Transcendence 4

Nine: Raising Up Judges

The Lord was very angry with his chosen people for how they were living, mindlessly making decisions to live against his commands. Even though it was a new generation, even though they had no specific leader, and even though they had been getting by with disobedience for many years, God was angry! The many many reminders of how they should live went ignored. God wanted to protect them, to bless them, but He knew they were becoming the opposite of the people he wanted them to be. 

The time was up, their choices of turning their back on Him had went on too long. As a consequence of their disobedience, He allowed suffering to come. 

The suffering, through battles, oppression, sickness, and other things became unbearable. In time, when things grew really terrible, the Israelites understood what was happening and turned their attention back to God in desperation. The Lord loved them, He wanted to continue to bless them, He believed in their repentance. He found compassion for them when they groaned under affliction and oppression. He wanted to save his people, He wanted to protect them, and He wanted to give them chance after chance to choose Him. 

God knew his people needed a leader.  He decided to raise up Judges to rescue them. These chosen children who grew into strong courageous men were not going to be judges like we know today. They would not be known for court cases, but for their military campaigns against foreign invaders. These 'Judges' were freedom fighters. When the Lord raised up a child to become a Judge for them, He was with the judge and gave him the blessing to save the Israelites out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived. The judge would lead them through battles and God crushed his enemies and protected them all.

But, just as before, when the judge died the people quickly returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers. Generation after generation, this same pattern continued. God would choose and raise up a judge, and once He died they fell back into their wicked and sinful ways. They began to follow other gods, serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil stubborn ways. Time and time again, over many many years, this continued to happen.  God became very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them the nations Joshua left when he died. I will instead use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord. 

(The generations who had grew up in the promised land had not known warfare like their forefathers had. God would use the nations who were left living in the land to test and teach those generations who had no previous battle experience. They were there to test the Israelites to see if they would obey the Lord's commands. These nations were Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, Amorites, and Hittites who were never drove out of the promised land. Also living nearby in the Lebanon mountains were the five rulers of Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites. )

The Israelites took the daughters of the nations living among them in marriage and gave their own daughters over to their sons. They also served their gods. (There was a very important reason why God did not want the nations to intermarry. Ethnic differences were not the issue , in fact Ruth, a non-Jew married into a Jewish family with full acceptance. But Ruth accepted the God of Israel. When mixed marriages meant mixed religions, they diluted faith in the one true God!)

Over and over when the Lord chose a judge among the Israelites, and raised him up, this judge, or freedom fighter, saved them out of the hands of raiders. The Lord was with him and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived, but when the judge died the people returned to ways even more corrupt that those of their fathers. They wouldn't change their ways, and continued to prostitute themselves out to worship other gods. They refused to give up their evil practices. They eventually forgot the Lord their God and served Baal and the Asherahs.

The anger of the Lord burned against Israel and He allowed Cushan-Rishathaim who was the king of Aram Naharaim to take them over. They were subject to that king for eight long years!

Finally, again, the Israelites cried out and God sent them a deliverer. Othniel, son of Kenaz (which was Caleb's younger brother) saved them. The spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel and he went to war with the king of Aram Naharaim and the Lord gave them into his hands.

The land of the Israelites had peace after that war for 40 years, that was until Othniel died.

After his death, once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. Eglon got the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him and he attacked Israel. They took possession of the city of Palms. The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years! (Eighteen years! )

Again, the Israelites cried out to the Lord and he again gave them another judge, a deliverer - his name was Ehud the son of Gera a Benjamite. When Ehud went to the Moab king he carried with him a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long that he had made. He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothing. First Ehud presented the king with a tribute, as a way to appease him because he was a very fat man. This was to gain his trust. Later he returned to the him while he was in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a secret message, O king. It is a message from God for you." The king promptly sent away all his attendants so that he could listen to what Ehud had to say.

As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and lunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. Ehud then went out to the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind himself, then locked them.

After he had gone the servants went and found the doors locked. They waited for a long while thinking the king wanted to be alone, but finally after some time they unlocked the doors and found the king dead on the floor. Their waiting gave Ehud enough time to get away. When Ehud made it to Seirah he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim and the Israelites went down with him. "Follow me, " he ordered, "for the Lord has given Moab into your hands." So they followed him, and struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong, not a man escaped. That day Moab was made subject to Israel.

The land from that day had peace for eighty years.

(Life Question: Have you noticed when you get away with a tiny thing, maybe a small lie, or not doing something you should have, that the next time committing the sin gets a little easer? In the case of the Israelites, they fell back when they knew God was blessing them, they got comfortable and lazy. They maybe skipped worshiping Him, or maybe they got away with worshiping another god from their neighbors.  But when there was no noticeable punishment for a small sin they continued to sin in bigger ways, maybe they thought they really got away with it. But, they didn't, God noticed!  He purposefully blessed them with many peaceful years, in hopes they would choose him. Punishment only came after He gave them many chances to change.  Do you choose to do the right thing even when you think no one is watching or when you think no one will know?  God always knows. )