Introduction: The book of Judges tells of the great exploits of Israel’s judges, who were heroic leaders God raised up to lead Israel after the death of Joshua until the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy. Of all the books of the Bible, none are anymore illustrative of the waywardness of the people of God or of God’s long-suffering with His people.
Judges 1:1 — With Moses and his successor Joshua both dead, Israel found itself, for the first time since its exodus from Egypt, without a divinely appointed human leader. Still, despite the fact that their leaders were gone, the people themselves were determined to go on!
Rather than picking out their own leaders by popular opinion, God’s people should pray for God to point out His picked out leaders for them.
Judges 1:2 — It was no coincidence, but Divine Providence, that Judah, which was not only the largest and strongest tribe of Israel, but also the royal and Messianic tribe, was chosen by God to lead His people in the completion of their conquest of Canaan.
We have here an Old Testament illustration of the New Testament truth that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), in that Israel commenced its conquest of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, whose name is the Old Testament equivalent of Jesus, and completed its conquest of Canaan under the leadership Judah, the royal and messianic tribe of Israel, through which Jesus, Israel’s King and Messiah, came into the world.
Judges 1:3-4 — It is with their fellows that the people of God should fight their foes.
When the army of God joins its forces it becomes a far more formidable force for Christ and a far more formidable foe to Canaanites; that is, its enemies.
Judges 1:5-7 — Without his thumbs and big toes Adoni-bezek could no longer wield a sword or take a stand against Israel. This once powerful Canaanite king, thanks to the divine reciprocity of Israel’s righteous God, no longer posed any threat at all to any of God’s people.
Life is an echo. What you dish out to others will be served up to you.
Judges 1:8 — Israel’s initial conquest of Jerusalem is singled out here for its significance, since it, the temporary city of God and of God’s people on earth, serves as a symbol of the New Jerusalem, the eternal city of God and of God’s people in Heaven. (Revelation 21:2-27)
We read here of Israel’s initial conquest of Jerusalem by the tribes of Judah and Simeon. However, it was retaken, reoccupied, and rebuilt by the Jebusites, who neither Judah nor Benjamin were able to drive from the land. It was not until the time of King David that Israel finally overthrew the Jebusites and occupied Jerusalem as its capital city. (Judges 1:21; 2 Samuel 5:6-10)
Judges 1:9-10 — Unlike the ten unfaithful spies, who not only cowered before the Anakim, but also dissuaded and discouraged Israel from stepping foot into Hebron, Judah charged into Hebron and conquered its giants and its three mighty Anakim princes. (Numbers 13:1-33)
Judah was led in its prevailing over the giants of Hebron and in its taking possession of Hebron by Caleb, to whom Moses had promised it and to whom Joshua gave it, because of Caleb’s fearless faith that he could take it. (Joshua 14:6-15; 15:13:14)
Judges 1:11-13 — Caleb promised his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever conquered and captured Debir. Othniel, Caleb’s nephew, as well as Israel’s first judge, won Achsah’s hand by heroically whipping Debir and handing it over to Caleb. (Joshua 15:15-17)
Othniel is important, not only as a transitional figure—the first of the twelve judges God raised up to lead Israel after the deaths of Moses and Joshua—but also as a symbolic figure. His name meant “God is my strength,” and according to Judges 3:10, it was the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him that strengthen him to defeat the Mesopotamians and deliver Israel from the oppressive hand of Chushan-risathaim, the Mesopotamian king. Thus, Othniel exemplifies for us the Scriptural truth that great exploits for God are never done by our might or power, but only by God’s Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).
Judges 1:14-15 — In the dry and arid wilderness of this world, you should pray to your Heavenly Father for upper and lower springs, so that you will be preserved for your coming life above, as well as through both the highs and lows of your current life below. (Joshua 15:18-19)
I thirsted in the barren land of sin and shame,
And nothing satisfying there I found;
But to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came,
Where springs of living water did abound. (John Peterson)
Achsah’s request to her earthly father is a good example of how we should pray to our Heavenly Father.
- It was for a need, not a greed.
- It was a specific request, not high-sounding rhetoric.
- It was in agreement with Othniel, her husband, as our prayers should be in agreement with others, our brothers and sisters in Christ (Matthew 18:19).
- It was for a blessing, not a bauble.
- It was not only grounded on, but also in gratitude for a past blessing, as our prayers should be grounded on and in gratitude for past blessings.
- And it was not only answered, but answered above and beyond what was asked or imagined (Ephesians 3:20).
Judges 1:16 — The Kenite descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, thanks to their amenable assimilation and absorption into Israel’s culture, were allowed to live among the Israelites in Canaan.
“Immigration without assimilation is an invasion.” (Bobby Jindal)
Judges 1:17-19 — Despite fantastic success elsewhere, such as the southern city of Zephath, the coastal cities of Gaza, Askelon, and Elton, as well as among the inhabitants of the hills, Judah was fought to a stalemate by the people on the plain, because they had iron chariots.
Obviously, iron chariots are no match for omnipotence, neither for angelic chariots of fire, but when God’s people suffer their fears to overcome their faith, they will fail to prevail over all of their foes or to take possession of all that God has promised them.
Judges 1:20 — Caleb, unlike Judah, whose fears overcame their faith, preventing them from overcoming iron chariots, had a faith that overcame his fears, enabling him to overcome giants, such as the three terrifying sons of Anak.
It’s whether or not your faith is an overcoming faith that determines whether you will run from chariots or rout giants. (1 John 5:4)
Judges 1:21 — Jerusalem was not only located on the border between Judah and Benjamin, but also divided between the two tribes. Yet, the Jebusites continued to dwell in it, because neither Judah nor Benjamin could ever completely drive them out of it.
Israel’s inability to rid Jerusalem of its insolent inhabitants explains the Jebusites’ taunting of King David, by whom they were finally conquered and Jerusalem finally captured. (2 Samuel 5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 11:4-9)
Judges 1:22-26 — It is he who knows and shares with others the way into Bethel, which means “the house of God,” who will, along with his family, be saved and shown mercy.
Bethel’s sole spared Canaanite soon left with his family to go to live with the Hittites, because he was never really an Israelite, just as all today who eventually go out from the house of God were never really part of the people of God. (1 John 2:19)
Judges 1:27-36 — The first chapter of Judges sorrowfully concludes with Israel no longer conquering the Canaanites, but capitulating to them, as well as coexisting and compromising with them.
We will never possess God’s promises to us in Christ, just as Israel never did God’s promises to them in Canaan, as long as we are willing to tolerate the itsy bitsiest teeny tiniest sin in our life, under the delusion that we can easily control and subjugate it rather than it eventually controlling and enslaving us.
Judges 3:9-11 — God raises up His obscure Othniels as objects for His miraculous use in the most opportune moment.
Though many a hero of the Faith, like an Othniel, appears to come from nowhere, they actually come from the obscurity of a prolonged period on the Potter’s wheel, where they’ve been formed and fashioned, as well as molded and made, into a choice and chosen vessel of the Potter’s for His preordained use at the perfect time.
Judges 6:1-10 — God's people prayed for deliverance from their situation, but God sent them a prophet to denounce their sin, for God will neither respond to our supplications nor rescue us from our situation until we've repented of the sins that spawned it.
It’s an exercise in futility for Americans to pray for God to bless America, when we’re unrighteous, unrepentant, and unblessable!
Judges 6:11-12 — While he was threshing wheat behind the winepress, fearful that his foes would see him and steal his wheat from him, the Lord called Gideon a “mighty man of valor,” which proves that the Lord does not see us according to our history, but according to our destiny.
God see us for what we’ll be, not for what we’ve been. While we’re not yet all we ought to be nor all we’re going to be, we can thank God that by His grace we’re no longer what we use to be.
Judges 6:11-24 — JEHOVAH-SHALOM means “the Lord my Peace.” Notice, it was not the promises of prevailing over his enemies or of the preservation of his life, but the Promise Maker Himself to whom Gideon attributed his peace.
Peace is more a product of God’s person than of His promises; that is, of knowing His presence is always with us than of knowing all of His promises to us!
Judges 6:28-32 — Any god who cannot fight for himself, but must be fought for by his followers, is a false god.
Whereas Christians are to defend the faith once delivered to the saints, the saints are not to defend Christ, who is completely capable of defending Himself. (Jude 1:3)
Judges 6:33-35 — It takes a Spirit clad trumpet blower to raise up and bring together the people of God against insurmountable odds. Unfortunately, there are few Spirit clad trumpeters in present-day pulpits, but many a politically correct tooter of uncertain sounds.
A sermon should be clearly trumpeted by one suited up in God’s Spirit, not uncertainly tooted by a suitor of godless society. (1 Corinthians 14:8)
Judges 6:36-40 — Contrary to popular belief, faith is not lacking, but legitimized by the seeking of fleeces to confirm God’s Word and will, since true faith can only step out on the solid ground of God’s substantiated promises, plans, and purposes.
Faith without a fleece is mere presumption, but faith with a fleece is both mighty and prevailing.
Judges 7:1-7 — Gideon's victorious army had to be small enough for no one to give them any credit and for everyone to give God all the glory. Smallness does not preclude one's service of Christ, but may very well prove to be a prerequisite for it.
God took a nobody general, a nothing army, and whipped an innumerable enemy, so that He could get all of the glory.
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