Reflections on Judges 10

Judges 10 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Tola was the next person to rescue Israel. He belonged to the Issachar tribe, but he lived in Shamir, a town in the hill country of Ephraim. His father was Puah, and his grandfather was Dodo.
   
2. Tola was a leader of Israel for twenty-three years, then he died and was buried in Shamir.
   
3. The next leader of Israel was Jair, who lived in Gilead. He was a leader for twenty-two years.
   
4. He had thirty sons, and each son had his own mule and was in charge of one town in Gilead. Those thirty towns are still called The Settlements of Jair.
   
5. When he died, he was buried in the town of Kamon.
   
6. Before long, the Israelites began disobeying the LORD by worshiping Baal, Astarte, and gods from Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia.
   
7. The LORD was angry at Israel and decided to let Philistia and Ammon conquer them.
   
8. So the same year that Jair died, Israel's army was crushed by these two nations. For eighteen years, Ammon was cruel to the Israelites who lived in Gilead, the region east of the Jordan River that had once belonged to the Amorites.
   
9. Then the Ammonites began crossing the Jordan and attacking the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Life was miserable for the Israelites.
   
10. They begged the LORD for help and confessed, "We were unfaithful to you, our LORD. We stopped worshiping you and started worshiping idols of Baal."
    
11. The LORD answered: In the past when you came crying to me for help, I rescued you. At one time or another I've rescued you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites.
    
12. (SEE 10:11)
    
13. But I'm not going to rescue you any more! You've left me and gone off to worship other gods. If you're in such big trouble, go cry to them for help!
    
14. (SEE 10:13)
    
15. "We have been unfaithful," the Israelites admitted. "If we must be punished, do it yourself, but please rescue us from the Ammonites."
    
16. Then the Israelites got rid of the idols of the foreign gods, and they began worshiping only the LORD. Finally, there came a time when the LORD could no longer stand to see them suffer.
    
17. The rulers of Ammon called their soldiers together and led them to Gilead, where they set up camp. The Israelites gathered at Mizpah and set up camp there.
    
18. The leaders of Gilead asked each other, "Who can lead an attack on the Ammonites?" Then they agreed, "If we can find someone who can lead the attack, we'll make him the ruler of Gilead."
    

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    Chapter 10 is somewhat of an interlude of peace during which the Israelites reach an all-time low in their idolatry. During this interlude two different judges ruled of whom little to nothing is mentioned regarding their exploits. The first of the two judges was Tola of whom it is said that he "began to deliver Israel." (10:1)  This might be presumed to mean that he counteracted the decay brought on by Abimelech. The second judge during this period was Jair whose judgeship anticipated the next major judge who was Jephthah. Though Jephthah is not mentioned by name in this chapter, the last verses prepare for his introduction in the next chapter.
    
    As mentioned, the Israelites during this period reached an all-time low in their idolatry by turning to multiple gods and completely abandoning their God. To this point they had been syncretistic, worshipping idols alongside God. Now they added to their idols and subtracted God. God's response was to sell "them to the Philistines and the Ammonites." (10:7)  These nations "shattered and crushed" the Israelites for 18 years. Finally they cried out to God for help. The Israelites seemed not to be able to handle God's blessings. When things were good for them they quickly forgot God or at least relegated Him to a lesser role in their lives. But when things were bad they would remember God and call out for help. Interestingly, they turned to other gods when things were good as though they brought the good, but did not rely on these other gods when things turned bad. They knew God to be their deliverer. God, however, wanted more than the role of deliverer in their lives.
    
    God had become weary of the Israelite's fickleness by this time. When they cried out for help this time He told them, "I will not deliver you again. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your oppression." (10:13-14) To their credit, the Israelite's repentance had a more genuine ring to it than in previous times. "We have sinned against You. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals," they said. When God rejected their appeal they said, "We have sinned. Deal with us as You see fit; only deliver us today!" (10:10, 15)
    
    God is a righteous God intent on justice, but He is also a merciful God. In the end, His mercy always wins out, but not capricously.  Some imagine that God's nature as a God of love does not permit Him to judge people under any circumstances therefore relegating anyone to hell, for instance. His mercy, however, is always a response to man's repentance. Without repentance there can be no mercy. God's mercy toward the Israelites in this instance was in response to their repentance which led them not only to voice their repentance but also to get rid of their "foreign gods" and begin worshipping the Lord. Given Israel's repentance, the Lord eventually "became weary of Israel's misery." With this comment in verse 16 the stage is set for God's deliverance.