Judges 3-5
What I Noticed Today (Judges 3-5)
Judges 3
The enemies in the land provided an opportunity for teaching the people about war and testing the people’s willingness to trust God.
In verses 1-6, the Lord left enemies in the land to test the Israelites’ faithfulness to Him and to teach the younger generation to fight:
- The Lord left the five rulers of the Philistines, all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites in the land.
Note: The Israelites were surrounded by pagan enemies in the Promised Land. The Philistines were in the southwest, the Sidonians in the northwest, the Hivites in the northeast, and the Canaanites in the southeast.
- The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves and gave their daughters to them, and they worshipped their gods.
Note: The Israelites’ rebellion against God was gradual. First, they lived among the pagans, then they intermarried with them, and finally, they worshipped the gods of the pagans.
Note: God’s people had to live in the world, but they were not to live like the world. They were to remain separate and obey God. They failed in this by intermarrying with the pagans, and then by abandoning God in order to worship pagan gods.
Note: In these chapters, we see the people of Israel going through cycles of disobedience, discipline, despair, and deliverance – over and over again! Or, if you prefer R’s: relapse, ruin, repentance, restoration, and rest.
Note: We see that cycle demonstrated three times in Judges 3 with God raising up Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar as judges who led Israel for a period of time, but in each case after victory and restoration, the people relapsed.
In verses 7-11, the Lord raised up Othniel as the first judge over Israel:
- The Israelites forgot the Lord their God and worshipped the Baals and Asherahs.
- The Lord sold the Israelites to serve the king of Aram-naharaim for eight years.
- The people cried out, and the Lord raised up Othniel, Caleb’s younger brother, to rescue the people.
- The spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel, and he judged Israel.
- Othniel led the Israelites in battle, and the Lord gave them victory.
- The land had peace for 40 years.
In verses 12-30, the Lord raised up Ehud as the second judge over Israel:
- The Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and He gave them over to Eglon, king of Moab.
- The Israelites served Eglon for 18 years.
- The Israelites cried out to God, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera as a deliverer for the Israelites.
- Ehud killed Eglon with a sword.
- He called the Israelites together and told them the Lord had handed them over to them, so he led them into battle. They killed 10,000 Moabites. The Moabites became the servants of the Israelites.
- The land had peace for 80 years.
Note: The 80 years of peace was the longest period of peace throughout the history of the judges of Israel.
In verse 31, the Lord raised up Shamgar as the third judge over Israel. Shamgar delivered Israel by killing 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.
Note: An oxgoad was 8-10 feet long with a metal tip on one end and a chisel type tip on the other end. It was used to control animals and to clean plows.
Judges 4-5
In Judges 4 & 5, we see yet again that the Israelites did evil in the land, God disciplined them, and they cried out to God.
Judges 4
In Judges 4, the Lord raised up Deborah as the fourth judge over the Israelites:
- After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the sight of the Lord.
- The Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who oppressed them harshly for 20 years.
- This time, the Lord raised up Deborah, who was a prophetess and a judge.
Note: A testimony to the fact that God will use people, men, and women who are faithful to Him.
- Deborah called on their military leader, Barak, to gather his men and get ready for battle, but Barak said he wouldn’t go unless Deborah leads them!
Note: In such a patriarchal culture, it is a testimony to the strength of Deborah’s leadership and her heart for God, He used her to save the people of Israel.
- At Deborah’s direction, Barak assembled an army of 10,000 men at Mount Tabor. On the Lord’s timing, they attacked Sisera’s army.
- The Lord gave them a great victory, and the entire army of Sisera fell by the sword.
- In a similar example, we see where the Lord used Jael, the wife of Heber, to trick Sisera, and she was able to kill him.
- This victory gave the people the courage they needed to gain victory over Jabin, king of Canaan.
Judges 5
Judges 5 is a poetic song recounting the victory of Deborah and Barak over their enemies. It is a song both of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. With Deborah’s victory over Jabin, the land enjoyed rest for 40 years.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- We will continue to see these cycles of discipline, despair, and deliverance as we continue to study the nation of Israel. God loves His people but wants them to obey Him. They do for a while; then they fall away. God disciplines them, and they eventually cry out to God, whereupon God once again saves them and gives them rest for a period of time.
- The Christian church is no different than the Israelites throughout her history. We have had periods of devotion to God! It is followed by disobedience and discipline. Here in the US, it seems we are experiencing a time of disobedience to God. But in other countries around the world, people are experiencing God’s restoration and rest!
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
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Tomorrow: Judges 6-7
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