God's Glorious Weaker Vessels
If you want to have a clearer picture of God’s power and might, his ability to defeat his enemies, and bring them to judgment, pay attention to the men of Israel in the book of Judges. If you want to have a clearer picture of the depths of mankind’s corruption and his stubborn refusal to follow the Lord, pay attention to the men of Israel in the book of Judges. If you want to have a clearer picture of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness, his desire to selflessly care for his people, and the glory of Christ in the gospel, pay attention to the women of Israel in the book of Judges.
Othniel (and Achsah)
Caleb was one of only two men who were eager to conquer the land of Canaan when Israel first came out of Egypt (Num 13). Othniel is the nephew of Caleb and seems to have inherited his uncle’s bravery. When presented with the challenge of capturing the city of Keriath-sepher, he met the challenge and won the hand of Caleb’s daughter, Achsah, in marriage as a reward (Jdg 1:12-13).
Othniel continued in actively conquering the land the Lord had given to Israel. We are told the land had rest for forty years under Othniel’s leadership (Jdg 3:11). However, when he was given Achsah in marriage, we see that Achsah had a grasp of God’s plans for his people that went deeper than Othniel appreciated. When she was given in marriage, she urged Othniel to make a request of her father, but it seems he failed to do so. When Achsah makes the request herself, we gain a deeper appreciation of the fullness of the Lord’s plans for Israel.
Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. Judges 1:14-15
Achsah and Othniel had received land in the Negeb (a very dry region). While this is part of the land promised by the Lord, it was lacking the necessary resources to make it fruitful. Achsah is not merely looking for the Lord’s provision of acreage. She is looking beyond the time of conquering the land to the time of possessing and living in the land. Her hope seems to go beyond Othniel’s military thinking to grasp the fulness of the Lord’s plans for his people. The Lord is not merely giving them land, but the Lord has promised a fruitful land. While Othniel does not seem eager to pursue it, Achsah is more than happy to do so.
Achsah would have understood Jesus’ words, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (Jn 10:10) The life God gives his people is not one of mere existence – a glass with the potential to hold water. The Lord gives abundant and fruitful life – a glass filled and overflowing. While Othniel might lead us to the point of salvation and new birth, Achsah would lead us to a deep and rich relationship with Jesus that results in joy and fruitful labor.
Barak (and Deborah and Jael)
After Othniel, we see the men who judge and deliver Israel accomplish God’s purposes in deliverance, but they are increasingly straying from covenant faithfulness. When Israel is oppressed by Jabin king of Canaan, Barak is summoned to fight against him. He seems to be a military leader who should already recognize his call to battle: “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” (Jdg 4:6-7) Unfortunately, Barak had received the Lord’s command, and he had an army of men, but he was unwilling to obey. Barak does finally obey and conquers Jabin’s army, but he needs some help getting to the point of obedience. Who provides the help?
Deborah was a prophetess in Israel. Presumably, she had already delivered the Lord’s command to Barak once and had to deliver it a second time. To finally coax him into battle, she agrees to accompany him in the fight. Barak and Deborah defeat Jabin’s army and celebrate the victory together. Though the most glorious part of their victory was not accomplished by Barak, he is highlighted in both the Old Testament (1 Sam 12:11) and the New Testament (Heb 11:32) for his faith and his role in delivering Israel.
While Deborah accompanies Barak into battle, she is not mentioned outside the book of Judges. However, we should not diminish the part she plays or how she reveals God’s covenant faithfulness. Deborah’s initial portrayal reveals that she is looked up to as a source of wisdom and instruction as she judges Israel, not as a warrior but more likely as a judge like those established by Moses (Dt 16:18). She even describes herself as a mother in Israel (Jdg 5:7). When Israel needs a deliverer, she is on the scene to raise up such a deliverer, exhorting Barak to meet the need by reminding him of the Lord’s commands. We should be reminded of Jesus’ words to his disciples, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (Jn 14:26) As the Holy Spirit serves the believer today, Deborah was serving Israel. She was a reminder of God’s ongoing presence with his people and a voice that taught and brought to remembrance God’s covenant with his people.
Despite his victory, Barak is a reluctant hero who lacks confidence to act on his own. As a consequence of his reluctance, the glory of the battle goes to a woman, Jael. We learn that Jael, the wife of Heber, is a Kenite. Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite and his descendants had associated themselves with the tribe of Judah (Jdg 1:16) However, Heber had separated from the rest of the Kenites and associated himself with Jabin (Jdg 4:17). When Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, flees from Barak, he seeks refuge in the tent of Jael. While Heber’s alliances are with Jabin, Jael’s alliances are not. She lures in Sisera only to crush his head with a tent peg (Jdg 4:21). Like Rahab in Jericho (Josh 2:8-13), Jael recognizes the Lord’s work among his people and joins in his purposes even when her actions run contrary to her husband’s deal-making with Jabin. As we saw with Achsah, Jael sees clearly what her husband fails to see and acts to move the Lord’s kingdom forward.
Gideon
Gideon follows Barak as the next major deliverer in the book of Judges. We may be familiar with his testing of the Lord, making requests to the Lord to prove to Gideon that his call was legitimate. As with Barak, he is a reluctant hero who grows into his role in Israel. He delivers Israel from the hand of Midian and finds himself mentioned alongside Barak as a faithful deliverer (Heb 11:32).
There is not a significant woman in Gideon’s story. We only have a brief note in Judges 8:30 that he went on to have many wives after his successful battles and fathered over 70 children through them. We see that while he refused an offer to become king over Israel, he named one of his sons Abimelech, which means “my father is king.” So, while Gideon refuses to become king, the idea seems to have taken hold in his heart. Gideon also engages in terrible acts of idol worship later in life which led all of Israel astray (Jdg 8:27).
While Othniel is presented in favorable terms, Barak demonstrates a mix of faith and doubt, and now Gideon demonstrates a shift from doubt to faith, then from faith to idolatry and pride.
Abimelech (and an Anonymous Woman)
Gideon’s son, Abimelech, was born to a concubine in Ephraim though Gideon was from the tribe of Manasseh. When Gideon died, Abimelech took his name seriously, killing his seventy brothers and establishing himself as king in Israel (Jdg 9:6, 22). However, his ascendancy as king was of his own doing. He was a usurper, claiming a throne that did not belong to him. Though the men of Shechem had helped make Abimelech king, they later turned and fought against him (Jdg 9:23, 34, 39).
Abimelech’s battles against the men of Shechem eventually lead him to Thebez where he captures the city and prepares to burn down the tower where the citizens have taken refuge. From this tower, “a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.” (Jdg 9:53)
We looked at John 10:10 when examining Achsah. In John 10:1 Jesus speaks these words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Abimelech plays a satanic role in Israel, usurping the throne and killing not only his half-brothers but his fellow-Israelites. As a satanic figure, he receives a satanic judgment as his head is crushed by “a certain woman” (who has an ironically uncertain identity for us).
This anonymous woman reminds us of the Lord’s faithfulness to crush Satan through Jesus’ work on the cross (Gen 3:15), but also through us as we proclaim the gospel to those he has blinded (Rom 16:20, 2 Tim 2:24-26).
Jephthah (and His Daughter)
Jephthah had a lineage similar to Abimelech. He was the son of a prostitute (Jdg 11:1) and despised by his half-brothers (Jdg 11:2). However, because he was a “mighty warrior” (Jdg 11:1), Jephthah was called upon to deliver Israel from the Ammonites. Jephthah was successful against the Ammonites and earned a name alongside Barak and Gideon (1 Sam 12:11, Heb 11:23), but he made a terrible and disastrous vow to the Lord prior to his success, saying, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” (Jdg 11:30-31)
When he returned home successful in battle, his daughter welcomed him with celebratory music and dancing. Jephthah’s foolishness is apparent not only in his vow, but in his response to seeing his daughter. While a truly righteous man would have taken the consequences of breaking his vow upon himself, he was prepared to offer his daughter as a sacrifice to the Lord – the very thing the Lord would despise! Though he has shown an element of faith in battle, he has no familiarity with the Lord’s expectations of holiness among his people. Rather than separating himself from the pagan sacrificial practices of the Canaanites, Jephthah shows a horrible blending of Canaanite worship practices with making vows to the Lord.
Yet, the story of Jephthah is not without a redemptive, Christ-centered understanding. While Jephthah deserved the Lord’s judgment for his despicable vow, his daughter provides a picture of Christ’s substitutionary redemption. She is Jephthah’s only child, yet she willingly submits herself to being sacrificed as part of the provision of the Lord’s salvation. “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” (Jdg 11:36)
If we continue looking at John 10, we find these words of Jesus: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (Jn 10:14-15) Jephthah’s daughter was not the Messiah and we should not understand her death as mediatory in any way. It had no bearing on the Lord’s actions to deliver his people from the Ammonites. However, this woman possessed the Messiah’s heart for God’s people, willingly giving her life as an offering in exchange for the blessing of God’s people.
Samson (and Delilah)
Like Gideon, Samson is one of the more familiar judges. Many of us know the story of his uncut hair and his great strength, and how he lost his strength when he confided in Delilah and she cut off his hair. Samson was certainly a successful deliverer for Israel, but as his story unfolds, we see him develop an increasing self-confidence and a diminishing awareness that his strength comes only from the Lord. There is a redemptive arc in the life of Samson, which affords him a place of remembrance alongside Barak, Gideon, and Jephthah (Heb 11:32), though his final redemption culminates in his own death.
Samson’s interactions with women include a Philistine wife, a prostitute, and the Philistine, Delilah. Unlike the women we have examined in earlier chapters, these women are not Israelites and do not reveal God’s faithfulness or the glory of Christ. Samson is the last deliverer in the book of Judges, and his interactions with women provide a contrast to the earlier women, such as Achsah, Deborah, and Jephthah’s daughter. As Israel spirals downward and drifts further from covenant faithfulness, Samson can be seen as a representative of Israel as a nation. Israel’s increasing pursuit of other gods is very much like Samson’s pursuit of women. Rather than pursuing virtuous women, he is pursuing women that draw him away from the Lord and bring about his downfall. As in the book of Proverbs, lady wisdom calls out alongside folly. Samson (and Israel) are being drawn into the house of folly where death awaits them.
Delilah represents everything counter to the previous women we have examined. She works to destroy both Samson and God’s people, partnering with the Philistines to prevent God’s intention to bless his people in the land. Her presence in the book of Judges is a warning to remain faithful to the Lord’s covenant lest we fall away to our own destruction.
The Levite (and His Concubine)
The remainder of the book of Judges shifts from recounting Israel’s deliverers to the stories of two Levites. The first Levite is Jonathan, the grandson of Moses – a corrupt, idolatrous Levite who essentially prostitutes himself as a priest to the highest bidder (Jdg 18:4, 19-20). Far from following in Moses’ footsteps, Jonathan leads his family into the service of idols for multiple generations (Jdg 18:30). Though not a woman, he acts very much like the proverbial woman, Folly, leading the tribe of Dan away from the Lord.
The second Levite is unnamed, but we can see from his actions that he is not faithful to the Lord’s covenant. Rather than take a wife in marriage, he takes a concubine. While traveling, the Levite and his concubine find themselves in Gibeah under the care of an elderly man. When the men of the city come to take the man as the men of Sodom came to take Lot’s guests (Gen 19:5), the Levite’s concubine is offered to the men without objection from the Levite (Jdg 19:24). When the concubine is lifeless on the doorstep (Jdg 19:27-28), the Levite dismembers her body and sends the parts to the twelve tribes of Israel to provoke them to judgment against the men of Gibeah (Jdg 19:29).
Israel is persuaded to act against Gibeah and the tribe of Benjamin, and later they agree to withhold their daughters from marriage to the Benjaminites (Jdg 21:1). They have effectively severed ties with one of the tribes, cutting them off as part of God’s people. Though willing to intermarry with pagan nations (Jdg 3:5-6), they are no longer willing to do so with the tribe of Benjamin. When the situation becomes problematic, the eleven tribes propose a solution - have the men of Benjamin kidnap the young women of Shiloh and take them as wives (Jdg 21:19-21).
Given the accounts in these closing chapters, it becomes apparent that the men of Israel grew to devalue the women among them, denying them marriage, subjecting them to rape, murder, kidnapping, and forced marriage.
Conclusion
After reading the book of Judges, we are confronted with many deliverers for the nation of Israel. The Lord is faithful to hear his people’s cries for help and provide someone to rescue them. However, every rescuer is flawed. First, it is made clear that they all die (Joshua – 2:8, Othniel – 3:11, Ehud – 4:1, Gideon – 8:32-33, Tola – 10:2, Jair – 10:5, Jephthah – 12:7, Ibzan – 12:10, Elon – 12:12, Abdon – 12:15, Samson – 16:30). We are even told that each judge’s death was a precursor to the people’s increasingly corrupt way of life (Jdg 2:19). Israel needed a judge that would not die – or one who could come back from the dead. Second, none of the rescuers were thoroughly faithful. Some, such as Othniel, were much better than others. But they all fell somewhere on the spectrum between lacking awareness (Othniel) and outright idolatry (Gideon and Jephthah). Israel needed a judge that was filled with an understanding of God’s covenant faithfulness and a willingness to walk in perfect covenant faithfulness himself.
Achsah, Deborah, Jael, the anonymous woman, and Jephthah’s daughter all point us toward the rescuer Israel needed – one who would bring abundant life, equip and encourage God’s people, crush the head of the serpent, and give his life for the deliverance of God’s people. Jesus comes not only to fulfill all those needs, but to walk in full obedience and even overcome death.
Perhaps you have read the book of Judges many times and never appreciated how the women so beautifully illustrate the faithfulness and glory of Jesus. There is a sad reality to the fact that just as many of the women in the book of Judges were ignored, humiliated, or treated as objects of contempt, we can tend to gloss over them in the same way as we marvel at the heroic feats of Gideon or Samson.
Looking back at the story surrounding Samson’s birth, we observe that the angel of the Lord was quite deliberate in revealing his plans to Samson’s mother and using her as the revelatory source for her husband. “The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman…then the woman came and told her husband.” (Jdg 13:3-6) When Manoah prays, “please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do,” (Jdg 13:8) we read that “the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her.” (Jdg 13:9) When Manoah’s wife brings him to the angel, he asks, “What is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” (Jdg 13:12) Rather than answer directly, Manoah is directed to his wife, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.” (Jdg 13:13)
Samson’s unnamed mother confirms an overarching theme for the book of Judges. It is the women in the book of Judges whom the Lord is using to reveal the fullness of his redemptive plans. They play a pivotal role that is often unnoticed. In this way, they prepare us to see Christ more fully - not as a valiant warrior, but as a despised and overlooked redeemer. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (Jn 1:46). “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” (Isa 53:2-3) As the apostle Paul teaches, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world…to bring to nothing things that are.” (1 Cor 1:27-29)
If we are not careful, we can find ourselves suffering from the same blindness that infected the Israelites in the book of Judges as they increasingly devalued the Israelite women. (They did not even think to record the names of three of the women we have examined here.) We should not read the Scriptures in a way that misses the glory of Christ that is hidden in plain sight. The Scriptures are undoubtedly right in affirming the faith of flawed men, such as Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. We will do equally well to recognize, celebrate, and emulate the Christlike character of women like Achsah, Deborah, Jael, and the three unnamed women in the book of Judges - lest we also fail to recognize, appreciate, and emulate the humility and suffering of our wonderful savior.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 2 Cor 4:7
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 1 Cor 1:27-29