Content Essay: the Judges

Content Essay Assignment: Judges

Joo Won Lee

OBST 515L: Old Testament Orientation

April 19, 2026

Introduction

  After the death of Joshua, a foreshow figure of Jesus, the ancient Israelites would be trapped in the era of Judges which was overall marked by the nation’s repeating cyclical periods of widespread sinfulness abandoning their Deliverer, which greatly angered God, who in response, had to punish the perpetrators for their evil actions albeit for temporarily until they repented (again).

Recurring Thematic Cycle & Relation to Theology of Judges

     The repeating cycle of the now-Canaan dwelling Israelites post-Joshua is rather remarkable and predictable: utter sinfulness as manifested in Israelites’ idol worship which YHWH absolutely prohibited and abhorred, the subjugation at the hands of foreign powers as God raised their enemies to strike them, the crying out/repenting of the Israelites, a rise of a task-driven new judge elected by God for each occasion as God heard their cry, and the ensuing peaceful period which normally lasted for several decades. Sounds familiar? It awfully sounds like any Christian’s pilgrimage on earth toward our eternal home base in heaven, right?

     As Roland J. Faley writes, “the major idea is the same as that in Joshua, taken from Deuteronomy: infidelity assures defeat, while fidelity is crowned with success. The major motif that sounds throughout Judges has four major moments: sin, punishment, repentance, and deliverance. The Deuteronomist has woven this intricately into his text.”[1] Indeed: As God warned, “Thou shall not have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:…for I the Lord they God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:3-6 KJV), when the Israelites disobeyed the very first commandments they received through Moses,  true to his word God intervened as he warned, and showed His divine righteous jealousy as he justifiably gave the transgressing nation over to their enemies. The encompassing biblical verses in Judges capturing this capstone idea might be, 1) sin: “(Judges 2:11, Judges 3;7; cf. Romans 1:32; 3:10-12, 23); 2) punishment (2:14; 6:1), 3) repentance ( 3:9; 10:15), 4) deliverance (2:16; 3:10-11) as the behavior pattern became awfully predictable.

     Theological lesson in all this is very clear: as the Hebrew writer concludes, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Hebrew 12:6 ESV), the saints cannot live outside God’s realm as in sphere of his love, grace and sovereignty when disobeying his commandments.  The Lord tells us, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” (John 15;1-2 KJV): as we ought to, the Israelites had to bear the fruits of their devotion and commitment to YHWH as bound by the covenant given to them, and the ramifications were enormous.

Prophetic Significance of Recurring Cycle and its Connection to 21:25?

     As the author Hamilton points out, “Unlike the era of Joshua, no one individual is dominant enough to cast a shadow over the entire book…In fact, what does cast a shadow over Judges is the absence of such a leader. The episodic and ephemeral appearance of charismatic judges notwithstanding, just about everything “after the death of Joshua” is downhill.”[2] The beat goes on, and its prophetic significance is that the nation is finally ready to move onto the next phase of history or rather the reign of monarchs according to God’s Grand salvific plan and His divinely designated time clock (cf. 1 Samuel 8:4-22) as the “Seed of woman” would come through the Davidic kingly lineage (“stem of Jesse”) of genealogy to save the world from its sins (cf. Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 11:1).

     “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25 KJV)—as the author Hamilton amuses, “ “No king” is prospective, suggesting that maybe filling the vacuum of “no king” (toward which the last chapter points) will be the solution to the vacuum of “no Joshua” (with which the first chapter begins),”[3] yes but it was God’s plan all along.

     Trent Butler writes regarding the verse 21:25, “Doing what was right in their own eyes was Israelites’ posture before they entered their inheritance (Deut 12:8), certainly not the posture expected of them after they have entered their inheritance and established themselves in the land. This is a far cry from Josh 21:42-45. The verse points beyond itself to hope for a future time, that of the writer or beyond. Much remains far from evident. Scholars carry on strong debates about this verse in its dating, its view of kingship, its moral intention, and its relationship to other instances of the refrain in part and in whole. (See Wong, Compositional Strategy, 191, nn. 1-2)”[4] One thing is clear: everything works according to God’s desires, will, and justice, e.g., transitioning from judgeship to kingship, as God would even use the evil or evil doers for the magnificence and benevolence which he would bestow  upon the children of his choosing (cf. Gen. 50:20; Ex. 9:16; Prov. 16:4; Acts 4:27-28; Rom. 13:1).

Central Message and Connection to the Rest of the OT

     Throughout the entire Bible, the central message contained within is the salvation of fallen and utterly dysfunctional humanity at the hands of YHWH as through an intercessor, the Messiah who was sent by the Father: The Old Testament is a difficult book to approach with many different genres of books and literary styles to penetrate through. As Hill and Walton observe, “As God’s self-revelation, the objective of the Old Testament is the reader comes to know God better. This process, however, is not intended to be merely cognitive. In addition, knowing God is accomplished by experiencing his attributes. Being able to list God’s attributes become the framework of our worldview…The Old Testament’s objective is not transformed lives, though knowing God should transform one’s life. The Old Testament’s objective is not the adoption of a value system, thought a value system would certainly be one outcome of knowing God in a real way. The Old Testament is not a repository of historical role models, dusty hymns, and obscure prophetic saying, but God’s invitation to hear his story.”[5] God is clearly narrating an important story for us to hear through the book of Judges. Then, what is that story and the purpose of the book of Judges in relation to the Old Testament? It is the need for the Redeemer God for us transgressors as would be ultimately manifested in the Coming Messiah who would be prophesied and foreshadowed more in the rest of the Old Testament books as in the major and minor prophets. It is the faithfulness of God: the steadfast guidance, leadership, and the suffering Fatherhood in the midst of  the aching and menacing reaches of evil tentacles draped all over the history of mankind and his creation.

     Live in YHWH; prosper and be blessed. Outside it, be cursed and miserable. As Hill and Walton tell us all, “By seeing God’s plan worked out in the past (the Pentateuch and the historical books) and projected into the future (prophetic literature), we can begin to appreciate the unfathomable wisdom of God, who is worthy of praise and worship (Psalms and wisdom literature). The Old Testament, then, should be viewed as a presentation of God’s attributes in action. We can know who God is and what he is like by hearing what he has done and intends to do. Once we know who he is and what he is like, the appropriate response are worship, commitment, and service.”[6]  Big resounding Amen here.

Conclusion

     In the end God alone moves forward the history and he only saves (as did his erected set of 12 judges) as written in scripture by a psalmist for example, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. (Psalms 18:2 KJV),” as the ticking bomb of the appearance of the Messiah would be set for activation for cosmic mega explosion through the very poet, king, warrior, and whom he called, “the Lord of my Lord” (Psalm 110:1). That encapsulates what the Good News of the Gospel is all about as written in John 3:16. Those who have ear, let them hear.

Bibliography

Butler, Trent C. Judges. Word Biblical Commentary 8. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009.

Durken, Daniel, ed. The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2015.

Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 2^nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.

Hill, Andrew E., and John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. 3^rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009.

[1] Daniel Durken ed. The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2015,) 404.

[2] Victor P. Hamilton, Victor. Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 97.

[3] Victor P. Hamilton. Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 97.

[4] Butler, Trent C. Judges. Word Biblical Commentary 8. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009, 468.

[5] Hill, Andrew E., and John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. 3^rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009, 21-22.  

[6] Ibid., 22-23.