Part 1: The roots of Israel’s apostasy (Judges 1:1-3:6)
Prelude to apostasy (Judges 1:1-2:5)
Initial battles and seeds of apostasy (Judges 1:1-21)
- Judges 1:4-7 – The Israelites were acting as God’s agent of justice.
- The tribes of Judah and Benjamin feature heavily in the book of Judges. David and Jesus both later came from Judah. Saul came from Benjamin.
- Judges 1:8 – Jerusalem would change hands many times over the years. It wasn’t fully conquered by Israel until II Samuel 5.
- Judges 1:13 – Othniel would later be the first judge. Depending on how you read this, it seems that Othniel married his cousin (Caleb’s daughter).
- The Israelites tended to better be able to hold positions in the hill country. The Canaanites had iron chariots and tended to hold locations in the plains more easily. Of course, with God helping them, if the Israelites had been doing as He instructed, they should have been able to easily hold any position.
Incomplete conquests portending apostasy (Judges 1:22-36)
- Judges 1:24 – They seem to be asking for the secret entrance here, which ancient cities often had in case of siege.
- See Deuteronomy 20:16. No one in Canaan was to be spared.
The angel of the Lord and Israel’s apostasy (Judges 2:1-5)
Takeaways
- An incomplete eradication of sin will result in a disastrous downward spiral into unfaithfulness for us as it did for the Israelites.
- Matthew 18:8
- What is lingering in your life which is causing – or could cause – your spiritual demise?