As Joshua’s life was coming to an end he implored the nation to “choose this day whom you will serve…fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness (see Joshua 24:14-15)” The book of Judges wastes no time in revealing that the nation did no such thing – its worship was half-hearted; and thus Judges describes the steady “Canaanization” of Israel. As the Lord had warned, the people and gods they refused to “put away” became thorns and snares to them. The sad pattern for the book is outlined in chapter 2:18-19 “Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge…But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them.”
This seems to present God with a dilemma: does he give up on these people, or give in to them? If he gives up on them and simply moves on, how do we reconcile this with his mercy? If he gives in, what of his holiness? We see the tension on display in the early part of chapter 2: God says, “I will never break my covenant with you (2:1)”, yet also says to Israel regarding the inhabitants they failed to drive out, “you have disobeyed my voice…I will not drive them out before you. (2:2-3)” He says, in effect, “I will never stop loving you, and I can be nothing but faithful to you”; but also, “I am holy, and I will not tolerate that which is evil.”
Christ Connection:
In Judges we see the contrast between half-hearted people and a wholehearted God. The wholehearted love of God manifests both judgment and mercy within his covenantal faithfulness. His raising up of “judge-deliverers” in Judges is a sign of both of these attributes of God’s love to his people, but also points toward the ultimate resolution of the judgment/mercy dilemma – the cross of Christ. It is in Christ, and Christ alone, that we find the perfect fulfillment and execution of God’s loving mercy and judgment. What about us? What does God do with the twists and turns of our lives, and with our half-hearted contradictions? When we trust in Christ, our living hope, we ultimately place our trust in our faithful deliverer – the author and finisher of our faith!