And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and he sold him into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And they oppressed and crushed the children of Israel in that year; eighteen years [they oppressed] all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
Israel had taken up the gods of every nation around them, and this verse records the price: eighteen years of crushing. The blow fell first on the tribes east of the Jordan, in Gilead — so why this oppressor, and why this ground?
The oppression was not random. The punishment matched the sin:
The story repeats itself: Israel turned away from God, and God chastened them by the hand of the very peoples whose gods they had followed. Indeed, the gods of every nation around them now had their worship, and Jehovah alone was robbed of His. So He sells them again into the hands of the Philistines and of the Ammonites at once. The Ammonite scourge is the one described in the section before us; the Philistine bondage is not broken until we reach the book of Samuel, though Samson begins the deliverance.
Ammon was the visible power, but not the real agent:
Ammon was raised up as the rod of Jehovah and oppressed Gilead eighteen years. He also passed over Jordan to fight against Judah and Benjamin. Then, under the pressure of circumstances, grace worked in the conscience of the people.
One writer reads the two oppressors as pictures of two spiritual dangers that feed off each other:
The Philistines (their name means "wallowers") stand for religion that is all form and ritual, a shell with nothing real inside. If people take this up, Ammon is ready to take advantage of it. Ammon (whose name means "peoplish") speaks of false, satanic teachings that please the people. The king of Ammon was named Nahash, meaning "a serpent" (1 Sam. 10:2). So wicked teaching will thrive under a formal show of religion. It is a very sad thing when believers fall under such influence in any measure. Just as Israel accepted this kind of compromise, so they found themselves oppressed by it, and for 18 years (v. 8).
Two and a half tribes had settled east of the river. Writers see a pattern here that runs through Israel's later history:
But to live on the wrong side of the Jordan is dangerous. The two and a half tribes learned this often. In times of trouble they were the first to meet the invader's attack, and the first to be carried away captive by the King of Assyria.
Ammon wanted more than tribute. He claimed the land itself:
They claim the land as their own by right, and want to take it away. It was once the kingdom of Sihon; now it is the inheritance of Reuben and of Gad. They argue that Israel robbed them of all this when they came out of Egypt, and they openly ask for it back. So it is plain that false teaching would take away the portion of the people of God. And notice this: they openly demand the land east of the Jordan, but they are making it a base for their attack on the tribes across the river.
The long pressure was not wasted. Writers note that as the nation sank lower, its self-judgment went deeper:
It is a remarkable fact that as the falling away from God nears its final stage, the awakenings of conscience became deeper. I do not say that they widened… Here, for the first time, divine light reaches the conscience of the people and leads them to judge themselves deeply.
The eighteen years show God's hand in discipline; they also show His heart. Israel had no claim left, yet the misery reached Him:
Israel had failed — sadly, shamefully, inexcusably failed. They had forfeited all claim to the protection of Jehovah's shield… As to all this there could be no possible question. Still, Jehovah's heart could feel for His poor, oppressed, and groaning Israel. True, they had proved themselves wicked and unworthy, yet His ear was always ready to catch their very first groan.
- Chosen. Israel worshipped the gods of every nation around them. God then handed them over to those same peoples.
- Rod. Ammon was not just a strong neighbour. God raised him up as a rod to discipline His people.
- Exposed. The blow fell first in Gilead, east of the Jordan. That side of the river always met the invader first.
- Claimed. Ammon did more than oppress. He demanded the land itself, and used the east side as a base against the tribes across the river.
- Grieved. Eighteen years of crushing drove Israel to the deepest self-judgment in the book. Yet God's heart still felt for a people with no claim left.
And the children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; and Israel was greatly distressed.
Israel had taken up the gods of its neighbours, and it cost them eighteen years under Ammon east of the Jordan. Now the trouble crosses the river into Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim — so why does God let it spread?
The oppression did not fall at random. One writer reads the nations named here as pictures of spiritual evils Israel had taken up:
The Lord's anger was such that He sold Israel into the hands of the Philistines and the children of Ammon (vv. 6-7). The Philistines (their name means "wallowers") stand for formal, ritual religion that is only a shell with no reality. If people take that up, Ammon is ready to take advantage of it. Ammon (meaning "peoplish") speaks of false, satanic doctrines that please the people... Israel accepted this compromise, and so they found themselves oppressed by it — for 18 years (v. 8).
Ammon's strength was not Ammon's own. One writer traces any enemy's power back to something in God's people:
Remember first of all that the unfaithfulness of God's people is what puts power into any enemy's hands... Midian had no strength that could or would have won if the Lord had not allowed it. And He would not have allowed it if there had been no need in Israel's condition. Those who will not learn in communion with God, must do so in the hands of the enemy.
The crossing of the Jordan is the alarming detail:
This power of false doctrine sweeps over the whole of the eastern territory. Everyone in Gilead and east of Jordan is under its sway. In fact, they have come into the land itself and attacked the strongholds of Benjamin and Judah and Ephraim. Those tribes always stood for the very heart and the defence of God's inheritance.
Benjamin's part in this goes back to an old compromise:
The tribe did not drive out the Jebusites. They let them live with them in Jerusalem (Judges 1:21), and this may have led to their idolatry. When the children of Ammon attacked them, along with Judah and Ephraim, they confessed that they had forsaken God and served the Baals (Judges 10:9-10).
Israel's distress did something that easier days had not done. One writer links the depth of the nation's decline to the depth of what God stirred in it:
The Lord raised up Ammon as His rod, and Ammon oppressed Gilead for eighteen years. Ammon also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah and Benjamin. Then, under the pressure of circumstances, grace worked in the conscience of the people. Here is a remarkable fact. The nearer the falling away came to its final form, the deeper the awakenings of conscience became... Here, for the first time, God's light reaches the conscience of the people and leads them to judge themselves deeply.
Israel does not speak up until things are at their worst. One writer draws out what that shows about God:
But then it has a blessed effect. They turn. Their very misery compels them to turn from the enemy who had so enthralled them. Their very misery makes them confess at the very last point when the power of the enemy is greatest... They make a true confession to God and put themselves in His hands: "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to You. Only please deliver us this day." How tender our God is! He cannot look on misery unmoved, even when sin has caused it: "His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel." Whenever there is true repentance, our Blessed God will not leave His people without some measure of deliverance at least.
(The closing quotation follows an older translation of Judges 10:16; the ESV reads, "he became impatient over the misery of Israel.")
Israel's words in verse 10 do not end the distress at once. God answers with a rebuke:
There is confession. But God is faithful, and He must show them this: it is one thing to get away from Him, and quite another to get back... I may be brought back after a long course of chastening to a sense of my sin, and I may turn and confess it to God from my heart. Does that mean that I am going to regain all that I have lost at once? Ah no! ... In solemn irony, God says, "Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."
- Invited — The enemy holds only the ground God's people hand over. Unfaithfulness opened the door, not Ammon's strength.
- Spreading — Trouble on the far side of the river does not stay there. It crosses over and strikes the heart of God's inheritance.
- Pressing — The distress is God's rod. Under its pressure grace works in the conscience as easier days never did.
- Confessing — Misery at its worst forces the honest words out. God's tenderness meets that misery, even though sin caused it.
- Recovering — True repentance always brings some measure of deliverance. But what was lost does not come back at once: the way back is slower than the way out.