The Downward Spiral
Israel in the Book of Judges
February, 2022
BibleRef.com recently began publishing our commentary on the book of Judges. This covers a challenging time in Israel's history. Some of Scripture's most famous—or infamous—events are recorded there, as are many shocking and disturbing incidents. The overall pattern of Israel's history during that time is that of a "downward spiral:" a pattern that repeats, but each time sinks lower and lower.
The book of Judges describes the decline of Israel's culture, immediately after their arrival in Canaan and before the establishment of a monarchy. This decline follows a particular pattern, as follows:
•Israel sins through idolatry and other evil practices.
•God allows Israel's enemies to oppress them, either by conquest or through harassment and raids.
•Israel calls out to God, when they finally feel they have nowhere else to turn.
•God sends rescue in the form of various "judges," a unique role described in this month's spotlight verse.
•There is a temporary relief from Israel's troubles. This typically lasts only as long as the life of the last judge.
This pattern is repeated seven times in the book of Judges. Some of the judges depicted in the book overlap. This implies that Israel was experiencing many forms of oppression, from many enemies, during the era before Saul became the first king. The first full cycle, with Othniel (Judges 3:7–11), is the most quickly and directly described.
After Othniel, the same error happens again, with the same results: Israel sins, is conquered and calls on God for help. God sends Ehud and Shamgar, who obtain a few years of freedom and peace for Israel. This is repeated again: sin and conquest, God sends Deborah and Barak. Then again, so God sends Gideon, and so on. All told, there are seven major instances of this pattern shown in the main portion of the book.
Not only does the sequence repeat, but each cycle also gets successively worse. By the end of Judges, we see Israel in a terrible state, spiritually and culturally. This is so bad, in fact, that the judges themselves become more immoral as the book goes on. The last judge mentioned, Samson, is unable to bring Israel to a true state of "rest."
The seven cycles showing this pattern follow the stories of these characters:
1. Othneil (3:7–11)
2. Ehud and Shamgar (3:12–31)
3. Barak and Deborah (4:1–5:31)
4. Gideon (6:1–8:32)
5. Abimelech—not a judge, but a despotic son of Gideon—followed by Tola and Jair (8:33–10:5)
6. Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (10:6–12:15)
7. Samson (13:1–16:31)
In each of these seven stories, we see the same pattern over and over: a "cycle of sin." Each time, Israel's sin gets worse, her rescue is less effective, and her judges are less holy. In the end, the people have all but hit rock bottom, as the last two stories in the book (Judges 17—20) show.
Understanding the book of Judges requires clear understanding: the "seven cycles of sin" were not seven different ways Israel fell. They are seven occurrences where Israel went through the same basic pattern. The irrepressible rebellion of mankind, as well as God's continued patience with His people, are both on full display.
-- Editor
