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There is something about this verse that makes one anticipate the sad departure that
set in later, which is characteristic of the Book of Judges. The LXX has an addition to
the last chapter of Joshua, and tells us that the sons of Israel worshipped Astarte and the
gods of the nations round about them, and that the Lord delivered them into the hands of
Eglon the King of Moab, who ruled over them eighteen years. While, therefore, the
Book of Joshua is full of valuable teaching for the believer to-day, it is also a revelation
of the utter failure of all men apart from the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it
is significant that its last words record the death of the High Priest. None but He Who
ever liveth can save His people to the uttermost; all others, though types and shadows of
the true, must ever fall short of perfection.
JUDGES.
#1. The Book as a Whole (1: - 21:).
"There was no king in Israel."
pp. 128 - 131
The first reading of the book of Judges leaves the reader with a feeling of perplexity.
What is the purpose of the book? Upon what plan has it been written? That it reveals an
awful state of affairs is most evident, and it is also obvious that this terrible condition
arose directly out of the fact that "There was no King in Israel, every one did that which
was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21: 25).
While somewhat detailed accounts are given of such judges as Gideon and Samson, of
others, though their names and the number of years of their judging of Israel are
recorded, not a single event in their lives is chronicled. For example:
"And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of
Dodo, a man of Isaachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. And he judged
Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir" (Judges 10: 1, 2).
From such an entry, we gather that in this book we are dealing with actual history, but
from the evident selection of incident we also conclude that the books is not only
historical but also typical in its teaching. All Scripture is "profitable" for doctrine, for
reproof, for instruction in righteousness, therefore that man of God who knows not the
teaching which is associated with such names as Othniel, Barak, Gideon or Samson will
not be "thoroughly furnished".
Upon making a list of the names of those who judged or ruled Israel, we are
immediately struck with the ominous fact that there are thirteen. Twelve of these were
raised up by God, and one, Abimelech, a usurper, likened, in Jotham's parable, to a
Bramble, evidently foreshadowed the Antichrist.