READ: Judges
3
The first six verses conclude the introduction of
the book of Judges. Israel had been sufficiently warned of what would happen if
they broke their covenant with the Lord; they knew full well what they were
getting into when they said “yes” to Yahweh. And so God tested them in the
Promised Land to see if they really would obey His word, as they had promised
to do. But the snares of the nations of the land – their gods, their daughters,
their customs – were appealing, and the people compromised. Verse six
highlights Israel’s intermarriage with the pagan nations – something God had
forbidden, knowing that such marriage would lure His people into idolatry. In a
sense, Israel was to be married to Yahweh; this intermarriage was an act of
blatant adultery towards Him.
This ushers in the remainder of the book, which highlights
the specific judges whom God used to deliver Israel. Whenever Israel genuinely
cried out to God for help, He turned His ear towards them and brought them
deliverance. God did this through judges. Not gavel-wielding rulers of court,
but men (and a woman!) who were given the anointing of the Holy Spirit to
deliver Israel from their enemies. There are patterns here as well: when Israel
sins, they become slaves to pagan nations for a number of years; they cry out
to God who raises up a judge and there is peace in the land for many years;
when the judge dies, the people sink deeper into sin and idolatry, which leads
them back into years of oppression and servitude. The judges themselves, though
called by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit, are not paragons of virtue.
They are not leaders so much as they
are deliverers. Unlike Moses and Joshua and some of the kings and prophets of
the future, the judges do not lead the people into repentance or holiness.
Again, this is to show the reader that there is a need for godly leadership in
Israel.
In chapter 3 we are introduced to the first three
judges. Othniel was from the tribe of Judah and delivered the people out of the
hand of the king of Mesopotamia, whom they had been serving for 8 years. Othniel
brought a welcome 40 years of peace to the land. Ehud was from the tribe of
Benjamin and was raised up to deliver the people from the hand of the Moabites.
Of course, the people were under the domain of Moab because they had committed
much evil before the Lord. Ehud’s story gives the reader a good taste of the
honest descriptions in Judges – we are spared no gore in these pages! Ehud was
crafty and resourceful, using the advantage of his left-handedness to
assassinate the Moabite king, Eglon, who was so obese, that Ehud’s blade was
lost in his fat! The people killed 10,000 Moabites that day, and there was
peace in the land for 80 years! Lastly, we’re told of Shamgar who saved Israel
from the Philistines, killing 600 of them with an oxgoad (a stick used to prod
oxen)!
God’s sovereignty is very evident in the pages of
Judges. He is in control and He has authority over the nations, whether or not
they acknowledge Him. He causes Israel to fall into the power of other nations,
and He delivers Israel out of those nations when He sees fit. And as always,
everything He did was ultimately for Israel’s good and His glory, and we can
trust that this is true for our lives as well!
JOURNALING
AND PRAYER
1. Take another look through Judges 3 and take note
of everything mentioned about the Lord. What do you notice about who God is?
What is He like? What matters to Him?
a. How have you known these things to be true about
God?
b. In worship, tell God what you love about Him.
Thank Him for his goodness in your life. Thank Him for His sovereignty.
2. We often read the phrase “Israel did what was
evil in the sight of the Lord.” They
could not see God with their eyes, but their actions and their hearts were in
plain view for Him to see. Meditate on this truth – that God is all-seeing and
all-knowing. How does this affect you? How does this affect how you want to
live today? Ask God to help you to live for His glory today.
3. What is something that you are struggling with
right now? Ask God how He wants to work for your good and His glory in this
situation.
