STORIES OF TRAGEDY

 

When Joshua and the leaders of Israel who served under him died, tribal loyalty replaced nation unity. Each tribe looked to its own resources without giving help or asking aid from their fellow Israelites.

 

As the people chose evil by worshipping heathen gods, the Lord allowed them to fall into the hands of their enemies. It is then that the people remembered their God and cried to Him for deliverance (Judges 3:9). The Lord then raised up ‘judges’ to deliver them. The so-called judges of this period were more military heroes rather than officers of the judiciary. The twelve judges of Israel and their tribes of leadership are outlined in the book of Judges chapters 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12 and 15. Their conquests make fascinating reading.

 

There are two significant judges that stand out to me, Gideon of Manasseh in Chapter 6 and Samson of Dan in Chapter 15.

 

GIDEON:

His is one of the most intriguing and faith promoting stories of the Old Testament. He was obedient to the call, tore down his father’s grove and the altar for Baal worship and in their place erected an altar to Jehovah. This, I think, was the cause of his success.  Gideon started off with 32,000 soldiers in his army which was required to defeat a Midianite army of 130,000 (Judges 8:10). This alone would have sent fear through Gideon, but things got worse.

 

By the process of elimination, the Lord reduced this army to 300 that ‘the help of the Lord’ might be apparent to Israel so that they might not boast in their own strength (Judges 7:2) but Israel was hard of heart and did not stay on the right path. This mistake led them into bondage to the Philistines for forty years (Judges 13:1). I guess you can take Israel out of Egypt but you can’t take Egypt out of Israel…..

 

SAMSON:

Samson, born of a barren woman in the tribe of Dan, had the potential to be one of the greatest leaders in Israel since Joshua. Foreordained and chosen by the Lord to be a Nazarite who would conquer Philistines and end Israel's 40 year bondage, his birth announced by an angel (Judges 13:4,5), Samson fell into the chosen category with Isaac, John the Baptist and Jesus himself.

 

“A Nazarite was someone who was separated from others by a special vow of self-dedication to Jehovah. The term ‘set apart’ is used to mean that one has been given a special calling or position and is thus separated from others” (OT Student Manual Book 1, p 259). A Nazarite could never cut his hair for the length of his hair was indicative of the length of the vow thus when his hair was cut, it was an indication of the end of his vow and not his strength (Judges 16:17).

 

Samson was born with tremendous gifts, one of them being a gift of incredible strength. His courageous feats include slaying a young lion with his bare hands (Judges 14), killing 1,000 Philistines with jawbone of an ass (Judges 15), ripping away the doors and posts of Gaza's gate and carrying them 40 miles to Hebron and bringing down a whole building killing himself and 3000 Philistines (Judges 16).

 

Samson had massive potential but his is a story of self-indulgence, immorality, selfish seeking for revenge and violation of the covenant. Instead of conquering Philistines, he repeatedly joined them and even married one of them. His misfortunes began when his confidence in God turned into conceit and pride, the breaking of his vows as a Nazarite and violating the commandments, including the law of chastity (Judges 16:1). He began great but ended up being one of the greatest tragedies of history. 

 

The Book of Judges is one of the most fascinating books in the Old Testament. It offers endless lessons and showcases Jehovah’s mercy and tolerance towards His people. It shows us clearly that the power to break the Abrahamic covenant lies solely with us, and NEVER with Him (Det 4:31; Leviticus 26:44,46; Isaiah 49:15,16; 2 Kings 13:23).

 

Out God is a God of mercy, grace, forgiveness and love. He is worth our adoration, worship and life-time commitment. He is the light, the truth, and the way….He is the Creator, He is the Redeemer, He is the Saviour…..and there is none else.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

 

BACKSLIDING ISRAEL

 

Before Joshua died he entered the children of Israel into a covenant to serve God who brought them out of the ‘house of bondage’. The last chapter of the book of Joshua records the people promising four times that they would not abandon their God, that they would serve Him and obey His voice (Joshua 24:16,18,21,22,23).

The covenant came with three warnings as they were about to enter the promised land of the Canaanites: 1. Beware of social intercourse with them (Joshua 23:7; 2. Refrain from worshipping their false gods (vv 7-11); and 3. Avoid intermarriage with hem (v 12). Yet this is exactly what happened.

It only took one act of disobedience to lead the whole nation into centuries of spiritual decline, and this was it:  Israel failed to drive out all the heathen inhabitants of their promised land. Numerous unconquered cities remained (Judges 1:27-36). The tribe of Judah blamed the Philistines which introduced chariots of iron (Judges 1:19) but the real reason was that they had lost the power of the Lord through their lack of faith and their disobedience.

The people wept when an angel of the Lord came to them and confronted them about their failure to obey. He told them the Lord will not drive these inhabitants out for them but that they shall be as ‘thorns in their sides and their gods shall be a snare unto them’ as punishment (Judges 2:3,4; 21-23). It brings to remembrance the Lamanites whom the Lord said to Nephi would be ‘a scourge’ to his people to ‘stir them up in remembrance of Him’ and if they will not remember Him, they shall be the means to their destruction (2 Nephi 5:25).

When Joshua and the leaders of Israel who served under him died, the national spirit of Israel also died. There arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor what He had done for them (Judges 2:10,12). The covenant was soon broken and the vicious cycle of apostasy and repentance was born. How could Israel forget within one generation the God whom they worshipped? This is the period of time in ancient history where the inexhaustible mercy of Jehovah begins to show in earnest.

As the new generation intermarried and turned to idolatry of the Canaanites, ‘the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as He had sworn He would do’ (Judges 2:11-15; 3:6,7) but nevertheless, there was always mercy in the hope that they would return to Him. As they fell into the hands of the oppressors, the Lord would raise up judges to deliver them but once delivered, they would return to their former ways and corrupted themselves even more than before (v 16-19). It makes you want to weep…..

And this is the interesting part. They did not cry to the false gods they worshipped to deliver them but they cried to Jehovah (Judges 3:9). They knew full well who the real God was. So aggrieved was the Saviour about their backsliding and idolatry that He referred to their worship of false gods as ‘harlots with many lovers’ (Hosea 2:5; Jeremiah 3:1). This is heartbreaking as the Saviour always referred to His relationship with Israel as marriage.

He is the Bridegroom who is coming to take us as His bride in the everlasting covenant of love. May we always remember that and forsake the lovers of the world we hold onto today. We can do better than Israel of old.

As Israel, we have trodden worldly paths

That have left us battered, scarred,

And parched in search of love.

Our lovers were many but

Our hearts were empty.

At long last

We embrace the love that lasts,

We prepare for the wedding feast

And abandon our treacherous past.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sending Forth the Bride by Danny Hahlbohm)