Judges 10
-Chapter ten gives a quick word about the next two judges of
Israel, Tola and Jair, after the death of Abimelech, the son of Gideon, before
a prologue that led up to the next deliver for the nation. Tola was a man of
Issachar who lived in the hill country of Ephraim in a city by the name of
Shamir. He ruled Israel for 23 years before passing away and being buried there
in Shamir. After him, Jair the Gileadite arose in an era that saw leadership
come from the eastern side of the Jordan. Jair, interestingly enough, had 30
sons who the Bible describes as having 30 donkeys that they rode on with 30
cities under their control, which became known as Havvoth-jair. Jair ruled for
22 years, and then he died being buried in Kamon of Gilead (Judges 10:1-5).
-Then the prologue with commentary to the condition of the
state of Israel is taken up in the rest of this brief chapter. The sons of
Israel found themselves going back into evil in the sight of the LORD serving
the Baals and Ashtaroth of the Canaanite land, and all the gods of Aram, Sidon,
Moab, Ammon, and Philista. “They forsook the LORD and did not serve Him (Judges
10:6).” Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against His unfaithful people
again, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the sons of
Ammon. They “afflicted” and “crushed” the sons of Israel for some 18 years,
especially in the land of Gilead of the Amorites to the east of the Jordan. The
sons of Ammon actually crossed over and fought against Judah, Benjamin, and the
house of Ephraim, which caused Israel as a whole to be “greatly distressed.”
Then, as could be predicted by now, the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD
confessing their sin against Him, their covenant God. They realized once more
that serving the Baals and forsaking the Living God was fruitless and
demoralizing. God reminded them at this point of His faithful deliverance from
Egypt, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites,
and the Maonites who oppressed them. Now He replied, “Yet you have forsaken Me
and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out
to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the times of your
distress.” In other words, God was telling that they really could have things
their own desired way if they wanted. The sons of Israel come back to Him
though. They acknowledge their depravity and are willing to accept His
punishments for their transgression. They say, “We have sinned, do to us
whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.” They put away
their foreign gods from among them and decided to serve the LORD. The Word
says, as a result, “He could bear the misery of Israel no longer (Judges
10:6-16).”
-The last two verses of the chapter forecast the looming
battle that the LORD will use to deliver His people in Gilead. The sons of
Ammon were summoned and camped in Gilead, while the sons of Israel gathered together
and camped at Mizpah (east of the Jordan near the Jabbok, or Zarqa, River).
There, the leaders began to ask, “Who is the man who will begin to fight
against the sons of Ammon?” Then they concluded, “He shall become head over all
the inhabitants of Gilead (Judges 10:17-18).”
-*Application* God has to get tired of the patterns of sin
in our lives that tend to be cyclical just like the sons of Israel. We go from
sin to slavery (or oppression) to supplication (petition, crying out to God for
help) to His salvation. Then, for some strange reason, we hit replay and go
back to our junk. His patience can run out, and when that happens we can be
left to our own foolish devices. Thankfully, as we see here in the text today,
He relents showing compassion and pity on our poor souls when we finally get
serious about putting all else aside to be fully devoted to Him. He does not
like to bear our misery. Let’s get ourselves serious about following God alone
and serving only Him. Put away the foreign gods from our lives that set us back
from living the blessed life in Christ Jesus by His Holy Spirit.
Verses to Memorize:
Judges 10:6, 10, 13-14, 16
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