Two Birds with One Stone

In the book of Judges we find that Israel still had not claim all the land promised to them. Within a generation of Joshua’s death they turned away from God to worship the Baal of the people around them. God responds to the sins of Israel by rising up the nations stilling living among them and using these people to persecute the people. In turn, the people of Israel cry for relief and turn back to God. God hears the cry of Israel and rises up Judges to battle the enemies of the people. Some of the battles are so intense that there are accounts where whole cities are wiped out and burned to the ground as in Judges 9:49. And with the defeat of their enemies comes peace in the land.

The only problem is that a cycle occurs with Israel when the Judges bring peace, people again turning their back to God and start worshiping the Gods of the other Nations. It is an endless cycle in the book. With nearly every introduction to a new Judge starting with; “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (ESV). Israel is in such a bad shape that it even seems as if even the Judges become slim pickings.

God’s actions in Judges seem to fit the old saying “to kill two birds with one stone”. God raises the enemies of Israel forces two things to happen. The first thing is, it gets the people to seek him and turn back to him and second thing that happens is in rising up Judges to battle in military campaigns the land of Israel is cleared of enemies leaving solely for them as God has promised.

When God makes a promise he will keep it. He will not allow the sins and setbacks the people stop him from fulfilling his word. One of the best examples of this is in book of Judges.