Judg 2:17 | KingComments | STEP | Reading these verses may give us a feeling of despondency and depression. Is this people’s aberration then incurable? God wants to hold up a mirror to us with the recurring unfaithfulness of the people, for we are no better. For the people salvation lies in listening to the judge. As long as he lives, that is as long as he is in charge, it goes well. If he dies, which means, if evil is no longer judged, things go wrong. For us this means that we can only go the way of the Lord and enjoy the blessing if we keep the flesh within us judged. Romans 6 tells us how we can live in self-judgment: “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” ( ). We have a powerful weapon in our hands, namely the Word of God. We read in it that we may see ourselves as dead in relation to sin. Sin no longer has a right to us because we have found our end in the death of Christ. “Our old self”, which we are by nature, is “crucified with [Him]” as we read in the same Romans 6 ( ). Living in that consciousness guarantees enjoying the blessing in fellowship with God. The secret of the judge in our life or in the life of a local community is that we look at the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross. The history of Israel teaches us that after the death of a judge, an increase in evil is found. As a result, also the deliverances become smaller and less complete. The characters of the deliverers also become less strong. This downward spiral finds its lowest point in Samson, the last judge mentioned in this book. He dies as a prisoner of the enemy he has to chase away and the people are still in captivity after his death.

‏ Judges 2:17

A Downward Spiral

Reading these verses may give us a feeling of despondency and depression. Is this people’s aberration then incurable? God wants to hold up a mirror to us with the recurring unfaithfulness of the people, for we are no better. For the people salvation lies in listening to the judge. As long as he lives, that is as long as he is in charge, it goes well. If he dies, which means, if evil is no longer judged, things go wrong.

For us this means that we can only go the way of the Lord and enjoy the blessing if we keep the flesh within us judged. Romans 6 tells us how we can live in self-judgment: “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11).

We have a powerful weapon in our hands, namely the Word of God. We read in it that we may see ourselves as dead in relation to sin. Sin no longer has a right to us because we have found our end in the death of Christ. “Our old self”, which we are by nature, is “crucified with [Him]” as we read in the same Romans 6 (Rom 6:6). Living in that consciousness guarantees enjoying the blessing in fellowship with God. The secret of the judge in our life or in the life of a local community is that we look at the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross.

The history of Israel teaches us that after the death of a judge, an increase in evil is found. As a result, also the deliverances become smaller and less complete. The characters of the deliverers also become less strong. This downward spiral finds its lowest point in Samson, the last judge mentioned in this book. He dies as a prisoner of the enemy he has to chase away and the people are still in captivity after his death.