Judges 1-2    Listen

An overview of Judges

Well...Israel has arrived and possesses Canaan (more or less), but there's still much to do. The Book of Judges contains the history of Israel, probably for a period of about 300 years, from the death of Joshua to the death of Samson, or to the time of the prophet Samuel. We do know that 346 years passed from the beginning of the judges until Saul became king. How long the last judge, Samuel, ministered, we don't know exactly. By the way, these judges that God raised up served particular purposes at particular periods. They did not, for the most part, reign over all of Israel as Moses and Joshua did and later on as the kings did. Lastly, we don't know who wrote this book. Perhaps it was written by Samuel. That would make sense.

There's one more aspect of this period that should be understood: there is no centralized government in Israel during the period of the judges. Each tribe operates as a self-governing entity. That's not to say that each tribe felt no accountability or responsibility with regard to the others. Moreover, there were some collective efforts. However, it would appear that God put his stamp of approval on localized government for Israel as they occupied the land. In the last five chapters of Judges, one phrase appears four times, "...there was no king in Israel" (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). At the end of the period of the judges, Samuel had gained much influence over the Tribes of Israel. It is during his tenure that the people of Israel begin to clamor for a centralized government to unify them, primarily for the purpose of national defense. They want a king, despite the baggage that comes with the office, as outlined in I Samuel 8 (see notes). The call for a king in that chapter is really a voluntary surrender of local tribal authority in lieu of centralized authority over all the tribes - a complete restructuring of the government.

The king gives thumbs up...literally! (Judges 1:1-10)

1 ¶ Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?”
2 ¶ And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”
3 ¶ So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him.
4 Then Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek.
5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
8 ¶ Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland.
10 Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

The tribe of Judah gets the call to drive out the Canaanites. Since Simeon's territory lies within Judah, they go too. They head north about 40 miles into the territory assigned to Manasseh where they capture King Adoni Bezek and cut off his thumbs and big toes, OUCH! Secular history tells us that this was a common practice during that era to prevent kings from being warriors ever again. Without thumbs for grasping or big toes for balance, warrior-like activity is difficult (yea, nearly impossible). Adoni Bezek himself admits to having done the same to 70 kings - making them mere beggars afterwards. Let's face it; he was a bad man and simply received the same treatment he had dished out on 70 previous occasions.

We see in verse 8 a campaign against the inhabitants of Jerusalem (just above Judah's territory in that of Benjamin). Jerusalem seems to be shared by Judah and Benjamin (see notes below at 1:21). We see another campaign in verse 10 against the Canaanite inhabitants at Hebron (within Judah's territory).

A recap of the story of Achsah (Judges 1:11-16)

11 ¶ From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)
12 ¶ Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.”
13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.
14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”
15 So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” ¶ And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 ¶ Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

Remember back in Joshua 15:13-19 (see notes) the reward Caleb would give anyone who took Kirjath Sepher? He offered his lovely (we assume) daughter in marriage. Othniel wins! This story is worth repeating, so here it is again. There's also a single verse regarding Moses' Kenite in-laws (verse 16). Some of them obviously had left Midian and lived among the Hebrews, descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law (Numbers 10:29, see notes). References to them occur several times in Judges, I and II Samuel and II Chronicles to indicate their continuing presence among the Israelites.

Partial military victories; this could be a big problem (Judges 1:17-36)

17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
19 So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.
20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.
21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 ¶ And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
23 So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly Luz.)
24 And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.”
25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 ¶ However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.
28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.
29 ¶ Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
30 ¶ Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute.
31 ¶ Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.
32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
33 ¶ Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.
34 ¶ And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;
35 and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute.
36 ¶ Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

Here's a list of Israel's victories and shortcomings; they failed to drive out the heathen idol-worshipping Canaanites from their land. The presence of these inhabitants plagued the Israelites for generations. God's plan had called for an all-Hebrew environment (Deuteronomy 20:16-17, see notes). We see in these verses that they subsequently ruled over these Canaanites, but they did not drive them out. This shows us that, while they did prevail in battle, they made a choice not to complete their God-given assignment. Israel's deviation from God's plan resulted in continued turmoil throughout the period of the judges. A rebuke for this deviation follows in chapter 2 (see below).

We see Jerusalem in verse 21; it was inhabited by the Jebusites. Benjamin could not drive them out, so they coexisted together. As a matter of fact, the Jebusites remained in control of Jerusalem until II Samuel 5:6-10 (see notes) when King David captures the city. The remainder of the chapters lists several occasions of partial victories by the tribes of Israel against the Canaanites. In some areas, specific tribes of Israel were not strong enough to purge the land of Canaanites, but were strong enough to rule them. In other instances such as that of Dan (verse 34), the Canaanites gained an upper hand for a period of time, driving the Danites into the mountains. As a matter of fact, in Judges 18 (see notes) the Danites later head north to establish the city of Dan in northern Israel because they could not take all of the land assigned to them by Joshua. These partial victories became very problematic for the Hebrews in their new land.

With regard to Jerusalem, it should be noted that Jerusalem seemed to be shared by the Tribes of Benjamin and Judah. Note the following scriptures:

Joshua 18:28 Zelah, Eleph, Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Joshua 15:63 As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day

Judges 1:8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.

Judges 1:21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

Based upon these verses, obviously Jerusalem was a shared city between the two tribes. Although, technically, Jerusalem was within the borders of the Tribe of Benjamin.

God rebukes Israel for their disobedience (Judges 2:1-5)

1 Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you.
2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?
3 Therefore I also said, “I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ”
4 So it was, when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
5 ¶ Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the LORD.

These are very important verses here. Israel did not drive the God-hating heathen people out of Canaan as they went in to possess it. "An angel of the LORD" expresses his great displeasure with their lack of obedience. Here's the origination of our expression, "thorns in your sides." By the way, "Bochim" means "weepers." Many Bible students believe that this "angel of the LORD" is a reference to a pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus himself. We aren't told enough to make a definitive decision on the matter, but it could be - even seems likely.

God had been very clear back in Exodus 34:12-13 (see notes), "Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images." Instead, we see in Judges 1:17-36 (see above) that they put these Canaanites under tribute rather than drive them out of the land.

There's a lesson for Christians here. Sometimes our adversity comes as the result of partial (rather than full) obedience to the Lord. As a matter of fact, this failure to fully obey didn't just have an adverse effect on that generation alone; their descendants suffered from their lack of obedience as well.

As a result of Israel's disobedience, their land was crawling with pesky Canaanites after they moved in.

Sad words after the death of Joshua (Judges 2:6-15)

6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.
7 ¶ So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.
8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old.
9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.
11 ¶ Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;
12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.
13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

We get a recap of the death of Joshua in verses 6-9, also seen in Joshua 24:29 (see notes), and then this eye opener in verse 10, "...another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel." After the death of Joshua and the elders that ruled with Joshua, it's back to heathen gods, back to idol worship (verses 11-13). How could they do such a thing? How quickly we forget! What was the result? Failure!

How about another clear application for Christians? Bad peer pressure influences bad actions! These heathen nations that Israel failed to drive out caused Israel to compromise their convictions and zeal for God in the beginning, followed by a full embracing of their God-forsaking ways in the next generation. This caused these Hebrews to remove themselves from under God's umbrella of protection. So, did the adoption of the corrupt religious practices of the heathen cause those people to buddy up to the Hebrews? NO! Verse 14 tells us that the very people with whom these Israelites had compromised to gain their friendship were, in fact, their enemies. Here's the lesson: when a Believer compromises with those who have no respect for his God, he doesn't gain a friend - just an enemy who now has leverage.

Here's another axiom which proves true over and over: What one generation tolerates, the next generation embraces. Joshua's generation of leaders tolerated the presence of these God-hating, idol-worshipping Canaanites, but the children of that generation embraced their practices. Now we're going to need some relief! And...that's where the judges seen in the remainder of this book come in. Christian parents should be very careful concerning the things they tolerate.

How about some judges? (Judges 2:16-23)

16 ¶ Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so.
18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.
19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
20 ¶ Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice,
21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,
22 so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.”
23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

God gave Israel judges to deliver them from their enemies, but success was only temporary. Israel was always looking for new and improved gods. When they followed God, they were successful. When they rejected God, they failed. We see the purpose of these judges stated plainly in verse 16, "Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them." Verse 19 tells us that each time a judge died, it was back to the false worship. Furthermore, each successive generation, it says, was more corrupt than its ancestors. That's the ol' Adamic nature at work - a propensity to sin. Here's a lesson for parents: Half-hearted service to God begets, for the most part, no service at all.

We see in verses 20-23 that God did not drive the Canaanites out because of the failings of the Hebrews in following fully after God. Those Canaanites remained in the land for God's purposes, as seen in verse 22, "so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not." To express it clearly, the Hebrews had lessons to learn which could only be learned through adversity i.e. the presence of the enemy Canaanites. We begin to get specifics regarding these trials in Judges 3 (see notes).