Introduction to the Book of Judges

English: Samson destroys the temple (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Introduction

First it is important to explain how the book of Judges fits into the Word of God. Among people today, there seems to be a concession that what is written in the Word of God is part of the will of God. Because of this misconception of the bible, many people discount the bible altogether because some books such as Judges included subjects such as idol worship along side of Yahweh worship and the willing giving of women into a sexual and murderous environment.

            The book of Judges was not written to better explain how faithful people live in accordance with the Word of God but just the opposite. The book is designed to show the children of God how not to live. There is a circulating theme among all the stories. First the children are faithful and all is well. Then the children begin to slowly corrupt themselves against the Word of God. Finally the children need a savior and God delivers.

            When God delivers this savior to the people of Israel, the reader should not confuse the man or woman as a shining example perfection but just the opposite. The “Judges” were the saviors that they deserved and not the savior they need. In this method we see the necessity of Christ above any man that could bear the title of Savior

Overview

            Of course the exact timeline is not known to us but the writing of this book is generally believed to be around 1390 b.c. to around 1050 b.c. The exact author is also unknown however it is commonly believed that Judges was written by multiple authors through the years of it history. There is a good amount of credibility to this because of the different level of detail that are contained in the stories. Some stories have great detail such as Samson and Gideon but others lack great details such as Ehud.

These distinctions in the writings should only increase the credibility of the book and not decrease its credibility because it shows a progression through history by the adding of the stories as they occurred as opposed to the idea that everything was simply created later by a master revisionist.

            Again the reader should not be confused by the word “judge”. The Hebrew word used in this book is shāphaṭ  (שָׁפַט‎) which is a verb that denotes a judicial function and also strongly implies punishment and vindication. The book stands as an example of God judging both the nation that threatens Israel and Israel itself. The entire book has a moral lesson on how wrong a godly society can become when society ignores the Word of God.

Periods	Years	Ending about b.c.:
1. From the exodus to the passage of Jordan	40	1451
2. To the death of Joshua and the surviving elders	[40]	1411
3. Judgeship of Othniel	40	1371
4, 5. Judgeship of Ehud (Shamgar included)	80	1291
6. Judgeship of Deborah and Barak	40	1251
7. Judgeship of Gideon	40	1211
8, 9. Abimelech to Abdon, total	[80]	1131
10. Oppression of the Philistines, contemporary with the judgeships of Eli, Samson (and Samuel?)	40	1091
11. Reign of Saul (including perhaps Samuel)	40	1051
12. Reign of David	40	1011
Total	480

           

Modern Day Similarities

            The book is an example of God hitting the “reset” button. The longsuffering Lord waits patiently for every generation to follow Him willingly and faithfully til any society reaches a point in their depravity that they cannot return. This fact is evident where the bible records words such as “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Genesis 15:16 KJV).

            When this is understood by the reader it becomes easy to see the similarities of these ancient societies and the modern times we live in. Remember that the Bible teaches in principles and not always in direct executive order. When the Israelites began to be corrupted it took hundreds of years and God remained silent as they slowly corrupted themselves. In like manner our western civilization is slowly replacing faith in God with faith in nature. We teach evolution instead of creation even among orthodox churches. We make Christianity a politically incorrect practice while Hollywood praises good witches and warlocks as fictional heroes. Even today God has given us “Christian” leaders that we deserve and not the leaders that we need.

            So what was the sins of the Amorites? Those sins are not mentioned in the book of Genesis, nor are they mentioned specifically in the book of Judges. However the Bible is not completely silent on this issue. The sins referred to are very important especially for the modern day reader who does not want history to repeat itself.

            2 Kings 21:3-9 (KJV) provides us with the key to understanding this question because it reflects back to the time of the Judges and compares it to their current situation:

“For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.”

Sins such as sorcery and human sacrifice are mentioned among the comparison of nations. We in our own time should also be aware for there is nothing new under the sun.