The book of Judges is filled with a cycle of the failures of the Israelites and God’s deliverance for the people. The people were straying from obeying and keeping God’s commands given through Moses. Life became easy for the Israelites within the promised land and they forgot that God had brought them out of Egypt and given them the promised land. There are glimpses of strong leadership at the beginning of Judges with Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, and Gideon but as time passes the judges that are raised by God to deliver Israel are also marked by their faults such as Jephthah and Samson.
I found it very interesting that the Israelites were faithful to follow God as long as a strong deliver still lived among them. After every judge was raised up there was a varying amount of peace for the people of Israel. As soon as the judge died and time passed the people of Israel quickly turned back to their evil ways. I am amazed how quickly we run back into our sinful habits when we are left to our own ways. Throughout Judges God delivered the Israelites in ways that they were not looking for. Jephthah, the son of a harlot, was used by God to deliver the Gileadites and in doing so God transformed what was worthless into a treasure. The deliverance we expect most likely will not come in the way we expect because God’s ways are not our ways. The judge that God raised was only as faithful as their faithfulness to God such as Samson who was blessed with strength but ended up becoming proud of his strength and forgetting God.
The implicit need for a perfect deliverer is woven among the verses of Judges filling my heart with joy as God raises someone up to deliver the people of Israel only to feel the painful loss when the Israelites consistently turn away again. My own faith can be described by this sporadic cycle of joy and painful loss. I see a great foreshadowing within all of Judges that points to the greatest Deliverer of all, Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins He delivered me out from under the bondage to sin and death giving me eternal life. Hebrews talks of how Jesus is greater than everything that the Israelites held dear to them: He was more faithful in God’s house than the servant Moses, He is the great High Priest greater than Aaron, He is greater than the angels, He is the Son of God, He died on the cross to rise again, and He is our Hope for the future. It has been important that I see my own depravity so that I can feel the weight of the salvation that Jesus Christ gave to me. I am so thankful that my deliverance is based on the faithfulness of God and not the faithlessness of man.
When there was a judge over Israel while they lived there was peace and the people followed God. When that deliverer died it was only a matter of time before the people strayed from God. What does this mean for us today knowing that Jesus Christ, our Deliverer, still lives? Do you sense the hope that is found in Jesus Christ? He lives so we do not need to follow the cycle of disobedience that is seen throughout the book of Judges. We can remain faithful because He lives. There is nothing that we need to do to live a faithful life because The Deliverer still lives. Can you sense the power of this truth? All the worry that we take upon ourselves to live a life following God is not necessary because our Deliverer takes the burden to free us from our bondage. It will be easier to love God and love people because Jesus Christ still lives.
Even so, come Lord Jesus! I also enjoy the “wordplay” of the imperfect “judges” who will be replaced by “deliverers”. I don’t know if that was intentional or not but that came through in your writing.
Thanks for your feedback. I think the idea jumped out to me about the judges being replaced by deliverers when I made the connection to how Jesus Christ is my deliverer and also how in Hebrews it talks about how the Aaronic Priesthood was prohibited from completing their duty because of death.