Judges 3:1 ¶ Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; 3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
Amazingly, Israel intermarried with the heathen and in many ways
united with them disregarding God and His Judges’ commands and examples set.
Worshipping in groves of trees bears note here. Commentators have
noted that Jupiter, the Roman name for Zeus, was worshipped in groves. According
to the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, and others priests and priestesses
would attend the sacred grove of Zeus, possibly in the millennium that saw the
Exodus of Moses and the Hebrews out of Egypt, at Dodona in Greece interpreting
the rustling of the oaks’ leaves as expressing the will of the Gods. Bible
commentator John Gill, in his commentary, noted that from Germans to Phoenicians
groves of trees were where people worshipped, awaited instructions from their
gods, and even honored their dead heroes.
God, the Creator, was not averse to using such rustlings to get
His will across to His man.
2Samuel 5:24 And let it be,
when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that
then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to
smite the host of the Philistines.
As with everything else this was probably known from the earliest
times and then Satan counterfeited it to draw people away from God.
Deuteronomy 12:2 Ye shall
utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess
served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every
green tree:
Isaiah 66:17 They that
sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in
the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be
consumed together, saith the LORD.
Trees have an important part to play in the prophecy of Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ is referred to as the Branch.
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his
roots:
Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O
Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they
are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
Zechariah 6:12 And speak
unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose
name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build
the temple of the LORD:
In the Law given to Moses and referenced in the New Testament is
this statement;
Deuteronomy 21:22 And if a
man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and
thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body
shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him
that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not
defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
And Paul alludes to that passage this way;
Galatians 3:13 Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith.
So, there is significance in many contexts on the spiritual import
of trees.
Not only would God test or prove the Israelites by not driving all
of the Canaanites out but He also wanted them acquainted with war and not
ignorant of it to deal with those people and the Philistines. Remember that the
opposite occurred when the Hebrews left Egypt in the Exodus.
From my previous comments;
“Exodus 13:17
¶ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had
let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the
Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people
repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18 But God led the people about, through the way
of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed
out of the land of Egypt…
…God
did not let them go the way of the coasts where Philistine territory was. Repeating
what I said previously, a coastal march would have been most efficient but that
would have them walking right into a fiercely warlike group of people,
descendants of Ham and Mizraim, the founder of Egypt; the Philistim or
Philistines. See Genesis 10. So, they marched south into the wilderness of the
Red Sea…”
In
verse 3 here in Judges we see the mention of five lords of the Philistines.
Joshua 13:3 From Sihor,
which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is
counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and
the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the
Avites:
1Samuel 6:18 And the golden
mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to
the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the
great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone
remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.
We can see here that the Philistines were possessed of five cities
and we also know that they were militarily strong and populous although the
following mention can include mercenaries that any wealthy king could purchase
in the Ancient Near East. Archaeological evidence is, of course, incomplete and
the Philistines left us no literature. See comments on Genesis for their
origins.
1Samuel 13:5 And the
Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand
chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea
shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from
Bethaven.
Judges 3:8 ¶ Therefore the
anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of
Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served
Chushanrishathaim eight years. 9 And
when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer
to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of
Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 And
the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to
war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his
hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. 11 And the land had rest forty years. And
Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
Strong said that Chushanrishathaim means “Twice-wicked
Cushan.” This seems more of an insult than an actual name. This is perhaps what
the Holy Spirit left us as the name the Israelites gave him rather than his own
title or name.
Mesopotamia, Between the Two Rivers, is the name
given to the area within and around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, present
day Iraq and Kuwait with parts of Syria and Iran.
The Sumerians and then the Akkadians, including Assyria and
Babylon, dominated the area until it fell to Persia, Iran today, in the 500s
BC.
Othniel is mentioned previously in Joshua 15:17 and then in
chapter 1, verse 13 of Judges. His father was Caleb’s brother. The name Kenaz
is also associated with other people mentioned in the Bible including a duke of
Edom from Esau.
See here how the Spirit, capital S, as I’ve shown before is the
very mind of God, of the LORD, all caps, which is translated on thousands of
occasions from Jehovah, pronounced then as Yehovah perhaps as some say, the
name of our Creator comes on Othniel. Much is made of “on” versus “in”. It is
said by some commentators that this reflects the fact that the ancient
Israelite did not have God’s Spirit indwelling them as the Christian does but
that God’s Spirit came on them as needed for a purpose.
God met with His people at tabernacle or temple before Christ’s
resurrection. We, our bodies, are the temple of God, the Holy Ghost, and the
Spirit of God, of Christ, dwells within us.
Let’s start with the Spirit of God or the spirit of man and their
link to the mind and through this the heart as well as we make our decisions
based on both reason and emotion working together.
The
Spirit is the mind and heart of God just as the spirit of man includes the
heart, reason, emotions, intellect, and talents. For
contexts where the Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with
mind please see the following;
Romans
8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
1Corinthians
2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words
which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Ephesians
4:23 And be renewed in the spirit
of your mind;
Philippians
1:27 Only let your conversation be as it
becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be
absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the
faith of the gospel;
2Timothy
1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Exodus
35:21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one
whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering
to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and
for the holy garments.
Deuteronomy
2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not
let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate,
that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.
God the Father is the
soul of God, the seat of will and self-identity, while the Holy Ghost is the
very mind and heart of God moving in creation called the Holy Spirit in action
as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, and the Son of God is God’s
physical existence, His image, His body.
Compare the Spirit of the Lord
coming upon Othniel with Gideon and Samson.
Judges 6:34 But the Spirit
of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered
after him.
Judges 14:6 And the Spirit
of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a
kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother
what he had done.
Is that different then than this?
Romans 8:9 But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 ¶ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus
from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Do you see the difference between God’s Spirit coming upon someone
versus living inside of them?
This tells us to see how the Beast’s mark in Revelation is “in”
the hand and not “on” the hand…
Revelation 13:16 And he
causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Judges 3:12 ¶ And the
children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD
strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil
in the sight of the LORD. 13 And he
gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel,
and possessed the city of palm trees. 14
So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15 But when the children of Israel cried
unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a
Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present
unto Eglon the king of Moab. 16 But Ehud
made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it
under his raiment upon his right thigh. 17
And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was
a very fat man. 18 And when he had made
an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.
19 But he himself turned again from the
quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto
thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from
him. 20 And Ehud came unto him; and he
was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said,
I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.
21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and
took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: 22 And the haft also went in after the blade;
and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of
his belly; and the dirt came out. 23
Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the
parlour upon him, and locked them. 24
When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold,
the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his
feet in his summer chamber. 25 And they
tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the
parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their
lord was fallen down dead on the earth. 26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and
passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. 27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that
he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went
down with him from the mount, and he before them. 28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for
the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went
down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a
man to pass over. 29 And they slew of
Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and
there escaped not a man. 30 So Moab was
subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore
years.
For the sake of review, remember the dishonorable beginnings of
the Moabite people.
Genesis 19:30 ¶ And Lot
went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him;
for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two
daughters. 31 And the firstborn said
unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to
come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and
we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 33 And they made their father drink wine that
night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not
when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the
younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine
this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of
our father. 35 And they made their
father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and
he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child
by their father. 37 And the firstborn
bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites
unto this day. 38 And the younger, she
also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the
children of Ammon unto this
day.
The Ammonites are allied here in Judges with the king of Moab. This
rather gruesome deliverance from the hands of Moab and allies had an effect for
just 80 years of delivering Israel.
The metaphor about covering his feet has to do with going
to the toilet.
1Samuel 24:3 And he came to
the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his
feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
Commentators say as the person sits down his robe covers his feet.
Verse 19 mentions the quarries that were by Gilgal. An
ancient underground quarry was discovered in 2009 by University of Haifa,
Israel researchers in that area, where the Byzantines identified Gilgal
although that identification is controversial and the initial conclusion was
that it was a Roman era quarry.[1]
Some commentators for verse 20 say that the summer parlour would
have been the coolest place in a house in a very hot climate where one would
retire to visit or relax if one was wealthy or powerful. Poor people would not
have those choices but would sleep on the roof ofttimes. The powerful had rooms
and even detached dwellings to make the seasons more comfortable. See Amos 3:15
and Jeremiah 36:22.
Amos 3:15 And I will smite
the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 36:22 Now the king
sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth
burning before him.
The use of a key in verse 25 is also interesting. Commentators say the
ancient key was simply a bar of wood, hooked at the end, which passed through a
hole in the door and caught the bolt inside. The lock or bolt was constructed
most likely in the same fashion as the wooden locks that were used in Palestine
until the last century; the bolt is shot by hand, the key is used only for
unlocking.
Judges 3:31 ¶ And after him
was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men
with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.
Shamgar will be mentioned again in chapter 5 in the Judge,
Deborah’s, song with regard to how unsafe, like America’s cities today, the
highways and villages of Israel had become.
[1] Todd Bolen, “Roman Quarry =
Ancient Gilgal?” Bible Places Blog, June 22, 2009, https://www.bibleplaces.com/blog/2009/06/roman-quarry-ancient-gilgal/
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