The Times of the Judges

GOLDEN TEXT: “Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” —Isaiah 55:7

JUDGES 2:16-19

FOR years after the death of Joshua, until the selection of Saul, the first of Israel’s kings, the nation of Israel had no central government. Concerning this we read, “In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6) Of course they had the Law of God given to them at the hands of Moses, but how that Law was interpreted and observed was an individual matter. Since it is doubtful if all in the nation could read, it is possible that as generation after generation passed, God’s Law would be lost sight of by a great many.

In any event, while without doubt there were noble exceptions, the general rule seems to have been during the period of the judges that what every man considered “right in his own eyes” was far from good. As our lesson states, “They went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in.”—vs. 17

When the Israelites thus departed from serving the living God, he brought punishment upon them by permitting surrounding nations to invade and oppress them. Then, when they cried unto the Lord in their distress, “he raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.” (vs. 16) Thus this particular era in the history of Israel is styled the period of the judges.—Acts 13:20

Gideon was one of these judges greatly used by God. There were also Jephthah and Samson. Samuel was the last. These judges are used in one of the prophecies as typical of the earthly phase of Messiah’s kingdom. We read, “I will restore thy judges as at the first and thy counselors as at the beginning: after thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.”—Isa. 1:26

Because of the service rendered to the Israelites by the judges, whom the Lord raised up to deliver them, we may well understand the foregoing prophecy to mean that the Lord, through the agencies of the kingdom, will judge and deliver Israel and all nations from the oppressive hands of sin and death, turning to them a pure message of truth that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent.—Zeph. 3:9

JUDGES 4:4-9; 5:6-9

OTHNIEL, a younger brother of the faithful spy, Caleb, is the first of the judges mentioned in the record. (Judges 3:9) The next judge the Lord raised up to deliver his people from the distress which they brought upon themselves by their own wrongdoing was Ehud. (Judges 3:15) Then came Deborah, a women judge, the one referred to in our present lesson.

Chapter 4, verse 1, reads “The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.” This resulted in twenty years of oppression by Jabin, king of Canaan. Again the Israelites cried unto the Lord for help, and Deborah was the one instrumental in delivering them. Deborah realized her limitations as a woman, so she enlisted the help of Barak to lead an army against Jabin’s general, Sisera.

Barak was somewhat hesitant about attacking the powerful army of Sisera. He believed that the Lord’s blessing was upon Deborah, so he agreed to the undertaking if she would accompany him, which she did. The Lord gave him a signal victory over Israel’s enemies. They were destroyed; and we are told that as a result the land had rest forty years.—Judges 5:31

In Hebrews 11:32 Barak is mentioned as one of the heroes of faith who lived and served God prior to Jesus’ first advent. It must have required a great deal of faith on his part to lead a comparatively small army against the well equipped forces of Sisera. But Deborah assured him that the Lord had promised to help, and Barak had faith to believe that the God of Israel would fulfill his promise.

Deborah’s song of praise for Israel’s deliverance is eloquent in giving God the glory, and in acknowledging with gratitude the co-operation of Barak and the others that helped. Perhaps she can be excused for seeming to take a little glory to herself, when in her deliverance song she said, “The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.”—vs. 7

Our Golden Text expresses a great truth which is repeated over and over in the Bible; namely that the Lord is abundant in mercy toward his people who sin against him and then repent and forsake their evil ways. Upon this basis, through Christ, all Israel is yet to be saved.—Rom. 11:26-32

QUESTIONS

How long was the period of the judges, and why is it thus named?

What prophecy refers to a future raising up of judges?

Who was Barak, and under whose direction did he serve?

| Home Page | Table of Contents |