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One of my favourite lines from the TV series, Mash, was the statement
that this was the latest 'war to end all wars'. The point they were making
of course was that we never seem to learn from history. No matter how bad
our experience of history is, we never seem to be able to learn our lesson
so we avoid the same mistake the next time. |
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But that begs
the question of course, whether there are patterns in history from which
we can learn. Historians and thinkers have debated that question over many
years. Some would say, "Yes, there is a meaningful pattern to history,
and if we can find it we can do something to change the way things happen."
For example, Karl Marx thought that if you examined history you could find
a pattern revolving around the unequal distribution of power and resources.
If you followed his model you would eventually arrive at a Utopian, classless
society based on Socialism. Well, however much truth there may have been
in his analysis, his conclusion was clearly wrong. Socialist societies have
been found to fail just as badly as the capitalist societies he was critiquing.
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But that's no
surprise to the other side of the debate, to those who argue that there's
no such pattern to be found in history. They argue that so often the course
of history is a matter of pure chance. For example, in 1768 the Italian
city state of Genoa ceded Corsica to France. That sounds like a fairly minor
political decision, until you realise that if it had happened a year later,
Napoleon, who was born in Corsica in 1769, would have been an Italian! And
how would that have shaped world history? And how often has history depended
on individuals doing something extraordinary or unexpected. How often have
scientific discoveries, for example, come about by accident or chance? How
often has the course of history depended on the actions of one individual,
one great leader? |
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The fact is, history
is dependent on an extremely complex, unpredictable combination of factors
such that if there is a pattern it's almost impossible to find. Yet, having
said that, I want to suggest that there are patterns to be found if we look
in the right place, or with our eyes open to the right factors. The reason
I say that is that here in the book of Judges we find just such a set of
factors, such a pattern. |
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The book of Judges
begins after the death of Joshua, with the people of Israel attempting to
finish their occupation of the land of Canaan. At first they have some success,
but as time goes on, they fail to follow up the victories that God has given
them. Groups of Canaanites are left behind all over their territory despite
the warnings God had given them to rid the land of all other nations. As
a result, in Judges 2, the angel of the Lord appears in Bochim with this
message: (Judg 2:1-3 NRSV) "I brought you up from Egypt, and brought
you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will
never break my covenant with you. 2For your part, do not make
a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.' But
you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done! 3So now
I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries
to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you." |
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The narrative
that follows fills out the ramifications of this dire warning. The Israelites,
having failed to drive out the Canaanites are corrupted by their pagan worship
and turn away from the Lord. Then develops a pattern of history that sets
the tone essentially for the rest of the Old Testament. The people turn
away from worship of the True and Living God to worship pagan idols. This
moral deterioration results in the LORD becoming angry with them so he gives
them up to the attacks of the surrounding nations. They're defeated, but
when they turn back to God, he raises up judges, or charismatic military
leaders who save them from the hands of their enemies (2:16). Yet this respite
from the attacks of their enemies is always short lived. Why? 2:17: Because
they would "not listen even to their judges; for they lusted after
other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in
which their ancestors had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the
LORD; they did not follow their example." |
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And as time goes
on it gets worse and worse. The pattern of history that emerges is a downward
spiral, in which every step they take forward is matched by 2 backwards,
until in ch 2:20 God is so angry with Israel that he says he will no longer
drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left behind when he died.
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And so we come
to the first of the judges, Othniel. (3:7-11) Now Othniel is unusual, purely
for the fact that there's nothing unusual about him. Almost all the other
judges have some particular feature that distinguishes them, but we're not
told anything special about Othniel at all except that he's Caleb's nephew.
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Now it may be
that this is quite deliberate. Othniel is an Everyman. That is, he's a model
of all the other judges. His story contains the pattern that all the other
stories seem to follow: |
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- Spiritual failure: "The
Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the
LORD, forgetting the LORD their God, and
worshiping the Baals and the Asherahs."
- Military oppression as a result of
God's anger: "8Therefore the
anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and
he sold them into the hand of King
Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim; and the
Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim eight
years."
- They call out to God in their
distress: "9the Israelites cried
out to the LORD"
- God sends a Spirit-filled Saviour:
"the LORD raised up a deliverer for the
Israelites, who delivered them, Othniel son of
Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother."
- God gives them victory over their
enemies: "10The spirit of the
LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel; he went
out to war, and the LORD gave King
Cushan-rishathaim of Aram into his hand; and his
hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim."
- A period of peace: "11So
the land had rest forty years."
- The Saviour dies and the cycle
begins again: "Then Othniel son of Kenaz
died."
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So here is a cycle
of history that repeats itself over and over again in this book, and might
I suggest, continues right through the Old Testament and into the New until
the coming of Jesus Christ, who is the Spirit-filled Saviour to whom all
these others point. |
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Following the
story of Othniel we find 2 almost identical scenarios in the accounts of
Ehud and Deborah. They're each different from the other in the detail, but
the basic pattern is the same. Moral failure, military oppression, a call
for help, the raising of a deliverer, victory followed by a short period
of peace, before the saviour dies and the cycle begins all over again. |
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What we find in
this cycle of history is that there is a pattern, but it isn't the sort
of quasi-scientific pattern suggested by Marx and co. Rather it's a pattern
that reveals the hand of a personal God dealing with his people in a personal
fashion. There's no sense of random events shaping history according to
the tricks of fate. Rather history is seen to be in the hands of a good
and just LORD. The patterns we find are a sign that God deals
with us in a consistent, dependable way. And so we can learn from
history, if we'll pay attention, truths about God and truths about ourselves.
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So what lessons
can we learn from the history of the Judges? |
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1. God's Freedom of Action and Ours. |
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As you read through
the Judges you find that while there's a clear pattern of sin, punishment,
repentance and rescue, there's a certain unpredictability about the time
intervals involved. Sometimes there's a long period of time of oppression,
sometimes less, likewise there are longer and shorter periods of peace.
God wants them to see that there's a connection between moral behaviour
and divine blessing, but there's nothing mechanical about it. God enjoys
personal freedom of action. Sometimes he responds quickly, other times he
delays, and he gives us the same freedom even when we choose to misuse it. |
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2. Individuals as God's Key Agents |
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What we find in
every case is that God chooses individuals to carry out his plan of salvation.
They're often unusual people. They're certainly not perfect examples of
followers of God. Ehud is described as left handed, but that may simply
mean that he had a physical disability that prevented him using his right
arm; Barak was afraid to fight Sisera unless Deborah came with him; Gideon
was so brave he was threshing his wheat in the safety of a winepress when
he was called to lead the people against the Amorites; Samson was a womaniser,
Jephthah sacrificed his own daughter to the Lord because he'd made a foolish
vow. And so we could go on. They were real people with real flaws, yet God
used them to mould history according to his will. |
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But he didn't
just control them like puppets. There's no sense of the judges as automatons
carrying out the master plan of God. They each have their own eccentricities.
There's space given to them to be individuals. There's room for the odd
surprise here and there. Yet each of them is essential to God's plan being
worked out. |
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3. God is in Command |
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One of the greatest
lessons that this pattern of history teaches us is that God is in control
of all history. In the book of judges this fact is brought out time and
time again, but it's equally true now, even if we don't have a written commentary
to remind us of the fact. This is an important thing to be reminded of in
this day and age, when there's a real sense of meaningless in the lives
of people. People look at history and see the endless repetition of failure
and error, of wars and lawlessness, of futility and hopelessness and they
think that there can't be any point to life. So they turn to a search for
pleasure or they go after New Age philosophies, looking at their stars or
clinging to crystals in a search for hope, or else they simply give up and
opt out of life. But the biblical view of history as we find it in Judges
is that we're not alone. History does have purpose. God is in control. As
Rom 8 reminds us, "All things work together for good to those who love
God, who have been called according to his purpose." |
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4. Judgement
Follows Human Sin |
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But if God is
in control, one area where we see that in action is in his response to our
sin. There's a clear link in Judges between the rebellion of Israel and
the withdrawal of God's protection. In fact in many cases it's put stronger
than that. God actually takes the side of their enemies in order to chastise
them. Mind you, we do have to be careful how we apply this fact. We mustn't
take on ourselves the role of God in singling out individuals as having
received a punishment from God. What is true in the general may not be true
in the specific. As Jesus pointed out to his disciples in John 9 the blind
man's illness was neither the result of his own nor his parents' sin. It
had happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. So
we have to be careful how we apply this lesson from history. But nevertheless,
we can say that the things that go wrong in the world are a sign that God
is angry with people's disobedience. When nations ignore God and in the
end are overthrown, we can see the hand of God working exactly as he did
in the events here in the Judges. |
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5. God will respond with mercy when we confess
our sins. |
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Again, one of
the clear patterns we find here and elsewhere in the Old Testament is that
when God's people repent, he responds in mercy. When God proclaimed his
name to Moses back in Exodus 34, here's what he said, (Exo 34:6-7 NRSV)
"The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast
love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity
of the parents upon the children and the children's children, to the third
and the fourth generation." When God's people repent he shows his mercy
and grace by forgiving their sins and cleansing them from all unrighteousness. |
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6. No Human Deliverer Ever Meets Our Need. |
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Finally, one of
the striking things we discover as we read through the Judges is that for
all their heroism, none of them brought about a lasting solution to the
situation. One reason for that is that the judge always dies. While he's
with them he's able to provide the leadership they need, but as soon as
he dies there's a vacuum, that quickly fills with idolatry and immorality. |
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This pattern continued
with the history of the Kings, where so much depended on the faithfulness
of each successive king. You see it today in churches, where so often a
church grows under a particular leader or leaders, but when they leave the
growth seems to taper away. The reality is that no human leader can meet
all our needs. That's why it's so important to be asking God to lead us
by his Holy Spirit. |
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You see, the reason
God was teaching that lesson through the history of the Judges was to prepare
us for the Leader who was to come who would never die. While no human king
will ever meet all our needs there is one who does. Jesus Christ, the true
saviour and judge is all that these human judges could never be. He continues
with us through the presence of his Holy Spirit keeping us true to God,
forgiving our sins, and leading us on the path to eternal life. |
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Well, over the
next few weeks we'll be looking at the stories of a few of the early leaders
of Israel. None of them are perfect, but I trust we'll learn lessons from
each of them that will help us in our worship of Jesus Christ, the Judge
and Saviour they foreshadowed. |
