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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. X.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. The peaceable times Israel enjoyed under the government of two
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judges, Tola and Jair,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. The troublesome times that ensued.
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1. Israel's sin that brought them into trouble,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:6">ver. 6</A>.
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2. The trouble itself they were in,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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III. Their repentance and humiliation for sin, their prayers and
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reformation, and the mercy they found with God thereupon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:10-16">ver. 10-16</A>.
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IV. Preparation made for their deliverance out of the hand of their
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oppressors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud10_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Government of Tola and Jair.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1183.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son
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of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in
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Shamir in mount Ephraim.
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2 And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and
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was buried in Shamir.
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3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel
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twenty and two years.
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4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and
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they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this
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day, which <I>are</I> in the land of Gilead.
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5 And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Quiet and peaceable reigns, though the best to live in, are the worst
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to write of, as yielding least variety of matter for the historian to
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entertain his reader with; such were the reigns of these two judges,
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Tola and Jair, who make but a small figure and take up but a very
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little room in this history. But no doubt they were both <I>raised up
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of God</I> to serve their country in the quality of judges, not
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pretending, as Abimelech had done, to the grandeur of kings, nor, like
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him, taking the honour they had to themselves, but being called of God
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to it.
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1. Concerning Tola it is said that he arose after Abimelech to defend
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Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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After Abimelech had debauched Israel by his wickedness, disquieted and
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disturbed them by his restless ambition, and, by the mischiefs he
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brought on them, exposed them to enemies from abroad, God animated this
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good man to appear for the reforming of abuses, the putting down of
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idolatry, the appeasing of tumults, and the healing of the wounds given
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to the state by Abimelech's usurpation. Thus he saved them from
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themselves, and guarded them against their enemies. He was of the tribe
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of Issachar, a tribe disposed to serve, for he <I>bowed his shoulder to
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bear</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:14,15">Gen. xlix. 14, 15</A>),
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yet one of that tribe is here raised up to rule; for those that humble
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themselves shall be exalted. He bore the name of him that was ancestor
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to the first family of that tribe; of the sons of Issachar Tola was the
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first,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+46:13,Nu+26:23">Gen. xlvi. 13; Num. xxvi. 23</A>.
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It signifies a <I>worm,</I> yet, being the name of his ancestor, he was
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not ashamed of it. Though he was of Issachar, yet, when he was raised
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up to the government, he came and dwelt in Mount Ephraim, which was
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more in the heart of the country, that the people might the more
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conveniently resort to him for judgment. He judged Israel twenty-three
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years
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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kept things in good order, but did not any thing very memorable.
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2. Jair was a Gileadite, so was his next successor Jephthah, both of
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that half tribe of the tribe of Manasseh which lay on the other side
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Jordan; though they seemed separated from their brethren, yet God took
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care, while the honour of the government was shifted from tribe to
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tribe and before it settled in Judah, that those who lay remote should
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sometimes share in it, <I>putting more abundant honour on that part
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which lacked.</I> Jair bore the name of a very famous man of the same
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tribe who in Moses's time was very active in reducing this country,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+32:41,Jos+13:30">Num. xxxii. 41; Josh. xiii. 30</A>.
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That which is chiefly remarkable concerning this Jair is the increase
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and honour of his family: <I>He had thirty sons,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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And,
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(1.) They had good preferments, for they <I>rode on thirty ass
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colts;</I> that is, they were judges itinerant, who, as deputies to
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their father, rode from place to place in their several circuits to
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administer justice. We find afterwards that Samuel made his sons
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judges, though he could not make them good ones,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+8:1-3">1 Sam. viii. 1-3</A>.
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(2.) They had good possessions, every one a city, out of those that
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were called, from their ancestor of the same name with their father,
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<I>Havoth-jair--the villages of Jair;</I> yet they are called
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<I>cities,</I> either because those young gentlemen to whom they were
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assigned enlarged and fortified them, and so improved them into cities,
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or because they were as well pleased with their lot in those country
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towns as if they had been cities compact together and fenced with gates
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and bars. Villages are cities to a contented mind.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud10_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Israel Oppressed by the Ammonites.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1161.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria,
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and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the
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children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and served not him.
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7 And the anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was hot against Israel, and he sold
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them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the
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children of Ammon.
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8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of
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Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that <I>were</I> on
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the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which <I>is</I> in
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Gilead.
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9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight
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also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house
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of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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While those two judges, Tola and Jair, presided in the affairs of
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Israel, things went well, but afterwards,</P>
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<P>
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I. Israel returned to their idolatry, that sin which did most easily
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beset them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>They did evil again in the sight of the Lord,</I> from whom they
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were unaccountably bent to backslide, as a <I>foolish people and
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unwise.</I>
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1. They worshipped many gods; not only their old demons Baalim and
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Ashtaroth, which the Canaanites had worshipped, but, as if they would
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proclaim their folly to all their neighbours, they served the gods of
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Syria, Zidon, Moab, Ammon, and the Philistines. It looks as if the
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chief trade of Israel had been to import deities from all countries. It
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is hard to say whether it was more impious or impolitic to do this. By
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introducing these foreign deities, they rendered themselves mean and
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despicable, for no nation that had any sense of honour changed their
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gods. Much of the wealth of Israel, we may suppose, was carried out, in
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offerings to the temples of the deities in the several countries whence
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they came, on which, as their mother-churches, their temples in Israel
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were expected to own their dependence; the priests and devotees of
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those sorry deities would follow their gods, no doubt, in crowds into
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the land of Israel, and, if they could not live in their own country,
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would take root there, and so <I>strangers would devour their
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strength.</I> If they did it in compliment to the neighbouring nations,
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and to ingratiate themselves with them, justly were they disappointed;
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for those nations which by their wicked arts they sought to make their
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friends by the righteous judgments of God became their enemies and
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oppressors. <I>In quo quis peccat, in eo punitur--Wherein a person
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offends, therein he shall be punished.</I>
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2. They did not so much as admit the God of Israel to be one of those
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many deities they worshipped, but quite cast him off: They <I>forsook
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the Lord, and served not him</I> at all. Those that think to serve both
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God and Mammon will soon come entirely to forsake God, and to serve
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Mammon only. If God have not all the heart, he will soon have none of
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it.</P>
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<P>
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II. God renewed his judgments upon them, bringing them under the power
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of oppressing enemies. Had they <I>fallen into the hands of the
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Lord</I> immediately, they might have found that <I>his mercies were
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great;</I> but God let them <I>fall into the hands of man,</I> whose
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tender mercies are cruel. He <I>sold them into the hands of the
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Philistines</I> that lay south-west of Canaan, and of the Ammonites
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that lay north-east, both at the same time; so that between those two
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millstones they were miserably <I>crushed,</I> as the original word is
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
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for <I>oppressed.</I> God had appointed that, if any of the cities of
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Israel should revolt to idolatry, the rest should make war upon them
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and cut them off,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+13:12-18">Deut. xiii. 12</A>,
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&c. They had been jealous enough in this matter, almost to an extreme,
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in the case of the altar set up by the two tribes and a half
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+22:1-34">Josh. xxii.</A>);
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but now they had grown so very bad that when one city was infected with
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idolatry the next took the infection and instead of punishing it,
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imitated and out-did it; and therefore, since those that should have
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been revengers to <I>execute wrath on those that did</I> this
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<I>evil</I> were themselves guilty, or <I>bore the sword in vain,</I>
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God brought the neighbouring nations upon them, to chastise them for
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their apostasy. The oppression of Israel by the Ammonites, the
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posterity of Lot, was,
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1. Very long. It continued eighteen years. Some make those years to be
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part of the judgeship of Jair, who could not prevail to reform and
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deliver Israel as he would. Others make them to commence at the death
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of Jair, which seems the more probable because that part of Israel
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which was most infested by the Ammonites was Gilead, Jair's own
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country, which we cannot suppose to have suffered so much while he was
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living, but that part at least would be reformed and protected.
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2. Very grievous. They vexed them and oppressed them. It was a great
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vexation to be oppressed by such a despicable people as the children of
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Ammon were. They began with those tribes that lay next them on the
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other side Jordan, here called <I>the land of the Amorites</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
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because the Israelites had so wretchedly degenerated, and had made
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themselves so like the heathen, that they had become, in a manner,
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perfect Amorites
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:3">Ezek. xvi. 3</A>),
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or because by their sin they forfeited their title to this land, so
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that it might justly be looked upon as <I>the land of the Amorites</I>
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again, from whom they took it. But by degrees they pushed forward, came
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over Jordan, and invaded Judah, and Benjamin, and Ephraim
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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three of the most famous tribes of Israel, yet thus insulted when they
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had forsaken God, and unable to make head against the invader. Now the
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threatening was fulfilled that they should be <I>slain before their
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enemies,</I> and should have <I>no power to stand before them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:17,37">Lev. xxvi. 17, 37</A>.
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Their <I>ways and their doings procure this to themselves;</I> they
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have sadly degenerated, and so they come to be sorely distressed.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud10_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud10_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Repentance and Reformation of Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1161.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 And the children of Israel cried unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, saying, We
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have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God,
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and also served Baalim.
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11 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto the children of Israel, <I>Did</I> not <I>I
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deliver you</I> from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the
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children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
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12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites,
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did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of
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their hand.
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13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I
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will deliver you no more.
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14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them
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deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
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15 And the children of Israel said unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, We have
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sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee;
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deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
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16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and
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served the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and his soul was grieved for the misery of
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Israel.
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17 Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and
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encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled
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themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.
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18 And the people <I>and</I> princes of Gilead said one to another,
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What man <I>is he</I> that will begin to fight against the children of
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Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. A humble confession which Israel make to God in their distress,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Now they own themselves guilty, like a malefactor upon the rack, and
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promise reformation, like a child under the rod. They not only complain
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of the distress, but acknowledge it is their own sin that has brought
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them into the distress; therefore God is righteous, and they have no
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reason to repine. They confess their omissions, for in them their sin
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began--"We have forsaken our God," and their commissions--"We have
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served Baalim, and herein have done foolishly, treacherously, and very
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wickedly."</P>
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<P>
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II. A humbling message which God thereupon sends to Israel, whether by
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an angel (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+2:1"><I>ch.</I> ii. 1</A>)
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or by a prophet (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:8"><I>ch.</I> vi. 8</A>)
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is not certain. It was kind that God took notice of their cry, and did
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not turn a deaf ear to it and send them no answer at all; it was kind
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|
likewise that when they began to repent he sent them such a message as
|
|
was proper to increase their repentance, that they might be qualified
|
|
and prepared for deliverance. Now in this message,
|
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|
1. He upbraids them with their great ingratitude, reminds them of the
|
|
great things he had done for them, delivering them from such and such
|
|
enemies, the Egyptians first, out of whose land they were rescued, the
|
|
Amorites whom they conquered and into whose land they entered, and
|
|
since their settlement there, when the Ammonites had joined with the
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|
Moabites to oppress them
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:13"><I>ch.</I> iii. 13</A>),
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|
when the Philistines were vexatious in the days of Shamgar, and
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|
afterwards other enemies had given them trouble, upon their petition
|
|
God had wrought many a great salvation for them,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
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Of their being oppressed by the Zidonians and the Maonites we read not
|
|
elsewhere. God had in justice corrected them, and in mercy delivered
|
|
them, and therefore might reasonably expect that either through fear or
|
|
through love they would adhere to him and his service. Well therefore
|
|
might the word cut them to the heart
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
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|
"Yet <I>you have forsaken me</I> that have brought you out of your
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|
troubles and <I>served other gods</I> that brought you into your
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|
troubles." Thus did they <I>forsake their own mercies</I> for <I>their
|
|
own delusions.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. He shows them how justly he might now abandon them to ruin, by
|
|
abandoning them to the <I>gods that they had served.</I> To awaken them
|
|
to a thorough repentance and reformation, he lets them see,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their folly in serving Baalim. They had been at a vast expense to
|
|
obtain the favour of such gods as could not help them when they had
|
|
most need of their help: "<I>Go, and cry unto the gods which you have
|
|
chosen</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
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|
|
|
try what they can do for you now. You have worshipped them as
|
|
gods--try if they have now either a divine power or a divine goodness
|
|
to be employed for you. You paid your homage to them as your kings and
|
|
lords--try if they will now protect you. You brought your sacrifices of
|
|
praise to their altars as your benefactors, imagining that they gave
|
|
you your corn, and wine, and oil, but a friend indeed will be a friend
|
|
in need; what stead will their favour stand you in now?" Note, It is
|
|
necessary, in true repentance, that there be a full conviction of the
|
|
utter insufficiency of all those things to help us and do us any
|
|
kindness which we have idolized and set upon the throne in our hearts
|
|
in competition with God. We must be convinced that the pleasures of
|
|
sense on which we have doted cannot be our satisfaction, nor the wealth
|
|
of the world which we have coveted be our portion, that we cannot be
|
|
happy or easy any where but in God.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Their misery and danger in forsaking God. "See what a pass you
|
|
have brought yourselves to; now you can expect no other than that I
|
|
should say, <I>I will deliver you no more,</I> and what will become of
|
|
you then?"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
This he tells them, not only as what he <I>might</I> do, but as what he
|
|
<I>would</I> do if they rested in a confession of what they had done
|
|
amiss, and did not put away their idols and amend for the future.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. A humble submission which Israel hereupon made to God's justice,
|
|
with a humble application to his mercy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The children of Israel met together,</I> probably in a solemn
|
|
assembly at the door of the tabernacle, received the impressions of the
|
|
message God had sent them, were not driven by it to despair, though it
|
|
was very threatening, but resolve to lie at God's feet, and, if they
|
|
perish, they will perish there. They not only repeat their confession,
|
|
<I>We have sinned,</I> but,
|
|
|
|
1. They surrender themselves to God's justice: <I>Do thou unto us
|
|
whatsoever seemeth good unto thee.</I> Hereby they own that they
|
|
deserved the severest tokens of God's displeasure and were sure he
|
|
could do them no wrong, whatever he laid upon them; they humbled
|
|
themselves under his mighty and heavy hand, and <I>accepted of the
|
|
punishment of their iniquity,</I> which Moses had made the condition of
|
|
God's return in mercy to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:41">Lev. xxvi. 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, True penitents dare and will refer themselves to God to correct
|
|
them as he thinks fit, knowing that their sin is highly malignant in
|
|
its deserts, and that God is not rigorous or extreme in his demands.
|
|
|
|
2. They supplicate for God's mercy: <I>Deliver us only, we pray thee,
|
|
this day,</I> from this enemy. They acknowledge what they deserved,
|
|
yet pray to God not to deal with them according to their deserts. Note,
|
|
We must submit to God's justice with a hope in his mercy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. A blessed reformation set on foot hereupon. They brought forth
|
|
fruits meet for repentance
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They put away the gods of strangers</I> (as the word is), strange
|
|
gods, and worshipped by those nations that were strangers to the
|
|
commonwealth of Israel and to the covenants of promise, and they
|
|
<I>served the Lord.</I> Need drove them to him. They knew it was to no
|
|
purpose to go to the gods whom they had served, and therefore returned
|
|
to the God whom they had slighted. This is true repentance not only for
|
|
sin, but from sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. God's gracious return in mercy to them, which is expressed here very
|
|
tenderly
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.</I> Not that there is
|
|
any grief in God (he has infinite joy and happiness in himself, which
|
|
cannot be broken in upon by either the sins or the miseries of his
|
|
creatures), nor that there is any change in God: he <I>is in one mind,
|
|
and who can turn him?</I> But his goodness is his glory. By it he
|
|
proclaims his name, and magnifies it above all names; and, as he is
|
|
pleased to put himself into the relation of a father to his people that
|
|
are in covenant with him, so he is pleased to represent his goodness to
|
|
them by the compassions of a father towards his children; for, as he is
|
|
the Father of lights, so he is the Father of mercies. As the
|
|
disobedience and misery of a child are a grief to a tender father, and
|
|
make him feel very sensibly from his natural affection, so the
|
|
provocations of God's people are a grief to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:10">Ps. xcv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
he is <I>broken with their whorish heart</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+6:9">Ezek. vi. 9</A>);
|
|
|
|
their troubles also are a grief to him; so he is pleased to speak when
|
|
he is pleased to appear for the deliverance of his people, changing his
|
|
way and method of proceeding, as tender parents when they begin to
|
|
relent towards their children with whom they have been displeased. Such
|
|
are the tender mercies of our God, and so far is he from having any
|
|
pleasure in the death of sinners.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Things are now working towards their deliverance from the
|
|
Ammonites' oppression,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
God had said, "I will deliver you no more;" but now they are not what
|
|
they were, they are other men, they are new men, and now he will
|
|
deliver them. That threatening was denounced to convince and humble
|
|
them, and, now that it had taken its desired effect, it is revoked in
|
|
order to their deliverance.
|
|
|
|
1. The Ammonites are hardened to their own ruin. They gathered together
|
|
in one body, that they might be destroyed at one blow,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+16:16">Rev. xvi. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The Israelites are animated to their own rescue. They assembled
|
|
likewise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
During their eighteen years' oppression, as in their former servitudes,
|
|
they were run down by their enemies, because they would not
|
|
incorporate; each family, city, or tribe, would stand by itself, and
|
|
act independently, and so they all became an easy prey to the
|
|
oppressors, for want of a due sense of a common interest to cement
|
|
them: but, whenever they got together, they did well; so they did here.
|
|
When God's Israel become as one man to advance a common good and oppose
|
|
a common enemy what difficulty can stand before them? The people and
|
|
princes of Gilead, having met, consult first about a general that
|
|
should command in chief against the Ammonites. Hitherto most of the
|
|
deliverers of Israel had an extraordinary call to the office, as Ehud,
|
|
Barak, Gideon; but the next is to be called in a more common way, by a
|
|
convention of the states, who enquired out a fit man to command their
|
|
army, found out one admirably well qualified for the purpose, and God
|
|
owned their choice by putting his Spirit upon him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:29"><I>ch.</I> xi. 29</A>);
|
|
|
|
so that this instance is of use for direction and encouragement in
|
|
after-ages, when extraordinary calls are no longer to be expected. Let
|
|
such be impartially chosen to public trust and power as God has
|
|
qualified, and then God will graciously own those who are thus
|
|
chosen.</P>
|
|
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|
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