Lessons from the Book of Judges
The book of Judges represents indeed a checkered map. To-day it is triumph, to-morrow it is defeat. To-day it is humility of heart and God's blessing, to-morrow it is rebellion against God, yielding to idolatry and the consequent captivity and oppression by their enemies. We do not know that any words are necessary to expand the awful history. We may learn its lesson unquestionably, that humility before God and trusting in Him always bring success. Simple childlike faith brings the fruition of His promises; while on the other hand, union with the world, with worldly elements, following the world, using its methods and ways, yielding to its ever-pleasant idolatry, will surely bring to us trouble. It is well to note that sometimes the judges ruled over only a part of Israel, sometimes it seems to have taken in the whole of Israel. It is quite impossible to construct any regular chronology from the book of Judges, as the judges themselves sometimes ruled contemporaneously.