King For Kings

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Fall of the KING and the Rise of Another:

What was the role of a judge in Israel during the settlement period? What were the challenges of the nation as they faced this period? How did they address the challenges presented to them? Were the decisions made effective? After Moses had reiterated the covenant with the children of Israel and died, Joshua was called to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. This was a time of great slaughter and judgment among the people who had possessed the land previously; and a time of great spiritual awareness, and apostasy, for Israel. As Israel did that which they were commanded to do by the mouth of the Lord’s servants, they were able to witness miraculous events such as the parting of the Jordan River, the fall of Jericho, the slaying of the Midianites by Gideon and his 300 men, etc. When the children of Israel were proud or violated a covenant agreement with the Lord, they were humbled and smitten by those whom they had been called to “correct.” This was the case when the children of Israel were routed at the battle of Ai due to the sin of Achan; when they made the covenant of terms with the Gibeonites; and when they, during the period of the Judges, began to worship Baal and Ashtoreth. According to the NIV: Life Application Study Bible, the Judges were raised up by God after the death of Joshua and the elders of the people in response to the peoples’ cries of desperation.1 These Judges were called of God to respond to the wickedness of the people and to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. The Judges, ranging from a promiscuous man, to an assassin, to a man of God, were called, each in their own time and place, to redeem the people.

At the end of the Book of Joshua the people had covenanted with the Lord to worship Him alone, much as they had when they were standing at the feet of Moses as he issued the cursing and blessing of the Law (Josh. 24; Deut. 27-30). As we enter the Book of Judges, however, we see the “spiritual vacuum” that Joshua’s death has opened up among the people.2 Having not honored their covenant which they had made as a people at the base of the Covenant Mounts, nor the covenant that they had made at the altar at Mount Ebal (Deut. 27:2-8; Josh. 8:30-31), the people brought down upon themselves the cursing which Moses had warned them of. This period of apostasy and terror lasted for nearly 400 years.3 The Book of Judges can be viewed as a textbook on the Pride Cycle. When a people are valued and blessed then is the time that they are proud and begin to bring the curses of God down upon their heads. The Book of Mormon, also, shows us the value and validity of these teachings. When the people are righteous, then is the time that the Lord blesses them in abundance; when the people begin to trust in their own flesh, then is the time that the Lord humbles them.4 Because the children of Israel had not done as they had been commanded of the Lord and destroyed all of the children of the land out from before them and the face of God, those left would be “as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.” (Judges 2:3) This left the children of Israel in a bad position, both strategically and spiritually. Strategically the children of the land would be there to continue to surround them and to pose constant threat to them with their military might. Spiritually the children of Canaan, et al. had their gods and idols before them; and, due the layout of the land, the people of Syria, Babylon, and Assyria would traffic through Israel on their way

to Egypt and Ethiopia. The extent to which the children of Israel were afflicted by the inclusion of other gods is addressed by Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger in their quintesential work “Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel.” As was addressed by myself in the discussion forum in Module 5 - “This was a grosser sin (covenanting with the children of the land) because this was a sin in which they could not easily, if at all, repent of without going back and violating a covenant agreement (Josh. 9). In ancient times, especially the Oriental cultures, an oath was an unbreakable thing; especially if it was done upon the life of something (a blade of grass, your own head, or, even, upon the head of God Himself). If one broke an oath then all those who came into the knowledge of it would never take them at their word again. “In the MENA, in today’s culture, one does not always write down all that is agreed upon or even speak about all things. Now, with this said, how much more invested would the children of Israel have been in their covenant? They would not have been able to reverse the agreement for they were to be the children and messengers of the Most High God and were bound by law and culture to their own agreements. Therefore, one could rightfully assume that the children of Israel would have come under far greater condemnation for violating that covenant than they would have otherwise. Indeed, one could even go so far as to say that a violation of that covenant would have made Christ appear weak and non-reliable had that pledge, 3000 years before, been violated; for the memory of the people in the Orient is long.” During this period of apostasy and straying after other gods, the Lord raises up a prophet by the name of Samuel (1 Sam. 3) and commands him to lead the people in the paths which they should go. Long after Gideon has declined them (Judges 8:22-23) the

people go, once again, and request that he (Samuel) bring them a king. Samuel warns them, as did Moses long before, of the negativity that a king would bring upon them (1 Sam. 8; Deut 17:14-20). Samuel then reminds them that the Lord is their king and that they should worship Him alone, not seeking to be like other nations. Unfortunately, the people continue to clamor for a king and Samuel turns to the Lord with their request. The Lord allows it and tells Samuel to bring Saul up to them (1 Sam. 9) and He will anoint Saul to be a king among the people for he (Saul) is a man of goodness above all others (1 Sam. 9:2) and would live according to that which the Lord had commanded of Moses.5 Though, in the end, Saul is removed from off of his throne for pride and wickedness; as David later is condemned himself. “So ends the period of conquest and judges, an era of frustration, defeat, and failure. Yet there shines forth from this time an occasional gleam of courage, faith, and dedication. A land had been entered, conquered in some measure, and at least partially settled […] Israel had reached peaks of strength and unity interspersed with corruption and defeat, but it had become more and more clear that the loose tribal confederation of the past would not suffice for the present, especially in light of the fact that all the surrounding powers had well-organized and efficient central governments headed by kings. Israel had a King too, but He had been largely forgotten except by the few. The demand now was for an earthly hero who could give the nation a place in the world and cohesion within the body politic. God did give a king, but to safeguard His interests He also provided a corrective and shepherding influence, the prophet.”6 In conclusion we can see that the children of Israel, when they were obedient to the commands of God, were blessed even as Moses had said; but when they were

disobedient and sought for that which the other nations had, then was the time when the Lord God would discipline them and allow the other nations to fall upon them; famines to visit the land; and the people would have sickness and misery visited upon them. And thus we can see that the commandments of the Lord must be followed or those curses will rain down upon us. Even so, amen.

1 NIV: Life Application Study Bible; pg. 336; 2005 2 Ibid. 3 W. Cleon Skousen; “The Third Thousand Years;” pg. 523; 1972 4 see Helaman 12 for an statement of great pathos on the state of men and why God allows terror, famine, and pestilence, etc. 5 This law, which was spoken of by Moses, is known as the Kings Law. Matthew O. Richardson; “The King’s Law: A Framework for Leadership;” “Covenants, Prophecies, and Hymns of the Old Testament: 30th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium;” 2001 6 Eugene H. Merrill; “An Historical Survey of the Old Testament;” pg 183; 2008