The book of Judges deals with a people who lost their
freedom--not all at once, but gradually. The Israelites were content to let the
neighboring inhabitants of Canaan rule over them. Judges clearly describes the
reasons for this spiritual, moral, and national decline. It began with
compromise. The people's commitment to God's revealed will steadily decreased
until it was no longer sufficient for the crises that arose. It was at this
time that God placed tremendous responsibility in the hands of a chosen few.
Judges, more than any other book of the Bible, illustrates the way the power of
God is available to ordinary people to accomplish His purposes. These men and
women learned through their experiences that to "those who have no might,
he increases power" (Isaiah 40:29). This should inspire us with
confidence, particularly as we read this book in light of the apostle Paul's
words: "Not that we are competent in ourselves to reckon anything as from
ourselves, but our competency is of God . . . in order that the excellency of
the power may be of God and not of us" (2 Corinthians 3:5; 4:7).
