The Era of the Judges and the Kingdom of God (1) Faithfulness over Rebellion

(Jdg 2:10) After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
(Jdg 2:11) Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.
(Jdg 2:12) They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger
(Jdg 2:13) because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
(Jdg 2:14) In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
(Jdg 2:15) Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
(Jdg 2:16) Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.
(Jdg 2:17) Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands.
(Jdg 2:18) Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them.
(Jdg 2:19) But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
 
 Review
Over the past few weeks, we have been studying the Book of Acts. From this book, we have learned how the Kingdom of God began in Jerusalem through the work of the Holy Spirit and the apostles’ proclamation of the gospel, and how it expanded to Judea, Samaria, and ultimately to Rome.
Now, returning to our original topic, we will turn our attention to the Old Testament and examine how the Kingdom of God unfolds through its pages.
First, through the Book of Exodus, we looked at how God made us people, of His Kingdom. We explored the identity He gave us and what preparations are necessary to live as His Kingdom people. We also examined the story of the conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua, learning what mindset we should have and how we should engage in spiritual battles as God’s people.
The final scene we looked at was Joshua’s farewell speech. Though much of Canaan had been conquered and the land divided among the tribes, the Israelites had not fully obeyed God’s command to drive out all the nations living there. Some lands remained unconquered, and as a result, the Israelites lived among peoples who didn’t serve God. Joshua’s farewell sermon addresses this incomplete obedience and calls the Israelites to remember God, obey His Word, avoid compromise, and fully commit to serving Him.
Joshua said, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness… But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Jos 24:14-15)
  Joshua said this because he knew that the Israelites would turn their hearts from the Lord, associate with people in the land and serve their gods.
Responding to this sermon, the Israelites answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods... We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God” (Jos 24:16, 18).
As they had said, the second generation of exodus who crossed the Jordan River and conquered Canaan with Joshua sincerely served the Lord as it says in Jos 24:31, “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel” (Jos 24:31).
The problem arose after they died. Joshua and his generation had remained faithful to the Lord, loving Him with all their hearts. But they failed to pass that faith down to their children. After Joshua and the second generation of Israelites passed away, their descendants began to turn away from the Lord and worship idols. This is the context that introduces us to the era of the Judges.
 
The Era of the Judges
  Judges 2:8 and 10 says, “Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten… After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel” (Jdg 2:8, 10).
The new generation—the third generation—didn’t know the Lord or what He had done for Israel. They had no living experience of God’s mighty works. On top of that, they failed to complete the task God had entrusted to them. Judges chapter 1 repeats this phrase again and again: “they did not drive out the people of the land.”
 “The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains…” (Jdg 1:19)
“The Benjamites did not drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.” (Jdg 1:21)
“But Manasseh did not drive out the people… for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.” (Jdg 1:27)
“Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them.” (Jdg 1:29)
“The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out.” (Jdg 1:32)
This is the background of the Book of Judges. The second generation of the Exodus—those who had entered and conquered the land of Canaan—had all passed away. The third generation, however, was ignorant of God and lacked firsthand experience of His mighty works. They failed to completely conquer the land, and as a result, the Canaanite inhabitants continued to live among them. Their compromise and disobedience became the seedbed for idolatry and spiritual decline.
  So, problems began to arise. The Israelites started to associate with the people of the land and serve their gods. In Judges 2:1–3, the angel of the Lord says,
“I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’” (Jdg 2:1-3)
The third generation quickly turned away from loving God because they didn’t know who He was. But strictly speaking, it was also their parents’ fault. They had failed to teach their children how God had miraculously led them through the wilderness and how He had helped them conquer the land with His mighty hand.
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses taught, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Dt 6:6-9)
The book of Deuteronomy consists of Moses’ final exhortations to the people before his death, spoken to the second generation of the Exodus right before they entered the land of Canaan.
In his final sermon, Moses stressed the importance of teaching God’s Word to the next generation. The second generation lived faithfully before the Lord, but all their efforts were in vain because they failed to pass down the knowledge of God and His Word to their children.
This continues to happen even today. Statistically, we see that the number of Christians tends to decrease with each passing generation.
In the United States, the decline in Christian affiliation is closely related to generational faith transmission. According to Pew Research Center, about 62% of U.S. adults identify as Christian now, down from 78% in 2007, a 16-point decline.  The average age of American Christians has also risen from 46 in 2007 to 55 in 2024, reflecting both the aging of the Christian population and the departure of younger generations from the faith.
South Korea’s situation is even more concerning. The decline of Protestant Christianity in South Korea has been particularly sharp in recent years. Between 2012 and 2023, the proportion of South Koreans identifying as Protestant dropped from 22.5% to 16.6%, a decline of over 6 percentage points in just 10 years. Among young adults in their 20s to 40s, the decrease has been even more striking, with the number of Christians in this age group nearly halving over the same period.
At the same time, the Christian population is aging rapidly. About 49% of them are aged 60 and older, compared with only 32% in the general population. This indicates that the aging of the Church is occurring faster than the aging of South Korean society as a whole, raising serious concerns for the vitality and future of the Church.
One key factor in this decline is the failure to pass faith to the next generation. Just as in the time of Joshua and the Exodus, when the third generation of Israelites did not know the Lord or remember His mighty works, many young people today—both in the United States and in South Korea—are growing up without a strong understanding of God’s Word or the faith of their parents.
They may have been raised in Christian homes, attended church, or heard the Bible read, yet without intentional teaching, mentoring, and modeling of faith, the next generation drifts away.
Unfortunately, it is all too common to find parents who are faithful Christians while their children are not.” The faith of one generation is not being effectively passed down to the next.
As a result, society is moving further away from Christian values. Policies and cultural norms that contradict God’s Word are being established, and the younger generation is being strongly influenced by them. Even students who currently attend church often form their perspectives not primarily through faith or the teaching of God’s Word, but through the surrounding culture, trends, and worldly influences.
The patterns of the Judges’ era continue to be seen in our time, occurring whenever God’s Word is neglected or ignored.
The principle we discover here, which is essential for living as people of God’s Kingdom, is the importance of God’s Word. God’s Word is not just guidance for life—it is the foundation of our faith, the source of wisdom, and the standard by which we must live. Just as the Israelites in the time of Joshua and the Judges experienced blessings and failures depending on their obedience to God’s Word, our lives today are shaped by how we receive, meditate on, and act according to Scripture.
Neglecting God’s Word leads to drift, compromise, and the loss of spiritual inheritance. But when we prioritize God’s Word and let it shape our daily lives, we are truly living as citizens of God’s Kingdom, walking in His promises and reflecting His glory to the world.
We can identify several factors behind the failure of the third generation of the Exodus. Some may say it was because they failed to fully conquer the land of Canaan. Others may point to the fact that, as a result, they were influenced by the surrounding nations who still lived among them.
All of them are true, but at the core, the fundamental reason was this: their parents failed to pass down God’s Word and their faith to them. And as a result, their lives were filled and influenced not by God’s Word, but by worldly things.
Isn’t this often the case for us today as well? Let me ask you this question. What kind of worldview are you living with now? What purpose and direction guide your life?
If our Christian life is reduced to nothing more than showing up at church once a week, if during the other six days of the week we live without regard for God’s will, if we lack a clear identity, purpose, and direction as citizens of God’s Kingdom, and if we live without passion or concern for God’s mission of building His Kingdom here on earth—then there is a serious problem in our faith.
And the root of that problem is clear: we have neglected God’s Word. We fail to read it, to meditate on it daily, and to commune with God through it. Instead of filling our hearts with His Word, we fill them with the things of the world.
That’s why the heart is so important. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
According to the Bible, the heart has three functions. First, it is rational—it has the ability to think, reason, and discern. Second, it is emotional—the heart feels and experiences emotions. Third, it is volitional—the heart chooses and makes decisions.
So, think about how significant our hearts are. All our words, actions, and the choices that shape our lives begin in the heart. That is why Scripture tells us to guard our hearts above all else.
But how do we guard our hearts? There is only one way: by filling them continually with God’s Word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must let His Word rule over our thoughts, guide our discernment, and shape our perspective. Through His Word, we come to know and experience His love. And it is His Word that must become the standard for all the choices we make, whether big or small, in our daily lives. This is absolutely essential if we are to live as true people of God’s Kingdom.
The psalmist in Psalm 119 puts it beautifully: “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:9–11)
May this be our prayer and confession to the Lord today. Let us commit ourselves anew to filling our hearts with His Word, allowing it to guide our thoughts, shape our decisions, and transform our actions. As we seek Him daily, may the Holy Spirit remind us of His promises, strengthen our faith, and help us live as faithful citizens of His Kingdom. Let us not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds through God’s word so that our lives may reflect God’s love, wisdom, and truth in every relationship, every choice, and every action we take.
 
Idolatry of Israel and God’s Judgment
Returning to the Book of Judges, the third generation of the Exodus knew little about God and His Word. They had not fully conquered the land, and the remaining Canaanite nations continued to live among them. This soon led the Israelites into rebellion against God and into idol worship. In response, God judged His people for their unfaithfulness.
 
Judges 2:11-15 says,
“Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.” (Jdg 2:11-15)
God’s judgment on the people of Israel was based on the covenant He had made with them. Because God is faithful, He always keeps His promises; because He is righteous, He ensures that sinners pay the consequences of their sin. In the Book of Judges, God allowed the Israelites to fall into the hands of other nations and suffer under them, thereby making them bear the penalty for their disobedience.
But that was not God’s ultimate purpose. His true goal was to turn them back to Himself. By allowing them to experience hardship, God wanted them to remember Him, cry out to Him, repent, and return. This is similar to how we often do not seek God in times of ease, but when life becomes difficult, our faith grows stronger and we rely more fully on Him.
 
God’s Grace in Raising Up Judges
This is an example of God’s grace that we see in the next passage. Although the Israelites rebelled against God and, as a result, fell into the hands of other nations and suffered oppression, when they cried out to God in their affliction, He did not forget them. God raised up judges to deliver them.
As it says in Judges 2:16, 18: "Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders... Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them." (Jdg 2:16,18)
Here we see both God’s justice and His mercy: He disciplines His people for their sin, yet He also responds to their cries and delivers them according to His grace through judges.
 
Israel’s Repeated Rebellion
However, the Israelites’ response to God’s gracious salvation was not repentance but rebellion. When periods of peace returned, they quickly turned away from God again. They did not obey the judges God raised up, and after the judges died, their corruption deepened even further.
As it says in Judges 2:17, 19: "Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands... But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways." (Jdg 2:17,19)
 
The Repeating Cycle in the Book of Judges
This pattern continues throughout the entire book of Judges:
1. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
2. God judged them and delivered them into the hands of other nations.
3. In their suffering, the Israelites cried out to God.
4. God raised up judges to deliver them.
5. But when a judge died, the people returned to sin.
What this cycle reveals is the Israelites’ continual rebellion and sin, contrasted with God’s persistent grace, love, and faithfulness toward them. Even when the people abandoned God, He never abandoned them. At times, He disciplined them severely, but whenever they repented and returned, He welcomed them back and delivered them from their troubles through the judges He raised up.
That’s how much He loved them, and that’s exactly how He loves us today. Even when we are unfaithful to Him, He remains completely faithful. He never gives up on us but holds us securely with His loving hand, so that we do not completely fall. Even when we were sinners and His enemies, He still loved us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to save us from our sins and eternal death. This is the God whom we call Father.
That is the reason we can come into God’s presence today to worship Him despite our shortcomings, weaknesses, and sins. The pattern of Israel’s life mirrors our own. Like them, we often act against God’s will and fall into idolatry, loving things other than Him. Yet, God never lets go of us. He always hears us and gives us countless chances to turn back to Him. So, the reason we stand before Him is solely because of His mercy, grace, and steadfast love toward us.
If you find that your life, like the Israelites, has strayed from God’s will now, let today be the beginning of your return to Him through repentance. A pastor once said something in a sermon that deeply stayed with me:
“No matter how many steps we’ve taken away from God, it takes just one step to return to Him.”
When you feel distant from God and unsure of what to do, there is one simple thing you can do. Just go to God and ask for His mercy. Just tell Him that you want to come back to Him. God will always welcome you with His vast, loving arms.
 
[Prayer]
Heavenly Father,
We thank You for Your unfailing love and faithfulness. Even when we stumble, fail, or turn away from You, You never abandon us. You hold us close, guide us with Your grace, and draw us back into Your presence. Lord, we confess that so often we have loved the things of this world more than You. We have allowed our hearts to drift, our minds to wander, and our actions to fall short of Your glory.
Father, forgive us for our unfaithfulness. Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, and strengthen our wills to love You with all that we are. May Your Word dwell richly within us, guiding every thought, emotion, and choice we make. Help us to cling to You, to trust Your promises, and to walk faithfully as Your people in this world.
Lord, we thank You for the mercy and grace that allow us to stand before You today. We are reminded that it is not by our strength, our accomplishments, or our righteousness that we can live as Your children, but by Your steadfast love and faithfulness. Thank You Lord, for never giving up on us and for continually drawing us back to Yourself.
As we go from this place, may Your Spirit empower us to live with hearts devoted to You. May we love You fully, serve You faithfully, and reflect Your light and truth to the world around us. Keep us ever mindful of Your presence and Your purposes, that our lives may glorify You in everything we do.
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
 
[Reflection Questions]
1.  As Christians, why do you think it is important to read and meditate on God’s Word? Out of the 24 hours in a day, what percent of your time do you spend communing with God through His Word? What is filling your heart now? is it God’s Word, or something else?
2.  How does the cycle depicted in Judges (Israel’s rebellion → God’s judgment → the people’s repentance and cry → God’s deliverance through the judges) relate to your own faith journey? Have you ever experienced God’s faithfulness more deeply through times of failure? Please share about that experience.