An Exposition of Judges

By Tim James

In 1978, Tim James sold his butcher shop in Ogburn Station, NC and moved with his wife, Debbie, to Cherokee, North Carolina. A small group on the reservation had invited him to pastor their church. Over 42 years later, Tim continues to pastor at Sequoyah Sovereign Grace Baptist Church.

For all of those years, Tim has preached expositorily through books of the Bible, having preserved his notes in large three-ring binders. Although visitors to his home have seen them, none had read them. In 2018, a pastor friend asked Tim if he could use his notes for reference in his expositions through a book of the Bible at his church. Astounded at the narrative style in which he had written them along with their simplicity, he could not keep them secret. As a result, Tim has graciously given permission for his entire library of notes to be scanned and published.

You need not expect his expositions to be a lesson in history from the Old Testament, nor a list of goals for posting to your refrigerator from the New Testament. No matter the book or text reference on which you read Tim’s expositions, Old Testament or New Testament, you will rejoice as you read of the glorious faithfulness and work of the Lord Jesus Christ for God’s elect.

In simple but profound everyday language you will be comforted in reading of Christ’s fulfillment of God’s law on behalf of the elect. Whether you read his expositions of the Old Testament or New Testament, you will see the revelation of Christ, the justification of his elect through his imputed righteousness and the glorious liberty and freedom he has obtained for them.

In speaking of the true Christian experience of grace from his own experience of gospel freedom in Christ, Tim’s writings may well cause you to pump your fist and declare, “That is me!” God’s revelation of his electing grace in Christ has enabled Tim to write a commentary that captures the spirit and meaning of the Old Testament and New Testament alike—Christ is all!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781716267222

Tim James

Tim James is a certified Cape Wine Master and freelance wine journalist. He is the regional consultant on South Africa for The World Atlas of Wine and a taster and associate editor on the annual Platter Guide to South African Wine. In addition to his weekly column for the Mail & Guardian, his work also appears regularly in The World of Fine Wine and online at www.grape.co.za.

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Who Shall Go Up?

Judges 1:1-2

    1, Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

    2, And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

The time of the Judges embraces about 300 years in the history of Israel, from 1400 BC to 1100 BC. This period of history is rich in gospel types and shadows. It is about the Church in the world, its failures and weaknesses and its deliverance by the Lord at the hands of the Judges. The times of 14 Judges are reported in this book. The first Judge is Othniel and the last is Eli. In this book, there are several accounts of things repeated and further illuminated which transpired in the book of Joshua. This book addresses faith and the faithful men who were judges in Israel. Paul lists four of them in faith's hall of fame in Hebrews 11:32.

The entire time of the judges led up to the time when Israel would seek to have a king rule over them, and thus, the book itself sets forth the coming of the king, the one king, the true king, the king of kings and the one true judge of all the earth (Jer. 23:5-6; Is. 33:22).

The book begins with the reasonable plea of the child of God. When faced with the task of finishing the possession of the promise land and the fact that their savior, Joshua, has gone to be with the Father, they are naturally reticent about their ability to do the job. It is not unlike the disciple's concern when they realized the Lord was soon to leave them. We are servants and we rely wholly on our Master for direction. We are soldiers and we cannot move without our Captain to lead us in to battle. The most miserable estate the child of God faces in this world is the time when he feels that the presence of the Lord has departed, but the task before us remains. To the troubled disciples our Lord said, let not your heart be troubled. His promise to the children was that he would send his Spirit to be their leader and guide, and would lead them, watch after them and go before them to conquer their enemies. When the children of Israel were confronted with the task before them and were without a leader, they cried unto the Lord, Who shall go up for us? (Ex. 33:12-17).

The answer of our Lord is immediate. As one type of the Lord Jesus Christ is removed and the shadow of Joshua fades away, the Lord sets another type of Christ in Joshua’s place. The Lord does not raise up Moses from the grave, nor does he leave the people to themselves to possess the land by means of their own obedience or the power of their will. The children of God must have Christ. He is their head, their captain and sovereign, and they are fearful to move if he is not with them. Who shall go up for us? Judah shall go!

Who else among the heads of the tribes could it be? Who shall go for us... not with us, as if to say to assist us? No. Who will go up for us, lead us, fight for us, subdue the enemy before us? Christ will go! But he has returned to the father; Joshua has finished his course and died. Our Savior and deliverer is at the right hand of the Father. Who shall go for us? Christ shall Go! Judah shall go! It has been said, and rightly so, that the Holy Spirit is Christ's other self (John 14:16-18). Christ shall go for you, for in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Judah most go, because Judah is almost always seen to arise when the need is greatest, and the people are at their wits end. When Jacob refused to send Benjamin to Joseph in Egypt for fear of losing the last of his sons born of the woman he had truly loved, it was Judah who became surety and willing substitute for him (Gen 43:8-9; 44:32-34).

When Tamar, having played the harlot to ensure the continuance of the seed, it was Judah that declared her righteous. When the tabernacle was to be built it was the tribe of Judah that supplied the man for the job of wise master builder (Exodus 31:1-2; 35:30-31). Bezaleel means in the shadow of God'' (see Ps. 127:1; 91:1; Isaiah 49:1-2). He is the son of Uri whose name means my light. Christ is the light of God; the light of the world. Uri was the son of Hur, which means freedom and liberty. Christ the builder of the church, the king, the priest, the brightness of God's glory the one who makes men free indeed, sprung from Judah (Zech. 6:12-13; Gal. 5:1). When John wept upon seeing there was no man worthy to open the book and loose the seven seals thereof; when he cried, Who is worthy," it was the Lion of the tribe of Judah who prevailed to open the book (Rev. 5:5-9). Who shall go for us? Who else but Judah? Who else but Christ?

Judah shall go up, sayeth the Lord, behold I have delivered the land into his hand (John 3:35; Matt. 3:17; Matt. 11:27; 28:18-20) Go possess the land in the power and authority of Christ—He is with you (John 17:1-3). Who shall go up for us? Judah shall go. Nothing has changed. The need of the people is the same and the remedy of the people is the same. Without Christ they are as sheep without a shepherd, as an army without a captain and they cry with a singular voice—Who shall go up for us? The answer is always the same. Be it Joshua, be it Judah, it is Christ who shall go up for us.

The reason is simple. Judah is the promised one. From his tribe comes the lineage of Christ the Great High Priest (Heb. 7:13-17). He is the surety of a better covenant. He is the righteousness of his people, and he is the promised seed. Judah is a picture of our Lord, the man of war, conquering now and still to conquer (Ps. 27:1).

Judah shall go up for us. We shall possess the land. We shall be saved with an everlasting salvation, because it is Christ who goes up for us. After Jacob (Judah’s father) advanced in years and was ready to go be with his God, he prophesied concerning the future of his sons. The things he spoke concerning Judah are some of the most assuring words in all of scripture.

Look at Genesis 49:8-9.

    8, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

    9, Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

Judah means he shall be praised (Gen. 29:35; Phil. 2:9-11)

Thy hand shall be on the neck of thy enemies (Ps. 18:40). This signifies utter dominion over all enemies, sin, Satan and self.

Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. He is Lord!

Lion's whelp full of vigor, youth, strength, vitality and power to save (Ps. 110:3)

From the prey, my son thou art gone up. This alludes to the lion having killed the enemy and devoured him and is now satisfied (Is. 53:11).

He stooped down, couched signifies that he destroyed the enemy and devoured him in plain view. He did not carry his prey off to a den to hide and eat it for fear that someone might take it from him. He killed it, stooped down and devoured it, knowing that none would dare challenge him (Is. 31:4).

And as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? He is not discouraged or disheartened. He has finished the work and rests in sovereignly satisfied repose.

Who shall go up for us? Judah shall go up: Behold I have delivered the land into his hand.

The Lord of Light

Judges 1:4-7

    4, And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

    5, And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

    6, But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

    7, And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

This is the account of Judah capturing and dismembering a local chieftain named Adonibezek. There is historical significance in the treatment of this captured chieftain. It was common in the Middle East as well as among the Greeks and the Romans. Severing the hands and feet of the enemy or, as in this case, the thumbs and the great toes, served to humiliate the enemy and remove his ability to do further battle (e.g. throw a spear; draw a bow). This technique also served to make the enemy dependent upon the victor for further sustenance, even his very life. Often these defeated foes would be made a spectacle at feasts for the jeers and laughter of the friends and court of the chieftain.

In this passage there is a two-fold display of the gospel. The first is the source of the victory over the enemies of the people of God. It is always the LORD that delivers the elect (v. 4).

What I find interesting is this Chieftain Adonibezek.

First, his name is very interesting as it is seen in context of the enemies of the cross. His name means Lord of lightning or Lord of light. Immediately we see that he is a counterfeit of Christ. Christ alone is the lord of Light. He is the light of the world. However, the enemies of the gospel appear in the same capacity (2 Cor. 11:13-15). They are false prophets and false Christs (Mat 24:23-27). Their end is that they are destined to tangle with the true Lord of light, and he cannot fail. The chief angel of light was dealt with at Calvary and our Lord bruised his head. The rest of the minions of the devil are held in check and destroyed by the word of his mouth, the gospel, the power of God. Secondly, Adonibezek's name signifies a flash of lightning, something that appears for a moment and is gone (Jude 1:12-13). These pretenders to the throne will be made short work of by the LORD, because he has shortened the days so that none of the elect will be deceived.

There is also an indication here that Adonibezek was a counterfeit priest, a false representative of the people. The fact that they cut off the thumb and the large toe are significant, because these were two of the things upon which the blood of consecration was placed for the consecration of the priest (Ex. 29:20). By removing their thumb and great toe or the ability of the false lord, false priests, and the false light, they are disarmed and made of none effect. The fact Adonibezek owned or admitted this was a right judgment against him, because this is what he had done to his enemies; he established, by type, the true intent of all false religion of Satan and his followers to maim and destroy Christ and his priesthood. This lord of light was and is a flash in the pan; he was humiliated and made a spectacle. He was made to do obedience to the Conquering King, to the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Unwittingly and unwillingly they are made servants of the King.

The second application of the gospel is the capture and disarming of this chieftain is a picture of the conquering of our souls by the Sovereign. We are born in this world as enemies of God. We are completely ignorant of any and everything that has to do with God. Though we reside in utter darkness, we believe that we are veritable repositories of knowledge. We compare ourselves with those whom we deem less than ourselves. We think we are something when we are nothing. We think we have light and prove that we think that by our free opinions on God and the manner in which we are saved (John 5:39-40). We all feel ourselves to be lords of our domain. We are filled with self-defense, self-righteousness and have no idea that we are enemies of Christ. Without God and without hope in the world, we stand oblivious to our estate. We are rebels and we are proud of the fact. Though men do not care to think of salvation in terms of defeat, of being overcome (apprehended), nothing short of that will do for the conversion of our souls.

The first thing we see is that we are captured. The fact that we are captured proves to us that we are not what we think we are. Our ability to resist the Holy Spirit when it comes to the matter of salvation is nil. If we could flee as Adonibezek did, it would be to no avail. Once Christ is on our trail, there is no turning him back. Judah will prevail; the Lord will deliver. (All that the father giveth me shall come to me (Phil. 3:12). Also, since we are taken captive at the will of Satan, nothing but the defeat of our captor will allow us to be delivered.

Secondly, we must be shut down. We have long trusted in our ability to affect God by the works of our hands or by our righteous walk. Nothing could be further from the truth. First, we have no righteousness and we do no good thing. That is not to say that we do not believe that we are righteous. We live off that false conception. From birth, we are drilled to believe that we can be good and thereby be accepted by God. For us to seek mercy we must be brought to a place of absolute inability. God kills before he makes alive (1 Sam. 2). The severing of the thumbs and the great toe removes from us the hope of our works and our walk (Job 5:12; 37:7). We must be brought to cease from our labors in order that our works will be revealed for what they are, useless, dead works (Rom. 7:5). Our Lord will show us mercy when our power is gone (Deut. 32:36).

The third thing is found in the words of Adonibezek concerning the way he treated those whom he defeated. He did what he did to humiliate his defeated foes. He made them to dine, not on a sumptuous feast but as dogs getting the crumbs and leftovers. The Lord humbles the elect also, but not for the purpose of shaming them. He sets before them that feast of fat things, wine on the lees and well refined. They are humbled because the feast they receive is not a product of the works of their hands or their religious walk. They would be satisfied to take the dogs place and get the crumbs of the master's table (Matt. 15:26-27), but such is not the case. They are plucked from the dunghill and made to sit among princes (1 Sam. 2:8). They feel themselves to be broken dogs, but they sit as kings and priest unto God (2 Sam. 9:8, 12-13).

Finally, when confronted with the punishment for sin, the believer owns that he deserves hell even though his substitute has born what he deserved.

How Things Go Wrong

Judges 1:8-36

    8, Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

    9, And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.

    10, And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

    11, And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher:

    12, And Caleb said, he that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

    13, And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

    14, And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?

    15, And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

    16, And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

    17, And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

    18, Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.

    19, And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

    20, And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.

    21, And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

    22, And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.

    23, And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)

    24, And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.

    25, And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

    26, And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

    27, Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

    28, And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

    29, Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

    30, Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

    31, Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:

    32, But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.

    33, Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless, the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.

    34, And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:

    35, But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.

    36, And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

As you have probably noticed, this first chapter of Judges is partially made up of recounts of the victories that we've already looked at in our study of Joshua They are recorded here again for our learning and our understanding. Thus far, we have seen the Lord has appointed Judah to go up and fight for the people, because he had delivered the enemy into the hands of Judah. We know that this pictures the Lord Jesus Christ who was anointed for the task of destroying the enemies of his people, Satan, sin, self and death. His first conquest was that of a false messiah named Adonibezek, whose name meant Lord of light and whose candle Judah snuffed out. In the latter part of verse 7 we are told he was brought to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Verse 8 is a kind of parenthetical statement explaining that Jerusalem had already been sacked and was in the possession of the people. At first, I thought this was merely a chronological reference, but then I remembered that another false Christ had died in Jerusalem. His name was Adonizedek and his name meant Lord of righteousness. In Jerusalem the city of peace, the typification of the church of God (Rev. 21:9-10), the false Christs are brought to death. They are false prophets who transform themselves into angels of light and ministers of righteousness (2 Cor. 11). The gospel is the weapon that puts these enemies to death as the church of God assaults the very gates of hell which shall not prevail against it.

Verse 10 is the rehearsal of the fact that God always keep his promise. Caleb believed God concerning the possession of the land. When the ten spies returned to the people with words of fear and unbelief, Caleb stood forth with the gospel, the promise of God. He had been promised Hebron and came to Joshua to claim the promise, and he was given Kirjatharba which is Hebron. There, the reason that was given by the unbelievers, the giants and the sons of Anak, were destroyed (v. 20). The true reason for unbelief was that they ultimately believed in themselves and not God (Numbers 14:39-40).

In verses 11-15 is the story of Caleb issuing the challenge to go up and take Kirjathsepher (The repository of human knowledge) or Kirjathsannah (the seat of law and doctrine) with the promise of his daughter’s hand to the man who took the city. Othniel (the lion of God) took up the challenge and as a picture of Christ destroyed the wisdom of the world, and because of his victory, took possession of his bride.

Here we have a contingent, which states that in order to have the bride, the conqueror must be successful in his conquest. We have success, and the bride and the conqueror are wed. In short, we have the gospel. Here also we see the record of Achsah (adornment) moving her husband to seek a gift of