And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the sight of Jehovah.
Israel's peace under Othniel lasted forty years, and then the same evil returns. This time the Lord Himself makes the enemy strong — so why would God arm a foreign king against His own people?
The word "again" points back to a pattern. One writer traces its shape across the book: not a circle, but a downward slope.
God does not raise up another Joshua, He does not restore what has been broken to pieces. He raises up a judge for a specific purpose. When that judge has done his special work and dies, the heart of the people slips off into evil. They need another deliverer, another recovery through another judge — but weaker and weaker, until it becomes almost total darkness.
The strengthening is deliberate, and it comes from the same hand that had given the last victory.
Othniel dies; the children of Israel return to their evil ways, and forget the Lord. The same God who had strengthened Othniel against the enemy, now, in judgment, strengthens Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel.
The verse names the cause itself: Israel had done evil. Writing about a later enemy, Midian, one commentator draws out the rule.
First of all, we are reminded that the unfaithfulness of God's people is what puts power into any enemy's hand... No might of Midian could or would have won if the Lord had not permitted it. And He would not have permitted it if there had been no need in Israel's condition. Those who will not learn in fellowship with God must learn in the hands of the enemy.
Moab was not a stranger. He descended from Lot, Abraham's relative, so the Moabites were Israel's blood relations.
But, as we have already seen, Lot's relation with Abraham was largely a fleshly one. In his descendants' case it was entirely fleshly. Israel had no more bitter and relentless foes than these Moabites and Ammonites, who were their kinsmen.
Scripture describes Moab's character elsewhere. One writer turns that description into a warning.
In Isaiah 16 we find God describing the characteristics of Moab that merited judgment. He said Moab was arrogant, proud and wrathful (v. 6)... Applying this to ourselves, it would seem to mean this. If we, as Christians, become disobedient to God's word, there is a danger that these features seen in the king of Moab will overcome us. We will become arrogant, proud, wrathful, evil and independent of God. And morally we will lose our place among the people of God for any effective testimony.
Eglon does not come alone. He draws in Ammon and Amalek, and takes Jericho, the city of palms — ground Israel had won by God's power at the start.
When they continued to do evil Jehovah used Eglon, king of Moab, to punish their disobedience and evil-doing. With him there is Ammon and Amalek, a trinity of evil. The city of Palms is Jericho (Deut. 34:3), a type of the world, as we saw from Joshua. Moab pictures typically an outward, empty, Christian profession. Amalek is the type of the lusts of the flesh which flourish with those who have the form of godliness but deny the power of it.
Commentators differ on the exact picture. Some read Moab as empty religious profession.
Profession looks very much like the real thing — but it is profession without reality. Profession may claim natural relationship to faith; it may say we are the people of God, we are separate from the world, we belong to Christ. But all these things may mark mere empty barren profession, and so the king of Moab governs God's people. Profession will gain on them and bring them down to its own dead level of worldliness.
Others read Moab as the flesh, and point to the tribute Israel paid.
The Moabites had no true claim upon Israel, and yet we find that Eglon had set up his throne in the city of the palm trees... From that place of power he ruled Israel and taxed them. So Israel gave the king of Moab what God alone had the right to claim. How true a picture this is of the state of thousands of Christians. The flesh has no right to rule us, for "we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh," Rom. 8.
- Cause. The evil came first; the oppression came second. Israel's own unfaithfulness put the power into the enemy's hand.
- Hand. The God who strengthened Othniel is the God who strengthened Eglon. The same hand delivers and disciplines, and no oppressor moves without His permission.
- Kinsman. Moab was a relative, not a stranger — and Israel had no fiercer foe. What claims kinship with the people of God can rule them hardest.
- Tribute. Eglon set his throne in the city of palm trees and collected what God alone had the right to claim. Whatever rules you receives what belongs to Him.
- Slope. Each cycle in Judges leaves the people weaker than the last. Those who will not learn in fellowship with God learn in the hand of the enemy.
And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek and went and smote Israel, and they took possession of the city of palm-trees.
Israel turned away from God again, and a foreign king crossed the Jordan against them. This verse shows his method: he gathered allies, struck Israel, and seized the city at the gateway of the land.
Eglon did not come alone. One writer sets out who joined him, and how long the bondage lasted:
Look at the companions Moab had: Ammon and Amalek, two other enemies of Israel. There are no friends of Israel in Moab's company. They are all enemies. God had said that no Moabite or Ammonite was ever to come into the assembly of the Lord; that was His command against them. Amalek was against the throne of God. They were arrogant and possessive, and God said there was to be war against them right to the end. Here is a very powerful alliance against the nation of Israel: Ammon, Moab and Amalek. How was this to be met? Bondage to any one of them was a serious thing, but during the eighteen years it seems no one even tried to end it.
Amalek's appearance here is not isolated. Writers note that this people repeatedly attached itself to whoever was fighting Israel at the time:
At various intervals, we see Amalek in league with other nations against Israel. Thus, in Judges 3:12-13, we see Amalek in league with Moab... In Judges 6:3, we see Amalek associated with Midian in a common hatred directed against the people of God.
Commentators read these nations as pictures of spiritual dangers. One writer links Moab's two partners to nature and the flesh:
Eglon joins Ammon and the Amalekites to himself. These suggest various forms of nature and the flesh. We will meet Ammon later, in Jephthah's conflict, and Amalek speaks of the "works of the flesh," the inevitable companions of a faith that is only claimed.
Another writer reads the king of Moab as a warning about character:
In Isaiah 16 we find God describing the features of Moab that deserved judgment. He said Moab was arrogant, proud and wrathful (v.6)... If we, as Christians, become disobedient to God's word, there is a danger that we will be overcome by these same features that mark the king of Moab. We will become arrogant, proud, wrathful, evil and independent of God. In our moral state we will lose our place among the people of God for any effective testimony.
Moab was not a stranger to Israel. One writer traces the family line, and where the likeness ended:
Moab could easily have claimed kinship with Israel. Abraham and Lot were relatives, and Abraham rescued Lot out of his position in Sodom. But there the likeness ended. All the sons of Abraham in the line of faith, starting with Isaac, who was born to him by a miracle, were men of faith and men of power for God. Lot's descendants, Moab and Ammon, were the relentless enemies of Israel. They proved it at every moment of Israel's testimony.
The verse moves from gathering allies to defeating Israel. One writer reads that sequence as the enemy's method:
So he could come in slowly and take possession, until at last he ruled over his own relatives by natural descent. The advance may have been gradual at first, made possible by the carelessness of the people. But in the end he strikes Israel. Spiritual hostility is definite. Satan will strike at last, though he attracts at first.
The city of palms is Jericho. Israel had taken it once; losing it was not a failure of God's power:
They were able to take the city of palms, Jericho, which Israel had taken earlier by the power of God when they entered the land (Josh. 6). That same power of God could surely have enabled Israel to hold Jericho, but Israel had replaced God with its idols. So Eglon made Jericho his headquarters in Israel. The name Jericho means "fragrant." It speaks of pleasant, favorable circumstances, which suited a man like Eglon.
The attractive name of the place is itself part of the lesson:
It is not called Jericho, because the enemy is too clever to give a plain name to things. It is called the city of palm trees. Palms are beautiful, tall, striking trees. And doesn't Scripture say that the righteous flourish like the palm tree? Surely there cannot be anything very bad about Moab setting up his throne in the city of palm trees — that is, righteousness, morality, reform, practical uprightness in walk and honesty... Moab's power, the power of religion that is only claimed, is outward reform.
- Allies. Moab gathered Ammon and Amalek. Every companion in that alliance was an enemy of Israel, and bondage to even one of them was a serious thing.
- Kinship. Moab could claim family ties with Israel through Lot. But the likeness stopped there. Lot's descendants proved relentless enemies at every moment of Israel's testimony.
- Method. The advance was slow, made possible by the people's carelessness. The blow came only at the end. The enemy attracts first and strikes last.
- Ground lost. God's power took Jericho, and that same power could have held it. Israel lost the city because it had replaced God with idols.
- Disguise. The enemy avoided a plain name and ruled from "the city of palms." Outward reform looks like righteousness, but it is only outward.