The judges
of ancient Israel were pre-political leaders appointed by God to lead Israel in a time of
distress. Their leadership worked in much the same way as the dictators of early Rome, who would
seize absolute control of the nation to accomplish a task and then return that control to the
masses or Senate. In Israel, however, the judges were appointed by God, would galvanize the
tribes to work together as one nation, and would then return the land back to the control of the
separate tribes when the crisis was over.
There are many lessons we can learn
from this. One of the most amazing things the judges did was freely giving power back to the
people. In todays society, it seems like there is a constant struggle between the people and the
government about who is truly in control. Being able to work in synchronicity and tackle the
issues facing the country would be much better than being divided so drastically.
To that end, the unity and leadership the judges provided was the hallmark of the
pre-royalty age in Israel. The nation was disconnected and separated, but when the nation needed
to unite, the judges could bring them together. Unity would be a great lesson to take away from
a nation that pulled itself in different directions among the various interests of twelve
different tribes.
The fact that the book of Judges sits well-positioned and
as a natural transition among the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Samuel, and the Kings makes this
book a piece of deuteronomistic history. That history is comprised of the historical literary
work about the nation of Israels time after the departure from Egypt in Exodus. After leaders
like Moses, Aaron, and Joshua rose up to lead the nation, there was a natural progression
towards Judges who acted as temporary, anointed leaders and then eventually to
kings.
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