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Context No. 1537 of 4322 · Judges

Context · Reflection

Judges 3:1-11: in context

1Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least those who knew nothing of it before: 3the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. 4They were left to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the LORD’s commandments, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. 5The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6They took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. 7The children of Israel did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years. 9When the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10The LORD’s Spirit came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. His hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim. 11The land had rest forty years, then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

The book of Judges explains why certain nations were left in the land rather than driven out: they were left to test Israel, to know whether the new generations, who had not known the earlier wars, would obey the LORD's commandments. Israel, living among these peoples, intermarried with them and served their gods, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, forgetting him. So God let them be oppressed by a foreign king. But when they cried out, the LORD raised up a deliverer, Othniel, on whom the Spirit came, and gave Israel rest for forty years.

The passage gives a reason for the trials that faced Israel that is worth pondering: the nations were left to test Israel, to know whether they would obey. The obstacles and temptations in their path were not merely accidents or misfortunes; they served a purpose, to test and reveal whether Israel would remain faithful. A test proves what is really there; the presence of the surrounding nations, with their gods and their daughters, would show whether Israel's devotion to God was real or only nominal, whether they would obey when obedience cost them something. And, the passage sadly records, they failed the test, intermarrying and serving other gods. There is a way of seeing our own trials in this. The difficulties, temptations, and obstacles we face are not only troubles to be endured; they are often tests that reveal and prove what is in us, whether our faith is real, whether we will obey when it is hard, whether our devotion holds when tested. God allows the tests not to trip us but to prove and strengthen what is genuine. Israel's tests revealed a faith that did not hold; the surrounding nations exposed the shallowness of their devotion. Our own tests do the same, showing us and God what we are really made of. But the passage does not end in failure alone: when they cried out, God raised a deliverer. Even the failure of the test was not the end; God's mercy met their cry. The tests reveal us; and when we fail and turn back, God is ready to deliver.

Do I see the trials and temptations in my path as tests that reveal whether my devotion to God is real and whether I will obey when it costs me, and when a test exposes my failure, do I cry out to the God who is ready to deliver those who turn back?

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