When Joshua died at the age of 110, no one was strong enough to fill his shoes. Thus, there was no central government in Israel, and each tribe tried to set up its own local system of keeping order. For the next three hundred years, they were constantly in trouble. The system did not work because they refused to obey God. Ten times in the book of Judges, it is recorded that Israel fell into slavery. Each time, God raised up a person to deliver them and call them back to true worship. These deliverers were called judges.
Although at certain times some of the judges rose to great heights, overall, this book is a record of failures. Over and over, Israel pinned their religion on a man; when he died, so did their devotion. They never seemed to learn their lesson. So corrupt were those times that some of these judges lacked spiritual fervor. Samson, for example, was strong in body but weak in soul. Judges is a book of backsliding, and it shows what happens when people turn away from God.
Most scholars say Samuel wrote the book of Judges. He was the last judge of Israel, and it would seem natural for him to set down the history of his predecessors. Probably the most important lesson we can learn from this book is the great forgiveness of God and His everlasting patience with us. As the songwriter notes, "Tho' I forget Him and wander away, Still He doth love me wherever I stray." How much better it is, however, to keep the coal from God's altar hot in our heart through daily communion with Him.
“And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.”
Judges 2:19 KJV
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