Judges

Notes

  • Israel's weakness
he history we read in the Book of Judges bears this out.
The "plot" of Judges pivots on the Israelites’ repeated fall into the snare of idolatry, their giving in to the worship of the gods of the Canaanites. The entire book, in fact, is built on this "testing" of Israel’s faithfulness to its covenant with God.
The narrator of Judges tells us that God allowed the pagans to remain in the Promised Land precisely to test Israel’s faithfulness to its covenant - "so that through them [the pagans left in the land] He might….put Israel to the test, to determine whether they would obey the commandments the Lord had enjoined on their fathers through Moses" (seeJudges 3:1,4).
Joshua had foreseen Israel’s weakness. At the end of his life, like Moses, he called on Israel to renew its covenant with God (see Joshua 24:13-28). He told the people they must choose - "decide today whom you will serve - the gods your fathers served beyond the river [Jordan] or the gods of the Amorites in whose countries you are dwelling" (see Joshua 24:15).
But like Moses, Joshua also predicted they wouldn’t be able to keep the covenant (seeJoshua 24:19; compare Deuteronomy 31:16,24-29).
He was right. Israel failed the test. That’s the message of Judges. That’s why the history we read there seems to repeat itself in a sad cycle of sin, punishment, repentance, forgiveness, and backsliding into sin again.



Summary


  • Israel's weakness




Questions


  1. What happened to Isreal after the death of Joshua?
  2. What are the five point sin cycle to which the Isrealites fell?
  3. How are we to understand idolatry?
  4. God has sent His angels, what role does the angel play?
  5. Name the judges of Israel.




Answers




Bibliography

Reading Judges

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