The Torah Network

3 yrs

SERIES H --- THE JUDGES --- LESSON 03

THE FIRST JUDGES

THREE JUDGES FOR ISRAEL

From Judges 3:5-31

In the days of the judges, Israel lived in the Promised Land with the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. But the people forgot YHVH and married husbands and wives from these heathen tribes and worshiped their gods, the Baals and the Ashteroth. Because they did evil in YHVH’s sight, YHVH in His anger, let them be ruled by Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, for eight years. Then the people of Israel cried out to Adonai and He sent Caleb’s nephew Othniel, son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz, to rescue them. The Spirit of Adonai came upon Othniel while he ruled Israel as a judge and he led the Israelites to victory over Cushan-rishathaim. Then Israel lived in peace for forty years until Othniel died. Then Israel again did the things that were evil in YHVH’s sight, so Adonai permitted Eglon, king of Moab, to grow strong enough to conquer Israel. Along with the armies of the Ammonites and the Amalekites, Eglon defeated Israel at Jericho, ‘The City of Palm Trees.’ For eighteen years Israel served King Eglon of Moab, paying him a large amount of tribute each year. But when the people of Israel begged Adonai for help, He sent Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man to rescue them. Each year the people of Israel sent Ehud to deliver their tribute to King Eglon. Secretly, Ehud made an eighteen-inch dagger with double edges and strapped it to his right thigh under his clothing. After Ehud had given the tribute to King Eglon, he started homeward with the Israelites who had carried the tribute. At the quarries of Gilgal, he sent them home and went back alone to see the king. King Eglon, I have a secret message for you, he said. Immediately, the king sent all of his attendants away with one word; ‘Silence!’ Then Ehud walked toward this very fat king as he sat in the cool upstairs room that he had made for himself. I have a message from YHVH, said Ehud. As the king stood up to receive the message, Ehud pulled the dagger from its hiding place and thrust it into the king’s belly. The fat of his belly closed over the handle of the dagger as his insides poured forth. Ehud quickly closed the doors and locked them, then escaped another way. When the king’s servants returned, they found the doors locked. ‘He is probably relieving himself in the closet of his room,’ they thought. The servants waited for a long time until they were sure that there was some problem. When they found a key and unlocked the door, they saw their master lying dead on the floor. Meanwhile, Ehud escaped past the quarries to Seirah. When he arrived home, he sounded the alarm, gathering an army with the sound of a trumpet. Follow after me! Ehud shouted. Adonai has given us our enemies, the Moabites. The troops of Israel followed Ehud from the hill country of Ephraim. Having made their way to the Jordan River, they captured the fords of the river so that the Moabites could not cross. Then the Israelites killed about ten thousand of the strong fighting men of Moab. Not one escaped! That day Israel conquered Moab, bringing peace to the land for the eighty years that followed. The next judge of Israel was Shamgar, son of Anath. In one battle he killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad, sparing Israel from a sure defeat.

COMMENTARY

TWO-STORY BUILDINGS

When trumpets blew in the days of the judges, the people of Israel assembled. YHVH sent new leaders, {judges} to save them from their enemies. Who were the judges? The judges were usually military leaders, who after victory would spend the rest of their lives leading Israel as a nation. In early Old Testament times, a building with more than one story was certain to be an important place. Apart from its luxurious furnishings, an upper floor might be all that distinguished a palace or rich man’s house from any other house. Like the simple one-story stone and mud brick village houses, larger homes were built around three sides of a courtyard. A thick layer of heavy logs, branches and packed mud formed the ceiling of the first story and the floor of the second. Near the ground, walls were several feet thick to support the great weight of the upper floors. Inside, stone or log pillars rising from the floor to the ceiling beams provided additional support. Despite these efforts to build a strong structure, multi-storey buildings were never very safe. The walls and roof needed constant attention, since a hard rain could wash away the mud and clay that held the whole framework together. High buildings were both difficult and expensive to build. As an alternative to adding a second floor, many townspeople built small rooms on their flat roofs. Such small upper rooms were popular before full two-story houses became common. They were built at the corners of the roof to take advantage of the strength of the buildings outside walls. These upper rooms served as cool bedrooms in the summer and quiet meeting rooms during the day. People could use them as places to think, to pray or just as restful rooms in which to escape the constant street noise and lower-floor activity. Often a kind of wind scoop on top of the roof caught cooling breezes and funnelled fresh air into the house. Some houses had holes cut through the upper-story floors to allow air and light into the lower rooms. But upper chambers were a luxury; the less rich used blanket awnings and palm-leaf booths to escape the burning sun. As time passed, many people who wanted larger homes built over more space rather than higher. But others, such as King Eglon, added upper rooms to buildings that already had at least two stories. In one ancient city north of Canaan, the king added several stories of government offices in his palace. By the end of the judges’ time, it was common for wealthy families to live in two-story dwellings. Servants usually slept on the first floor, next to storage rooms and an indoor kitchen. Family members enjoyed the luxury of private bedrooms and inside staircases that ran from the ground to the rooftop chambers.