June 19 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 50—Judges 3:7–11

⁷And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. ⁸Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ¹⁰The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. ¹¹So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Devotional:

All of the main ideas of the book of Judges converge in the initial Othniel cycle. The book mentions a total of twelve judges, but only six of them are treated as the main characters of actual stories. We call these narratives "cycles"—for a good reason. The word implies repetition (something that keeps on turning), and when you read the six main stories of the book you cannot help but notice the repetition of certain key phrases with an almost formulaic air. Othniel's is the shortest of all the stories in Judges, but despite such economy of words, it is "supercharged" with each and every one of those characteristic formulas: "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh." "Yahweh sold the Israelites into the hand of the enemy." "The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh." "Yahweh raised up a deliverer to save them." "Then the land had rest for x years." Othniel's story gathers all these stereotypical phrases into its plot, or rather, these phrases are the story's plot.

Othniel functions as the model against which the rest of the cycles must be read. The inclusion of all the typical phrases sets the stage for the unfolding narrative in which the main ideas are conveyed via repetitions. Othniel is a good judge. Like the nation, the leaders have a reasonable beginning. But from here things are winding down.

So the story begins with Israel doing evil, an idea that the reader will have to get used to, and the sooner the better. Spiritual amnesia (forgetting God, 3:7) leads Israel to turn to other gods, which are no gods. 3:8 describes Yahweh's response as a "selling Israel into the hands of Cushan–Rishathaim." Israel used to be the people of God. Now they are sold like slaves on the marketplace, and a transfer of ownership is implied in the term "to sell."

The villainous name "Cushan of Double Wickedness" is truly satirical. But the fact that he came from distant "Aram of the Two Rivers" (i.e., Mesopotamia) indicates that he was no petty little ruler but a world-class emperor, who held sway over Canaan for at least eight years. He was God's rod of chastisement for Israel.

What does Israel do? "They cried out to Yahweh" (3:9). One should be careful to avoid the conclusion that Israel repented of their idolatry. This is not a penitential plea. It is simply a cry of pain, as in, "Make it stop!" Paul says, "Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation [here: deliverance from sin] not to be regretted" (2 Cor. 7:10). Israel's cry does not fit this bill, even if they did confess their sin, for as soon as pain and misery disappeared, they returned to their former works. This is not repentance. The nation never surrendered their idols to God.

This makes us think of what we call repentance. Much of it is regrettable, too, isn't it? Whether or not one repents of sinful habits—whatever they may be—will be seen in the long term. At heart, repentance is the desire to restore my relationship with God, to be right with Christ, a desire so strong that the power of sin is eventually broken. Repentance is as much a divine gift as it involves our ongoing discipline and efforts. But little is accomplished when we are content with merely understanding the nature of our sin and feel sorry for it. Our will has to be broken, and love for God remains to be proven.

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.