Biblical Theology of Judges

Judges: A Biblical Theology 

Main Idea: There is chaos and confusion in the land due to the fact that the people have disobeyed God doing what is right in their own eyes and are without a strong moral leader, a king.

              This main idea is shown through the repeated phrases of “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Along with the repeated phrase “In those days there was no king in Israel.”  These phrases highlight the condition of the people of God. They were rebellious and had no leader to help straighten them out. The confusion of the people is highlighted in a major way at the towards the end of the book with the story of Micah and the idol he makes. His mother tells her son that she has dedicated the silver to the Lord so that he can make an idol out of it. This is the sign of a depraved and confused nation. They are making idols and calling it worship to YHWH.

            The chaos in the land is due to the fact that the people have sinned right at the beginning of the book it is stated that this is what will happen to the people because they have disobey. “But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be snare to you” (2:2b-3).  Furthermore “They abandoned YHWH and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of YHWH was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies so that they could no longer withstand their enemies” (2:13-14). These two verses draw out the fact that Israel had sinned and the result of this sin is that God has given them over to their enemies who have come to plunder the land, which resulted in confusion. War always brings chaos and confusion with it and all throughout this book the people are confused and in a constant state of war with small peace times scattered throughout.

Purpose: To show how desperately the people were in need of a king (messiah) to lead and guide them.

            The purpose of writing this book is to show how much Israel was in need of a king. This book is at the center of a four-part work of the former prophets. It sets up Samuel and follows the Torah and Joshua in story line. This is the ramp up to David and what David represents in the nation of Israel.       

Sections:

            There are three major sections to this book. The introduction of the book, chapters 1-3:6, the judges, chapters 3:7-16:31, Conclusion: state of the land, chapters 17-21. These sections flow out of the book naturally. The author at the beginning of the book gives a summery of what has happened in Joshua and then proceeds to set up what is happening in the land now and what to expect when reading the rest of the book. The author explicitly tells us what the nations represent and why these things are happening in the land. The book then moves into a sampling of the judges of Israel for the majority of the book is devoted to the stories of these judges and how they saved Israel from particular crises. The last section breaks the pattern of judges and focuses on stories about the people and the interactions of the people with each other. This section brings to the forefront that fact that Israel has no king and is confused about worship of YHWH and how to live according to the Torah.

1) Introduction:

            The introduction of this book it is spelled out for us that the people of God have sinned and gone against the commands that Moses laid out and that Joshua told the people to hold onto. Instead the rebelled and did not drive out the people and they also worshiped the Gods of the land instead of YHWH.

            In the first half of chapter 1 there is war and chaos in the land as places are captured and cities built. What sticks out is that the tribe of Judah, from which the king is supposed to come, destroyed the city of Jerusalem, the city of God. They did not rebuild it. This is a subtle clue as to what is to come in the rest of the book. It is also indicative of their attitude throughout the book they routinely destroy their relationship with God by turning to foreign gods. This also shows how the nation was without a king for everyone knew the king lived in Jerusalem and was supposed to reign there but Jerusalem was destroyed so what is going to happen to the people.

            The idea of Israel being punished by God for disobeying him and worshiping other gods is repeated over and over in this section. Five times it is said the people rebelled and that the nations were in the land as a punishment for their rebellion (vs. 2:1-3, 11-15, 16-17, 20-22, 3:4-6). This shows the state of the land and how the people were behaving in this land and therefore why they where under punishment.

2) Judges

            This section is the largest of the three and shows how the people would cry out to YHWH for salvation yet not get the whole picture and quickly return to their previous practice of idol worship as soon as the pain of oppression was lifted.

 The judges in this section are not portrayed as wise. The judges are people who are strong and fight with the exception of Gideon who was a weak frightened person who God used. This fact pushes home the idea that none of these judges could possibly be king over the nation. This lack of wisdom in the judges shows that they were unable to heal the underlying cause of Israel’s suffering. This is to show us that it takes more then strength and brawn to be king over the nation and should add to our understanding of what the king needs to look like. We already know that he needs to come from Judah and now also he needs to be more then a warrior but a God fearing wise person.

3) Conclusion

            This section helps to get us ready for the next book. It pushes the issue of the lack of a king to the forefront of the focus. It draws upon the fact that the nation is in chaos and ruled by many different judges at different times and in disarray. The stories in this section are all prefaced with the phrase “In those days there was no king in Israel” this is to emphasis that the king has not come. It is as if that is the reason that there are all these problems.

            In this section there are stories that foreshadow the story of the king in Samuel. Here there is a Levite traveling who bypasses the city of David, Jerusalem and continued on to the cit of Gibeah, which is Saul’s city. This and the ensuing events is a foreshadow of what happens when Saul becomes king. When it is learned that Gibeah is the city of Saul the reader should recall this story and realize that this is a bad choice and that Saul is not the king that the nation has been waiting for. This story along with the ensuing story about the wives for the people of Benjamin show the depravity of the nation and how mixed up they where even in their efforts to do right. The book ends with the phrase “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This sums up the book and tells us that it was a bleak time in the history of Israel.

Subordinate Themes:

            Eyes/sight— The begging of the sections dealing with each judge the phrase they did evil in the sight of the Lord is present in some form. What is always present in this phrase is the idea of sight. It permeates the whole TaNaK. Here the idea is that God’s sight is perfect and righteous while the peoples is corrupt and sinful. By noticing this the ideas of how great the sin of Israel is come into focus.

            Some brief examples of how this theme is expressed are as follows. First the fact that Israel is doing what is “evil in the sight of YHWH” brings out the idea that God’s sight is good and righteous. While contrasting this good sight with Israel’s actions it is seen that they are failing God and his statutes.

            Second in Samson it is his eyes that are gouged out. The judge of Israel the one who is to protect and keep the nation has his eyes removed from him his “sight” taken by the enemies of God. The taking of his sight comes after he has sinned and revealed to his wife the source of his power. It is almost as if God is saying that Israel has totally lost its sight. The nation is without sight and direction, they no longer can see. The issue is not that they have forgotten anymore it is the fact that they cannot see what is right. The story of Samson comes right before the conclusion to the book where it is made even clearer that the people are blind to the knowledge and commands of God. The very end of the book has the phrase  “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” this points toward a nation that has lost its collective sight for God.

            The loss of sight pushes forward how lost and corrupt the nation is. It helps to show the need for a strong ruler to refocus the people’s eyes on God. It also goes to show how chaotic the time period was. There was no collective vision in Israel everyone just did what they thought was right. The theme of sight brings emphasis to the thoughts that the nation is without a collective vision for God.   

            Lack of trust in YHWH— There is a disticint flavor of a lack of trust in YHWH all thoughout the book. The trust issues are heightened by the story of Gideon who inquires of God so many times that it becomes an issue. Gideon is one of those people who are unsure in their faith so they continually ask God to be born again. Then immediately after Gideon sees the power of God displayed he takes the plunder and creates a god out of the gold. This immediate turn from God is indicative of people who do not really trust in God.

            This lack of trust is part of the reason that the people of God turn to idols and other gods rather then staying true to YHWH. This lack of trust show part of the motivation behind their constant wavering between YHWH and the foreign gods. This sins is due to the fact that they no longer trust in God and have an understanding of him.  

            Unmemorializing— This is due to the fact that people did not remember what God had done for them. Joshua had continually told the people to remember to build memorials and to teach their children what God had done for them. The people of Israel neglected this practice. This is seen in the very beginning of the book, “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord of the work that he had done for Israel” (2:10b). This verse points to the fact that the next generation had not been taught what God had done and therefore where not connected to the faith the same way in which their fathers were. The fact that they did not remember what God did gives them a predisposition to sin and turn away from YHWH.

            Also because the people did not keep telling the stories of God and his salvation for the people of Israel it helped to bring sing more easily into the camp. By not teaching their children the Israelites where inviting them to be enticed by other gods and to go after them which is exactly what happened. This unmemorializing helped to usher in this period of chaos and sin against God.

TaNaK Order:

            Judges is in the middle of what is essentially a four-part book sereies known as the former prophets. It is the second book in the series and follows close on the heels of judges. But as well as being closely tied to the four books surrounding it, Judges is tied to first five books of the bible just as closely. There are themes that run the course of the Torah and are picked up by the books of the former prophets who also pass them on down the line to the rest of the TaNaK.

            The biggest hint that the four books of the former prophets, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings are all linked together is that they all began with the word “and.” By beginning with this word we are forced to look at the previous book for our understanding of how this book should be read. And is a literary marker for us to realize that this is an ongoing story of the people of God and there search for the child mentioned in Genesis.

            Judges is in-between the books of Joshua and Samuel. This helps set the framework for the book. This book should be read with two major themes in mind. One the search for the child continues, and two where is the King? These two ideas proceed from Genesis and continue all though the Torah and into the former prophets. The people are still waiting for the baby who will save them and for a king. Both of these ideas are linked in the narrative. The people are in essence looking for a king that will break the curse of Genesis 3. This is the simplistic theme that continues through the Torah and into former prophets.

            In Joshua the people have come into the land and have taken possession of it. Judges picks up right after Joshua has given a speech about the necessity of following YHWH and only YHWH. The people have affirmed this and made a covenant that they shall not follow the God’s of the inhabitants of the land but they will worship the one true God. Judges shows that they do just the opposite. Judges shows the depravity of the people of God as they whore after idols after being saved from oppression multiple times. The story of Judges ends with the birth of a special baby, Sampson, which gets your hopes up, is he the one prophesied about in Genesis? Is he the one that will save the people? but soon you learn that he is not the one for he acts in defiance of his oaths and does not follow Gods commands but it brings the idea of a baby back into the forefront of our understanding. Also at the end of the story Jerusalem and Gibeah are mentioned, Jerusalem being the city of David, and Gibeah being the city of Saul. By mentioning these cities the author is getting us ready for what is about to happen in Samuel. He cast Gibeah in a bad light while Jerusalem is seen as the smart choice.

            Judges leads in to Samuel by highlighting how chaotic and ungodly the nation is and how desperately it is in need of a savior. In Samuel the first thing that is told is a story about a woman who wants a baby. It is a story of a miraculous birth and once again the question begins is this the one who will save Israel.

            Judges fits into this giant story about a baby by providing the setting into which Samuel the King maker steps. Samuel then picks up this theme and provides them with a king that is ultimately inadequate and still the nation is looking for the one king who is to save the people and lift the curse of Genesis 3.

Response:

1)    Read the rest of the story. This book is not the end it is the middle of the story and it begs us to read to the end of the story.

2)    Repent. This is the cause of Israel’s continued problems there is no repentance once sin has occurred.

3)    Obey. Once I have repented I need to obey and focus on loving God.

4)    Learn from the past remember what he has done. I will write out stories of how God has been faithful, how he has blessed me and will read them. This will help me to remember who God is and what he has done for me.