Judges 1-2: The Book of Judges

"When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced

labor, but did not drive them out completely." Judges 1:28

This morning we start the book of Judges, which is perhaps the saddest book in all of scripture. Why? Because it portrays so clearly how sinful men can be when they don't follow the Lord. We've seen bits and pieces of this in Genesis, but we're about to see what it looks like when man fully denies his Creator. Yet amidst it all, we'll be able to learn from their negative example and apply it to our own lives. Are you excited? Yeah, me too.

In the first chapter of Judges, the book actually starts out on a good note. The conquest of the Promised Land is continuing, and Israel is flourishing. However, this doesn't last long. We are told next of several places within the Promised Land where the Israelites failed to drive out the Canaanites. Remember our studies from the previous books, where God, Moses, and Joshua commanded the Israelites to fully drive out the Canaanites, lest they corrupt Israel and turn them aside from following after the Lord? Well, the Israelites didn't listen, but rather kept the Canaanites in their land, using them as slaves.

Next, after Joshua and the elders that were in his generation died, Scripture tells us that "there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel" (2:10). Thus, the stage has been set. There are evil people dwelling among the nation of Israel, and the baby Israelites have no clue who the LORD is or what he has done for their fathers. No wonder why the book is about to go south.

And so it does. In Judges 2:11-23, we find the pattern of the rest of the book, where the Israelites would go through various degrading cycles that would lead them to greater and greater wickedness. The cycles went like this: First, Israel would do what was evil in the Lord's eyes. Second, the Lord would become angry with them because of their sin and send their enemies against them as punishment. Third, the Israelites would call out for God. (Quick Note: Most of the "calling out" that we see in this book is not true repentance. Israel mourned the punishment for their sin, not the sin itself.) Fourth, God, moved by pity, would send a judge to deliver them. Now let's pause for a moment and consider the term "judge." A "judge" in this context was not a big dude wearing a gown and holding a gavel. Rather, "judges" were regional military deliverers. Theses "judges" were regional because they would only be over a portion of the people (they were not kings), they were military because the would rescue the Israelites via conquest, and they were deliverers because that is in fact what they would do: deliver! Fifth, the judge would deliver Israel from their oppression, followed by a time of peace in Israel until that judge passed away.

The above process is what we will see over and over in the book of Judges, each cycle leading to more and more wickedness, which will culminate as we look at the epilogue of the book in chapters 17-21. All of this points to (which we will find out later) the need for Isreal to have a leader, that is, a king. Eventually, the Israelites would get Saul, who would fail them as well. Next, they will get David, who did a decent job, but certainly could have done better. But finally, they will get Christ, who will lead them (and us) perfectly, as well as take the punishment that their sins deserved.