Read Judges
1-2 & Luke
7:1-30
To discover:
As you read consider the reasons Israel
begins to struggle.
To ponder:
After Joshua’s death Israel
consult God via prophet (Deut 18v20) or priest (Num 27v21) as to who should go
first to drive the remaining Canaanites out. God specifies Judah,
fulfilling Jacob’s word that Judah
will be pre-eminent in battle and leadership (Gen 49v8-12). One wonders however
if they should have trusted God sufficiently not to ask the Simeonites for
help. Nevertheless, as during Joshua’s lifetime, God “gives” the Canaanites and
Perizzites into their hands. The amputation of Adoni-Bezek’s thumbs and big
toes was a common punishment of enemies, preventing them from ever again wielding
a weapon or running into battle. 1v7 stresses this is a just penalty for one
who has done this to many himself, reminding us that these holy wars are God’s
right judgement on the nations (Deut 9v5).
Having attacked Jerusalem
previously (Jos 15v63), Judah
now takes and burns the city (1v8). However, it seems Jebusites remained and
couldn’t be later driven out by Benjamin (1v21). And this theme pervades. Judah
defeat those they attack because the LORD is “with” them. And here we are told
again of the inheritance given Caleb’s brother and daughter (Jos 15v16-19), and
how the Gentile descendents of Moses’ father-in-law are given a share within Judah.
But we are also told Judah
couldn’t “drive out” those on the plains because they had “iron chariots.” Likewise,
the LORD was “with” the house of Joseph against Bethel.
However Joseph’s two half tribes couldn’t fully drive the peoples out, nor
could Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali or Dan. Rather some Canaanites just continued to
live amongst them, whilst others were pressed into “forced labour.”
We have already considered why
this was serious and why this lack of rigour for purity within the church is
too. This is affirmed in what follows: “The angel of the LORD” speaks as God.
He recounts how he brought Israel
out of Egypt, but
rebukes her for disobeying his command not to make a covenant with the
Canaanite nations. This may refer to their covenant with the Gibeonites (Jos
9v16) or their general readiness to have the peoples live amongst them. God is
clear, quoting words from Joshua (Jos 23v13), he says the peoples will
therefore become thorns and their gods snares. Israel
are penitent, weeping and seeking atonement through sacrifice.
However things still worsen. 2v6
returns us to Joshua’s life (Jos 24v28), teaching that everything degenerated
from then. Repeating Joshua 24v29-31 we hear again of the people’s faithfulness
during his life and whilst the elders who had witnessed God’s acts lived. But
after they all died, the next generation forsook God for false gods, provoking
his anger so that they were plundered and enslaved by raiders. Indeed, rather
than fighting for them, “the hand of the LORD was against them” just as he
promised (Lev 26v17). But the reason for this tragedy is striking: This generation
neither knew God or what he had done. In other words, the previous generation
had failed to pass on God’s deeds and commands as he had repeatedly told them
to (Deut 6v6-25). We must grasp that our children’s response to the Lord depends
on this too (Eph 6v1-4, 2 Tim 1v5).
2v16-23 introduces the coming
book. In “compassion” God would raise up judges to save Israel
from these enemies. But the people wouldn’t listen to them, and would turn from
the obedience of their fathers into idolatry, and especially so when the judge
would die. God therefore determines not to drive out the remaining nations, but
leave them to “test” Israel.
Just as the temptations of the world test how faithful we are willing to be to
Christ, so Israel’s
future response to these Canaanites will be an indicator of their eagerness to
“keep the way of the LORD.”
Praying it home:
Thank God for sending Christ out of compassion for us in our
sin and idolatry. Pray that you and Christians today would be diligent in
telling the next generation about the deeds and will of the Lord.
Thinking further:
To read the NIV Study Bible introduction to Judges, click
here.
If you receive this post by email, visit bible2014.blogspot.co.uk and make a
comment.
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