Judges 3: Opportunity Wasted by Israel

How do you, as a follower Christ, live out in this world? Jesus once told his disciples to “be shrewd as serpent and innocent as dove” as He sent them in the midst of “wolves” (Matt 10:26). The world can be a hostile place. The circumstance that the Israelites faced in the book of Judges was a similar situation that Jesus described – they were surrounded by “wolves”-like nations.

For that reason, the LORD God gave them tests – in fact, opportunities – for Israel to grow to be able to live out and represent the characters of God as a nation in the midst of hostile nations. This chapter shows how it went for Israel in the beginning of its nationhood.

Testing of the LORD (3:1-4)

In two dimensions the LORD God tested the Israelites – externally and internally. Externally, the LORD allowed some nations to remain so that the Israelites would learn how to wage war. Internally, the LORD tested the Israelites to see whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD. The testing of the LORD was a sign of His love and His father-son relation with Israel: the LORD God was discipling the Israelites just as a man disciplines his son (Duet 8:5). In order for the Israelites to establish a nation that would represent the characters of God and be a source of blessings to the surrounding nations, it was essential for them to undergo the two-dimensional tests.

Externally, the LORD tested the Israelites with the remaining nations for a very practical reason: to teach them how to defend themselves and to strategically wage war, if necessary. Military wars were unavoidable in a fallen world. In the fallen world, militarily strong nations would conquer weaker nations to oppress them and extract resources out of them. The land to be occupied by Israel would be surrounded by hostile nations that did not fear God. For this reason, the LORD left these nations to teach the generations who hadn’t experienced war how to fight. Connecting this to the New Testament, Jesus told his disciples “behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:26).” The Israelites needed to learn how to be as shrewd as serpents in the world filled with wolves.

Internally, the LORD tested Israel to examine the conditions of their hearts. In addition to the military and physical threat, the surrounding nations’ social system and the underlying philosophies posed a grave threat to the Israelites. Their society operated based on the principles where the strong dominate to exploit the weak and people serve false gods to worship prosperity and the desires of the flesh – all of them diametrically in contrast to the law of Moses. The author of the Proverbs urged people to guard their heart as springs of life flow from it (Prov 4:23). In order to live out a life worthy of their calling, the Israelites needed to learn how to defend their hearts, their thought systems against the worldview that diametrically opposed the values of the true God.

These were the tests given by the LORD God. From a different perspective, Israel was given an opportunity to grow by engaging in spiritual warfare to discern the truth from the falsehood.

Israelites Failed the Test (3:5-8)

Unfortunately, the Israelites utterly failed the test of the LORD in both dimensions.

Externally, they were tested to learn how to engage in warfare (3:2). Yet, the surrounding nations started to oppress them (3:8, 3:14). Internally, they were tested to follow the commands of the LORD by loving and following Him (3:4). However, Israel resided with the surrounding nations, adopted their culture, and intermarried them (3:5-6). Soon, Israel forgot the LORD and served other gods, committing what was evil in the sight of the LORD (3:7).

The moment Israel lost their identity as the people of the LORD by serving other gods, the LORD sold the Israelites into the hands of Cushan king of Mesopotamia (3:8). Is it strange to read that the LORD “sold the Israelites into” another nation? The default state is the world in which strong nations conquer and oppress the weak nations – this is considered “natural” in the fallen world. The protection by the LORD was solely due to His goodness and grace. The moment Israel gave up to be God’s people, they lost the special protection that the LORD provided according to His grace.

The LORD Delivers 1: Absence of Northern Tribes (3:9-11)

Cushan came from the Aram area (currently near Syria), north of Israel, to oppress the Israelites. Instead, when the LORD heard the cries of His people, God raised Othniel from Judah, the most south located tribe, to prevail over Cushan to deliver Israel.

It is written that “the Spirit of the LORD came upon” Othniel. Noticeable was the absence of the actions from the Israel tribes located in the northern areas, such as Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun and Manasseh given that Cusha came from the north. Perhaps, the Spirit of the LORD was searching for the appropriate person among the northern tribes to save, but was not able to find one. That no one from the northern tribes was raised as a judge to deliver may indicate a serious degree with which Israel fell away from God to serve other false gods.

The LORD Delivers 2: Ehud vs Eglon (3:12-30)

Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD again soon after Othniel’s period. As a result, Israel was defeated by the coalition of three nations: Moab, Ammon, and Amalek. Moab and Ammon were descendents of Lot. God clearly indicated that the Israelites were not to attack Moab or Ammon (Deuteronomy 2). However, Amalek was a different story. Amalek was the nation that enraged God (Exodus 17). God told the Israelites to utterly destroy Amalek, but because of their failure to do so, Amalek came back to bite back Israel. Afterward, the Israelites were oppressed by the Moabites for 18 years.

The detail analysis of Ehud vs. Eglon story is very well presented in this website. I will defer to this website if you would like to enhance your understanding of this part of the story.

The LORD Delivers 3: Shamgar the Non-Israelite (3:31)

The LORD God loves to work with the marginalized. Neither the name of Shamgar nor his father’s name, Anath, was Jewish. Commentaries say that he was likely to be a non-Israelites, perhaps, a Kenite, among one of those who followed the Judah tribe to settle with them. Therefore, Shamgar was not likely in the mainstream of the Israelite society. However, the LORD empowered Shamgar to deliver Israel from the Philistines.

Judges 1: Diverging Paths and Deteriorating Heart

Joshua passed away. The path between Judah and the rest of the tribes began to diverge. Judah fought, conquered, utterly destroyed the inhabitants of Canaan. Judah led and partnered with the weak and demonstrated meek leadership. On the other hand, the other Israel tribes were not very “successful” as they did not drive out the inhabitants. The chapter describes the falling condition of the heart of the Israelites not long after Joshua passed away.

Judah Fights, Fights and Fights

The Judah tribe (Judah) was very active. As Caleb, the leader of Judah, showed his insatiable desire to fulfill the LORD’s promise before Joshua (Joshua 14:12), Judah was zealous to actively inherit the land that the LORD promised. Unlike other tribes of Israel, Judah actively fought against many nations in Canaan.

Judah fought against the Canaanites and Perizzites, defeating ten thousand men at Bezek (Judges 1:4). Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured the city (Judges 1:8). Judah defeated the Canaanites in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the lowland (Judges 1:9). Judah went against the Cannaanites in Hebron (Judges 1:10) and against the inhabitants of Debir (1:11). Judah struck down the Canaanites in Zephath (1:17). Judah drove out three sons of Anak from Hebron (1:20).

Judah Partners

We see that Judah partnered with Simeon twice in fighting against the Cannaanites. First, Judah went with Simeon against the Cannaanites and the Perizzites and defeated Adoni-Bezek (1:4-5). Also, when fighting against the Canaanites in Zephath, Judah partnered with Simeon.

This partnership was not that necessary from Judah’s point of view because Judah was already the largest and the strongest tribe with 76,500 people. On the other hand, Simeon was the weakest and the smallest with 22,200 people. Judah demonstrated leadership by partnering with the weakest tribe so that Simeon can inherit their allotted land. This is “meek” leadership – the strong used its power to help the weak.

We also see that the descendents of the Kenite, Moses’s father-in-law, went up with the sons of Judah to the wilderness of Judah and lived with them (Judges 1:16). Although it is difficult to know the exact reason for the Kenite’s decision to live with Judah, yet, it was possible that the Kenite saw what Judah had (their God) and Judah was willing to take in aliens to be incorporated within its boundary as commanded by the LORD in Leviticus 19:34 (The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God)

Judah was a warrior. Yet, they took good care of the weak, such as the Simeon tribe, and the aliens, such as the Kenite.

Judah Pursues and Destroys

There is a notable word in Judges 1:6, “pursued.” When Adoni-bezek (king of Bezek) fled, Judah pursued. That Judah pursued is very important for us to note. Winning a battle is one task. Pursuing and capturing a fleeing king is even more a difficult task, which takes an enormous amount of effort and will. Judah ensured that justice was done to Adoni-bezek, and this event shows the heart of Judah to fully obey the LORD’s promise and commands regarding the enemies. In addition, Judah utterly destroyed the cities (1:8, 1:17) as commanded by the LORD through Moses (Deut 20:17).

Judah faithfully obeyed the LORD. Unfortunately, we will soon see that this was not the case by the other tribes in Israel.

Ultimate Success

Let’s acknowledge the ultimate source of the victory. Although Judah did well in actively fighting and inheriting the land, it was ultimately the LORD’s presence that enabled Judah’s success (Judges 1:19).

Failures of the Others Tribes: Condition of their Hearts

With the exception of some successes by the sons of Joseph with the presence of the LORD (1:22), the rest of the Israel tribes were not successful in contrast to Judah. They neither actively fought the Canaanites, nor utterly destroyed inhabitants. The author of the book listed failures, from minor to major ones, for the rest of the tribes (Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphthali, and Dan). The common phrase in this section was “they did not drive out the inhabitants of Canaanites” in their allotted land. Was the failure to drive out attributable to their inability or unwillingness? The phrase “did not” indicated their unwillingness, rather than inability, to drive out the inhabitants.

Why weren’t they willing to drive out the inhabitants? For some tribes, such as Zebulun, Naphtali, instead of driving out the inhabitants, they made inhabitants become forced labor for them. In other words, they made an “economic decision” to use them as forced laborers. For their well-being, this decision might have been rational. Driving them out completely and utterly destroying was not only difficult, but less economical than forcing them to work and labor.

Then, we wonder why didn’t they obey the LORD’s commands to utterly destroy the inhabitants as Judah did? Perhaps, the answer lies in the condition of their hearts. Let’s jump forward to the very last verse of the book of Judges: everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). That’s what these tribes did. They did what was right in their own eyes, according to their standards and eventually implemented their decision, not the LORD’s commands – by making inhabitants forced labor, instead of utterly destroying them.

In the rest of the chapters of Judges, because of these remaining inhabitants, Israel was oppressed militarily and influenced to worship their gods.

Tribes that were not mentioned.

Although most tribes were mentioned in the first chapter, a few of them were not even mentioned. None of the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan (Reuben, Gad, and half tribe of Manasseh) were mentioned. Isacchar was the only tribes on the west side of the Jordan not be mentioned.

Although the reason for their absence in this chapter is not exactly known, their absence seems to be an ominous sign that they became no longer relevant to the story of God – in other words, they might have become not distinguishable from other nations, no longer suitable to represent the holiness of God.

Chapter 2 continues to draw out depravity of the Israelites.

Joshua 15: Manifestation of God’s Promise – Land to Judah Tribe

The book of Joshua can be broadly divided into three parts: 1) entering the land; 2) conquering the land; and 3) the distribution of the land. Starting from chapter 15 began the third part of the book. From this chapter to chapter 21, Joshua provided a detailed description of the land and cities inherited to the twelve tribes and the Levi tribe.

As a reader, one of the most difficult challenges associated with these chapters on land distribution is drawing out applicable messages. The details of geographic and cities, if you are not familiar with the Israel geographic, would be difficult to follow and to extract appropriate meanings.

Thankfully, the most important message that we, the reader, need to obtain from the land distribution chapters is nicely summarized by the last three verses in chapter 21, as summarized below:

“43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it.
44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them;
the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand.
45 Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:43-45 [underline added by the blog author]

Joshua 21:43-45 provides a key summary of both conquering and distribution of land chapters. God is the subject of all the accomplishments. The phrase, “the LORD gave,” is repeated three times, along with two repetitions of “He had sworn.” As the LORD loved the Israelites, He had sworn to give the land to their fathers. The LORD is the main promise keeper and enabler of all the promises.

Detailed descriptions of land, territories, and cities are a manifestation of God’s faithfulness. Faithful God is always the central message of the entire Bible. These detailed accounts of borders, territories and cities are one of the manifestations of God’s goodness and promises to the Israelites.

Now let’s go over the content of chapter 15.

Chapter Summary

Chapter 15 provides a detailed description of the land and the cities given to the tribe of Judah.

The effective first born

Let’s note that the lot allocation started with the tribe of Judah. In terms of biological order, Reueben was the first born of Jacob. In terms of the number of lots inherited, Joseph was considered the first born as he received two lots, one each for his son, Manasseh and Ephraim. In terms of land allocation order, however, the LORD seemed to have chosen Judah, biologically the fourth born, as the first born. Why was Judah the first? Perhaps, they were the most actively obedient among the twelve tribes?

Description of the border and cities (v. 1-13, v. 22-63)

The Judah tribe inherited the southern part of Canaan, the detailed conquest of which was described in chapter 10 (Joshua 10:29-43). Compared with other tribes, Judah received an expansive area of land and many cities as they were numerous and the most dedicated tribe to fulfill the promise of God with their active obedience. However, even the Judah tribe was not able to drive out the Jebusites in Jerusalem. The Jebusites were driven away much later by the second king of Israel, David (2 Samuel 5:6-10).

Caleb and Othniel (v13-21)

A more description of a military exploit by Caleb was given in these verses. Approximately 45 years ago, the descendants of Anak placed a fear into the first-generation Israelites (Numbers 13:32-33). In contrast, verse 14 pointed out that Caleb drove out three sons of Anak to emphasize the victorious aspect for Caleb, who represented all those who followed the LORD fully.

Othniel, along with his wife, Achsah (Caleb’s daughter), were introduced in verse 17. Joshua might have highlighted this event to introduce Othniel, who would be the next leader of Israel as a judge. Othniel was described as a man of God filled with the Spirit of the LORD, who delivered Israel from an adversary (Judges 3:9-10).

Lesson

Land distribution was one of the major manifestations of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites, and He provided the land and the cities abundantly. The first lot was allocated to the Judah tribe, who under the leadership of Caleb, showed a full heart to follow the LORD and fulfill His promises.

What are some manifestations of God’s faithfulness in your life?