Judges 3:1-6: God left nations in the land to test Israel.

Title: Judges 3:1-6: God left nations in the land to test Israel.         

 

Announcements / opening prayer:

 

 

JDG 3:1 Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan;

 

JDG 3:2 only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it formerly).

 

Israel was to fight against the false ideals of the enemy as well as physically fight them on the battlefield.

 

In the wars of Canaan under Joshua, therefore, Israel had experienced and learned, that the power to conquer its foes did not consist in the multitude and bravery of its own fighting men, but solely in the might of its God, which it could only possess so long as it continued faithful to the Lord.

 

This lesson the generations that followed Joshua had forgotten, and consequently they did not understand how to make war, nor how to resist evil thinking.

 

To impress this truth upon them, the great truth upon which the very existence and prosperity of Israel depended, God left the Canaanites in the land. In other words, God was teaching them by experience. Israel would have to deal with foreign influences throughout its history and they would only see victory if they followed the way of the law of God.

 

Just as necessity teaches a man to pray, so God let the Canaanites remain so that Israel would learn to fight by means of faith.

 

The complete removal of the Canaanites would have to wait until the second coming of Christ.

 

The distress into which the Israelites were brought by the remaining Canaanites was a chastisement from God, through which the Lord desired to lead back the rebellious to himself, to keep them obedient to His commandments, and to train them to the fulfillment of their covenant duties.

 

Every generation of Christians in the church age faces great opposition from their enemies. Victories of those who are now home do not stop the war. We each need the war.

 

In this respect, learning war,  or learning how the congregation of the Lord was to fight against the influences of the enemies of God and of His kingdom, was one of the means appointed by God to tempt Israel, or prove whether it would listen to the commandments of God, or would walk in the ways of the Lord. If Israel should so learn to war, both against the false ideals of the enemy as well as on the battlefield, it would learn at the same time to keep the commandments of God.

 

JDG 3:3 These nations are: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.

 

 

According to JOS 13:4 ff., "all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites," are the Canaanitish tribes dwelling in northern Canaan.

 

The Philistines occupied the south-west coast and eventually the south and central plains.

 

We are struck with the fact, that besides the Philistines, only these northern Canaanites are mentioned; whereas, according to chapter 1, many towns in the centre of the land were also left in the hands of the Canaanites, and therefore here also the Canaanites were not yet exterminated, and became likewise a snare to the Israelites, not only according to the word of the angel of the Lord, but also because the Israelites who dwelt among these Canaanitish tribes contracted marriages with them, and served their gods.

 

We would conclude that the only area of the land that was somewhat Canaanite free was the south occupied by Judah and Simeon. As we saw in chapter one, Judah was successful in fighting the Canaanites but, like the rest of the tribes, they did not find the strength to drive them from the plains.

 

JDG 3:4 And they were for testing Israel, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.

 

Israel would fail this test a great majority of the time. This is a warning to every church age believer.

 

JDG 3:5 And the sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;

 

JDG 3:6 and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

 

This ends the summary of the time.

 

Exodus  Invasion of land  Joshua's death  Judges

1446         1406-1400            1358               1356-1050

 

So we move into the details given concerning the judges of Israel. It is beneficial to look at a quick chronological glance of the time, but it is so easily forgotten, and so we will simply go on one by one.  

 

While the events in Judges has a certain chronological character we cannot conclude that the periods of judge rulership were successive, in some cases they may have been concurrent in different areas.

 

These judges operate in different areas of the land and so their rulership may have occurred at the same time or at least overlapped. Findings seem to indicate that the oppression that called for the rise of Jephthah and the Philistine oppression that called for the rise of Samson may have occurred at the same time and so Jephthah and Samson may have ruled simultaneously in different parts of the land.

 

The judges:

Othniel

Ehud

Shamgar (falls within time of Ehud)

Barak and Deb

 

Gideon

Tola

Jair

Jephthah

Ibzan

 

Elon

Samson (overlaps with Samuel)

Abdon (with Samuel)

 

The Israelites don't possess all the land, even though God gave it to them. Not only are Canaanites and Philistines occupying the plains, but Egyptians move freely through the land, protecting the trade routes and their investments.

 

The Egyptians maintain a light control over the land in that they have agreements with the various Canaanite kings and trade with them. The reason why we do not see the Egyptians in conflict with the Israelites at this time is likely that they were only concerned with the plains and the trade routes which naturally only moved through the plains while the Israelites occupied the hill country and so were of no concern to the Egyptians. If the Jews had removed the Canaanites and occupied the whole of the land as they should have in faith in Jehovah, they would have found themselves in conflict with Egypt.

 

The successor to Pharaoh Ramses II boasts of wiping out Israel:

 

"Plundered is Canaan with every evil;

Carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer;

Yenoam is made as that which does not exist;

Israel is laid waste, his seed is not;"

[Merneptah (pharaoh 1213-1203 BC)]

 

This is a boast and it shows us that we have to be careful about who is writing history. Would we trust such a historian from the court of Egypt or the Jewish historian who is writing the book of Judges under the influence of God the Holy Spirit? It is interesting that he mentions Israel's seed. Are the Egyptians and all other neighbors aware of the Abrahamic Covenant?

 

The first judge: Othniel.

 

1. Oppression by Cushan-rishathaim, (3:8) 8 years.

  Deliverance by Othniel, and rest, (3:11) 40 yrs.

 

I will state immediately that I am not going to delve into the various theories for numerology or the significance of the number 40 at this time. There are a number of competing theories, a number of calculations used to determine the total time of the judges, and each with its own stated significance. I will continue to search this out, but at this time I have yet to be convinced on any one theory in particular reference to the book of Judges.  

 

In looking at the Bible as a whole, we do find a significance to the number forty.  

 

40 is used as a period of probation or trial. It is used in this way 15 times in the Bible. Noted examples: Moses on the mount, spies in the land, Elijah and Jesus in the desert, Jesus' time on earth after resurrection.

 

We also have years of probation by trial in Israel in the wilderness. Years of probation under the trial of prosperity in the 40 year reign of David. Years of humiliation and servitude when Israel was under the yoke of the Philistines within the time of the judges. And, years of trial in waiting on the Lord, as in Moses in the wilderness of Midian. Therefore, we see forty as signifying a time of trial or probation, whether it be prosperity, adversity, testing, waiting, slavery, etc.

 

Pics: The illustrated story according to the Brick Bible.

 

JDG 3:7 And the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

 

This formula, "the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals" is constantly used.

 

The same was said of the Exodus generation:

 

DEU 32:18

"You neglected the Rock who begot you,

And forgot the God who gave you birth."

 

Asheroth, the female goddess of the moon and fertility was worshipped on hills and in the groves under woven tents in erotic fashion. The Jews came to see her as Jehovah's bride.

 

The name also refers to the pole that was erected which was sometimes carved to look like her or like a phallus. Baal and Asheroth are the father and mother of the phallic cult.

 

To actually believe that she was the bride of Jehovah was to replace themselves with her, for Israel was Jehovah's bride.

 

ISA 54:5

"For your husband is your Maker,

Whose name is the Lord of hosts;

And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,

Who is called the God of all the earth."