A Cheap Post (To Whom It May Concern's Longest Post, Really)

“CHAOS IN THE LAND”

By Jeff Watkins

Often times in western civilization, we as Americans have been compared to many great nations before. Maybe the key to our success as a nation has been the fact that we’ve modeled not only England’s system, but other countries as well. However, we invented our own system of government (modernized monarchy). We’ve taken what was good, right, and decent and combined it with our own thinking and turned it into the United States of America. Of course, we have had our share of problems that we’ve had to overcome; thus far we have been successful. A historical look at a similar nation would be looking at the nation of Israel. They had many up’s and down’s during their pilgrimage in search of the Promised Land. A great example of this is during the time of the book Judges.

In efforts to show the example of how America compares to the nation of Israel, I will present my ideas according to how the Israelites acted and reacted to different circumstances, troubles, tasks, blessings, and cursings. Through the cycle that Israel practiced during those days, I will compare it to the influences on a church today. I will take the story of Samson and show the cycle through that example. The three sociological perspectives will be applied as well as pondering the four questions of sociology. I will address the lessons we can learn from this Biblical history and how we can apply them to the church today. The purpose of this paper is to show in comparison how America in our current state is not all that different from the Israelites during the time of the judges.

The ability to understand the book of Judges comes from understanding a key verse in the book. From the very last chapter and the last verse of the book, there is much insight as to seeing the meaning behind those words. “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25, King James Version). That verse summarizes up the entire book of Judges. At the beginning of the book we see that Joshua has died and Israel is looking for someone to lead them on. Without leadership, Israel will fall into sin and fall victim to the covenant curses. Israel cries out for deliverance and Yahweh delivers them again and again.

Much to our dismay, there are a lot of the same events not only going on in our country today, but also in our churches. Unger’s Bible Handbook gives us a brief description of how the times were back in the days of chaos. “Judges is a record of the dark ages of the declension and apostasy of Israel in the land. The people forsook the Lord (2:13); the Lord forsook the people (2:23)” (Unger 1967, 169). You might think that times are different now, but there were some pretty crazy instances going on in those days. Examples of human sacrifices (Judges 11), women raped and cut up (Judges 19), and relatives kill each other in war (Judges 20). So the tradition lives on. Even in our churches today we hear several cases in a single month of marital infidelity and adultery with adults and children. The situations and circumstances that influenced the Israelites are the same things that influence us as Christians 3,500 years later. Sin is still sin; some sins are obviously more popular today than they were back then. It all comes down to us as a nation, as a church, and as a people group who choose to do things on our own. Then when we get into trouble we pray for God to redeem us. I guess we’re really not that far along as we once thought we were.

“The record of Israel’s failure in the land covers about 350 years—from Joshua to Saul. Seven apostasies, seven servitudes, and seven deliverances may be traced. The book of Judges begins in compromise and ends in anarchy and confusion” (Unger 1967,169). In trying to examine the Israelites pattern of constant repetitious actions, there is a certain four-fold approach to seeing the cycle that Israel possessed. The first of these is that the Israelites would go against God and sin. Then next in line for the cycle is that the Israelites faced oppression because of their sins. Followed by the fact that the Israelites would see their sin, they would come into a time of repentance. Finally, the conclusion to the cycle is that God would definitely deliver his people.

A good example of this four-part cycle that the Israelites dwelled in is found in the story of Samson in Judges 13-16. Samson was born of a sterile woman under special conditions that he would be a Nazarite (Judges 13:1-5). The requirements for a Nazarite were as followed: 1. Drink no wine or other fermented drink. 2. Do not eat or touch anything unclean. 3. No razor may be used on his head (Judges 13:6-7). During the three chapters that the Bible talks about Samson’s life, they’re many things that he does wrong. He coveted a forbidden wife (Judges 14:1-7). He coveted honey from a dead lion (Judges 14:8-9). He stole the garments from the thirty Philistine men (Judges 14:19). He burned their crops for giving his wife away (Judges 15:3-5). He murdered many people for killing his wife (Judges 15:7-8). He killed one thousand Philistines who had come after him (Judges 15:11-17). Samson committed a lot of sins against the God who had set him apart from birth and faced oppression in various ways. Yet, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still forgave him and delivered him as in Judges 14:19 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon in power”(Judges 14:19, New International Version). The Israelites sin is still definite, but the Lord can take wretched sinners and get His will done and receive glory and honor.

The point of asking a question is to retrieve some form of an answer that is valuable and relatable to the original point of interest. In sociology there are four questions that need to be answered when assessing a situation. In this instance I will take the book Judges and apply the four questions of sociology to the history. The first question is What is going on here? I think that the New Bible Commentary summed up the first question best when it stated “The book of Judges is part of the Bible’s account of Israel’s history from its entry into the land of Canaan (in the book of Joshua) to its eventual removal from it (at the end of 2 Kings)” (New Bible Commentary 2000, 261). In this period of time, there are many different things happening. Again, Judges 21:25 best shows exactly what is going on: “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25, King James Version).

The next question that must be answered when pondering the four sociological questions is Why is it happening? “The book of Judges covers the period from the death of Joshua to the dawn of the monarchy. Political and religious turmoil accompanied Israel’s attempts to occupy the land that had been conquered and divided by lot under the leadership of Joshua” (Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary 1994, 328). That gives a good definition in making sense of the events and how they relate the Bible and the church, but there is still more to see. “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, he became angry with them” (Judges 10:6-7a, New International Version). The central point behind the reasoning for the Israelites sin was the actuality that they wanted to use their own strength of character, instead of accomplishing Yahweh’s will. This resulted in Israel’s numerous captivities.

Moving on, the next question that has to be answered is What is it like for the people living in it? Well for the judges themselves, their roles were not what most would consider to be normal. “The ‘judges’ (sopetim) of the book Judges do not fit the modern conception of a ‘judge.’ This is, they did not normally hold court, listen to complaints, or make legal decisions. (Deborah is the exception in 4:4-5.) Rather, they were primarily leaders of Israel, delivering the nation from foreign threat or oppression” (Howard Jr. 1993, 108). Not that the quote embraces the actuality of the problem, but more so in the area of understanding what it was like. We know that the people were making their own choices and suffering for their decisions. The judges that God called to help lead Israel would face diverse challenges in their lives. I do not think it’s a coincidence that two chapters both start out with the phase “In those days Israel had no king” (Judges 18:1a; 19:1a). The judges themselves were facing an open-ended situation looking toward Israel’s future and did not know where God would lead them.

Finally, the last question relating to sociology and how the time of the Judges molds into that is How good or bad is it for humans? This quote sets the standard for the objective and evaluation of the outcome: The era of the judges was a period in which the Israelites as God’s covenant people were frequently in need of divine deliverance. Through Moses the Israelites had experienced release from Egyptian bondage and received the divine revelation as recorded in the Pentateuch. Under Joshua the next generation partially conquered and occupied the land of the Canaan. As subsequent generations succumbed to apostasy and idolatry which resulted in oppression, they appealed to God for deliverance. Once more the mighty acts of God were displayed as a number of judges responded to the call of God to lead the Israelites in military exploits to rout to the oppressing nations (Wycliffe Bible Dictionary 1999, 974).

I think it’s fairly easy to assume that we see both rejoicing and sorrowful times in the period of the Judges. “On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him” (Judges 4:23-24, New International Version). When God delivered his people over king Jabin, Israel rejoiced but that would slowly be forgotten. “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites” (Judges 6:1, New International Version). Some time after they received a blessing, the turned around and received a cursing. So, to say the Israelites were experiencing a good or bad time is an error. They definitely had an equal share of good and bad times. Probably the most liked conclusion is they received more bad than good. It could be said that the situation of life was very bad for the Israelites during this time. A task that now arrives is how to see where there is a comparison between America now, and Israel during the time period of the Judges. In trying to understand how these two totally isolated times in history can be drawn together in a comprehensive relationship, one must compare the two events and see how they measure up. A good way to take this approach is by applying the three sociological perspectives to the time of Judges and compare that to the current state of America. The three perspectives of sociology are conflict, functionalist, and interactionist.

The conflict perspective would say that the time of the judges serves as a period in history to help us understand how the Israelites went against God and sinned. Still seeking the prize, no matter how many times it had been attempted before. The judges were supposed to lead the people of Israel on into battles, victories, loses, and of course the promise land. During this time there is a constant social change that occurs. “After the time of Abimelech a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir” (Judges 10:1-2).

The next perspective that is involved is the functionalist perspective. One might agree with the conflict perspective except that their view of society is not so structured. In the time of Judges, we see that there is a definite order to things and that looks to help maintain cooperation. It could be said that each person is a member of their own Israelite society because each person stands accountable for their own actions. The events of those times go to show how there is a steady predictability during that time period and that is often emphasized by the sin cycle. Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite (Judges 3:12-15, New International Version).

The last perspective of sociology that we will examine is the interactionist perspective. This view is best understood through an individual perspective. Each member of society is living by his or her own individual standards. Personal interaction such as when they met in the tabernacle is how they influence the directness and maintain collectiveness as individuals. One member has their own roles and those are dependent upon the individual’s self. Much like the other perspectives, this emphasizes unity, but only through individual unity will the Israelites grow as a whole. A good example of this perspective is the story of Micah and his idols. How his mother wanted to bless him even if he did wrong. Then Micah said to him, ‘Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a yea, your clothes and your food.’ So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like one of his sons. Then Micah installed the Levite and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. And Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest’” (Judges 10:13, New International Version).


In view of all of those paradigms, I believe that the functionalist perspective best describes the book of Judges. So much occurs during those three hundred and fifty years that it’s almost unbelievable. That perspective best sums up the actual society of that time. In comparison with America today, we are not all that different. Take the tragedy of September 11th for instance. Just like Israel, we as Americans have sinned. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, New International Version). Christians set a bad example of Christ. Then much like Israel, America faces oppression. We have done something to make the Arab nations mad, even if it was just practicing our rights and freedoms. “Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 10:23, New International Version). Israel would go into a time of repentance when they realized they needed help, just like America did right after the Twin Tower attacks. “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:3, New International Version). Lastly, God grants deliverance to the Israelites very similar to the way he will deliver us from this bondage of terrorism. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, New International Version).

What is the influence of all of these things that occurred so long ago and are reoccurring memories for today? That answer is sin. Nothing but self-seeking, self-righteous, self-serving, and just plain ol’ selfish sin. We can take small segments from the book of Judges alone and see how we are supposed and not supposed to act. God punished his chosen people, so why wouldn’t he choose to punish us. I think it’s critical that we learn obedience from our forefathers of the faith and understand that we will sin, but we don’t need to wait for oppression to get back to God or we might go through some of the same things that plagued the Israelites during those days of chaos. Its purpose is the same exalted one running through Joshua; i.e., to draw from history lessons concerning the righteousness, faithfulness, and lovingkindness of Yahweh that will help hold his people true to their covenant with him. The sin, the shame, the punishment, and the repentance of God’s people are described over and over so as to bring out these great lessons (Watts 1967, 138).

This paper has showed you how to understand the book of Judges by figuring out what to look for and how that relates to America today. Through that, understanding how and why the Israelites sinned. Seeing the insights to the pattern of sin in which the Israelites partook and discerning how we do the same as American Christians. Trying to encounter the cycle of sin in depth, we look at the story of Samson’s life and see how it encompasses the four questions of sociology while looking at an overall perspective of the times through the three sociological perspectives. In doing this we compare and contrast the times from yesterday and today and see what we can learn from it. The object of this is to somehow turn and break this cycle of sin that we known to be our own for so long. If we don’t, we our destined to be in the same circumstances that the Israelites faced for such a long time. We can gaze and make out where the future may lye just by looking to the past. Then, much like the very popular 80’s movie we need to go ‘Back To The Future.’ We, as Christian Americans need to desperately come into a time of repentance and revival so that the lives of the people in this country can see hope in God and see that he will deliver us. “…If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).