As I am about to finish teaching a class on the book of Judges, it seems like a good time to look in the rearview mirror and evaluate what I have learned. It has been a fascinating study and good for my own soul. So here are five lessons I have learned that I hope encourage you:.
1) Background and context give a clearer picture.
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The book of Judges is such a violent, earthy book that it isn’t usually preached from. It seems like many in the church avoid the book because of embarrassment and the questions that arise from teaching it, but the answer to many questions including the violent nature of the book come from understanding the context and background.
The book of Judges is such a violent, earthy book that it isn’t usually preached from. It seems like many in the church avoid the book because of embarrassment and the questions that arise from teaching it, but the answer to many questions including the violent nature of the book come from understanding the context and background.
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To understand the book of Judges, you must understand the Abramic Covenant and Mosaic Covenant. First of all, don’t get all twisted out of shape when Israel is used as an instrument of justice or when God uses other nations to discipline Israel. God promises that Abraham’s descendants will return in the fourth generation when the iniquity of the Amorites is complete (Gen 15:16). They are to be God’s instrument of justice. The wars they fought served as divine justice.
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Secondly, Israel made a covenant with God at Mt. Sinai to obey all His statutes and commands. They understood that the consequences of disobedience were the curses of God (Deut. 28; Lev. 26). So when God disciplines them, this should not be a surprise.
Secondly, Israel made a covenant with God at Mt. Sinai to obey all His statutes and commands. They understood that the consequences of disobedience were the curses of God (Deut. 28; Lev. 26). So when God disciplines them, this should not be a surprise.
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2) Sin is irrational.
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Forrest Gump had it right, “Stupid is as stupid does.” In other words, your actions shout much louder than your IQ. Israel in the OT is a perfect example of this. I couldn’t help but bang my head against my desk week after week. I had “not again” syndrome.
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Chapter after chapter Israel continued to rebel. Even after God had delivered them, the judge dies and they return to serving the baals. But why? It is because sin makes people irrational. When God promises blessing for obedience, the rational thing to do is to obey.
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Yet, we like Israel, become irrational and chose to serve the desires of our flesh over the God who created us. If you don’t believe me, go study Judges 17-18. It is a crazy story that illustrates just how insanely irrational Israel had become. A Israelite mother making idols as a means of blessing God??? Or her son who collected idols like I collected baseball cards, who gets a Levite to oversee them, and then proclaims, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest” (17:13). This is pure insanity. It is irrational.
Yet, we like Israel, become irrational and chose to serve the desires of our flesh over the God who created us. If you don’t believe me, go study Judges 17-18. It is a crazy story that illustrates just how insanely irrational Israel had become. A Israelite mother making idols as a means of blessing God??? Or her son who collected idols like I collected baseball cards, who gets a Levite to oversee them, and then proclaims, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest” (17:13). This is pure insanity. It is irrational.
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3) Sin is more of a downward spiral than a cycle.
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My father played football at the University of Nebraska, and I remember him quoting Tom Osborne to me as a kid. One of the sayings I heard most was, “If you are not going forward, you are going backwards.” You are always getting better or worse. There is no neutral ground. This surely would apply to the sports world, but it is true of our spiritual lives as well. Either we are conforming our life to Christ more and more or we are cultivating sin in our hearts.
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Sin does much more than repeat itself. It gets worse. It is a cancer that grows. Throughout the book of Judges, I was amazed how even the judges themselves get worse and worse. By the time you get to Samson, it seems like all honor is gone and even the judges of Israel simply do what is right in their own eyes. And when in chapter 11, Jephthah responds like a pagan by promising to offer a human sacrifice, I found myself unsurprised. An Israelite judge acting like a Canaanite? Figures. Sin always gets worse. So take John Owen’s advice, “be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
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4) God is unbelievably compassionate in the OT.
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Never let anyone tell you that the God of the OT is one of wrath and the God of the NT is all about love. That is pure nonsense. Israel is in clear violation of their covenant, yet God continues to raise up deliverers and provide periods of peace. Why doesn’t He just wipe them out? It is because our God is compassionate. I love that after God has said that he will listen no more to their cries (10:14) that only two verse later it says that He became impatient over the misery of Israel. Our God is compassionate.
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5) Israel needs Jesus.
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Perhaps the reason the book of Judges is so hard to swallow at times is because it is an incomplete book. After each judge you are left wondering if Israel is going to repent for good or if the judge will be a righteous judge. Yet, every judge disappoints. Like Gideon, there always seems to be some ephod lying around that ensnares them. But then again, this is also the purpose of the book. It makes you look forward to a greater Judge.
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Israel needed someone smarter than Ehud, a better leader than Gideon, a wiser judge than Jephthah, a warrior stronger than Samson and someone who wouldn’t die. Studying Judges you find yourself all the more amazed with Christ after seeing the stained, imperfections of the “deliverers” of Israel. The best reason to study or teach Judges is that you will see Jesus stand in sharp contrast, and it will motivate you to worship Him.