Essential 100—Read:
Judges 2:6-23, 3:1-6
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel…They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him…In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them…. They were in great distress…Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.” ~Judges 2:10-16
Judges—the seventh book of the Old Testament—stands in stark contrast to the book of Joshua, which tells the story of a courageous leader and a faithful nation conquering their Promised Land through their trust in, dependence on and obedience to God. Sadly, what you see in Judges is what happens when a nation, void of godly leadership, disobeys and strays from the call of God. And it ain’t a pretty picture!
In Judges we find several distinct cycles of sin to salvation and salvation to sin, repeated over and over again from the time of Joshua’s departure to the arrival of the great judge and prophet, Samuel. As you read story after story, you will feel like someone has pushed the repeat button as God’s people keep following this pattern:
Disobedience: Israel wanders from obedience and falls into idolatry, corruption and other patterns of waywardness.
Discipline: After a period of time where God gives Israel a long leash, he begins to discipline them through the cruel domination and subjugation of other nations. Under the yoke of oppression, Israel finally begins to cry out to God in repentance.
Deliverance: God raises up military champions who lead Isael to victory over their enemies. These military leaders then rule or judge Israel during their lifetimes, restoring the nation to pure worship and obedience to God.
Unfortunately, the people of God are slow learners, continually trading in obedience to God and the freedom and prosperity it brings for “that which is right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) So God punishes his people by letting them fall again into the hands of oppressing nations. And once again, Israel cries out to God in repentance, so he raises up a military champion to deliver them. Yet they fall into sin again, and so on the sad cycle repeats itself. As you read Judges, you get this same song, second verse deal happening all the way through the book.
Theologically, however, this otherwise depressing account show a couple of very important truths:
One, sin always leads to suffering. That message was seen before Judges, and you will run into it again all the way forward to Revelation. We need to remember that sin always has devastating consequences. But on the other hand…
Two, repentance always leads to restoration. Even though we might be faithless and disobedient, God is covenantly faithful—always—lovingly and longingly ready to restore the truly repentant. Every time Israel humbly and authentically repents, God patiently forgives and graciously restores.
I suppose the story of Judges is really the story of your life—and mine. Don’t we, too, fall into that same cycle of disobedience, discipline and deliverance? Haven’t you found, like Israel, that sin always leads to suffering, but in repentance, you always meet a restoring God? And wouldn’t it be so much easier to learn from Israel’s story and break that crazy cycle by wisely skipping the sin and suffering part and simply living in the restoration of a repentant lifestyle?
I think that’s why we have Judges. That’s what God wants us to know.
“No price is too high to have a free conscience before God.” ~Francis Schaeffer
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