Genesis

Judges

LeRoy Eims

At long last the people of God were in their own land and they were becoming a nation. At this time in their history, immediately following the death of Joshua, they had no strong leader and no strong central government. They were a brotherhood, a confederacy of twelve independent tribes, with no unifying force.

There was no Moses or Joshua to hold the people together. Joshua had trained no successor, as Moses had trained him. He had experienced great success, but success without a successor doesn't continue.

The basic problem was that the people did not take God very seriously. They were to be under His direct rule, but they were constantly falling away from God and continually gravitating toward idolatry. They were more or less in a perpetual state of anarchy. There was the harassment during the times of civil war among themselves. They were surrounded by enemies who made continual attempts to exterminate these newcomers.

Because of these problems they were very slow in their development as a nation. In fact, they did not really become a great nation until they were organized into a kingdom during the days of Samuel, Saul, and David.

There are tremendous lessons in this book for all of us. The strong, rugged, wilderness‑toughened generation, who had been under the powerful leadership of Joshua and who had conquered the land, died off. The new generation became soft and comfortable in the land of plenty. Lacking leadership, they soon settled into the easy‑going ways of their idolatrous neighbors.

The recurring refrain that runs through the book is that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. They repeatedly fell away from God into the worship of idols. Whey they did this, God delivered them into the hands of the idol worshippers to let them taste first‑hand, the oppression of a people under the domination of Satan.

Then when they, in their suffering and distress, turned back and cried unto God, He took pity on them and raised up judges who saved them from their enemies. As long as that judge lived, the people served God. But when he died, the people turned again to idolatry.

When they served God they prospered, and when they served idols they suffered. Their troubles were directly due to their disobedience. Through it all we learn a tremendous lesson about God. His discipline is sure, but His love and patience are always there. In the words of Jesus, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28‑30).