Judges 10, Cycles of Evil

We have seen the violence of a number of leaders, including Gideon and his son, Abimelech. Now we have a brief account of two more judges, followed by more idolatry and oppression.

Judges 10: 1-2, Tola

After the time of Abimelech a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir.

A later judge, in the hill country of Ephraim, is Tola.  Most important individuals have a lineage given; here Tola's ancestry is Dodo then Puah.

Judges 10: 3-5, Jair

He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

Jair, who has no apparent lineage, apparently liked the number 30, with 30 sons, 30 donkeys, 30 towns. Gilead is southeast of the Sea of Galilee, east of the Jordan river.

Judges 10: 6-9, Serving all the various gods

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who that year shattered and crushed them. 

For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great distress.

The Philistines and Ammonites oppressed the two-and-a-half tribes of the Transjordan. The Philistines come from the west, all the way from the coast, while the Ammonites comes from the east, east of the Jordan. The Israelites are beset by invaders from both sides. This is caused because the Israelites have completely absorbed the idols of the many cultures around them, the fertility gods (Baals and Ashtoreths), the god of Aram, Sidon, Moab, ... all their neighbors.

Judges 10: 10-14, Crying out

Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals."

The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"

Once again, the people cry out.  YHWH seems to have had enough.  He responds, "Why don't you cry out to the gods you worship?"

Judges 10: 15-18, Repentance

But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now."

Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer. When the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, "Whoever will launch the attack against the Ammonites will be the head of all those living in Gilead."

The people of Israel repent and once again, YHWH is merciful.  Salvation is coming. But as the idolatry of the country deepens, the quality of their judges drops.