You will break the oppressor’s rod,
Isaiah 9:4b NLT
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
the Oppressor’s Rod
We expect a powerful King to save us, not a loving, all-powerful King.
“..and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 53:3
We will return to the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree. If you have missed Mark's telling, just go back to our prologue. But first let's look back to the time of the Judges of Israel just after Moses.
God Commissions Joshua
[circa 13th. c. Before Christ]:
Joshua 1 (ESV)
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
2:7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
Joshua 24:
Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel.
And they presented themselves before God.
2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many.
The LORD Leads. He Empowers Judges.
Conquest of Canaan
Judges 1
After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”
Judges 2:11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.
16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them.
17 They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so.”
– Do the people not remain rebellious against God?
The Rod of Midian
Is it not the Lord who does punish? Will the suppression of Jacob by Rome centuries after Gideon not accomplish the Lord’s purpose?
Though we have forgotten the former days, Israel had hoped for a messiah to remove the rod of Rome. Those who followed Jesus wanted a King, not a Judge. Israel sought Gideon’s redemption, not a Savior of souls.
We remember and laud our heroes, while forgetting the causes of God’s punishment.
“How suddenly in success do we forget the Lord.”
Judges 6:
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.
Judges 7:
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
… 9 That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand…
And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.
To be continued…
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