AM Bible Study Group; February 25, 2015 from Judges; Introduction
Theme: An introduction to the Old Testament book of Judges.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
This morning, we begin a study of one of the saddest books of the Bible that we can study—and yet, at the same time, one of the most important for our own times.
The Book of Judges is important to the story of God’s people because it stands as a link between two important periods of Israel’s history. The book begins were the story of Joshua leaves off—the people of Israel already in their land, and having conquered much of the territory that God was giving them. And where the book ends is where the story of the monarchy in Israel begins—as Samuel, the last of the great judges, is born and begins his ministry to the people and leads them to the coronation of their first king Saul. The Book of Judges, then, can be seen as a “bridge” that crosses the times between “conquest” and “coronation” in the story of Israel—with a series of terrible stories of unfaithfulness between.
WHAT IS ITS TIME-FRAME?
A clue to the time span that this book covers is given to us in 1 Kings 6:1. We’re told there that Solomon began to build the house of the Lord “in the four hundred and eightieth year after Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon reign over Israel.” Both Saul and David reigned forty years each. So; if you subtract 84 years; and also subtract the 70 years or so of Moses’ and Joshua’s leadership after the exodus, then Judges covers a time-span of something near 325 years (or between Israel’s entry into the land at around 1406 B.C. to Samuel’s birth around 1085 B.C.). That, of course, is a long period of history to be covered in this one book!
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
The times that the book covers are characterized by disobedience—and this is actually what makes the book so valuable to study. It describes a repeated six-fold, trans-generational cycle:
- One generation of the people serve the Lord.
- The next generation falls into apostasy and idolatry.
- That generation becomes enslaved and oppressed by their enemies.
- They become humbled and cry out to the Lord for deliverance.
- God mercifully raises a leader (that is, a judge) who delivers the people.
- The people are restored back to faithfulness.
We find this pattern described in summary form in Judges 2:7-19. There is a sense, then, in which this book provides us with a vivid illustration of the need for constant revival in God’s people—and also of the danger of what happens when a generation becomes characterized by an abandonment of God’s good way, and an embrace of personal and moral autonomy. A key to understanding this book is its last verse; where we’re told “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
What horrible times those were! And yet, what a gracious, promise keeping, prayer hearing God our God proves in it to be! And note that the stories of the times weren’t always bad; as the Book of Ruth—a story that took place in the time of the judges (see Ruth 1:1)—clearly shows us.
WHAT ARE ‘JUDGES’?
Because we tend to think of a judge as someone who serves a single branch of government (the judiciary branch), the word “judge” may be a bit misleading. The word that the Bible uses (shâpaṭ) is one that’s primary verbal sense is ‘to exercise the processes of government’ (Theological Wordbook of The Old Testament, p. 947). A “judge”, in this case, might be better thought of as someone who acts as a ruler or a leader and a deliverer—but not as a monarch. They were civil, military and religious leaders who exercised influence over part or all of the land at certain times of loose confederacy and crisis. Not all of the judges were what we would think of as outstanding characters; and they were often very fallible (see Samson, for example). But all of them were raised by God for their time.
WHO WROTE THIS BOOK?
The fact that it occasionally describes the times as days when “there was no king in Israel” (17:6; 18:1; 21:25), suggests that it was written at a time after King Saul had been placed upon the throne (otherwise, there would be no point in describing them as times when there was no king). But because it speaks of a time when Jebusites still occupied Jerusalem (Judges 1:21); it had to have been written before King David had captured Jerusalem from them (see 2 Samuel 5:6-9). This would place it in the times of the reign of King Saul, and of the ministry of the last of the judges—Samuel. The Talmud—the ancient Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures—suggest that it was Samuel who was the author. This is possible; or it may be that some portions of it were written by him. And if this is the case, then it may have been written by Samuel to give a historic context to the times that led up to the choice of the people to have a king (see 1 Samuel 8).
HOW MIGHT THIS BOOK BE OUTLINED?
The book can be divided into three main parts:
I. BACKGROUND TO THE TIMES (1:1-3:6).
A. The Incomplete Conquest of the Land (1:1-36).
B. The Unfaithfulness of the People (2:1-19).
C. The Testing from the Lord (2:20-3:6).
II. MINISTRIES OF THE JUDGES (3:7-16:31).
A. Othniel (3:7-11).
B. Ehud (3:12-30)
C. Shamgar (3:31)
D. Deborah and Barak (4:1-5:31)
E. Gideon (6:1-9:56)
F. Tola (10:1-2).
G. Jair (10:3-5)
H. Jephthah (10:6-12:7).
I. Ibzan (12:8-10).
J. Elon (12:11-12).
K. Abdon (12:13-15).
L. Samson (13:1-16:31).
III. DECLINES IN THE END (17:1-21:25).
A. The Idolatry of Micah (17:1-18:31).
B. The Abomination of Gibeah (19:1-30).
C. The War with the Benjamites (20:1-48).
D. The Raiding of Jebesh Gilead (21:1-25).