As a preface to this short chapter, let me mention we probably should pause and study the Book of Ruth at this point. This is about the time in history when the story of Ruth occurs (although, it may have taken place as early as the end of Gideon's life). Ruth's adventures took place during the time of the Judges, before Samson came on to the scene. But for the sake of continuity, we are going to stay in the Book of Judges.
This week, we begin a three chapter series on the exploits of a fellow named Jephthah. But before we begin his story, we are introduced to two of the five "minor" Judges. They are called "minor" because almost nothing is recorded about them. Compared to the seven Judges who have reasonably extensive narratives explaining their actions and purposes, the other five Judges were not as important.
The five minor Judges lived before or even possibly during the same time as Jephthah. Jephthah's era of operation is towards the end of the four century period called the time of the Judges.
Hopefully, it is becoming clear to everyone that the time of the Judges was a time of transition. The transition I am referring to was from a time when Israel operated under a typical Middle Eastern tribal structure in which each tribe sought mainly to care for its own interests (the time immediately following Joshua) to the time when Israel would recognize their need for a king and thus would operate more like a nation-state. Transition periods within societies are invariably messy and uneasy times of turmoil and unrest. People instinctively feel a sense of instability and change.
Additionally, we see these various Judges we are studying operated only in specific regions of Canaan, with only some of the tribes involved in each case. Essentially, God was raising up Judges to deal with local problems with His people (which usually centered on idolatry and the oppression of a foreign government) and not problems which faced all 12 tribes equally or simultaneously. We also see the period of the Judges was one of Israel's steadily declining morality, values and faithfulness to God. It was a period when their dedication to follow God's commands was replaced by a dedication to follow some evolving mix of Torah, pagan religion practices, men's doctrines and then rationalizing them all to fit with whatever the current wants, needs and societal conditions dictated.
TWO MINOR JUDGES AND MORE OPPRESSION
A. Two "minor" Judges
1. (Judges 10:1-2) Tola
Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. He judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.
Tola: Chapter ten begins by briefly introducing us to two of the five so-called "minor" judges. There is relatively little detail about either person. We are told Tola saved Israel, but that is about it. He ruled them for twenty-three years. He was from the tribe of Issachar; however, he lived in the hills of Ephraim.
In other words, he did NOT live in the territory given by allotment to Issachar. This fits with the geopolitical map of those days in which Issachar only occupied a few cities and towns within their own territory. They moved into and shared places in their brother's territories. The reason for this is quite simple: The Canaanites who occupied their allotted land were too strong for them to dislodge.
Tola resided in the general area where Abimelech operated. When the text says he "arose to save Israel" could have something to do with dealing with the aftermath of the Abimelech debacle. But that is just my speculation.
2. (Judges 10:3-5) Jair
After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and judged Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair to this day. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
Jair: Jair is only identified as being from Gilead, and no family heritage is given. Some think he was from the tribe of Manasseh. However, this is only concluded because Gilead was in the area of the half tribe of Manasseh, on the eastern side of the Jordan River. We have to be very careful with these identities especially by this time in Israel's history. A lot of intermarriage among the Israelite tribes had taken place, and movement of families and whole clans from their allotted territory into another had also occurred. Being from Gilead could mean he was from the tribe of Gad, or simply that his family of whatever tribe was living in Gilead. Thus, he may have been more identified by where he lived than what tribe he belonged to.
He had thirty sons: What we do know about Jair is that he came from a high social status. He judged the area for 22 years (one less than Tola before him). He held sway over 30 cities, each one governed by one of his thirty sons. If he had thirty sons, Jair most likely would have had at least as many daughters, meaning he had many wives. This also means he lived as royalty. This is further confirmed by the statement in which his thirty sons rode on thirty donkeys. Donkeys were highly esteemed as riding animals and often carried special recognition. Jair and his family would have been a well-known and large royal family. Although Jair was only a judge, he acted very much like a king.
The small mention of Jair and his royal lifestyle gives us every reason to believe he followed in the kingly lifestyle observed by Gideon and his sons. This was fully brought into play as overt royalty by Abimelech. This ought to help us see the significant change which occurred with Gideon, when he elevated himself into a status and lifestyle well beyond that of any Judge before him. This was prodded along by those who Gideon had delivered pleading with him to assume the role as their king. He refused to take on the title, but it is self-evident he accepted the trappings of royalty Jair therefore had a precedent and likely was also asked to be a king.
The first Trans-Jordan Judge
Jair was the first Judge to operate in the Trans-Jordan. There were fewer Hebrews on the east side of the river. They were generally more isolated from the Baal worship centers which were more concentrated in Canaan where the nine and a half tribes lived. Very probably, the two and a half tribes who took up residence on the east side of the Jordan River had considerably less temptation to fall into idolatry than their brothers on the west bank.
The mere fact Jair was raised up as a Judge indicates idolatry eventually came to the Trans-Jordanian Hebrews. We also know during Jair's time there was no oppression from a foreign enemy. The trouble which Jair dealt with was strictly "in-house". The Midianites had passed through this region; however, they did not stay or conquer it.
B. Apostasy, servitude and supplication
1. (Judges 10:6) Israel's seven-fold apostasy
Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.
Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD: Verse six gives us a statement of the general conditions of ALL Israel, of all the 12 tribes, in the time time immediately following the death of the Judge Jair. The condition was one of national apostasy and the adopting of other gods. We have discussed at length what was occurring in the time of the Judges was syncretism, the melding of Canaanite pagan beliefs with the religion of the Hebrews. (Some scholars have taken to calling this the Canaanization of Israel.)
Straying from God little by little
Sometimes it is easy to forget how we arrived at a certain destination when there was never an intent to do so. That was Israel's situation. Almost immediately upon Joshua's death, Israel started to water down God's instructions to rid the land of Canaan of pagans and their gods. The LORD explicitly told Israel they were to drive out or kill all who were dedicated to the Mystery Babylon religions. Instead, Israel decided peace and brotherly love was a better course of action and that meant they should find ways to get along with these pagans. This also meant they had to show respect and tolerance for these gentiles' gods and customs.
It is interesting to note the wording the Bible uses to introduce each of the cycles of rebellion and apostasy which precipitated the need for a Judge was usually the same: "The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD." The key thing to note is it was evil from God's point of view. In other words, there was a disconnect between how the people of Israel viewed their moral and spiritual condition and how God viewed it.
I wonder if ever in mankind's history, a people or a nation ever viewed their own actions as evil? I wonder if Israel ever thought that what they were doing (while they were doing it) was wicked and ungodly? From their perspective, they were doing what was right and good. But all too often from God's perspective, they were doing wrong. Humans have an amazing capacity to deny and rationalize our bad behavior, or to even attribute to God things we do, even though He specifically prohibits them.
The way this happens is by slowly replacing or mixing God's Word with our own thoughts and opinions. If a lie is told often enough and loud enough, eventually it is taken as truth and few even challenge it. Once a tradition (Christian, Jewish or secular) is practiced long enough, how it came into being and what it actually symbolized and whether it is in harmony with God's will is no longer questioned. Those who might be so bold as to challenge established doctrines and customs are seen as troublemakers, people who are creating disunity and even heretics. So there is always great peer pressure in communities and congregations of people to keep quiet, put your brain in neutral and just go along with the flow.
The endless list of gods Israel worshiped: From God's perspective, the main evil Israel was committing was worshiping other gods. We get a list of the names of the other gods they were worshiping. This is not a hierarchy of gods. Rather, it is a listing of names of the chief gods worshiped by some of the nations which were located in and around Canaan.
First, the people of Israel served the two main gods of Canaan, Baal and Ashoreth. Second, they severed the gods of neighboring nations including Hadoth, Baal, Moath and Anath (Syrian gods), the gods of Sidon, the gods of the Moabites (their main god being Chemosh), the gods of Ammon (Molech was their highest deity) and the gods of the Philistines (Baal and Dagon). This is not an exhaustive list; it is simply representative. Verse six is speaking about the overall condition of Israel. It is not as though an Israelite would worship all these gods. If the person lived among the Canaanites, he worshiped the Canaanite gods. If he lived in the north near Syria, he worshiped the Syrian god Moath. If he lived next to the Philistines, he would worship Dagon, etc.
They forsook the LORD and did not serve Him: We get another key statement in verse six which is easy to overlook. Israel abandoned God and did not serve Him. Do not get the idea that the Hebrews no longer worshiped the God of Israel. (If you would have accused them of this, they would have vehemently denied it.) In their misguided minds, they had in no way abandoned God. Most still celebrated Shabbat, observed the feasts, went to the Tabernacle at specific times, offered up burnt offerings and so on. Rather, the Israelites worshiped the God of Israel AND the gods of the local pagans as well. This dual worshiped seemed to make sense to them. The problem is, God makes it very clear that we cannot worship Him AND something else. Any kind of mixing of our worship amounts to abandoning Him in His eyes...and His perspective is the only one which really matters.
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