The purpose of the book of Judges is to explore God's position during the years between
Joshua and David. The Lord had provided land for the Israelites and they had solidified their
covenant of faithfulness to Him at Shechem (Josh. 24). What followed was a demonstration of
unfaithfulness and failure, eventually brought to an end by God himself with the installation of a
king.
The message of the book is that the problem of Israel not receiving God's
blessings was not the fault of God, but their systematic continuance of being disobedient.1 The
period of the judges was characterized by tribal acts of depravity, illustrated by the two sets of
recurring refrains in this book. Each cycle in chapters 3-16 is introduced by the observation that
"the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord" (2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1, 10:6; 13:1), indicating
their tendency toward apostasy.
The second refrain is an inclusio, appearing at the beginning and end of chapters
17-21 (17:6; 21:25): "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did as he saw fit." The
first half of the phrase is used in two other places as well (18:1, 19:1), sustaining the narrative.
This last refrain could be taken as a sponsorship for a monarchy, what it actually proves is that
tribal leadership, even with a slate of non-judicial judges, was ineffective in maintaining the
Israelites covenant with God.2
The first section of Judges (2: 1-5) describes the failure of Israel in
carrying out the Lord's directions to rid the land of the Canaanites. The result was that the land
was neither possessed nor controlled by them, due to their willful disobedience. Failure to purge
led in turn to the apostasy of Israel that characterizes their record in the period of judges. Judges
chapter 1 allows for no possibility to blame the Lord; the Lord's refusal to drive out the
1 Mark Rooker, The Word and the World (Grand Rapids: B & H Academic, 2010), 401.
2 Leon Morris, Judges and Ruth (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 93.
inhabitants of Canaan was a direct result of the people's rebellion, and is reflected in the message
from "the angel of the Lord" at the end of the section.
The next part (2:6 – 3:6) introduces the cycles that constitute the
theological framework of the period. Formulas are used within this section to demonstrate these
cycles. First, the people did evil in the eyes of the Lord—usually described in broad terms as an
umbrella for the practice of worshipping Canaanite deities.3 Usually, the punishment was the
Lord sending foreign oppressors. Then, the people would eventually cry out to the Lord to
deliver them. However, there is no indication that the people offered to repent.
Throughout these cycles, they would cry for help, but with the exception
of Chapter 10: 10-16, nothing is recorded of their voluntarily reforming or repenting.
Nevertheless, God always raised up a deliverer in his mercy and compassion. The deliverer
would institute release from the foreign aggressor, at least during the deliverer's lifetime, yet,
once he died, the repeat of rebellion and self-will would begin again.
This recurrence of apostasy begins in Chapter 2, and is
followed by six full repetitions in Chapters 3-16. Chapters 17-21 show that the Israelites failed
to establish a just and righteous social order. They had no consistency of morality and cultural
ethics. Judges is a book of messiness and depression. The institution of monarchy was a viable
option to help the people do what was right in the sight of the Lord, and by doing so, avert
further oppression. 4
3 John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 78-
79.
4 Eugene Merrill, An Historical Survey of the Old Testament (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed,
1998), 185.
Bibliography
Merrill, Eugene. An Historical Survey of the Old Testament. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and
Reformed, 1998.
Morris, Leon. Judges and Ruth. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001.
Rooker, Mark. The Word and the World. Grand Rapids: B & H Academic, 2010.
Walton, John. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids:
Baker, 2006.
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