December 19, 2009 (Judges 1-5)

Judges starts out with the Israelites asking God which tribe should attack the Canaanites first. I thought, "that's good...they are seeking God." And God answered them, "Judah, for I have given them victory over the land." And I thought, "that's good. He gave them a specific answer." So, what happens? Does the tribe of Judah go out and do what God told them? Of course not....here was their reply:

^{Judges 1:3} The men of Judah said to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon, “Join with us to fight against the Canaanites living in the territory allotted to us. Then we will help you conquer your territory.” So the men of Simeon went with Judah.

But God did give them victory over their enemy anyway, even though they disobeyed. But in later "skirmishes" they did not drive out all of the enemy.

So, again we are told about the generation that came after Joshua's generation:
^{Judges 2:10} After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. ¹¹ The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. ¹² They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. ¹³They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. ¹⁴ This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them.¹⁵ Every time Israel went out to battle, the Lord fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress.

The rest of the book of Judges is all about judges that God raises up to deliver his people. We see the same spiral - rebellion, retribution, repentance, restoration and rest. God's people rebel, He fights against them, they repent, He defeats their enemies and restores them, and they have rest from their enemies for a while. Until they fall back into the same ways, starting with rebellion, etc., and the cycle continues.

It's also interesting that this section lists two reasons why God didn't quickly drive out the nations or allow them all to be conquered:

1. To test the people, to see if they would obey or not

2. To teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle.

Point one makes me wonder, "What is God using in my life to test me? To see if I will obey Him or not?"

Point two - There is a reason for everything that happens in our lives. Another reminder that God has, and sees, the bigger plan.

Chapter 3 has one of my favorite stories (in a sick sort of way). God raised up the judge Ehud to defeat Eglon, the king of Moab. Ehud made himself a double edged dagger that was eighteen inches long and strapped it to his thigh under his clothing. He took his tax money to King Eglon, and left, but then came back saying he had a secret message for the king. So the King sent out all of his servants. It says this happened as the King was sitting in "a cool upstairs room", which must have been where the toilet was. (As a side note, it also says that King Eglon was extremely fat.) So Ehud walked over to the king, and as King Eglon rose, Ehud thrust the dagger into his belly, so deep that the handle disappered beneath his fat. It then says Ehud closed and locked the doors, climbed down the latrine and escaped through the sewage access. After Ehud left, the king's servants returned and found the doors locked, so they thought he was using the latrine. They waited for a long time (probably assuming he was reading on the pot, didn't want to disturb him...) before they unlocked the door and found him dead.

So Ehud had time to go back and round up his army and bring them back to defeat Moab. After that, the land was at peace for eighty years before the cycle started again.