– Preface: The Degeneration of Israel	Judges 1 – 3:7
– Mingling with the Nations to be Dispossessed	Judges 1 – 2:5
– The Breach with Jehovah	Judges 2:6 – 3:7

 

 

Judges 1. Judges 1 marks the beginning of Israel’s decline. Outwardly all seemed well after Joshua’s death, but seeds of failure quickly appeared: Judah leaned on Simeon instead of God; worldly ways were evidenced among them; retaliation replaced obedience; iron chariots struck fear in their hearts. The Canaanites were first tolerated, then allowed to dwell among them, and finally came to dominate them. Verses 21-35 trace this step-by-step decline: what began as compromise soon deepened until God’s people were enslaved by the very nations they should have dispossessed. Declension is gradual, but before God it is also sudden, for the moral state is already lost. Ruin is only the final stage of the process, as seen in the contrast between Ephesus (declension) and Laodicea (ruin). In Ephesus they were already a “fallen” church. For the Church, collective restoration is no longer possible, but individual faith, like that of Caleb and Othniel, still shines. God still raises up “Calebs” and thirsty souls like Achsah who long for heavenly springs.

 

 

vv.1-3 Judah Goes with Simeon. The book opens with the words, “Now after the death of Joshua”. This is the key to the whole history of Judges. The power of the Spirit of Christ, typified in Joshua, was no longer present in their midst. When the people inquired who should first go up against the Canaanites, the Lord designates Judah. Perhaps this is a signal of God’s intention to have Judah as the administrative leader. The answer was clear and simple: Judah could count on God’s faithfulness. Yet we see that their faith was already mixed with weakness. Instead of relying solely on Jehovah, Judah turns to Simeon for help. To insist on another’s company in laying hold of our blessings is to lose the simplicity of faith and to lean on the arm of flesh. Though Judah did not ally himself with the enemy, he leaned on human association. This was the seed of decline that steepens in the course of the chapter. Alliances, even under a good pretext, are a mistrust of God. We do not have to look far in church history to see that alliances with the world have been a common feature in Christendom. 

 

 

vv.4-7 Adoni-Bezek. Judah and Simeon won a notable victory, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hand. Yet their treatment of Adoni-bezek shows the evidence of worldly methods rather than simple subjection to divine instruction. Instead of following Joshua’s example of executing the kings as God commanded (Josh. 10:24-26), they cut off his thumbs and great toes. This was a mutilation Adoni-bezek himself had practiced on his enemies, as a form of humiliation. This was not God’s judgment but mere human retaliation, allowing fleshly anger, which characterizes the world, to influence the people of God. This stamped the victory with man’s glory rather than God’s. Even Adoni-bezek discerned God’s hand in judgment more clearly than Israel, bowing to it in a way that was, in a sense, more righteous than his captors; “as I have done, so God has requited me”. In church history we see the same tendency: the Church adopting worldly methods to display her victories. In a practical application, Satan still seeks to reduce believers to the condition of those seventy kings: robbing us of our “great thumbs” so we cannot hold fast, and of our “great toes” so we cannot stand fast.

v.8 Taking of Jerusalem. Judah captured Jerusalem and burned it. Yet later (v.21) the Jebusites reappear, dwelling there with Benjamin. This shows how resilient the enemy was when Israel’s faith was weak: what was once conquered in power later resurfaces when dependence on God is lacking. The Jebusites were not finally conquered until David took Jerusalem.

 

 

vv.9-11 The Judean Hill Country: Hebron and Debir. Next, Judah advanced against Hebron and Debir, though Joshua 15 attributes this to Caleb. Caleb’s individual faith and energy so marked his tribe that Judah’s victory bore his stamp. This is a theme in the book of Judges: collective strength often reflects the faith of individuals. We see the same in Church history: e.g. Athanasius, Martin Luther, etc.

 

 

vv.12-15 Othniel and Achsah. Caleb’s faith inspired Othniel, who arose to take Kirjath-sepher, “the city of books”, and received Achsah as his wife. This is a prime example of the power of individual faithfulness to encourage others in a day of decline, just as faithfulness in Caleb stimulated spiritual energy in Othniel. It is a good example too of a healthy interchange between older and younger generations; “whose faith follow”. This account is given twice, which shows us that individual faithfulness is needed both in bright days of victory (Josh. 15) and in dark days of decline (here in Judges). Achsah desired more than the dry “south land,” and asked of her father springs of water. Caleb granted her both upper and lower springs! Her thirst for blessing is a wonderful example. Do we value or spiritual inheritance? When we seek a partner in life, is it our priority to find one who has a thirst for the Word of God?

 

 

v.16 The Kenites. The children of the Kenite, related to Moses, went up from Jericho to dwell with Judah. They were not children of Abraham, but (like Rahab and others) they left the world to cast their lot with God’s people. From the Kenites came faithful witnesses such as the Rechabites, who centuries later in Jeremiah’s day still bore Nazarite character in the midst of ruin. Yet even they are not exempt from failure (e.g. Heber the Kenite, Judges 4).

 

vv.17-20 Other Judean Victories, but Signs of Decline. Judah and Simeon then destroyed Zephath, and “Jehovah was with Judah”. Yet they failed to possess the valleys because of the Canaanites’ iron chariots. We can learn a lesson from this. Judah’s relying on alliances led to fear before worldly strength. The did not view the Lord rightly as their strength. What are iron chariots to Jehovah? Mistrust of God leads to intimidation by the world. Caleb, by contrast, expels the Anakim from his portion. Again, we see that times of collective failure become opportunities for individual faithfulness. Caleb had the privilege of driving out the same enemies that Israel had feared in unbelief (see Numbers 19). 

 

v.21 Benjamin’s Failure to Drive out the Jebusites. Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem, and they dwell there “unto this day.” What had been conquered by Judah (v.8) resurfaced through Benjamin’s weakness.

 

vv.22-26 The House of Joseph Takes Bethel. Joseph captured Bethel through the traitorous action of a Canaanite citizen. But this was not done by faith as in the case of Rahab at Jericho. Here the man betrayed the city in exchange for his life, only to depart and rebuild Luz among the Hittites. By contrast, Rahab identified herself with the people of God when given the opportunity, casting in her lot with them by faith. This man turned away and went back into the world.

 

 

vv.27-28 Manasseh’s Failure: the Canaanite Pays Tribute. Manasseh failed to drive out the Canaanites; instead, when they are strong, they put them to tribute. This is ruling the world, not separating from it. It reminds us of the history of the Church, especially in the time of Thyatira: instead of separating from the world, it took a place of ruling the world. But this was not faith, and it led to compromise. Notice the progression of worldliness:

 

v.29 Ephraim’s Failure: Canaanite Dwells Among Them. Ephraim allowed the Canaanites to dwell among them. Notes the shift: no longer is it the world among God’s people by force, but God’s people voluntarily dwelling with the world.

 

v.30 Zebulon’s Failure: Canaanite Dwells Among Them. Zebulun likewise failed to drive out the Canaanites, allowing them to remain in their midst under tribute. This is the progressive integration of the world into the people of God. What should have been expelled is instead accommodated. This was in direct disobedience to the Lord’s word: “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods” (Ex. 23:32). Israel had already erred with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9, and now the same principle is seen again with the Canaanites in Zebulun’s territory (Judg. 1:30). What began as compromise soon hardened into coexistence with evil.

 

 

vv.31-32 Asher’s Failure: Dwell Among the Canaanite. Asher went even further than Zebulon: they dwelled among the Canaanites. The distinction between God’s people and the world is nearly erased.

 

 

v.33 Naphtali’s Failure: Become Tributaries to the Canaanite. Naphtali also dwelled among the Canaanites, though subjecting them to tribute. Again, compromise rather than faith characterized their conduct.

 

 

vv.34-36 Dan’s Failure: Forced Out of Their Possession. The enemy forced the children of Dan into the mountain, depriving them of their inheritance: “for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley.” Here decline reaches its lowest point: not only did Israel fail to drive out the enemy, but the enemy drove Israel back. This is always the outcome of worldliness: Satan robs the believer of the enjoyment of their inheritance when compromise is allowed. In Ahab’s reign, the Syrians said that God was “the God of the hills but not the God of the valleys” (1 Kings 20:28). The hills are the high places of theology, where we know the doctrine. The valley is the place where fields are plowed and sown, where houses are built, and where businesses are run. The valley is the place where the Christian life is played out. The enemy would like to force us up into a position where we only talk about spiritual things and hold them as theory, but never put them into practice. If Satan can keep us up in the hills he will have nothing to worry about. But we are glad to know that God is God of the hills and of the valleys. He is able to sustain us not only in what we profess, but in the everyday realities of living out our faith.

 

vv.1-5 Bochim. Judges 2 opens with the angel of Jehovah leaving Gilgal, the place of circumcision and self-judgment, where Israel’s victories had been secured, and going up to Bochim, the place of weeping. Gilgal had been neglected, and with it the secret of strength was lost. Gilgal represents self-judgment: the daily application of the cross of Christ, where the flesh is judged in the light of His death. Bochim, by contrast, means “weeping” or “sadness.” When self-judgment is neglected, the Lord may bring in trials and chastisement to produce tears and draw His people back to Himself. Thus the book of Joshua is characterized by Gilgal, the place of power through separation, while the book of Judges is characterized by Bochim, the place of sorrow over failure. The angel’s searching question, “Why have ye done this?” seemed to reach the conscience of Israel. It was they who had broken the covenant by choosing idols over Jehovah’s presence (ref. Josh 24:21, “Nay; but we will serve the LORD”). They wept and sacrificed, and God in grace accepted their offerings at Bochim. However, tears cannot recover forfeited strength. So too in the history of the Church: once worldliness was collectively embraced, collective restoration was impossible, yet God still preserved a remnant who, in acknowledging the ruin, sighed and cried before Him, awaiting the true Judge and Deliverer.