What Happened in the Book of Judges?

   
     After settling in the land of Canaan, the children of Israel's chaste state in worshiping only God didn't last very long.  All of the surrounding nations worshiped different kinds of idols, and Satan used these nations to ensnare the Israelites into idol worship. 

 
     Could you believe it?  The children of Israel forsook the God who had done miracles in Egypt, parted the Red Sea, rained down manna from heaven to sustain them, and helped them fight against Jericho and settle in the good land that God had promised them. Hello, was anyone home?  I guess not.

     I saw something when I read in the Life-Study of Joshua (see the posts below) that Satan was working through the idols of the surrounding nations to destroy God's testimony on earth.  As I was thinking about this, I could see God's enemy saying to God, "So what if all of Your people are in Canaan, none of them are worshiping You anymore!"  Can you see it?  Satan is always trying to destroy God's worship! 

   And Satan actually caused the nation of Israel to spend about 300 years going through cycles of trusting God, forsaking God and worshipping idols, followed by being defeated by their enemies, then repenting, and God delivering them through a judge.  How sad all these cycles must have made God!  I learned on page 2 of the first chapter of the Life-Study of Judges that by doing this they had rejected God from being their king:  

"In the book of Judges, a particular saying is repeated a number of times: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did that which was right in his own eyes" (17:6; 18:1; 19:1, 21:25).  But God was the king!...When Israel said that there was no king among them, this meant that they had annulled God and His status. In the book of 1 Samuel, the children of Israel asked God to appoint a king for them (8:5). This was a great offense to God (v. 7). Even though Israel was a wife to God, she became a harlot. She did not recognize God's kingship, and she did not recognize God as her husband. Therefore, the children of Israel did what was right in their own eyes, and as a result they became rotten and corrupted. This is what we see in the book of Judges" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Joshua, Judges & Ruth. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1993, Print). 

    After reading the Life-Study of Judges I could see how much God just wants His people  to love and worship only Him.  I learned that this love produces a sweet relationship between God and His believers like the one portrayed in the Book of Ruth! Isn't the Bible wonderful?

 You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Studies of Joshua, Judges, & Ruth on Life Study of the Bible  with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of Joshua, Judges & Ruth and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

Other Posts on Joshua, Judges, & Ruth:


What's the Background of the Book of Joshua?
Seeing that the Account of the Battle of Joshua & the Battle of Jericho
  Shows God's Move with Man
What Happened in the Book of Judges?
What's the Spiritual Picture Seen in the Book of Ruth?