Obedience brings life and peace was lesson taught during reign of Judges
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From the time Joshua died until Saul was anointed king - a period of about 320 years - no solitary leader was able to keep Israel united. During that time, which is known as the period of the judges, 13 different individuals led Israel.
"The judges were not simple definers of the law or judicial leaders," explained Donald W. Parry and Stephen D. Ricks in Studies in Scripture, vol. 3. "According to C.K. Kraft [as quoted in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible], the judges `were not so much legal consultants as champions or heroes vindicating Israel in war.' "Parry and Ricks noted that the book of Judges was written "with a clear didactic and moral intent."
The intent was to show, through the flow of historical events, that obedience to Jehovah brings life and peace, while disobedience results in hardship, oppression and death.
"The writer of Judges," wrote Parry and Ricks, "took great pains to show that the invariable result of apostasy from the worship of Jehovah was affliction and foreign domination. . . .
"The book of Judges describes a recurring cycle of apostasy, oppression, repentance and deliverance, with Jehovah playing a pivotal role in that cycle.
"When the Israelites abandoned the worship of Jehovah for the rites of the Canaanite deities, Jehovah allowed the neighboring nations to afflict them.
Following a period of oppression, the Israelites became humble and prayerful and begged the Lord for deliverance from their enemies.
In response to their cries, Jehovah sent a war hero (`judge') to deliver the people."
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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)
Articles on this page may be used in conjunction with the Gospel Doctrine course of study.
Information compiled by Gerry Avant
Sources: The Spirit of the Old Testament, by Sidney B. Sperry; Studies in Scripture, Vol. 3, edited by Kent P. Jackson and Robert L. Millet; and the Church Educational System's Old Testament Student Manual.
