Judges 1 "After the Death of Joshua"

The Book of Judges is all about Christmas.

If Joshua shows us the coming of God's anointed conqueror to go before his people

to defeat his and our enemies,

then Judges shows us the need for a king who will reign forever.

Because, as the beginning of Judges points out, Joshua dies-and stays dead.

Our leaders keep dying, and when they die, we forget about our God.

We need a leader who will live forever so that we might never forget!

But the book of Judges is not only about a leader in general.

Judges is about the importance of a certain kind of leader.

This leader should come from the tribe of Judah-

and as we will see at the end of the book, from Bethlehem in Judah,

rather than from Gibeah in Benjamin.

Judges has two introductions.

Chapter 1 connects Judges back toward the narrative of Joshua.

2:1-3:6 then sets forth the pattern for the central narrative of 3:7-16:31.

Judges will also have two conclusions-

two stories at the end of the book that illustrate the problems of the era.

"After the death of Joshua"

who is supposed to lead Israel?

Before the death of Moses, God appointed a new leader-Joshua.

And so Moses had consecrated Joshua as his heir.

But God made no such appointment before Joshua's death.

What is Israel supposed to do?

Who shall go before them into battle?

And so after the death of Joshua,

the people approach God and ask, what now?

God is not taking the initiative,

but Israel desires to follow his will,

so they come and ask:

How shall we defeat the Canaanite? (singular)

How would they have inquired of the Lord?

18:27-28-the ark of the covenant was at Bethel for at least part of this time.

But God had appointed the priests to use the Urim and Thummim

(a form of casting lots) to determine the will of the Lord.

This is a good start!

Israel is seeking the will of the Lord.

These are still the elders who had lived through the conquest.

They remember the mighty works of the Lord under Joshua.

But they are dying off,

and Judges will narrate a very different story from Joshua.

Under Joshua, Israel acted in concert.

Under Joshua, one could speak of the nation of Israel.

But now that Joshua is dead, there is nothing that unites the nation.

The priesthood was supposed to do that,

and no doubt the faithful continued to offer their sacrifices (cf. 1 Sam 1-2),

but the period of the Judges reveals a certain fragmentation.

Under Joshua, Israel's tribes united together in battle.

During the period of the Judges, the various tribes will frequently do their own thing.

There is still a recognition of the entity called "Israel"

but without a king, "all Israel" is often more of a memory and a goal

rather than a present reality.

1. "Judah Shall Go First"

But when the people of Israel inquire "who shall go up first for us against the Canaanite?"

God's answer is clear: "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand."

If you want to understand the book of Judges you need to watch the names,

the tribes, the geography-all of which points to the primacy of Judah.

Judah's Conquests

Simeon had been given an inheritance within the bounds of Judah,

and true to God's curse upon Simeon (Gen 49:7),

Simeon was folded into Judah, never again to have a separate identity.

Most of chapter 1 follows an ancient chronicle format-

a simple narrative of facts.

But this narrative is broken up by three detailed narratives

that recount particular episodes in the midst of the chronicle.

The first is the account of Adoni-Bezek (near Jerusalem)

Verses 5-7 recount the capture of the Lord of Bezek.

Having defeated 10,000 men at Bezek (lit. "struck down")

Judah captures the Lord of Bezek and brings justice to him.

They caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes,

and then Judges tells us what he said-which is rare.

We rarely hear the voices of the pagans, but here the Lord of Bezek says,

(Read v7)

Whether he is referring to the God of Israel or his own deities,

it is clear that the Lord of Bezek sees the justice/retribution of God

in the work of Israel.

Bezek is known for one other thing:

it is the place where Saul gathered Israel together for his first kingly act:

the rescue of Jabesh-Gilead. (1 Sam 11:7-11)

Saul cut the oxen into twelve pieces and sent one to each tribe

(an eerie parallel to Judges 19-21), summoning them to Bezek.

Judah's first triumph is over the first city where Saul assembled all Israel.

An accident?

Not likely!

And then Judah brought him to Jerusalem and he died there.

Jerusalem-which would one day be the city of David.

How should we understand Judah's action?

They were called to put the Canaanites to death.

What should we make of this?

They are bringing retributive justice against this king.

Indeed, having Adoni-Bezek himself explain the action is most curious.

A foreigner is interpreting the work of God.

But in all three stories that interrupt the main narrative,

a foreigner will play a central role.

We must see the geographical movement of the story:

he is brought to Jerusalem, where he dies.

There is, perhaps, a problem with the fact that he merely "dies"

and is not put to death,

but the point is that he dies in Jerusalem.

The author of Judges is not going to whitewash history.

Even Judah falls short of full obedience.

Even Judah is starting to act like the Canaanites.

But the contrast between Judah and the rest of the tribes is graphic.

Verse 8 indicates to us that we should not take Judges 1

to give us a strict chronological narrative.

Adoni-Bezek has died at Jerusalem before we are told about the conquest of Jerusalem.

But Judah captures Jerusalem, kills the inhabitants and burns it to the ground.

Remember that.

Because we'll hear about Jerusalem again!

But Judah has no time to occupy Jerusalem (that's why they burn it),

they go on to fight against the Canaanites

in the hill country, the Negev and the lowland

The campaign in the hill country is related in verse 10 (Hebron)

Note here that whereas in Joshua we are told that Caleb went against Hebron,

here we are told that Judah went against Hebron.

The point is that Judah is given credit for the work of Caleb.

Though in verse 20, it will be made clear that Caleb was the one who drove out

"Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai"-the three sons of Anak

(Remember the Anakim from Joshua)

This identification of Caleb with Judah is done to exalt Judah

Hebron was nearby the burial plot that Abraham had purchased (Gen 24),

and would be David's first capital before Jerusalem.

The second excursus is found in 1:11-15, with Othniel's capture of Debir.

This passage is quoted from Joshua 15:13-19

Caleb promises his daughter, Achsah, to whomever captures Debir.

His nephew, Othniel, captures Debir, and is given Achsah as wife.

Debir, however, is "Negev-land"

While not in the Negev itself, it is like the Negev because it has no water!

So Achsah comes to her father and requests him to give her springs of water.

And he does.

If you look at this as an example of gender relations in the period it is instructive enough-

while women could be given in marriage to military heroes,

they also could be quite forward in their relations.

But something more is going on here.

The book of Judges is all about how the people of Israel are becoming like Canaanites.

At the end of the book we will hear about how the Benjamites from Gibeah

will abuse and kill an Israelite woman (and try to abuse and kill her husband),

in much the same way that the men of Sodom tried to do to Lot.

But here, in contrast, we see an example of covenant faithfulness

(and, not surprisingly, from Judahites).

Well, sort of from Judahites.

Actually, from Kenazzites.

Caleb, after all, is not descended from any of the 12 sons of Jacob.

Kenaz was an Edomite chieftain (Gen 36).

Caleb is descended not from Jacob, but from Esau!

The quintessential Judahite-

the leader of Judah since the time of Moses-

is from Esau.

And if you are not hearing echoes of Ruth yet, you should be!

(Ruth, the Moabitess who is more faithful than any of the sons of Judah!)

((Then again, it was Judah who said to Tamar, the Canaanitess,

"You are more righteous than I!"))

But also Othniel will reappear as the first judge,

and this story connects Othniel with the faithful Judahites

of whom it was said, "The LORD was with them."

Verses 16-17 then turn to the battle for the Negev.

And again non-Israelites come to the fore.

The descendants of Moses father-in-law, Jethro the Kenite, take the city of Arad,

settling together with the people of Judah.

Some commentators see this as a negative feature

(Midianites being allowed to settle with Israelites),

but that misses the point of the text.

Judah is being held up as the best example (not a perfect example-but the best example)

of covenant faithfulness.

Further, this is simply the fulfillment of Moses' invitation in Num 10:29-32,

when Moses invited his in-laws to travel with them to the Promised Land.

Indeed, it is an honor to have the relatives of Moses, the great prophet,

decide to cast their lot in with Judah.

The faithfulness of the Kenites is reflected in 1 Sam 27:10,

where David claims to have raided the "Negeb of the Judahites,

and the Negeb of the Kenites"

So this is yet another example of foreigners who have converted to Yahweh,

in fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that in him all nations would be blessed.

It is also the fulfillment of the promise to Hagar that Ishmael would

"dwell in the tents of his brethren."

Genesis 37 tells us that Joseph was sold by his brothers to Ishmaelite/Midianite traders,

while Exodus 2-3 tells us that Moses married the daughter of a Midianite priest,

and through this marriage, in Num 10, many of the Midianites join with Moses.

Since Simeon has been faithful to go with Judah, then in verse 17 Judah goes with Simeon

to take Zephath and devote it to destruction, renaming the city "Hormah"

(a play on "herem" which means to devote to destruction)

Then verse 18 tells us that Judah was so mighty that he captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron,

which later would be three of the mighty citadels of the Philistines in the lowland.

But at this time, the Philistines had not yet come to Canaan.

Indeed, it appears that the Judahite conquest of these cities may have been of great help

to the "sea peoples" who arrived in the thirteenth century

and established themselves in this region.

But there is a difference between capturing a city and taking possession of it.

While Judah took possession of the hill country, the inhabitants of the plain had iron chariots.

Iron will especially be associated with the Philistines,

and it is possible that the author of Judges is telescoping

the entire history of Judahite activity in this period.

Judah conquered the plains at first,

but when the Philistines came, their superior technology drove Judah back.

How can this be?

The LORD was with Judah! (We'll get the answer in chapter 3!)

2. Israel Fails to Follow

While Judah isn't perfect (and the author is honest about that),

Judah looks awfully good compared to the rest of Israel!

The Israelites will fail to drive out the Canaanites,

and so Israelites will start acting like Canaanites-just as Joshua had warned them.

The order of the tribes is geographical from Judah in the south to Dan in the far north.

(Though Issachar is not mentioned, nor the eastern tribes of Reuben and Gad who had already conquered their territory).

The order is also followed (more or less)

by the ordering of the judges whose tribes are identified:

Judah (Othniel), Benjamin (Ehud), Ephraim (Deborah), Manasseh (Gideon),

Issachar (Tola) Gilead (Jephthah), Zebulun (Elon), Dan (Samson)

The verbs in Judges 1 also suggest a declension narrative:

Judah defeats the nations and the Canaanites are destroyed

(though they do not dispossess the valleys)

But Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem.

This is particularly insulting because Judah had captured the city

and burnt it to the ground, but Benjamin cannot even capture it at all!

(Again suggests the telescoping of decades, if not centuries of warfare)

So Benjamin lives contentedly alongside the Jebusites in Jerusalem.

Particularly interesting is the verbal parallel with Joshua 15:63,

except there it is Judah that fails to conquer Jerusalem,

and lives contentedly with the Jebusites!

Judges is pointedly attacking Benjamin!

If Judah is to be faulted for not conquering the lowlands,

at least it cannot be said that they lived alongside Canaanites!

The one bright spot is found in verses 22-26 (our third parenthetical narrative)

Joseph took Bethel (formerly Luz).

Note that it is "Joseph"-not Manasseh or Ephraim.

Bethel will be the main fortress of Joseph (like Jerusalem for David)

There may be formal similarities with what the spies did for Rahab,

but the difference is that Rahab professed faith in Yahweh,

and settled among the Israelites (Judah, by the way!)

This man does not, he rebuilds Luz in the land of the Hittites,

a profession of unbelief and rebellion (God destroyed my city, but I'll rebuild it)

So Joseph's apparent bright spot is anything but!

Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali

did not drive out the inhabitants of their territories, putting them to forced labor.

The chapter ends with the worst: Dan.

Dan not only failed to drive out their enemies,

but the main noun is not Dan, but the Amorites.

Whereas the other tribes were at least the dominant power,

Dan gets pushed back by the Amorites.

3. After the Death of Joshua

The history of the people of God takes us in a wearying pattern of salvation, rebellion, and exile.

It is sometimes tempting to view the history of the church in the same way.

The apostles followed Christ, but then came medieval darkness.

The reformers followed Christ, but then came modern darkness.

But Jesus does not invite us to think this way about the church;

"The gates of hell shall not prevail."

And while there have been many apostasies

and many judgments that have fallen upon the church,

nothing has happened like the bondage in Egypt, or the Babylonian Captivity.

The Last Exile is death-and Jesus has defeated even that!

Therefore we live "after the death of Joshua/Jesus"

and we are called to live following in the wake of the conqueror from Judah.