Flipped the Script - Judges 10

Chapter 10 covers 3 judges really quickly and is a pretty short chapter. The first comes after Abimelech who’s name is Tola. He’s from Isaachar, judges Israel for 23 years and he dies. The second is Jair from Gilead, not sure which tribe that is, I think Gad, and he judges Israel for 22 years. He has at least 30 sons all who rule the 30 cities that he judged and he died. The Israelites were quick to turn around to evil as soon as Jair died and they started worshipping these other gods. It’s important to note that these other gods did not replace worshipping the God of Israel, but instead they just incorporated them into his worship too, which is a problem. It’s also interesting to note that the people turn to wickedness after these righteous judges die which is a demonstration to just how important righteous leadership is. It’s also an interesting commentary on how easily persuaded human beings are, which begs the question, if all it takes for a whole group of people to be relatively righteous is a godly leader, then why doesn’t God just ensure there are always righteous leaders. Are people really that easy to convince, are they that easily persuaded? But on the other hand, we see that these people keep going back to this idol worshipping every chance they get, generation after generation so there has to be more to it than that, just a good leader convincing the people to be righteous, but then they turn wicked again the first chance they get. And it’s not even the same people, it’s generation after generation, so there is some consistent thread there woven into how these children are being raised that is so pervasive.

The people turn away from God and so God turns away from them and they become oppressed by the Philistines and for 18 years they suffer under this oppression and don’t call out to God for deliverance. It’s like they have hundreds of years of records citing deliverance by God in hundreds of examples and it STILL takes 18 years for them to think, “wait, is there anything that I can do for this oppression to stop?” It’s fascinating to me, like are they so dedicated to their wicked lifestyles that they would rather be in bondage than to worship God. It’s an interesting concept because I don’t understand that at all. I worship God and try my best to be righteous and I actively don’t engage in those activities that were permitted under the pagan system. I gave up that stuff out of my own free will and choice, I don’t understand being force to be compelled to give them up and still waiting 18 years to do it. Wild. I just don’t get it.

Finally, after 18 years, the people turn to God and beg for deliverance, and God’s answer is different than it’s been before. So far in this book, the pattern has been, the people are wicked, God decides to free them from oppression and they become righteous afterward, destroying their idols after victory, but this time is different. This time God waited unto the people approached him and asked for deliverance and then he said “no.” He actually reminded them of all the times that He delivered them previously and that they had again turned their backs on Him to worship other gods, and to let those other gods that they are worshipping save you. He says, “Go and cry unto the gods which he have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.” To be honest, I’m sure that they have spent 18 years trying to exact approach, praying to these false gods for relief and of course it doesn’t come. So they turn to God and he says no, let your other gods free you because you don’t want to do what I tell you. This time, instead of being the one to instigate the deliverance, the people of Israel have to do show the initiative, so that’s what they do. “And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” The people had to act first, they had to get rid of their idols, and they had to live in that obedience for a while before God came to their rescue. While they were starting to be righteous, “the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead,” and Israel’s army in Mizpeh. The problem was that they had the army but no leader, and they had to go about finding the right leader before going to fight.

This is in stark contrast to how the Lord had done it previously where he calls someone and deliver Israel who then becomes righteous. This time Israel has to become righteous on their own, then they have to recognize that they need a leader, and chapter 11 probably talks about them finding that proper leader.