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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Friday, 20 June 2025:
Note: Here is a short video overview of the Book of Judges: https://youtu.be/kOYy8iCfIJ4
Judges 1:1 — After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
The Israelites begin the book of Judges well by inquiring of the Lord before making important decisions. After verse 1 in Judges, the Israelites do not “inquire of the Lord” again until the end of the book while facing the catastrophic consequences of their sin as a people: “The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, ‘Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin (Judges 20:18)?’” At the beginning of the book, a united people inquire of God who should lead them to fight their enemies. At the end of the book, having drifted far from God, the people ask who should lead them to slaughter each other. They approached God neither in a position of obedience nor of love.
The Book of Judges reveals what happens when God’s people disobey God and compromise their holiness. It also reveals what happens when a nation rejects God’s commands. Judges is highly relevant to us today – consider carefully what you read. At the beginning of the book, God’s people, from a position of great national strength, are inquiring of the Lord as to how to have dominion for His glory. By the end of the book, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25), though still claiming to be religious, and lawlessness tore the nation apart. Spoiler alert: The Book of Judges does not end on a high note.
Today we read how, after a long period of triumph under the leadership of Joshua (because the Lord was with them), the Israelites disobey God by allowing the Jebusites, Canaanites, and Amorites to live among them rather than driving them out completely as the Lord had commanded. They chose the easy path of compromise rather than the harder but blessed path of disciplined, wholehearted obedience to God. As soon as God’s people chose to be led by their own desires and self-proclaimed ‘wisdom’ rather than the “voice of God,” God no longer supported their efforts (Judges 2:3). At that point, all their religious activities were more than meaningless, they were deceptive and offensive to God (Judges 2:5).
After just one generation, the people “did not know the Lord.” The national decline was shockingly fast – “And the people… did what was evil in the sight of the Lord… and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers…. And they provoked the Lord to anger…, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And He sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress (Judges 2:11-15).” God in His mercy and grace raised up leaders (Judges) to steer the people back on the course of obedience to God, but “they did not listen to their judges…; they did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.” Therefore, the nation remained under God’s judgment.
When the people abided in God and obeyed Him, they were loving, unified, strong, and blessed. As the people drifted further and further away from God, their love grew colder and colder as did their trustworthiness, and all relationships depend on trust. Hence, the book of Judges culminates with the people destroying each other –
- 2 Timothy 3:1-5 — But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
- 1 John 3:6, 9, 14, 15, 24; 4:12, 16 — No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him…. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God…. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death…. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him…. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us…. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us…. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Of the Old Testament, the New Testament says, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did…. These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11).” What will we learn from Judges? How will we apply what we learn?
Commit yourself to the road less travelled, which makes all the difference, the way of Christ –
- John 14:6 — Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- Matthew 7:13, 14 — “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
- John 10:9 — I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
- John 14:27 — Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
- John 16:33 — I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Judges 1:3–20 — And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me…”
Judah and Simeon act in unity, leading to military success. Adoni-bezek’s downfall highlights divine justice: he receives what he inflicted on others. The collaboration between tribes and early victories display the power of obedience and godly partnership. However, not every conquest is complete—the Jebusites remain in Jerusalem (v. 21). Incomplete obedience, even amid general success, becomes a seed for future trouble. Christians today must be cautious not to measure faithfulness by partial success. God’s call is total obedience.
- 2 Corinthians 10:6 — “Being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
- 1 Samuel 15:22 — “To obey is better than sacrifice.”
Judges 1:21–36 — But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem…
The rest of the chapter chronicles tribe after tribe failing to drive out the inhabitants of their allotted lands. They either tolerate the Canaanites or put them to forced labor. Though this might seem pragmatic, it directly disobeys God’s command (Deut. 20:16-18). Spiritual compromise often begins with rationalization. The repetition of failure reveals a national trend toward partial obedience, comfort, and control rather than complete surrender. This erosion of faithfulness sets the stage for the spiritual decline that will dominate the book of Judges. Christians today must recognize that the areas we allow to remain unconquered—attitudes, sins, influences—will grow into spiritual strongholds.
- Galatians 5:9 — A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
- Hebrews 12:1 — Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely…
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 20 June 2025: Start Strong, Finish Faithfully. The Israelites began Judges by seeking the Lord but quickly settled for incomplete obedience. God blesses the start, but He requires full follow-through. What have you allowed to coexist in your spiritual life that God commanded you to drive out? Is there a sin, habit, or compromise you’ve labeled as manageable but haven’t surrendered? Name it, and begin taking steps today to remove it entirely. Don’t tolerate what God told you to terminate. Don’t let partial obedience turn into spiritual decay.
Pray: “Lord, thank You for calling me into Your promises. Forgive me for the ways I have settled for comfort instead of obedience. Show me what I need to confront and remove from my life. Give me the courage and strength to finish what You’ve called me to begin. I want to be faithful from start to finish. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 