (or rut). And even God’s massive “wake up” calls didn’t break them out of it. That says two things to me: God loves us enough to continue to help us break free, but it’s still our responsibility to end the cycle. What does it say to you?
Aside: “Judges”
Many ancient eastern peoples had “judges” who were to administer justice for the people. This included both litigating disputes and passing judgment on disputes. And carrying out their sentences (which included imprisonment and executions and also administrating civil matters). And if there was resistance to their judgments, leading the military campaign to crush the resistance. No checks and balances! In all the ancient cultures, judges were expected to be impartial and particularly not to accept bribes.
Moses and Joshua served as judges for the Israelites. They also appointed judges to serve in every town (usually the primary patriarch). Those judges are probably what we would think of as judges today—hearing cases and rendering decisions. But the Book of Judges highlights a special group of “super” judges that God called to deliver Israel from its enemies, i.e. God’s judgment on the sin of the Canaanites. For Ehud, Shamgar, and Deborah, the Bible highlights their military victories, but there is little doubt that those judges also led Israel in the peacetime.
By Samuel’s time, though, likely due to the downward cycle of the judges, the people no longer wanted these temporary, localized judges. They wanted a permanent king. There would continue to be local judges, but the standing military and the high court would be invested in Saul (and then David). David would go on to appoint both clerks and judges to serve throughout the land (1 Ch 23:4). But the “judges” of this book, empowered by God and possessing a rare authority, would not be seen again in this age.
Closing Thoughts: The Strange Ending of Judges
You might be shocked to hear that scholars debate a bunch about the book of Judges. No, really! One of the biggest has to do with the timeline. Just adding up the years I listed from Joshua’s successors to Gideon’s sons gives us about 350 years, which is all the time we really have for this era. Consequently, a number of scholars believe that there are a lot of chronological overlaps in the book (judges ruling concurrently in different parts of Israel). One of the big proposed culprits are the two “appendices” at the end of the book (chapters 17-21, which we won’t cover in the Lifeway material)—some of the most disturbing materials in the entire Bible demonstrating the utter depravity not only of Israel’s tribal leaders but also of her priests. These chapters don’t give any chronological clues, so it’s very possible that these events actually occurred early on in the judges.
The opening story (ch 17-18) illustrates the depravity. A man (Micah) stole 1100 shekels of silver (3 generations of wages) from his own mother, frightened into giving it back to her as a result of a curse she placed on the thief. In gratitude, she consecrated the silver to God, but then only gave 200 of it to Micah for a shrine, which he had converted into an idol and an ephod, installing his son as priest. Then he found a Levite who wasn’t living in a proper Levitical city (because the people weren’t supporting them properly), and hired him to be his private priest/good luck charm. Then we find out that people from Dan were looking for a new home, and they picked the region where Micah lived. So they kidnap Micah’s priest and steal his idol and ephod and go burn a nearby town down and settle there, renaming the town Dan. Truly, truly strange. And the next illustration (ch 19-21) is far worse in every way. The final verse of the book is the haunting theme: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” I personally see it as a valuable description of where people will go when they abandon their foundations (in our case today, the Bible and the Constitution). Left to our own devices, we can only go downhill.