Today, I am reading and commenting on  Judges 1-3.

I am unsure how the timing of what is described in today’s passage matches up with that described in the Book of Joshua.  The Book of Judges starts by saying “After the death of Joshua,…”, then goes on to talk about the tribe of Judah taking their territory.  In particular, this passage describes how Othniel earned Caleb’s daughter as his wife, an account which was also in the Book of Joshua.  I believe that this story is here to explain how Othniel, the first of the judges, rose to a position of prominence in Israel.  Actually, I want to backtrack a little bit.  I believe that Chapters 1 and 2 are intended to set the stage and explain how Israel went from Joshua’s conquest of the land to the situation which existed shortly before the Book of Judges was compiled (I believe that the Book of Judges was compiled either during the reign of King Saul or early in the reign of King David).  We can conclude from what we find written here, and in the Book of Joshua, that, as he approached his death, Joshua saw no reason to appoint a successor as individual leader over the Israelites.  The Israelites had no enemies in the land who could threaten them and were settling into the land.  However, without a leader to keep them focused on being faithful to God, they began to adopt the worship practices of the people remaining in the land.  Also, without a leader to make them into a unified political force, a neighboring power (the king of Aram) saw an opportunity to take control (a theme which gets repeated throughout this book).  When the Israelites started to turn back to God, Othniel used his connection to Caleb to unite them under him and drove the invaders out of the land.  Through the rest of his life Othniel led the people to remain faithful to the Lord.

After the death of Othniel, once again the people of Israel drifted away from following God.  The way I see it, they began to take the attitude of, “Who are you to tell me what I should, or should not, do?”  Without a defined leader, the Israelites stopped holding each other accountable to serving God, and to not worshiping idols.  The result was that they lost their unity and became susceptible to outside powers.  In this case, the king of Moab formed an alliance to impose his will on the land (basically demanding tribute and perhaps raiding).  Eventually, the Israelites once again turned back to God and Ehud rose up to lead them.  Ehud overthrew the Moabite king and united the people of Israel in obedience to God.  Throughout the Book of Judges we see this pattern repeated: the faithful leader dies, the people stop allowing themselves to be held accountable for their actions and drift away from God, the people no longer unite for their own defense, an oppressor takes advantage of their division, the people cry out to God, God raises up a faithful servant to unite them and free them from their oppressor.  If we refuse to be held accountable for our actions as individuals we will fall into sin.  If we refuse to be held accountable for our actions as a people, unity will disappear.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.