The Role of the Judges in Israel

943 Words4 Pages
The Role of the Judges in Israel As little children, we were exposed to heroes that would always be there “to save the day” (i.e., Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman or Underdog). In the Old Testament Bible, there were many heroes called Judges. In the book of Judges, the Israelites began a series of cycles of sinning, worshiping idols, being punished, crying out for help, being rescued by a judge sent from God, obeying God for a while then falling back into idolatry (Life Application Bible, p.344). After the death of Moses, Joshua and the elders, the Israelites forgot the Lord God of their parents and befriended the nations surrounding them. Like their neighbors, the people gradually accepted their immoral practices and shunned the covenant relationship to the Lord. Before long, they found themselves entangled in unhealthy relationships, worshipping idol gods, and absorbed in pagan worship. Being captured and enslaved by other nations, they would call out to the Lord God of Israel and he would send a judge to restore them (Life Application, p. 344). The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and worshipped the Baals and the Asherahs which angered God so that He sold them into the hands of Cushan-Risthathaim king of Aram Naharaim. They were captured, enslaved for eight years but called unto the Lord, their God for repentance. God raised a judge, the first of his kind, to rescue them and his name was Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. God delivered King Cushan-Risthathaim into Othniel’s hands, allowing him to overpower the king providing peace in the land for forty years, until Othniel died (Life Application, p. 344). The Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord and God gave them into the hands of their enemy. King Eglon of Moab, the Ammonites and Amalekites joined forces to captured Israel

More about The Role of the Judges in Israel

Open Document