UNROLL
Dusk over the hills of Gilead: a small village of flat-roofed stone houses on a shoulder of the hill, thin smoke rising, oak woods dark below and the Jordan valley hazy beyond.

The Book of

Judges 10

Seven peoples’ gods, and not one could save. When Israel came back, God’s heart was moved.

18 verses≈ 3 min2 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–2Not finishedThe land left half-taken
  2. 3–5The cycleSin, oppression, a deliverer
  3. 6–10Gideon and afterA weak man, a strong GodChapter 10
  4. 11–16Jephthah and SamsonFlawed deliverers
  5. 17–21No king in IsraelEveryone did as he saw fit

Tola

A cluster of small villages of low stone houses among the wooded hills of northern Gilead, smoke from cooking fires and terraced fields in late-afternoon light.

The judges

Tola and Jair

  1. Tola

    Tola son of Puah, of Issachar

    After the time of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose up to save Israel.

  2. He lived in Shamir, in Ephraim

    He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim.

  3. Judged twenty-three years

    Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.

  4. Jair

    Jair the Gileadite: twenty-two years

    Tola was followed by Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.

  5. Thirty sons on thirty donkeys

    He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys.

  6. Thirty towns: Havvoth-jair

    And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.

  7. Buried in Kamon

    When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

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Oppression by the Philistines and Ammonites

Down and down

Othniel: amodelforty years’ rest(3:9–11)Ehud: atrickstera hidden sword(3:15–21)Barak: hesitantonly if Deborah goes(4:8)Gideon: anephodit became a snare(8:27)Abimelech:murderseventy brothers (9:5)Jephthah: arash vowstill ahead (11:30–31)Samson: his owneyesstill ahead (14:1–3)

Whiteboard

Chapter 2 drew the cycle: sin, oppression, a cry, a deliverer, rest, and back again. This board shows where the cycle was heading. Each turn goes a step lower. Othniel is a model judge. Ehud wins by a trick. Barak will not go without Deborah. Gideon ends by making an ephod that leads Israel astray. Abimelech, his son, murders his way to a throne. Jephthah and Samson are still to come. Now, after two quiet judges, it starts once more: “And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD.” Yet every time, God hears and saves.

Dusk in Gilead, seen from behind: villagers stand on the flat roof of a stone house watching, far down the valley, a band of men with spears on their shoulders driving off the village's sheep and goats.

So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites, who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and they did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.

The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and Israel was in deep distress.

0:25

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Question

Quick question

Two enemies pressed Israel at once, the Philistines in the west and the Ammonites in the east.

How long did the Philistines and Ammonites oppress Israel?

The Israelites

Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, for we have indeed forsaken our God and served the Baals.”

God

The LORD replied, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”

“We have sinned,” the Israelites said to the LORD. “Deal with us as You see fit; but please deliver us today!”

Morning at the edge of a hill village: Israelites carry small household figurines out in baskets and tip them onto a heap of broken clay and bronze; two men drag a cut-down carved pole; an old man watches, leaning on a staff.

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.

He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.

Judges 10:16

Reflect

Put them away

Israel had said sorry before, and gone back. This time “they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD.” Their repentance had hands: the gods were carried out of the house. Is there something you regret but still keep close? Write down what putting it away, not only feeling sorry for it, would look like for you this week.

Then the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, and the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.

And the rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Whoever will launch the attack against the Ammonites will be the head of all who live in Gilead.”

You’ve experienced

Judges 10

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A verse to carry with you

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.

Judges 10:16

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