Historical Background

The events in the Book of Judges take place after the death of Joshua and before the reign of Saul, Israel’s first king. I find it helpful to think of this time period as a stretch of river. In the Book of Joshua, the river flows clear and strong. God’s people face challenges, and they experience solutions and victories. But downriver, the Judges stretch turns murky and sluggish as sewage and other contaminants seep into the flow. The people of Israel create trouble for themselves as they allow the evil of their surrounding culture to pollute them. This is the sad story of the Book of Judges.

It seems unlikely, then, that preachers would choose this dark, sordid tale for a series of sermons. Judges appears to be more suited for a mini-series on HBO with all of its sex and violence. Certainly, its R-rated contents are not suitable for children, and Bible stories are for kids—right? Better to skip from Joshua to Ruth except for a sermon on the faith of Gideon or the downfall of Samson.

However, I am convinced that God’s people today need to hear the Book of Judges proclaimed. Here are three reasons why. First, Bible stories are not just for kids. They are the most sophisticated form of communication. They present their ideas more subtly than other kinds of literature. But they do more than provide a historical record or illustrate ideas taught in the New Testament. Judges, like other Old Testament narrative books, communicate theology.

Second, while the English Bible’s arrangement of books places Judges in “the historical books,” the Hebrew Bible categorizes it as a “former prophet”—along with Joshua, Samuel, and Kings. Judges, then, offers a prophetic message, using story (narrative) as its delivery vehicle. As a prophetic book, Judges aims to challenge, indict, and inspire God’s people. Since it belongs to Scripture, Judges is still useful today for “teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Finally, the grace and faithfulness of God shine brightly in this book against the dark backdrop of sin and rebellion. Even though God’s people self-destruct when they become like their pagan neighbors, God is at work intervening—again and again—to bring peace to those who turn back to him. Judges 5:31 expresses the vision behind all of it: “So may all your enemies perish, LORD! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”

Sermon Series

Typically, preachers cherry-pick this book for a sermon on Gideon (but from Judges 7 rather than Judges 8!) or on Samson. I suggest a 12-week series, which works through the entire book. This is long enough to develop the book’s argument and its unique themes. Yet it is short enough to hold your listeners’ attention and to keep them from becoming too overwhelmed by all the darkness Judges contains.

When I preach through Judges, I point out to my listeners that the book has a clear structure. It contains a double introduction and a double conclusion. The double introduction raises two problems: the war of destruction and idols. First, Israel failed to carry out the war of destruction (ḥerem) against some of the inhabitants of Canaan. Second, they worshipped the idols of the nations. The conclusion deals with these same two problems, only in reverse—and each problem is more internal than external. In between the introduction and conclusion, you will find the so-called “cycles” section. Each cycle consists of rebellion, retribution, repentance, restoration, and rest. However, these cycles form a downward spiral as each the situation in each “cycle” deteriorates even more than in the previous one.

Text: Judges 1:1-2:5

• Exegetical Idea: Yahweh rebuked Israel for not responding to his loyal love by removing the corrupt Canaanites from their new homeland.
• Big Idea: God’s loyal love compels us to fight whatever pulls us away from knowing him.

Text: Judges 2:6-3:11

• Exegetical Idea: Yahweh disciplined Israel for her idolatry by giving them defeat and distress and by leaving their enemies in the land.
• Big Idea: Life falls apart if we fail to worship the One we are made to worship.

Text: Judges 3:12-31

• Exegetical Idea: Yahweh delivered Israel by using a left-handed warrior from a “right-handed” tribe (Benjamin), as well as the hubris of an obese king.
• Big Idea: God delivers his people from hopeless situations in unexpected ways.

Text: Judges 4:1-5:31

• Exegetical Idea: Yahweh delivered Israel by the bold actions of Heber’s wife, Jael (when General Barak was reluctant) and by some Israelite tribes who stepped up to help.
• Big Idea: God accomplishes his mission through people who take bold steps to help him.

Text: Judges 6:1-32

• Exegetical Idea: Yahweh called Gideon to tear down his father’s idols before enabling Gideon to defeat the Midianites.
• Big Idea: God calls his people to clean house before he restores peace to their lives.

Text: Judges 6:33-7:25

• Exegetical Idea: Yahweh reduced the size of Gideon’s army to ridiculously small number to show them that his strength saved them.
• Big Idea: God puts his people in situations of weakness in order to put his power on display.

Text: Judges 8:1-35

• Exegetical Idea: The unity in Israel began to break down when Gideon focused more on vengeance and lavish lifestyle than on Yahweh’s mission.
• Big Idea: Communities of faith break down when they focus on selfish desires instead of God’s mission.

Text: Judges 9:1-57

• Exegetical Idea: Yahweh made Abimilek and the Schechemites pay for all of their wickedness.
• Big Idea: God makes sure that unrepentant people face payday some day for their evil deeds.

Text: Judges 10:1-12:15

• Exegetical Idea: Jephthah’s paganism, which culminated in a foolish vow to Yahweh, cost him his daughter; his vengeful spirit caused the slaughter of 42,000 fellow Israelites.
• Big Idea: Right theology matters because a distorted view of God and his gifts leads to self-destruction.

Text: Judges 13:1-16:31

• Exegetical Idea: Samson squandered Yahweh’s gifts on his own desires rather than on delivering Israel so that the deliverance he finally accomplished resulted in his tragic death.
• Big Idea: When you use God’s gifts to serve yourself rather than his kingdom, you’ll waste your life—and perhaps ruin it too.

Text: Judges 17:1-18:31

• Exegetical Idea: Idolatry left Micah with nothing and the Danites with eventual captivity when the whole time God’s presence was available in Shiloh.
• Big Idea: When we turn from God to idols, we end up with emptiness and captivity instead of the presence of God.

Text: Judges 19:1-21:25

• Exegetical Idea: Israel’s fall into paganism caused a civil war which brought the tribe of Benjamin to near extinction and led to an immoral solution—kidnapping young women from other tribes—to salvage its future.
• Big Idea: God’s people end up at the brink of ruin when they follow the surrounding culture rather than following God.

Notes on the big ideas of these preaching texts.

1. I tend to frame my preaching ideas around what God does or says rather than what the characters in the story do or say. Sometimes, the big idea aligns closely with what the characters do (as in Judges 4-5); but sometimes this is not the case (as in Judges 3:12-31).
2. Judges 3:7-11 could be an additional preaching unit. It establishes the pattern—rebellion, retribution, repentance, restoration, and rest—through which each narrative in the middle section of the book will cycle. There is even a literary breakdown as some of these elements disappear with each new cycle as Israel deteriorates. For the sake of keeping the series to 12 weeks, I simply put this at the end of the introduction where it fits thematically.
3. I am committed to showing how each narrative—as well as the entire Book of Judges—fits into the Bible’s larger story with Christ at the center. This is the approach of biblical theology. Without resorting to artificial leaps to Christ, I try to show how each big idea anticipates or shows a need for Jesus and his gospel. I also want to emphasize that believers can obey the “ethical thrust” or the prophetic message of each narrative only in the power of the gospel of Christ.
4. Some preachers may wish to do a four to six week series on Samson. However, there is a great power in preaching the story as a whole to feel the weight of its tragic ending. Breaking the story into mini-sermons could get tedious since it holds together as a single narrative.
5. It is wise to preach the final narrative, 19:1-21:25, through the lens of biblical theology, looking at this sad, sordid story in light of the larger story of Scripture. In God’s providence, he brought good out of this ugly mess. Centuries later, he appointed someone from the tribe of Benjamin to be a minister of the New Covenant by which God showers grace upon his people—the Apostle Paul (see 2 Corinthians 3:6). So, from the perspective of biblical theology, the preaching idea for 19:1-21:25 could be: Even when we fail and end up at the brink of ruin, God’s grace gives us a reason for hope.

Application

The Book of Judges speaks to several issues or problems we face in the 21st century:

Idolatry: We may not bow down to statues and figurines, but we still look for other “saviors” to deliver us. After all, the Apostle Paul equates greed with idolatry (Col. 3:5).

Justice: The narrative in Judges 9 assures us that God will bring about justice. Evil people will get their due. This is an encouragement for victims of oppression, and it is the reason we can choose not to seek revenge against those who wrong us.

Weakness and Courage: Most us of like to operate from a position of strength. God uses weakness (see Gideon) to show us that we are weak, but he is strong. The story of Barak and Jael in Judges 4, as well as the song in Judges 5, reminds us that God expects his people to step up to whatever mission he gives them.

Narcissism and Hedonism: Characters like Gideon and Samson show us how much trouble we can create (for ourselves and others) when we live to accommodate our selfish desires and to pursue pleasure above all else. A self-centered life does not bode well for anybody.

Obedience: In the Book of Judges, God tests his people to see if they will obey (3:4) and promises that those who obey will be like the sun which rises in its strength (5:31b).

Theological Themes

Yahweh the Deliverer: The “judges” Yahweh raised up for Israel were “saviors” or “deliverers” rather than those who presided over judicial proceedings. Yet, Yahweh is the ultimate “deliverer”—the One who rescues his people from their enemies (3:9; 3:28; 4:23; 7:2, 7).

The Faithfulness of Yahweh: Though his people prove themselves unfaithful time and time again, Yahweh is faithful to his covenant, promising he will never break it (2:1). Every time his people rebelled, he afflicted them but then relented because of their groaning (2:18) and raised up another “judge” to deliver them (2:16).

The Need for a Righteous King: Four times in the conclusion, the writer declares “Israel had no king” (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The first (17:6) and last (21:25) declaration adds the observation that “everyone did as they saw fit” (that is, “everyone did what was right in their eyes”). Since this book was written after the captivity of the land (18:30), it’s certainly not saying, “Oh, if we just had a king, everything would be all right.” Rather, it is observing that the situation was just as bad as the days when corrupt kings ruled in Israel (and all the kings of the northern kingdom were corrupt!). The reference to “no king” appears to be a judgment on the people’s lack of commitment to God as their king as well as the need for a godly king unlike the leaders during the times of the judges and the kings during the monarchy.

Yahweh’s Covenant Love for His People: What Yahweh does and says in Judges reflects the sermons of Moses in Deuteronomy, particularly his great love for his people (Deut. 7:1-12). This covenant demands exclusive obedience, promising blessing for obedience and trouble for disobedience (see Deut. 28-33). In Judges, God’s people experience peace in the land for obedience or oppression from enemies for disobedience. Those who loved Yahweh were promised sun-like strength (5:31b).

The Problem of False Worship and Idolatry: In Deuteronomy, Yahweh called for exclusive worship (see 5:6-10 and 12:4-7) and instructed his people to love and obey him (see 6:4-9, 10:12-13, 11:1, etc.). According to Judges, the people failed miserably. They prostituted themselves to other gods (2:17)—mainly Baal, the storm god of the Cannanites who supposedly controlled the weather (see 2:11, 13; 3:7; 6:25; 8:33; 10:6). But the consequences were devastating. Disobedience resulted in affliction from God (2:14-15), and idolatry resulted in emptiness (18:24-26) and eventual bondage (18:30).

My Encounter with the Book of Judges

I have preached through Judges twice—once to a church I pastored in Montana and then to the church I currently serve in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Both times, I tried to choose a series title with some hope. My title the first time I preached it was “Judges: A Tale of Corruption and Hope.” The second time I opted for “Loving God, Living Strong.” This grew out of Judges 5:31b. I felt it highlighted the positive side of the message—that those who love God will be like the rising of the sun in its strength.

At the beginning of both series, I took some time to answer the question, “Why study Judges instead of Romans, Ephesians, or Psalms?” My answer is that the Book of Judges deals with the very same problems we face today. The cultural situation is different, but we are still fascinated with idols, tempted to take revenge, confused about God’s character, prone to disobey God, quick to take advantage of others, and mesmerized by money, sex, and power. Judges helps us see the need for faithful worship and the destructive consequences of its absence. It ends with a glimmer of hope—that perhaps one day, Yahweh would raise up a king to shepherd his people in his strength and in the majesty of his name. And he has!

Commentaries

Daniel I. Block, Judges, Ruth: The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1999).

Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., A Commentary on Judges and Ruth: Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2013).

K. Lawson Younger, Jr., Judges and Ruth: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002).

Steve Mathewson is senior pastor of CrossLife Evangelical Free Church in Libertyville, lllinois. He is also director of the doctor of ministry program at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.