The Book of Judges stated that the generation after Joshua failed to drive out the remaining Canaanites in the land (Judg 1:8-10). The record had it that the previous generation did not pass on to their children the knowledge of God (Judg 1:10) (Constable 1991:107). Consequently, they were not aware of what God had done for them in the past (Judg 3:7; 8:34) (Constable 1991:107). So, instead of destroying the Canaanites, they permitted the Canaanites to live among them (Judg 1:27-33; 2:2; 6:10) (Constable 1991:107). The failure of Israel to fully occupy the land was narrated in two ways: the failure of Judah and Simeon (a micro-perspective) and then the failure of the other tribes (a macro-perspective) (Wood 1975:139). The narrative stated that
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Israel was attracted to the worship of Baal because Baal was believed to have the power over their crops and livestock. Baal was the god of rain and reproduction in Canaan (Wood 1975:144). This certainly looked very attractive for a people who had spent forty years in the wilderness and knew little about farming. Judges 2-3 showed us that the Canaanite influence on Israel was very extensive, even resulting in defection from their worship of God (Wood 1975:145). The Gideon narrative showed us that Canaanite influence was very much ingrained in the Israelite culture. The biblical record had it that Gideon’s father had a Baal altar and an Asherah pole in his house to serve as objects of worship. So, the homes of Israelites had become shrines of pagan worship. This was certainly a worrying picture for the faith of Israel. The spiritual cracks within the faith of Israel eventually led to political disintegration in the nation. Israel was no longer a nation of twelve tribes united in life, purpose and faith. Instead, tribal hostility and self-interests became increasingly prevalent (Judg 5:17-18, 23; 8:5-8; 12:1-6). This eventually led to tribal fragmentation and division in the …show more content…
The cycle of apostasy was introduced in Judges 2 and then followed by six repetitions in Judges 3-16 (Hill and Walton 2000:198). The failure of Israel in the Canaan was captured in the Book of Judges literarily by using a pattern of cyclical disobedience. The pattern can be represented as a 5-point cycle: (1) Israel did evil in the eyes of God, (2) God sent enemies to oppress Israel, (3) Israel cried to God for deliverance, (3) God in His compassion raised a judge to deliver Israel, (5) Israel submitted to God after the deliverance (Dillard and Longman 1994:124-125). Unfortunately, this pattern was repeated again after some years of peace, and another cycle of disobedience began. A more accurate way of looking at Israel at this time was actually not just repeated sins but a “downward spiral” of Israel into sins with each succeeding cycle (Dillard and Longman 1994:125). Israel deteriorated and acted more corruptly with each new cycle. To put in another way, there is a “progressive degeneration” that took place every cycle of sin-discipline-repentance-deliverance (Tanner 1992:161). The nation was on a downward spiral leading to self-destruction. The only reason why it did not spiral out of control only was because of the intervention of
Israel was attracted to the worship of Baal because Baal was believed to have the power over their crops and livestock. Baal was the god of rain and reproduction in Canaan (Wood 1975:144). This certainly looked very attractive for a people who had spent forty years in the wilderness and knew little about farming. Judges 2-3 showed us that the Canaanite influence on Israel was very extensive, even resulting in defection from their worship of God (Wood 1975:145). The Gideon narrative showed us that Canaanite influence was very much ingrained in the Israelite culture. The biblical record had it that Gideon’s father had a Baal altar and an Asherah pole in his house to serve as objects of worship. So, the homes of Israelites had become shrines of pagan worship. This was certainly a worrying picture for the faith of Israel. The spiritual cracks within the faith of Israel eventually led to political disintegration in the nation. Israel was no longer a nation of twelve tribes united in life, purpose and faith. Instead, tribal hostility and self-interests became increasingly prevalent (Judg 5:17-18, 23; 8:5-8; 12:1-6). This eventually led to tribal fragmentation and division in the …show more content…
The cycle of apostasy was introduced in Judges 2 and then followed by six repetitions in Judges 3-16 (Hill and Walton 2000:198). The failure of Israel in the Canaan was captured in the Book of Judges literarily by using a pattern of cyclical disobedience. The pattern can be represented as a 5-point cycle: (1) Israel did evil in the eyes of God, (2) God sent enemies to oppress Israel, (3) Israel cried to God for deliverance, (3) God in His compassion raised a judge to deliver Israel, (5) Israel submitted to God after the deliverance (Dillard and Longman 1994:124-125). Unfortunately, this pattern was repeated again after some years of peace, and another cycle of disobedience began. A more accurate way of looking at Israel at this time was actually not just repeated sins but a “downward spiral” of Israel into sins with each succeeding cycle (Dillard and Longman 1994:125). Israel deteriorated and acted more corruptly with each new cycle. To put in another way, there is a “progressive degeneration” that took place every cycle of sin-discipline-repentance-deliverance (Tanner 1992:161). The nation was on a downward spiral leading to self-destruction. The only reason why it did not spiral out of control only was because of the intervention of