Judg 2:10-19 | KingComments | STEP | Decay in Israel begins when Joshua and the elders have died, although signs of decay are already visible in their days. That is also how it went with the church. In the days of the apostles, decay is still being held back, but soon after that it becomes more and more visible. Paul and Peter have warned that after their passing away the evil consequences of unfaithfulness and rebellion will become manifest in the church ( ; ). Mixing with unbelievers is the means by which evil can develop in the midst of the church and later overwhelm it, as was the case with Israel. If we compare the name that the people here give to the burial place of Joshua with the name that his burial place in Joshua 24 has ( ), it turns out that the first impressions of the blessing are fading. The name change shows that other things have become more important than the blessing of the land. This shows the germ of decay. The meaning of Timnath-heres is ‘a part of earth’. In Joshua 24 this place is called Timnath-serah, which is ‘an abundant part’ ( ). Thus our appreciation for our abundant, heavenly part can become no more than a piece of earth. The earthly things are sought and the heavenly inheritance is considered small. This shift in interest will be discussed in detail in the following chapters. After Joshua and the elders after him died, the good influence ceases. By their personal faithfulness and faith they have had an influence on the people. Inasmuch as that influence has vanished, a generation is emerging who appears to serve the LORD only outwardly. The people of this generation do not have a bond with Him themselves. Their ancestors have fought for the land. They have told their children of the work that the LORD has done. But it is too long ago for the grandchildren to become really enthusiastic about what God has given His people and what their grandparents have acquired under much struggle. They suffer from what has been called the disease of the third generation: the grandfather acquires, the son inherits, the grandson corrupts. To truly enjoy the blessings God has given His people, we must be in a personal and living relationship with God. We can hear from our parents and grandparents about great things God has done, but if we don’t have our own relationship with the Lord Jesus, those stories will ultimately have no meaning for us. Our interest is superficial and evaporates like a vapor. We too will have to fight to take the blessings God has given us. It is not necessary that we corrupt the inheritance because our parents and/or grandparents have fought for it and that we don’t fight for it or to a lesser extent. It is so, that every generation has to fight that battle again. There is a huge challenge ahead of us.

‏ Judges 2:10-19

The Decay Becomes Visible

Decay in Israel begins when Joshua and the elders have died, although signs of decay are already visible in their days. That is also how it went with the church. In the days of the apostles, decay is still being held back, but soon after that it becomes more and more visible. Paul and Peter have warned that after their passing away the evil consequences of unfaithfulness and rebellion will become manifest in the church (Acts 20:29-30; 2Pet 1:12-14 ; 2Pet 2:1-3). Mixing with unbelievers is the means by which evil can develop in the midst of the church and later overwhelm it, as was the case with Israel.

If we compare the name that the people here give to the burial place of Joshua with the name that his burial place in Joshua 24 has (Jos 24:30), it turns out that the first impressions of the blessing are fading. The name change shows that other things have become more important than the blessing of the land. This shows the germ of decay.

The meaning of Timnath-heres is ‘a part of earth’. In Joshua 24 this place is called Timnath-serah, which is ‘an abundant part’ (Jos 24:30). Thus our appreciation for our abundant, heavenly part can become no more than a piece of earth. The earthly things are sought and the heavenly inheritance is considered small. This shift in interest will be discussed in detail in the following chapters.

After Joshua and the elders after him died, the good influence ceases. By their personal faithfulness and faith they have had an influence on the people. Inasmuch as that influence has vanished, a generation is emerging who appears to serve the LORD only outwardly. The people of this generation do not have a bond with Him themselves. Their ancestors have fought for the land. They have told their children of the work that the LORD has done. But it is too long ago for the grandchildren to become really enthusiastic about what God has given His people and what their grandparents have acquired under much struggle. They suffer from what has been called the disease of the third generation: the grandfather acquires, the son inherits, the grandson corrupts.

To truly enjoy the blessings God has given His people, we must be in a personal and living relationship with God. We can hear from our parents and grandparents about great things God has done, but if we don’t have our own relationship with the Lord Jesus, those stories will ultimately have no meaning for us. Our interest is superficial and evaporates like a vapor.

We too will have to fight to take the blessings God has given us. It is not necessary that we corrupt the inheritance because our parents and/or grandparents have fought for it and that we don’t fight for it or to a lesser extent. It is so, that every generation has to fight that battle again. There is a huge challenge ahead of us.

Idolatry

It is a remarkable phenomenon that, when man leaves God, he exchanges God for other gods. It is not the case that a man gives up God to continue his own way. Man must have an object of worship. Someone once said: “If there was no God, it would be necessary to find out or invent one.” Man seems to have a religious instinct that demands a higher power or powers. Every human being has this ‘instinct’ within him, even the atheist who denies the existence of God. When you talk to such a person, it often turns out that he believes in himself, and thus that he is his own god.

The poignant thing in the book of Judges, however, is that it is a people who God has made to be His people and to which He has done so much good things. The cause is that they forget the LORD, the God of their fathers, Who led them out of the land of Egypt. For us it means that the door is open to evil when the personal knowledge of Christ and His work and the Word of God disappear into the background. Satan sees his chance and fills the resulting void with his means.

Two idols are mentioned by name, one male, Baal, and one female, Ashtaroth. Baal means ‘man’ or ‘lord’ with the thought of owner. Ashtaroth, the female idol, speaks of fertility in a natural sense. Both idols are perversely connected and show something of the mystery of lawlessness. Lawlessness means that there is no authority being acknowledged. It is doing one’s own will, satisfying one’s own lusts. This is the result when God and His Word disappear from the field of view.

In the Hands of Enemies

God loves His people too much to let them go on the wrong way. The remedy He uses may seem strange, but it is effective. It says strongly: “He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them.” If you are plundered, it means that you have nothing left. Everything has been taken away from you, you have lost it. We must always remember that it is about the people of God who live in the promised land and are allowed to enjoy everything God has given them. All these blessings are robbed from the people, they are lost because of their unfaithfulness and forsaking the LORD.

It’s the same with us. If we become unfaithful and forsake the Lord, no longer taking Him into account, we will no longer be able to enjoy the heavenly blessings. Other things have become more important to us such as earning money, making a career, luxury holidays. It can all become so important to us that we are totally seized by it. It is going to dominate us in such a way that it will eventually predominate us.

It gives no peace to the soul, no real happiness to the heart. It is fake happiness that is a yoke. Only when we understand its slavery and notice that we have lost our heavenly blessings a change can take place. Until then, they have disappeared from our lives, robbed by the enemy. This enemy does not leave us alone, he is chasing us to more and higher happiness in the world.

God has allowed this, yes, He has even worked it. He has withdrawn from our lives to give the enemy a free hand so that he can do with us what he wants. He wants us that we start to long again for Him and what He gives. We can learn this from the way in which He deals with Israel here.

The LORD Raises up Judges

Further on in this book we read a beautiful word about the feelings of God toward His people when He had to surrender them to their enemies because of their unfaithfulness: “He could bear the misery of Israel no longer” (Jdg 10:16). What a God full of mercy and compassion! We read something like this in Jdg 2:18 of our chapter. He starts to work for the deliverance of His people and for that He uses people who serve Him and judge evil.

The name ‘judge’ says it already. A judge is someone who points the finger at evil and administers justice. He pronounces his judgment and verdict on it. The judge is not someone who only judges between people, but he is also on behalf of the people the leader in confessing guilt to God. By doing so he restores the bond between God and His people. He is the new connection between the LORD and His people.

For us, who live in the time of the church, a judge is not primarily a person, but a principle. This means that God wants to bring us to self-judgment if we have become a slave of desire again through our unfaithfulness. He wants us to judge the wrong thing in ourselves. He awakens in us the longing to deal with sin, which has once again become boss over us.

This is the same as with the enemy. This is not a literal enemy for us either, but a spiritual power that wants to assert itself again, as we have read before: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]” (Eph 6:12).

The fact that God gives judges speaks of a revival based on judgment. In other words, the self-judgment that a person comes to after a correct judgment of the true state of things. Self-judgment is to give the wrong thing in oneself the right place by judging it. This will enable the Lord to regain His proper place in life. The Lord is with this humble mind, this mind of self-judgment, and He delivers the person. The same goes for a local community of believers.

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.