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March 17, 2025

Bible Survey: Judges

by Jason Neill

Scripture reading: Judges 2; Psalm 106:34-39

This week we continue our Bible survey by looking at Judges.

Authorship and date. Jewish and Christian tradition suggest that Samuel was the author of Judges written around 1051 - 1021B.C.

Judges. The contents of the book can be delineated as follows: An incomplete taking of the land (Chapters 1-2), the judges of Israel (Chapters 3-16), and two horrific stories that characterize the moral deterioration of the nation (Chapters 17-21).

Judges in Israel were not men or women in robes presiding over a courtroom, as we understand the term today. Instead, they served as military leaders who delivered the nation from foreign oppressors. These oppressors were a direct consequence of the nation's sin. The book of Joshua concludes with a covenant renewal ceremony (see Joshua 24). The nation reaffirmed their commitment to serve only God (Joshua 24:24-25), but their dedication was short-lived which is the reason we see the consequences of their sins in the book of Judges.

The key verse for the book of Judges is found in 17:6 and 21:25. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6, NKJV). The key word for this book of scripture is “cycles” since the nation followed a recognizable pattern of behavior. The nation started out serving the Lord, they sinned by worshipping other gods (idolatry) breaking the Mosaic Covenant, as a consequence God sent a nation to enslave Israel, they cried out to God for relief from their oppressors, God raised up a judge to deliver them, and Israel was then freed and served the Lord. This cycle is repeated seven times in the book.

The most well-known judges are Deborah (see Chapters 4-5), Gideon (see Chapters 6-8), and Samson (see Chapters 13-16). The lesser-known judges are Othniel (see 3:9-11), Ehud (see 3:12-30), Shamgar (see 3:31), Tola (see 10:1-2), Jair (see 10:3-5), Jephthah (see 11:1-12:7), Ibzan (see 12:8-10), Elon (see 12:11-12), Abdon (see 12:13-15).  

Jesus in Judges. The Angel of the Lord is mentioned several times in this book, and some scholars believe these are pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus Christ (see 2:1-5; 6:11-24; 13). This conclusion is supported by at least two key arguments: first, the Angel is identified as God (see Chapter 13); second, the Angel of the Lord does not appear again after the birth of Jesus in the New Testament.

Application. If we're not careful, we can easily become trapped in a cycle of sin. We start by serving God, then face temptation, disobey, and become enslaved to sin. In our despair, we cry out to God for deliverance, and He rescues us—only for us to return to the very sin from which we were freed. While none of us are perfect, even after placing our faith in Jesus for eternal life, we must remember that our new identity means we are no longer slaves to sin. It’s helpful to revisit the truths found in Romans 6, which remind us that we have been liberated from sin's power. As Romans 6:6 states, "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (NKJV).