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10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
SURVEY OF BIBLE HISTORY
(THE JUDGES TO THE KINGS)
A Deadly Enemy; With an Innocent Appearance
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson
Copyright - Lester Hutson -
1998
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express
written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Lesson 22
Judges 12:8 - 13:1
XII. DURING THE NEXT 25 YEARS, THREE MINOR JUDGES RULED IN ISRAEL. JUDGES 12:8-15:
A. The first was lbzan. Judges 12:8-10:B. At the death of Ibzan, Elon became Israel's judge. He too seems to have judged only in a civil sense. He is mentioned in the Bible only in Judges 12:11-12:1. Nothing more than the information given here in Judges 12 is known of Ibzan. Apparently he was a civil judge only; nothing is mentioned of any military exploits by him.
2. The name Ibzan means "splendid." Verse 9 says he had 30 sons and 30 daughters, a total of 60 children. The fact that he went outside his own immediate clan and area to secure wives for his sons seems to indicate an effort to expand his sphere of influence, which was already sizeable. In those days a large family was regarded as a mark of honor and power in any community.3. Apparently Ibzan judged Israel from Bethlehem, for after a 7 year judgeship, he died and was buried in Bethlehem, Vs.10. This Bethlehem is not to be confused with Bethlehem-judah, which is generally denoted by its association with "judah" or "Ephratah." Besides the Bethlehem in Judah, there was also a Bethlehem in Zebulun, Josh. 19:15. It was located about 10 miles north of Megiddo. Most Bible scholars agree Ibzan judged from Bethlehem in Zebulun.
C. At the death of Elon, Abdon became Israel's judge. Josh 12:13-15.1. Elon was from the tribe of Zebulun, and came from a longstanding clan within the tribe, the Elonites, Num. 26:26. The father of this clan was the first Elon, who was one of the three sons of Zebulun, Gen. 46:14. By the time of the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes of Joshua, there was a town in Canaan named Elon, which became a part of the inheritance of Dan, Joshua 19.43.
2. Strong's Hebrew Dictionary says Elon means "short." No details of his judgeship are given except that he ruled 10 years in Zebulun, probably from Bethlehem. He was buried in Aijalon in the territory of Zebulun. Note that there are two Aijalons in Israel. This Aijalon in Zebulun is not to be confused with the Aijalon in Dan where Joshua defeated the Amorites in Joshua 10.D. Though these judges functioned in a given area with greatest impact and influence there, the fact that they "judged Israel" had some jurisdiction over all 12 tribes, not just those nearby.1. Abdon was from Pirathon which is about 6 miles southwest of Shechem in the mountain country of Ephraim.
2. His name means servitude, and once again his prominence in the land is emphasized by his large family and material wealth. He had 40 sons plus 30 "newphews." Each had his own "ass colt," the best means of transportation and a status symbol then even as a new sports car is today.3. The word "nephew" is from the Hebrew word "ben" (bane) meaning a son or builder of the family name. The implication here is that of a close knit family, each dedicated to the well-being of the whole. In this regard, Abdon and his family became a foreshadow of the kind of attitude and approach that should exist in the family of God, especially in the Church.
4. Abdon judged Israel 8 years and died. He was buried in Pirathon.
XIII. ISRAELS SEVENTH CYCLE OF OPPRESSION, AND THE JUDGESHIP OF SAMSON. JUDGES 13-16:
A. As they had done so -many times before, Israel returned to her evil idolatrous ways, Judges 13:1.B. As is always the case in the cycle, un-addressed sins are followed by spiritual Poverty and oppression.1. It would appear that after a while, they'd learn to forsake evil - and serve God; but such is never the case with men. This is basically a new generation. They don't know too much about what Mom and Dad have faced, nor do they really care. And surely, the history of a grandfather and grandmother over the past 300 years is of no concern to them. So, they don't learn a thing of real value from their heritage until they get into deep trouble.
2. While the previous judges lived, they were able to keep Israel from wholesale sin; but once no one is on the scene to act as a restraining force, this people plunges right into the very lifestyle which has devastated them so many times before.3. Oh, how the life of most believers is mirrored in the long-term life of this people! We are so prone to be up and down; periods of spiritual victories interspersed with periods of backsliding and spiritual bondage.
1. The Lord sees to that. As Hosea said in Chapter , Verse 7, they who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind. Thus, Judges .13:1 declares, "The Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years."
2. "Forty years" is the longest oppression of all. Cabin and the Canaanites had oppressed them 20 years. Now the Lord doubles that. Folks, continued sin brings an ever heavier hand of discipline from God. Prov. 13:15 says, "The way of transgressors is hard".3. It also appears that the Philistines had been a growing threat to Israel for several years. Back in Judges 10:7 they are mentioned along with the Ammonites as being oppressors; although, no more is mentioned about them until Chapter 13. Apparently during the judgeships of Jephthah and his 3 successors, these Philistines backed off and showed little, if any, aggression. They were there, growing stronger, waiting for the right time when they'd become a tool in the hand of God to punish his rebellious people, Israel.
4. That time came soon after the death of Abdon. From their stronghold coastal cities of Gath, Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, these Philistines oppressed Israel, and were never fully conquered until the days of King David. Under Samson and his successors, there were times when Israel had the upper hand followed by times when the Philistines had the upper hand. The balance of power between Israel and the Philistines was like a seesaw. These were times God had finally brought a continuing enemy with which Israel would have to contend for many years until they truly came clean with the Lord.
5. The danger from the Philistines did not at first appear to be such a grave danger. It was far more subtle than the dangers they had faced from the Canaanites, Midianites, Ammonites, and other previous enemies. Their previous enemies had come with such cruel hostility and military looting and killing. The Philistines at first did not come making great military threats. (Later, they did.) For the first several years, they simply penetrated deeper and deeper inland, setting up more farms, intermarrying with Israel, trading with Israel, and generally getting more and more control over the land and society.
Nothing in the text indicated the Israeli tribes to have been very upset or concerned about the Philistine encroachment. They seemed rather willing to accept the fact that the Philistines had the upperhand, and even rebuked Samson for resisting them. Note Judges 15:11, "Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them." From the flow of the text which shows the Philistines ever advancing and growing stronger while the Israelis are passive and without resistance, it looks like the Philistines would gradually have taken over the whole land had not God raised up Samson.
Samson literally became a one man army against the Philistines. He had almost no support from his countrymen. In no conflict or battle is there ever a single soldier at his side, let alone an army. Samson was not a greatly spiritual man. And his exploits seem to be more the actions of unplanned whims than an organized campaign on his part against a frightful enemy. He simply did what seemed fleshly expedient to him at the time, yet his exploits fit into a pattern of resistance to a grave enemy who could have swallowed up and destroyed Israel once and for all except through the direct intervention of God through Samson. The Philistines were actually Israel's greatest threat to date. They were carving an empire which threatened to destroy the empire God was building at the same time with Israel; yet no one seemed to notice or care. So, God raised up Samson, and used him in spite of himself to deliver Israel from being swallowed alive. And also because of his vicious attacks on the Philistines he forced them to begin using more and more military force against Israel, which in turn woke Israel up to open military resistance and the ultimate rejection of the Philistine yoke. So in a strange sort of way, God used Samson, almost single-handedly, to deliver or save Israel from almost certain absorption by a superior military power. He very much became a pivotal key in rekindling a sense of nationalism and indigenous pride in Israel, a spirit they had almost lost when he first came on the scene.
What a warning Israel is at this point to every believer! Sin has many faces, one of which is subtilty. Satan would lull us and have us minimize our dangers. He would have us accept the very things that would destroy us. He would wrap his "chains " around us slowly and gently without alarming us until it is too late. Most of us have heard about the proverbial frog who will instantly leap out of a pot of boiling water, but who can be cooked alive in lukewarm water gradually heated. The apostle Peter warned, "Ye therefore beloved seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also. being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness," II Peter 3:17. Paul wrote, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ " Col. 2:8. For each of us, one of life's biggest perils is complacency to danger: an ecumenical spirit which causes us to accept the very things that will ultimately destroy us. Churches should ever guard with tenacity their doctrinal purity and proper priorities. Parents should beware of the music, dress code,,; and worldly value systems that will destroy their own children. Most often, like the Philistines, our most vicious enemies are not the most obvious; they're the subtle ones.
6. One thing more needs to be said as we consider Samson and the nature of his deliverance. As indicated, he never seemed to realize fully the role in which God was using him. In spite of the fact that he was a Nazarite and judged Israel for 20 years (Judges 15:20), his life is characterized by whims; and sensuous living with immoral, ungodly women. He was like no other judge in Israel. Without a doubt, he was the most undisciplined, undedicated, self-gratifying, vengeful of all the judges. Never did he fully deliver Israel from the Philistine grip, nor did he try; and finally he died at the Philistine's hands, a prisoner in their midst.Yet, God used him in a most remarkable way. Not only did he bring temporary reprieve from the Philistines advance; but he restored a national spirit in Israel, woke them up as to how dangerously close they were to being swallowed alive, and caused them to rise up in open resistance to their enslavement. He didn't plan to do this, but God used him in spite of himself. Yet, because of his self-willed ways, Samson was ground up in the process; yet God accomplished His purpose anyway. He always does one way or another, with or without us. God had a plan and program for Israel. Samson just became His tool to achieve His goals. One can not help wondering how much more effective and blessed Samson would have been had he lined up with God's program.
QUESTIONS ON "A DEADLY ENEMY WITH AN INNOCENT
APPEARANCE"
Judges 12:8 - 13:1
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"