First Judge: Othniel

Carrying forward from yesterday's discussion, which laid the contextual groundwork of the book of Judges, today will be a brief look into the first Judge Othniel.  His story sets the narrative in motion and also gives us the literary framework for each subsequent judge.  That is to say that Othniel is the first in a pattern of judges.

Each judge story begins with a simple marker, "And the people did did what was evil in the sight of the Lord."  This is the key that opens the door to the judge.  The people do evil, and God disciplines the people for their disobedience and sin by giving them over to the hand of their enemies.  And as Israel is crushed in war and subjugation, they cry out for God to raise a deliverer to save the people.

These deliverers were called judges.  And although they did perform judicial functions, their primary role was as a warrior, a champion who could lead the Israelites to military victory over their oppressors.  This is how we find Othniel.

The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, turning from His Law and forgetting all that He had done for them in the previous generation(s).  As a result, God judges the Israelites by giving them over into the hand of the warring Mesopotamians to the immediate east.  The oppressive king, Cushan-rishathaim, had ruled over Israel for some eight years, demanding allegiance and tribute.

After those eight years, the cry arose within Israel to the Lord for a deliverer, a judge to redeem the people from the oppressive Mesopotamians.  God, then, responding to the cry of the people, raised Othniel who, with the Spirit of the Lord to empower him, turned weapons to the Mesopotamians and destroyed them.

The section ends as all the other judge stories, "The land had peace for..."  In the case, Othniel's judgeship lasted 40 years.  This story highlights, among other things, the necessity for people to train the next generations in the way of the Lord.  Otherwise, there will arise entire generations that do not know nor please the Lord.  But praise be to God who always raises up champions to fight for the people and to care for them in His power.  Obviously, the time of the judges has long past and will remain so, but we should never forget or neglect to look at that time so as to inform us still today!