Judges 1A The Lrd is Captain f His peple He leads us in a variety f ways and thrugh a myriad f circumstances Smetimes He leads in dramatic ways, as a pillar f fire in the desert Smetimes, He leads thrugh a simple instructin like G t a place I will shw yu Tday He leads us by His Wrd and by His Spirit living in each f us And in a day t cme, the Lrd returns t lead His peple in persn in His kingdm n earth But there is ne cmmn denminatr in every case: the Lrd elevates men t participate with Him in leading His peple The patriarchs were called t lead families and tribes Mses and Jshua were called t lead the natin Elders are called t lead the church And the Church will be called t lead the natins during the Kingdm All these leaders perate under the authrity f the Lrd, f curse Nevertheless, they share in the ruling Tday, we begin a new study f Gd leading His peple, the natin f Israel, in an imprtant perid f their histry thrugh a cllectin f peple The bk f Judges cvers a perid f abut 300 years in Israel s histry The bk mves us away frm the perid f Mses and Jshua, when Israel was mving ut f Egypt and int the Prmised Land And the bk f Judges (alng with Ruth) lks frward t the arrival f Israel s kings In that way, Judges serves as a transitin bk 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 2 f 14 It is an epilgue t the times f Israel s desert wanderings and cnquest f Canaan And it s prlgue t the perid f Jewish mnarchy The bk is called Judges, but the title is a bit f a misnmer, since it s really a bk abut military leaders, called captains The bk pens with Jshua dying Jshua was the military leader the Lrd appinted t succeed Mses after Mses died Jshua brught Israel int the Prmised Land and led the natin fr 35 years thrugh a series f military campaigns against the Canaanites In that time, the tribes established a strng presence in the land, But at the time f Jshua s death, Israel had nt yet cnquered it entirely When Jshua dies, the Lrd des nt appint a successr Instead, the Lrd expected each tribe t mve int its appinted territry and cmplete the wrk f taking the land as directed But this desn t mean the Lrd intended fr His peple t perate withut any leadership On the cntrary, the Lrd expected the patriarchal leaders f each tribe t rule ver their respective tribe And f curse, the peple f Israel were t fllw the Lrd accrding t the Law given t Mses The priests wuld perate the temple and instruct the peple The elders f each tribe wuld adjudicate ver the peple And fathers wuld lead their husehlds On ccasin, the tribes wuld encunter a strng enemy in the land, ne they needed t defeat, requiring the appintment f special leadership fr a time In these situatins, the Lrd wuld raise up reginal captains f the peple 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 3 f 14 These leaders wuld pssess the aninting and charisma t unite a tribe r multiple tribes in a campaign t defeat the enemy This ffice f leadership, which ur Bible calls a judge, is nt entirely new In Deuternmy, Mses cmmanded that judges be appinted in every twn t settled civil disputes But the rle f judge after Jshua was expanded The judges in the time fllwing Jshua were men and wmen appinted t ensure Israel accmplished its duty f taking the land Smetimes, these leaders assumed military authrity Other time, they addressed rising apstasy Each judges ruled fr a time and ver a certain number within Israel They were Gd s agents during a time when n single persn was respnsible fr leading the entire natin S the bk traces what happened in Israel when Gd s peple were given a law and in their land with a respnsibility t fllw the Lrd Hw did that wrk ut? D Gd s peple pssess the ability in themselves t fllw the Lrd with their whle heart? Are Gd s prmises fulfilled by the strength f His peple? Or will they cme anther way? The authr f this bk was mst likely the prphet Samuel, wh wrte while Saul was king f Israel Samuel didn t authr the bk f Judges t prvide a cmplete histry f Israel s first three centuries in the land Instead, he wrte a selective recrd fcused n certain events and peple He wanted t explain the later arrival f kings in Israel, including David s ascending ver Saul 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 4 f 14 When Samuel wrte this bk, he knew David was aninted t be the next king S he wrte t explain Israel s circumstances in terms f Gd s prphetic purpses In fact, the Jews placed the bk f Judges amng the prphets in their Bible, nt as amng the histrical bks Since Samuel wrte Judges t explain histry, we need t d a little histrical hmewrk f ur wn We need t understand what cmes immediately befre and after the 300-year perid f Judges Let s start at the end, lking briefly at hw the bk f Judges ends Judg. 21:25 In thse days there was n king in Israel; everyne did what was right in his wn eyes. Yu ve prbably heard this minus ending f the bk f Judges befre Samuel says in thse days there was n king Samuel reminds his readers that Israel didn t always have a king In fact, the natin existed fr ver 350 years in the wilderness and later in the land with n king at all In place f a king, the natin was led by varius men, including tribal elders, prphets, and captains f the army Abve all the peple were ruled by Gd Himself, leading and instructing His peple in the desert and in the land Then Samuel tells us all was nt well with the peple Increasingly, in the years frm Mses until the death f Jshua, the peple did what was right in their wn eyes Samuel s phrase is intentinally irnic The Hebrew wrd translated right is yashar, which literally means acting in an upright manner, a righteus manner Samuel reprts that each Israelite did what was upright...but in their wn eyes 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 5 f 14 This qualificatin serves t cntradict the idea f ding what s right, thus the irny The phrase in their wn eyes is a euphemism meaning acting accrding t ne s wn interests r standards It means lking ut fr #1, ding whatever feels gd Fr example, if I were a Jew living in thse days ding what was right in my wn eyes cncerning the Sabbath, then when I preferred t bserve a Sabbath, I bserved a Sabbath But when I preferred nt t bserve the Sabbath, I didn t I did what I judged was right t d We can immediately see the prblem with this situatin, can t we? In matters f righteusness, there can be nly ne right way: Gd s way As Jesus said t the yung, rich ruler: Luke 18:19 And Jesus said t him, Why d yu call Me gd? N ne is gd except Gd alne. By ur sinful nature, when we d as we chse, we sin Only Gd has a gd nature, s nly Gd des gd That s why we need Gd s righteusness assigned t us by faith S if everyne in Israel is ding what is right accrding t their wn standards, then n ne is ding what is truly right at all They might have beyed Gd s standard n ccasin, but nly when it suited them In general, they lived withut cncern fr righteusness, living nly fr themselves And as a result, the peple did nt bey and did nt achieve what Gd asked And remember, Samuel s cmmentary cmes at the very end f the bk f Judges In ther wrds, the perid f judges ver Israel didn t crrect fr this prblem 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 6 f 14 The prblem persisted thrughut the perid, as Samuel bserves at the end f the bk Such was the state f the Jewish peple in the years leading up t the mnarchy Gd gave Israel leaders And they pssessed the Law f Gd and enjyed the presence f Gd in the temple Nevertheless, the peple were driven by their flesh and lived in increasingly unrighteus ways Yet at the same time, they judged themselves t be upright even as they sinned S Samuel wrte this accunt t demnstrate the ineffectiveness f human judges Lcal, temprary leaders culd nt bring Israel int righteus living In the end, each persn judged himself righteus even as he sinned The peple needed a ruler strng enugh t lead the entire natin Of curse, Gd Himself is that Ruler But befre we can fully understanding the need fr Messiah s rule, it s helpful t appreciate that all ther ptins fail Human leaders are inadequate, including the judges S as we enter ur study, we must recgnize that Gd never intended His judges t bring righteusness t Israel Like the Law itself, the judges nly served t reveal the unrighteusness f Israel Having seen the ending, lets g back in time t the mment right befre the perid f judges begins, in the final chapter f Jshua Beginning with Jshua s speech t the peple shrtly befre his death 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 7 f 14 Jsh. 24:1 Then Jshua gathered all the tribes f Israel t Shechem, and called fr the elders f Israel and fr their heads and their judges and their fficers; and they presented themselves befre Gd. Jsh. 24:2 Jshua said t all the peple, Thus says the LORD, the Gd f Israel, Frm ancient times yur fathers lived beynd the River, namely, Terah, the father f Abraham and the father f Nahr, and they served ther gds. Jsh. 24:3 Then I tk yur father Abraham frm beynd the River, and led him thrugh all the land f Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. Jsh. 24:4 T Isaac I gave Jacb and Esau, and t Esau I gave Munt Seir t pssess it; but Jacb and his sns went dwn t Egypt. Jsh. 24:5 Then I sent Mses and Aarn, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brught yu ut. Jsh. 24:6 I brught yur fathers ut f Egypt, and yu came t the sea; and Egypt pursued yur fathers with charits and hrsemen t the Red Sea. Jsh. 24:7 But when they cried ut t the LORD, He put darkness between yu and the Egyptians, and brught the sea upn them and cvered them; and yur wn eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And yu lived in the wilderness fr a lng time. Jsh. 24:8 Then I brught yu int the land f the Amrites wh lived beynd the Jrdan, and they fught with yu; and I gave them int yur hand, and yu tk pssessin f their land when I destryed them befre yu. Jsh. 24:9 Then Balak the sn f Zippr, king f Mab, arse and fught against Israel, and he sent and summned Balaam the sn f Ber t curse yu. Jsh. 24:10 But I was nt willing t listen t Balaam. S he had t bless yu, and I delivered yu frm his hand. Jsh. 24:11 Yu crssed the Jrdan and came t Jerich; and the citizens f Jerich fught against yu, and the Amrite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus I gave them int yur hand. Jsh. 24:12 Then I sent the hrnet befre yu and it drve ut the tw kings f the Amrites frm befre yu, but nt by yur swrd r yur bw. Jsh. 24:13 I gave yu a land n which yu had nt labred, and cities which yu had nt built, and yu have lived in them; yu are eating f vineyards and live grves which yu did nt plant. Shrtly befre Jshua died, he called the leaders f Israel tgether in Shechem, the traditinal hme f the patriarchs in the land Ntice Israel had elders, heads r leaders f tribes, judges and fficers f the military These leaders cllectively were led by Jshua, but nw the time was cming fr Jshua t die 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 8 f 14 And in preparatin fr that mment, Jshua recunts briefly the histry f the peple leading up t this mment Jshua explained that Israel s fathers have lived frm ancient times beynd Jrdan in Ur These men served ther gds until the Lrd tk Abraham and brught him int Canaan He granted Abraham a sn and multiplied his peple Later the peple when dwn int Egypt, where they were kept in custdy under slavery fr hundreds f years Later, the Lrd plagues Egypt and brught the peple ut f slavery He defeated the frces f Pharah in the sea And this same generatin, nw ld like Jshua, saw these very things happen as children Then in v.8 Jshua mves t telling the stry f their cnquest ver the land under Jshua s leadership Beginning with the Amrites n the far side f Jrdan, Jshua s frces defeated strnger frces just as Gd prmised Even when a king tried t have a prphet curse the peple, the Lrd s peple prevailed And the Lrd ensured the peple received a blessing instead Then they crssed the Jrdan and defeated the strng city f Jerich And alng with Jerich, they defeated the ther Canaanite peple in the land All the while, the peple faced an entrenched and pwerful enemy Nevertheless, ne by ne, the peple pushed the Canaanites ut f the land Gd had prmised t Abraham s descendants And they achieved these victries by the pwer f the Gd wh lead them, Jshua reminds the peple 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 9 f 14 It wasn t by the strength f Israel s army that they wn these victries The Lrd used ridiculus methds, like hrns and hrnets, t win the battles And because the Lrd allwed the Canaanites t live in the land befrehand, the peple f Israel came upn a land ready fr their use The cities had been built The wells dug The fields planted, the vineyards ready, the live grves tended The wild animals driven ut The Lrd did all these things fr His peple because He lves them and hnrs His prmises t them What an amazing testimny f Gd And the reality f all that Gd has dne fr His peple leads Jshua t ne, unavidable cnclusin Jsh. 24:14 Nw, therefre, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gds which yur fathers served beynd the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Jsh. 24:15 If it is disagreeable in yur sight t serve the LORD, chse fr yurselves tday whm yu will serve: whether the gds which yur fathers served which were beynd the River, r the gds f the Amrites in whse land yu are living; but as fr me and my huse, we will serve the LORD. Hw many f us have v.15 n a placard smewhere in yur huse? But hw many f us have the whle verse prperly quted? The entire cntext makes clear that Jshua has his dubts abut this peple He asks sarcastically that is after all the Lrd has dne the peple find it disagreeable t serve the Lrd, then chse anther gd Maybe the gds their fathers served beynd the Euphrates 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 10 f 14 Or perhaps the false gds f the Amrites n the east side f the Jrdan But Jshua says his huse will serve the Lrd That statement is the part f v.15 that we knw s well, but cnsider what Jshua is saying He s saying that the peple were making chices f what was right in their wn eyes There were differing views f which gd t serve, despite the histry they had knwn Many f these peple were present fr the parting f the Red Sea and all that fllwed Yet they were willing t cnsider ther gds Therefre, Jshua s statement is a crack in the wall f Israel s faithfulness, revealing what lay ahead fr the peple These peple are prne t wander just as Mses said They rebelled under Mses leadership And their wandering hearts are shwing themselves again Still the peple, answer Jshua much like they did Mses at the muntain Jsh. 24:16 The peple answered and said, Far be it frm us that we shuld frsake the LORD t serve ther gds; Jsh. 24:17 fr the LORD ur Gd is He wh brught us and ur fathers up ut f the land f Egypt, frm the huse f bndage, and wh did these great signs in ur sight and preserved us thrugh all the way in which we went and amng all the peples thrugh whse midst we passed. Jsh. 24:18 The LORD drve ut frm befre us all the peples, even the Amrites wh lived in the land. We als will serve the LORD, fr He is ur Gd. They state unequivcally that they will serve the Lrd wh brught them int the land The wrds sund right, but we knw frm their histry that wrds are cheap 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 11 f 14 Fllwing their prfessin f bedience, Jshua respnds in a way similar t Mses frm an earlier generatin Jsh. 24:19 Then Jshua said t the peple, Yu will nt be able t serve the LORD, fr He is a hly Gd. He is a jealus Gd; He will nt frgive yur transgressin r yur sins. Jsh. 24:20 If yu frsake the LORD and serve freign gds, then He will turn and d yu harm and cnsume yu after He has dne gd t yu. Jsh. 24:21 The peple said t Jshua, N, but we will serve the LORD. Jsh. 24:22 Jshua said t the peple, Yu are witnesses against yurselves that yu have chsen fr yurselves the LORD, t serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. Jsh. 24:23 Nw therefre, put away the freign gds which are in yur midst, and incline yur hearts t the LORD, the Gd f Israel. Jsh. 24:24 The peple said t Jshua, We will serve the LORD ur Gd and we will bey His vice. Jsh. 24:25 S Jshua made a cvenant with the peple that day, and made fr them a statute and an rdinance in Shechem. Jsh. 24:26 And Jshua wrte these wrds in the bk f the law f Gd; and he tk a large stne and set it up there under the ak that was by the sanctuary f the LORD. Jsh. 24:27 Jshua said t all the peple, Behld, this stne shall be fr a witness against us, fr it has heard all the wrds f the LORD which He spke t us; thus it shall be fr a witness against yu, s that yu d nt deny yur Gd. Jsh. 24:28 Then Jshua dismissed the peple, each t his inheritance. Jshua s dubt in their prfessin is clearly evident in his respnse He tells them they will nt be able t serve Gd as they prmise, because He wn t frgive their sins Why des Jshua say they wn t gain Gd s frgiveness? Because nce they frsake the Lrd t wrship ther Gd s, which Jshua knws is cming, they will have repeated the sin f their fathers at the muntain And as they break the cvenant, they sin And there is n frgiveness fr the sin f idlatry under the Old Cvenant Nevertheless, the peple persist in claiming they will bey the cvenant, s Jshua renews the cvenant f the Law with this peple Just as Mses renewed the cvenant befre his death, s Jshua des the same 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 12 f 14 He wrte dwn their agreement and set up a marker stne t remind the peple f their prmise The marker was placed under the same ak where Abraham set up his altar And it s in this same place where Jacb buried his idls In fact, a large standing stne matching this descriptin has been fund in Shechem S why des Jshua institute this mment befre his death? Because he knws that fllwing his death, the Lrd will nt appint a new natinal leader ver Israel The majr campaigns f war t enter the land have been fught The peple have entered successfully And their enemies fear them greatly All that remains is fr the varius tribes t mve int the land they have been given and settle that land as the Lrd prmised And nce settled, the peple wuld pssess the land the Lrd prmised in safety Prvided they cntinued in the cvenant the Lrd gave them thrugh Mses As the peple fllwed the Lrd thrugh His law, they wuld enjy the fruit f His prmises But they must d these things absent a strng, aninted leader with the pwer t cmpel bedience and deal with the rebellius Despite Jshua s suspicins, the natin seemed t succeed fr a time after his death As the end f the bk reprts Jsh. 24:29 It came abut after these things that Jshua the sn f Nun, the servant f the LORD, died, being ne hundred and ten years ld. Jsh. 24:30 And they buried him in the territry f his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill cuntry f Ephraim, n the nrth f Munt Gaash. 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 13 f 14 Jsh. 24:31 Israel served the LORD all the days f Jshua and all the days f the elders wh survived Jshua, and had knwn all the deeds f the LORD which He had dne fr Israel. Jsh. 24:32 Nw they buried the bnes f Jseph, which the sns f Israel brught up frm Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece f grund which Jacb had bught frm the sns f Hamr the father f Shechem fr ne hundred pieces f mney; and they became the inheritance f Jseph s sns. Jsh. 24:33 And Eleazar the sn f Aarn died; and they buried him at Gibeah f Phinehas his sn, which was given him in the hill cuntry f Ephraim. Jshua dies at 110 and his life s testimny was that under his leadership, the peple f Israel served the Lrd That desn t mean Israel lived perfectly r withut sin It means they didn t fall t serving ther gds They remained true t wrshipping Yahweh and n ther gd Jshua s leadership was largely respnsible fr this faithfulness As the peple may have had reasn t stray, Jshua put dwn rebellins And just his strength f leadership was a deterrent t rebellin Mrever, v.31 says that the peple culd remember the deeds f the Lrd in bringing them ut f Egypt That memry helped keep them faithful as well All this time they were carrying the bnes f Jseph wh asked t be buried in the land It was a tangible reminder that they were still a peple seeking their hme and the Lrd was leading them Finally, the High Priest f the Exdus, Eleazar, dies as well He ruled at the right hand f Jshua And alng with the elders f Israel, he knew the wrks f Gd S Jshua s bk ends with three burials: Jshua, Jseph and Eleazar 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Judges 1A 14 f 14 With their passing, the natin entered a new perid, which judges explains A perid when men begin t d what is right in their wn eyes And yet the Lrd has nt frsaken His peple S next week we begin t study hw He rules ver His peple during these 300 years f histry 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.