Judges

Idolatry is everywhere represented in Scripture as the greatest insult the creature can offer the Creator.   Charles Hodge

Barclay notes that 'The essence of idolatry is enjoying God's gifts but not being grateful to the Giver.'  Israel was guilty.  They had fallen away after the death of Gideon and Abimelech did nothing to lead them back to the Lord.

Judges 10:1-2

The account of Tola is almost a passing comment.  He is called a 'minor' judge – for the reason that we are given little work with and he didn't take part in any military campaign.  The bible doesn't consider theme minor in any way and doesn't use that kind of language.  This is term coined by the scholars. 

The tribal land of Issachar was southwest of the Sea of Galilee.  Jezreel is at the edge of Issachar and Manasseh.  This is very near where the stories of Gideon and Abimelech take place.  Tola was a man of Issachar who led Israel for 23 years and died and was buried in Shamir.  Some believe Shamir is the city that would become Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. In reality, no one can be sure where this city was. 

Chuck Misler noted:

Tola means worm and also means scarlet.  The color scarlet came from worms.  The worm laid it's eggs and died.  When the larvae hatched, they left a scarlet spot on the tree.  Three days later, this scarlet spot dried and became white and fell off the tree.  See Psalm 22 – "I am a worm"?  Puah means splendid one.  Shamir means thorn.  The scarlet one came from the splendid and was buried in the thorn. 

Judges 10:3-5

Jair arose after Tola.  Notice the same word arose was used for both of these men – it shows up in nearly every chapter of Judges.  He was a Gileadite, the hilly, border territory about 80 miles east of where Tola was.  This area included portions of Manasseh, Gad and Reuben.  Jair led Israel for 22 years.  The thirty sons could his offspring or it could be vassal rulers.  Either way, each rode on s donkey ruling a city.  Havoth Jair means settlements of Jair.  This displays the wealth and prominence of this family.  The location of Camon is unkown.

Judges 10:6-9

The land was free of bloodshed and oppression for 45 years.  Yet, Israel had not used those good times to grow closer to their God.  In fact, comfort often makes us spiritually lazy.  Comfort often harms our character and softens our integrity.  The cycle seems to reset with another generation.  They failed to acknowledge God's role in bringing them peace and freedom from oppression.  Once again, we see contented and happy people slide away from the Lord.  They once again, took their neighbors gods, the Baals and Ashtoreth.  These gods didn't have boundaries; they were carried by people and the same god appeared differently in other cultures.  All these gods had at least one thing in common, they were false gods.  They were simply demons operating behind idols.  In those times, one was considered foolish if they ignored a god.  Taking many gods was thought to be a way of capturing much favor and blessing from all of them.  They were slow to discover there was only one true God and He was a jealous God. 

They did this evil in the 'sight' of the Lord.  This is spiritual adultery. 

"It is one thing to commit adultery but to do it in the sight of the one you are being unfaithful to is quite another."  Guzick

Obviously, Israel wasn't considering the Lord at all.  They were chasing their own ways, following their wicked heart and feelings.  Some may have been going with the crowd assuming the majority can't be wrong.  The youth followed the elders and before long the entire nation had turned from the Lord.  This may look and sound very familiar in the context of our nation in our day.  Falling away is result of a thousand small decisions, none of which seem that big a deal; all amounting to doing what's right in their own eyes.

God's anger was hot against them; He was faithful and they were faithless.  The Lord can't be one God among the god's you serve.  You either serve Him only or you serve other gods.  Once they began to serve other gods they departed from true and living God.  God gave them what they desired and they moved from blessing and protection to harassment, oppression and war.  He gave them over to the Philistines and Ammonites.  This is what happened to godless nations. The oppression came quickly and lasted for 18 years.  The people living in the region of Gilead (the land of Amorites).  This was the region of Sihon and Og, the two Rephaim kings defeated in Moses' day, seen in Numbers 32:39; Deuteronomy 2:10-11; 3:1-13; and Joshua 12:2.

Ammon was emboldened to even cross the Jordan and begin to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim.  These were in the heart of Israel physical and spiritually.

Judges 10:10-14

As bad as things must've been, it took 18 years for the Israelites to figure out their sin had led them astray.  They turned again to God and cried out to Him.  They confessed their sin as they longed for deliverance.  It's fascinating these people could see these foreign gods have nothing for them.  Oppression and suffering seem to improve spiritual vision.  There was no hope found in any other.  Because of that, they simply fell on the mercy of a merciful God and cried out to Him. 

God had a great track record in the past.  They knew this and the Lord reminds them; which begs the question, 'Why didn't you learn from last time?'  Over and over, the Lord was kind and loving and delivered His children as a faithful Father.  Because they had not learned, and once again turned away, the Lord refused to deliver them.  He suggests they make the request known to all their other gods they loved so much.  Wow, talk about a reality check.  One commentary put it this way:

The greatest judgment God can send to His people is to let them have their own way and not interfere. [Wiersbe, W. W. (1994). Be available (p. 92). Victor Books.]

Judges 10:15-16

The admission of sin and cry to do whatever seems right shows the desperation of their situation.  While this sounds repentant on the surface, the fact they had not put purged their lives of these other things is indicative of the same cycle.  They simply didn't like the consequences of their actions.  They were saying, "Yes, we sinned, deliver us anyway."  They sought his faithfulness to rescue without changing their ways.  They wanted Him as a good, good Father while they remained brats. 

Israel decided they better get serious.  True repentance brings action on our part.  It is an act of faith.  We know what they deserved; they deserve what we all deserve, the wrath of Almighty God.  With eyes wide open they discovered the punishment done in love, from the Father was better than anything a false god or idol had to offer. 

When Israel puts away its other gods, the Lord is moved by their sorrow and oppression.  Through true repentance, they removed themselves from idolatry.  The Lord was their sole source of hope; He was the only one that could deliver them.  The Lord was moved and their misery touched the merciful heart of God.  We can see that God is heartbroken when His people make poor choices and turn away from Him. 

God is, no doubt, a good last resort when things get bad.  However, He is a much better first resort; He wants to be the original plan, the only plan.  What if God gave us our way and stopped rescuing us from our gods?

Judges 10:17-18

The already bad situation was about to get worse.  Ammon had gathered and were ready to terrorize Ammon.  We can't be sure of the exact location of the sites but Israel gathered at Mizpah nearby. 

Were there no leaders?  Where were the men of God to stand up and lead?  Were men leading their families or their communities?  Was everyone sitting back and taking no responsibility for anything?  This seems like a shameful time but it sounds very much like a culture that is without God and godly principals. 

The Ammonites weren't warmongering for the sake of killing and destroying.  They sought power and control over the people.  They simply wanted to keep them in submission; work hard, pay their taxes and tribute and live in peace while the Ammonite leader lived in luxury at their cost.  The man who would begin the fight seemed the most likely to die in the fight.  The Ammonites were offering him a better life as ruler over those he would otherwise fight for.  It was an offer to compromise his values and switch sides.

⁹ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.  (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Comfortable living often produces weak character. [Wiersbe, W. W. (1994). Be available (p. 91). Victor Books.]

©2006, 2010, 2016, 2022 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater