Judges Part 1

Judges I. This study is meant to be a light treatment of the Book of Judges. II. Preliminary observations. A. This book deals with a 450 year period after the conquest of Canaan. ACT 13:17-20. 1. An addition of the years of the different judges’ seasons does come to 450 years. 2. The KJV is accurate in its historical analysis in ACT 13:19-20. 3. Some modern versions corrupt the actual history to make it appear that it took 450 years to conquer Canaan, after which God gave the Judges. a. Eg. “He overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.” (ACT 13:19-20 in the New International Version). b. It actually took less than seven years to conquer Canaan. See this by comparing Caleb’s age when he first saw Canaan before the wandering period and his age at the time when Canaan was being divided up under conquest. JOS 14:7-10. c. The NIV is a broken narrative and scripture cannot be broken (JOH 10:35), nor have anything perverted (distorted, misapplied) in it (PRO 8:8), nor have contradictions (2PE 1:20-21). Therefore, the NIV is not scripture, not inspired prophecy. B. These judges are of special distinction from the judges that were to be appointed for the court system under Moses’ Law. EXO 18:13-27; DEUT 17:9. C. These judges were called saviours and are therefore plain examples of the truth of temporal salvation. NEH 9:27 c/w 2KI 13:5. 1. Scripture commonly speaks of God saving people in a temporal or natural sense. EXO 14:30; 2CH 32:22. 2. Understanding this helps us to better divide the word of truth concerning salvation: not every salvation is the eternal salvation which God alone works by Jesus Christ for sinners. ACT 2:40; 1CO 15:1-2; 1TI 4:16. D. There is a concentration of the names of some of these judges in the roll call of faith. HEB 11:32. 1. Those judges/saviours were flawed (some seriously) men of faith, yet not forgotten by God. 2. Let this be a comfort when our own faith is colored with spots of the old man and weakness. 3. Also, some “...out of weakness were made strong...” (HEB 11:34). Downturns and weaknesses in our faith can be put behind us if we are converted out of negative postures. LUK 22:31-32; 2TI 4:11; PHM 1:10-12. E. Samuel was at the end of this line of special judges who exercised special rule and leadership and he appointed his sons as judges. 1SAM 7:15; 8:1. F. These judges admirably directed and saved Israel in their faithful exercise but the people demanded the false perception of security from a king other than God. 1SAM 8:4-7. 1. God rules, judges and saves His church by the words of King Jesus as He delivered them to us via His apostles’ writings. 1JO 4:6. 2. Making commentators, church fathers, church confessions, popes, come-lately “prophets,” academic accommodators, etc. to determine our creed and conduct is little different than Israel demanding a king like the nations. Judges 6-26-25 Page 1 G. Ruth lived during the time of the Judges. RUTH 1:1. H. This book shows a pattern of highs and lows in which Israel fared well for a season after a judge delivered them but then afterwards fell back into bad old habits which led to their overthrow and great trouble. JDG 2:11-19. 1. This should remind us that we need some type of magistracy to put us to shame as needed (c/w JDG 18:7), and a church without a devoted preacher, or who neglect regular consultation with the words of the heavenly king given in the scriptures, or who forsake the assembling of themselves together for service and preaching, are very likely to drift back to the shore of their former bondage (or worse). 2. Not every church is an ant-church. PRO 6:6-8 c/w PHIL 2:12. 3. Sometimes it doesn’t take very long for a church to drift when the minister must be on other business. GAL 1:6. 4. Bugs can keep it together without a king. PRO 30:27. 5. NOTE: Unlike those judges who died leaving a vacuum (JDG 2:19) our Judge is very much alive to judge His churches. REV 1:17-18; 2:1. a. Men stray into folly when they think they are not being actively judged. EZE 8:12. b. Avoid the mentality of 2PE 3:3-4; ECC 8:11. I. The character of this period is summed up in JDG 21:25. 1. Contrast this with DEUT 12:8. 2. Again, we can assume no such mentality as JDG 21:25 because there is a Living King now over “...the Israel of God” (GAL 6:16). a. Those who do not think the church presently has a king are missing a saving truth that could keep them from the snares of false prophets and from subjugation to spiritual powers that deceptively conquer their minds and influence their policies. b. True religion is not left up to individual taste but rather the things which Jesus has commanded. MAT 28:19-20. Judges 6-26-25 Page 2