By
Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD
LESSON NOTES:
I.
THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING
THE ENTIRE BIBLE. If
you understand that the Bible is written to show us how humanity was created
for God, fell into sin, was reconciled through Christ (who was the product of a
family) and God will restore everything through His sacrifice on the Cross;
then you have the message of the entire Bible.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 17Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new. 18And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then we
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21For he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him.
II.
THE AUTHOR OF JUDGES. No one knows. Some ancient
traditions say Samuel; but we have not proof of that. We just know that it is
the Word of God.
III.
WHY WAS JUDGES WRITTEN? Just like Joshua, Judges is
an historic book, to fill in the gap of what transpired after the death of
Joshua, until a kingdom was set up under Saul. The time span of the Judges is
close to 400 years.
A.
THE STORY OF REDEMPTION. Remember, the Bible is a
book of redemptive history, present and future. The following is the entire
Bible in a nutshell. We are following the trail from:
1.
God’s overall plan.
Ephesians 1:4 4For
he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in
his sight. In love
Revelation 13:8 8All
inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-all whose names have not been
written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of
the world.
2.
The creation of the world.
3.
The fall of humanity
4.
The promise of a Redeemer
5.
The family the Redeemer
will come from.
6.
The family becomes a
nation.
7.
The nation gets land.
8.
The Redeemer comes.
9.
The Redeemer dies, is
buried, resurrected, ascended on high.
10.
The Redeemer is coming
again.
11.
All things go back to God’s
original order.
IV.
WHAT DOES THE NAME JUDGES
MEAN? A
person that adjudicates a dispute. A magistrate. A leader.
A.
WHAT WAS A JUDGE?
1.
A GENERATION THAT DIDN’T
KNOW GOD.
After the death of Joshua the young, little nation of Israel went into
disarray. Every tribe pretty much had their own focus. New leadership arose
that did not have the heritage nor appreciate all of what God had done for
Israel. As a result there was constant oppression from outside nations; because
God had promised that if Israel disobeyed, it would be eaten up by their
enemies.
Judges
2:7-10 7The
people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who
outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for
Israel. 8Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age
of a hundred and ten. 9And they buried him in the land of his
inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount
Gaash. 10After that whole generation had been gathered to their
ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had
done for Israel.
2.
NO WIDELY RECOGNIZED
NATIONAL LEADERSHIP. There
really was no national leader that could bring the entire nation together and
maintain influence over all of the people for a major length of time. Thus, you
had judges that God would raise up.
Judges 2:10-19 New International Version
(NIV)
10 After that whole generation had been gathered
to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the
Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and
served the Baals. 12 They
forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt.
They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around
them. They aroused the Lord’s anger 13 because they forsook him and served
Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In
his anger against Israel the Lord gave
them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold
them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer
able to resist. 15 Whenever
Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was
against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in
great distress.
16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who
saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they
would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other
gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of
their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 18 Whenever
the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and
saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived;
for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who
oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But
when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than
those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping
them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
a.
WHAT DID JUDGES DO? These judges were
charismatic, strong, military leaders that God would anoint to overthrow enemy
oppression. Then the judges would adjudicate cases of dispute. While many of
the judges were devout individuals, none of them carries the weight of a
Abraham, Moses or Joshua.
b.
WHO WAS BAAL
AND THE ASHTORETHS? Remember,
Israel had been in Egypt for 400 years and in the wilderness 40 years. They had
no idea who the gods of the Canaanites were, because they had never interacted
with those nations. But, once Israel learned about these false God’s, they
would constantly go back to them. The time of the judges spans close to 400
years. And, it took over 600 years to get idolatry completely out of the system
of Israel. That’s a span of about 1,000 years!
i.
BAAL. Baal was the name of the supreme god worshiped by the
Canaanites. The word Baal means “lord.” Baal was a fertility god who was
believed to enable the earth to produce crops and people to produce children.
ii.
ASHERA OR ASHTORETH. Asherah, or Ashtoreth, was the name of the main
female goddess worshiped by the Canaanites. Asherah was the goddess of love and war.
Worship of Asherah was strictly sexual with ritual prostitution. The priests
and priestesses of Asherah practiced divination and fortunetelling.
3.
A SET UP FOR A KING! This was really just a set
up for the people to eventually beg for a king. With the eventual set up of a
kingdom, you had the royal tribe of Judah. It would be from that tribe that the
Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would be produced. We refer to our
Lord as King, because the people wanted a king. Terminology that we now use to
describe the Lord.
John 18:36 36Jesus
said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would
fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from
another place."
Revelation 5:5 5Then
one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its
seven seals."
V.
THE JUDGES OF THE BOOK OF
JUDGES. Note
that all of the judges in the Bible are not all in the book of Judges. Both Eli
and Samuel were considered judges. Samuel is actually the last judge.
A.
Othniel. From the tribe of
Judah.
Judges 3:9 9But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised
up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who
saved them.
B.
Ehud. From the tribe of
Benjamin.
Judges 3:15 15Again
the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer-Ehud, a
left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with
tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
C.
Shamgar. From the tribe of Benjamin.
Judges 3:31 31After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who
struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
A.
Deborah. From the tribe of
Ephraim.
Judges 4:4 King James Version (KJV)
4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of
Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
Judges 4:4 New International Version
(NIV)
4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of
Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.
D.
Gideon. From the tribe of
Manasseh.
Judges 6:36-37 36Gideon
said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised- 37look,
I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the
fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by
my hand, as you said."
E.
Abimelech. From the tribe of Issachar.
Judges 9:22 22After Abimelek had governed Israel three years,
F.
Tola. From the Tribe of
Issachar.
Judges
10:1-2 1After the time of Abimelek,
a man of Issachar named Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel.
He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. 2He led Israel
twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir.
G.
Jair. From the tribe of
Manasseh.
Judges 10:3 3He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led
Israel twenty-two years.
H.
Jephthah. From the tribe of
Manasseh.
Judges
12:7 7Jephthah
led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town
in Gilead.
I.
Ibzan. From the tribe of
Zebulon.
Judges 12:8 8After
him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel.
J.
Elon. From the tribe of
Zebulon.
Judges 12:11 11After
him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years.
K.
Abdon. From the tribe of
Ephraim.
Judges 12:13 13After
him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel.
L.
Samson. From the tribe of
Dan.
Judges 16:28-30 28Then
Samson prayed to the LORD, "Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God,
strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the
Philistines for my two eyes." 29Then Samson reached toward the
two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them,
his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30Samson
said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his
might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he
killed many more when he died than while he lived.
VI.
JESUS IS IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES.
In
going from tribe to tribe and leader to leader; you can kind of see now, why
the nation wanted a stable king. Again, this was all a set up for the Kingdom;
so that the Redeemer would eventually come on the scene. There are many angels
in the Bible. However, when the Old Testament refers to the “ANGEL OF THE
LORD,” that is referring to the pre-incarnate eternal Word of God (who we know
of as Jesus). Just as the LORD was in the chaos of the period of the judges; He
is present in any chaos that you may be currently facing, there to bring peace.
Judges 6:20-23 New International Version
(NIV)
20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat
and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the
broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of
the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the
meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the
angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have
seen the angel of the Lord face
to face!”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be
afraid. You are not going to die.”
Judges 13:17-23 New International Version
(NIV)
17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of
the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when
your word comes true?”
18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It
is beyond understanding.” 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together
with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while
Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As
the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell
with their faces to the ground. 21 When
the angel of the Lord did not show himself again
to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.
22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his
wife. “We have seen God!”
23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have
accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all
these things or now told us this.”
A.
WE NEED A KING. The overall message of
Judges is that there is need for a king. Without a king there is no stability.
We also need King Jesus to provide stability in our lives.
Judges 17:6 6In those days there was no king in
Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Judges 21:25 25In those days there was no king
in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
VIII. PRAYER FOR SALVATION. As we close, if you have
not received this Jesus pray this simple prayer:
"Father, I know that I
have sinned against You. Please forgive me. Wash me clean. I promise to trust
in Jesus, Your Son. I believe that He died for me—He took my sin upon Himself
when He died on the cross. I believe that He was raised from the dead. I
surrender my life to Jesus today.
"Thank You, Father, for Your gift of
forgiveness and eternal life. Please help me to live for you. In Jesus' name,
Amen."
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