by The book of Judges is the seventh book in the Old Testament with twenty one chapters and is classified as a history book. The definition of a Judge today is different than when the book was written. Webb states, “They were called judges because they carried out God’s judgment, either by driving out enemies or by settling disputes among the Israelites themselves.”[1] The book provides multiple cyclical historic accounts of Israel being its own worst enemy and the need of God to help save them from themselves. One of the earliest root causes is the disobedience of the Israelites not completely exterminating the enemy during war as commanded by God. This enabled the defeated enemy to blend into God’s people and culture to change it away from the worshipping of God to other idols, beliefs, and values. Moore explains, “The failure of the invaders to conquer the whole land at once is not due to the strength of its walled towns, or the superiority of their inhabitants in the art and enginery of war, but to Israel’s slackness in carrying out the root and branch policy enjoined in Ex. 34:11–16; 23:31b–33; Dt. 7:1–5.”[2] Barry states, “Judges reveals the depravity that results from people living by their own truth—disorder, immorality, corruption, and destruction—and the incredible need for God’s reign.”[3]
Recurring Cycle & Theology
There is a recurring cycle in most of the stories within the book of Judges where the people conduct a lot of sin, do not worship God, and have no central person to lead them spiritually or morally. Then God intervenes using one or two people to help the Israelites but then they get complacent and the cycle starts over again. Webb comments, “the central issue of the book is, namely, Israel’s persistent apostasy in the judges’ period and the Lord’s response to it.”[4] Barry mentions, “The same pattern occurs in each story: Israel falls into sin; God allows a foreign nation to oppress Israel as punishment; Israel repents; God sends a judge to deliver Israel from foreign oppression.”[5] For further clarification, Webb states, “There is certainly much repetition, but there is also progressive change, so that the result is better described in terms of a downward spiral than a simple repeating pattern.”[6] Unfortunately, the downward spiral continues throughout the book of Judges with much violence but not from outsiders. Hamilton explains, “The evidence is clear. Every Israelite in Judges who dies violently at the hand of another dies at the hand of a fellow Israelite! No Israelite is said to be put to death by any Midianite or Moabite or Philistine. It is a book about kindred killing kindred. That is a gruesome part of the savagery of the era.”[7]
The cycle illustrates the consequences of not having God at the center of daily life. There is no leader of Israel to ensure everyone follows God’s commandments and worships God as they should. There is a lack of leadership, and the many stories of Judges show this problem repeatedly. Mangum mentions, “While the earlier narratives highlight God’s ability to overcome Israel’s formidable oppressors (3:7–5:31), the latter narratives focus on the failure of the people to recognize God’s work, trust in his power, and show him allegiance (6:1–16:31).”[8] Barry states something similar, “The people no longer have a leader like Moses or Joshua, and they neglect their relationship with Yahweh. The result is a recurring cycle of sin, punishment, repentance, and rescue by a “judge”—a leader sent by God. . . . He is the rightful king over our lives and over all the earth.”[9]
Prophetic Significance to Judges 21:25
Judges 21:25 is one of the main theological themes of Judges and pinpoints the reason for the misery in each story. There is prophetic significance to the recurring cycles in Judges and to Judges 21:25. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judg. 25:21, NASB 2020) The book of Judges illuminates the argument that mankind can not effectively rule themselves and live in peace and harmony with God. Barry states, “The period of the judges is marked by violence and moral decline; the end of the book attributes this to an absence of centralized leadership resulting in a lack of accountability and unity . . . There is a contrast here: Joshua’s leadership exemplified faithfulness, but the lack of leadership in Judges results in everyone doing what is right in their own eyes.”[10] There is chaos and horror in life when God is left out. Leaving God out of the equation leads to injustice, inhospitality, chaos, and lack of order.
God did not completely abandon the Israelites, Webb explains, “. . . with God’s special relationship with Israel and how this was expressed in both judgment and salvation in Israel’s history. This special relationship was based on the covenant which God made with the Israelites at Mt Sinai after he brought them out of slavery in Egypt (Ex. 19–20), and this in turn was based on the promises which God had made to Abraham centuries before.”[11]
Central Message and Relationship with Old Testament
Israel needs a special kind of king, “but not a king who, like the judges, will go to battle against foreign foes. Israel needs a king who will function as a guardian of the covenant, the very thing which the premonarchic order ultimately put at risk. . . . A king is needed who will save Israel from its greatest threat: itself”[12] This central message demonstrates the need for great leaders to be great followers of God. Within the Old Testament, this is a reminder of what life looks like when God is not present. It is a contrast to many other books of the Bible where God is present and with his children that follow him on a regular basis.
The book of Judges also sets the stage for David later in the Bible as he is the leader that is needed to ensure the cycle of issues from Judges doesn’t continue. Hamilton mentions, “Israel may be sheep without a shepherd—there is no Joshua around—but that does not let Israel off the hook.”[13] Mangum also explains, “Israel lacked godly leadership that pointed them to God’s sovereign rule, and they were therefore bereft of a moral compass and any sense of their vocation as God’s covenant people.”[14]
[1] Barry G. Webb, “Judges,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 261.
[2] George Foot Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges, International Critical Commentary (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1910), 3–4.
[3] John D. Barry, Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), Introduction to Judges.
[4] Webb, “Judges”, 264.
[5] Barry, Faithlife Study, Introduction to Judges.
[6] Webb, “Judges”, 264.
[7] Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Historical Books (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 169.
[8] Douglas Mangum, Lexham Context Commentary: Old Testament (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), Judg 3:7–16:31.
[9] Barry, Faithlife Study, Introduction to Judges.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Webb, “Judges”, 261.
[12] Lawson Grant Stone, “From Tribal Confederation to Monarch State: The Editorial Perspective of the Book of Judges.” Order No. 8917737 (Yale University, 1988), 477.
[13] Hamilton, Handbook, 108.
[14] Mangum, Lexham Context, Judges.