The third Judge Shamgar could not get the nobles or the people to follow him (see earlier blog). At the end of the 400 years of the Judges period we have a succession of Judges, with whom, in every case there is no mention of a time of peace. In fact there was internal warfare between the major tribes. After this internal strife the Philistines held Israel in captivity up to the time of Samson. His Judgeship was far from edifying and it is only in his death that there was anything good to come from his life.
After Samson the nation is again in internal apostasy and strife culminating in the virtual extinction of the Benjaminites. These last chapters are anything but edifying, and so the door is left open for the beginning of the time of the Kings.
The 400 years of theocratic government ends up as being a failure because of the fallen heart of mankind. There were periods during this time when God’s rule was recognised and honoured, but overall the people and nobles were unwilling to allow God to rule.
The lesson here is very clear. The Kingdom of God can not be brought into fulfilment while the heart of man is unredeemed. The truth of God’s word to Jeremiah is worked out in graphic detail in Judges.
Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
[9] The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
The Kingdom of God is, by definition, the complete rule of God, the place where he is obeyed. We are shown in Judges that even when God supplies all their needs, shows his power by miracles galore, and speaks clearly to them and their nobles, mankind, even the chosen ones, are incapable of bringing in the Kingdom with their own power and decision making.
A redeemer is needed who will change the very basis of their being. One who will change the very nature of their heart. One who can bring mankind to a new birth.
This had to wait until God himself invaded this world with the power of real love and began a new creation.
1 Corinthians 15:22 NIV
[22] For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
[17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Galatians 6:15 NIV
[15] Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.
If anyone, individual or group, could have brought in the Kingdom of God by their own strength then it would have been the Israelites, especially those closest to the miraculous power of God being seen in their midst again and again. But it was shown to not be possible.
We need a redeemer and Jesus is that redeemer. He alone can change the human heart, not by a process of self improvement, but by the only possible way, DEATH & RESURRECTION. Our old nature must die and we must be born again into the new creation in Jesus.
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