Judges 10:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals."

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

NASB: Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, 'We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have abandoned our God and served the Baals.'

CSB: so they cried out to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against you. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals."

NLT: Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, 'We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.'

KJV: And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

NKJV: And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!”

The pattern of the book of Judges (Judges 2:11–19) becomes familiar to anyone reading from the beginning. Israel sins against the Lord by worshiping the gods of Canaan. God responds by selling Israel into the hands of other nations. The people "cry out" by begging God for rescue. The Lord responds by raising up a deliverer, labelled with a term translated as "judge," to save His people and restore peace.

This time, everything about the pattern is amplified. First, the people do not just serve another god. They serve all the false gods of the region. This includes the Baals and Ashtaroths (Judges 3:7; 8:33), and the gods of the nations who have oppressed them in times past. They openly serve all gods except the One True God, whom they abandon (Judges 10:6).

In response, the Lord turns them over for oppression to not one, but two nations (Judges 10:7). These nations oppress Israel from two different directions. All of Israel will suffer as a result, not just one region or another.

Finally, the people realize the cause of their hardship and beg for mercy after eighteen years of suffering. For the first time in Judges, however, their cry includes explicit confession. The people of Israel admit their guilt. They say openly that they have sinned against the Lord by forsaking Him and serving false gods. Without confession, there can be no repentance. On the surface, this reaction seems more genuine than Israel's past cries for help.

It's not clear what form this communication between the people and the Lord takes. Do they cry out to Him through specific representatives, such as prophets? Are the people moved to cry out to Him, in general, from across the nation? What is clear is that the Lord will not quickly and easily respond to the cry for mercy. This is far from the first time that Israel has betrayed Him, and their rescue will not come the instant they repent.

Judges 10:6–16 shows the downward spiral repeated in the book of Judges sinking ever lower. The Israelites once again forsake the Lord, this time serving all the gods of Canaan and the surrounding regions. God hands them over to both the Ammonites and the Philistines. When the people cry out to the Lord eighteen years later, confessing their sin, He initially refuses to save them. This has the desired effect of jarring Israel to action. The people repent, anyway, serving the Lord and getting rid of their idols.

Two more judges, Tola and Jair, rescue Israel for a time. Little detail is given about either. Once again, the people return to idolatry and depraved sins (Deuteronomy 12:29–31). In response, God submits His people to the Ammonites and Philistines. After eighteen years, they confess and beg for mercy. God bluntly refuses, this time. And yet, Israel shows humble repentance, getting rid of their idols. As God prepares to save the people, an army of Israelites in Gilead gathers to face an army of Ammonites. But the Israelite army lacks a leader.

After Gideon rescued Israel (Judges 6—8), his son, Abimelech, murdered his siblings and became a despotic ruler (Judges 9). That ended with further tragedy and bloodshed. Judges 10 begins with a brief description of two judges who ruled after the time of Abimelech. Then Israel falls further than ever into the worship of false gods. Nearly two decades after God turns the people over to their enemies, they confess their sinfulness. The Ammonites encamp against Israel in Gilead. The leaders of Gilead search for someone to lead them in battle. Chapter 11 details the call and success of the next judge, Jephthah.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).