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[Judges 2]
6When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.
11And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.
16Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, "Because this people has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not." 23So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
[Judges 3]
1Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.
I remember a recurring dream during my childhood. Held hostage by American Indians intent on killing me, I was given an unexpected chance to redeem my life. A tree trunk was bridging a deep canyon, and I had to cross the canyon with my hands strapped on my back. I did it. But this was not the end of the ordeal. The Indians then threw another challenge in my way. I had to prove my table hockey skills playing against an all-star ensemble from the tribe, and it was during this all decisive match that I usually woke up, bathed in sweat. Well, if you should ever be captured by some people who force you to play Bible Trivia for your life, and if one of those questions should be, "Which literary work in the OT sustains two distinct introductions?"—then say, "The book of Judges!"—and you will live.
In our most recent studies we examined Judges 1 all the way to 2:5. This passage forms part "A" of the book's bifid introduction. It tells us about Israel's failure to dislodge the Canaanites and anticipates the theme of gradual Canaanization of Israelite society. Part "B" of the introduction consists of 2:6-3:6. Here we learn about the underlying spiritual causes of Israel's secession.
Our text neatly divides into three subsections, begging to be studied in the order in which they appear. 2:6-10 discusses the spiritual roots of Israel's problem; 2:11-13 describes the symptoms of the problem; and finally, 2:14-3:6 reveals Yahweh's reaction to Israel's defection. Thus, the author offers a comprehensive treatment of the question, "What's wrong with Israel?"
If you listen closely to 2:6-10, you notice that the narrator presents us with three stages leading to the period of the settlement, the time of the judges. First, there were the days of Joshua and Yahweh's great works of power. In those days Israel served God. Second, the days of the elders who outlived Joshua was a time when the works of God were remembered. The people continued to serve Yahweh. But during the time of the third generation people did not know the Lord nor his great acts which he had performed for Israel. This generation did not serve the Lord.
Obviously, the Lord is known by his work. Because the memory of his salvific intervention for Israel died with Joshua and those who had seen God's power, the Israelites stopped serving God. Since they failed in keeping alive the memory of God's gracious acts, they removed the basis for any form of authentic worship. The ground on which we stand is not religion, not morality, not a system of doctrine, or a creed. It is what God has done. It is God's grace. Israel's covenant began with the preamble, "I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex. 20:2). Apart from the concept of grace received there is no adequate reason or motivation to serve God.
All the bad stuff that follows in Judges is a consequence of Israel's loss of memory. How is it with you and the Lord? Has your memory had lapses recently? Do you still ponder and reflect on the glory of Christ and his love for you? Forget this, and you will lose your way because you fall out of love with God. Prayer becomes a meaningless exercise, and hearing God's Word a fruitless endeavor. You will lose your identity, because all you are as a Christian stands and falls with Jesus Christ and him crucified. Jesus installed the Communion with the words, "Do this in remembrance of me!" He of all people should know what the stakes of memory loss are.
The author of these devotionals, the Rev. Martin Emmrich, is an ordained OPC minister (Westminster OPC, Corvallis, Oregon) as well as the author of Pneumatological Concepts in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book on the teaching of Hebrews on the Holy Spirit. We are happy to make these devotionals on Ecclesiastes and other passages of Scripture available to you.
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