And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.
Israel had settled among the nations they were told to drive out, married into them, and taken up their gods. Verse 8 is the bill for it, and it raises two questions: why does Scripture say God sold them, and why did their new master come from so far away?
The verse does not say Cushan-rishathaim conquered Israel. It says God sold them to him. One writer, weighing the whole book of Judges, explains the exchange:
In perfect justice God's anger was kindled against His people. They had so polluted His inheritance that He came to hate it. He gave them into the hands of Gentiles whom they considered worse than themselves. The book of Judges records many times when nations that hated them ruled over them. That would not have happened if they had obeyed God. The Lord was as much as saying, "Very well: if you refuse to obey Me, then Gentile nations will force you to obey them." Which would they prefer? Of course, their enemies oppressed them and forced them to submit.
This oppressor came from far outside the land. Both his country's name and his own name carry meaning:
Israel had formed harmful ties with the evils in the land. So God sent an enemy from a distant place, Mesopotamia, to conquer Israel and hold them in hard bondage for eight years. Mesopotamia means "exalted," and the name of its king, Chushan-Rishathaim, means "blackness of double wickedness." His mother probably did not give him that name, but God does. It is the greatest wickedness for anyone to lift himself to the highest honour, as the Antichrist will. This enemy of Israel therefore reminds us of "every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." This kind of pride among the people of God calls for the strictest self-judgment, for we are worthy only of humiliation, not of exaltation.
That last phrase follows an older translation of 2 Corinthians 10:5. The ESV reads "every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God."
This king is the first power ever to rule God's people. One writer finds meaning in where he came from and in what his name means:
Here is the first step of real bondage. Is it not significant that he is completely outside the land? He is away from the place that God has given, and that suggests the thought of distance and separation from God. He is the king of Aram, which means "exaltation" and pride. In another place Aram pictures our exaltation in Christ. So if there is exaltation without Christ, the one who takes Christ's place is the worst enemy there can be… Chushan is black. Anyone or any principle that takes the place of Christ is doubly dyed black. That is the thought. It is not a question here of immorality, nor of practice, but of principle.
Israel's first oppressor and its last came from the same place:
So here, Aram or Babylon — Babel — brings the people into bondage. It is the very first power to rule over them, and it rules because they exalted themselves and acted independently of God. And that Babylonian captivity is the final one. It is when Babylon carried off the last trace of the kingdom of Judah… In other words, the very first step includes the last. That is God's way of working, and it holds almost everywhere — the first step includes the last. "It is the first step that costs," says the old proverb.
Israel bore eight years of this before crying out. One writer asks why:
Why did Israel take so long to cry out to the Lord for deliverance from such oppression? They had grown used to serving idols, and they were probably expecting the idols to help them. So God gave them time to learn that their idols were no help against their enemies. When they turned to Him, He answered in grace by raising up Othniel as a deliverer.
- Sold, not defeated. The oppressor did not take Israel; God handed them over. Refusing to serve Him did not end their servitude — it changed their master.
- Sold by association. The bondage grew straight out of the mixing described just before it. God did not pick an enemy from the nations Israel had spared. He brought one from far away.
- Sold to pride. The first power to rule God's people is named "exalted," and its king "blackness of double wickedness." The deepest evil here is not immorality but a principle that takes Christ's place.
- Sold at the first step. Aram is Babylon's country. The nation's first captivity already carried the shape of its last: the first step includes the last.
- Sold until they cried. Eight years passed while idols proved useless. The bondage did not end when it grew unbearable. It ended when Israel turned to the Lord, and He answered with a deliverer.
And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah; and Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
Israel left the LORD and served other gods. Eight years under Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, followed. Then at last the people cried out to God. Why did they wait so long? And what does His answer show about the way He rescues people who bring trouble on themselves?
Eight years is a long time to stay under a foreign yoke without appealing to God. One writer traces the delay to what Israel had been trusting instead.
Why did Israel take so long to cry out to the Lord for deliverance from such oppression? Because they had grown used to serving idols and were probably expecting the idols to help them. So God allowed time for them to learn that their idols were no help against their enemies, but when they turned to Him He graciously answered by raising up Othniel as a deliverer.
This rescue is not a one-off. One writer traces the steps and says they never change.
First we have to note the failure of the people, who begin to serve false gods; then their servitude. In their distress they cry to Jehovah. This is always the way in which deliverance comes.
The king they served was not picked at random. His name held up a mirror to the nation.
This king is the first tool of punishment in Jehovah's hands. His name shows the very condition Israel had fallen into. Chushan-Rishathaim means "the blackness of double wickedness." They had become wicked twice over: they left Jehovah and served strange gods.
The ESV calls Othniel a deliverer. One writer says the word is stronger than that. And the man's own name points to someone greater.
They cried to the Lord out of the depths of their misery and sin. They threw themselves once more on Jehovah and turned their backs on the strange gods. So the Lord answered and sent a saviour who saved them. (The King James Version has "deliverer." The correct translation is "saviour.")… Othniel means "lion of God," and since he was of Judah, he is a picture of Him who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah… What grace God shows His people in this first deliverance!
The verse takes care to place Othniel on a side branch of the family — son of Kenaz, brother of Caleb. That detail starts a pattern running through the whole book.
When things are in a low moral state, God uses instruments that are imperfect in themselves and marked by weakness. Othniel came from a younger branch of the family. He was "the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother." Ehud was weak through his disability, Shamgar through his weapon, Deborah because she was a woman, Barak by his natural character, Gideon because of his family, Jephthah by his birth… and yet the very weakness of these witnesses glorified the power of Him who could use them.
Othniel had a history before this rescue. What he did in private life is what fitted him for public work.
We have already spoken of Othniel in his private, domestic life… God had in this way fitted him to be the first judge in Israel. Having fought to win a wife, he became the owner of his own personal inheritance and of springs to water it. God now uses him to fight for others, and it is always this way. Before God uses a Christian in public, that Christian must first grow in the knowledge of the Lord, and in the power of his privileges.
Deliverance here does not begin on the battlefield. One writer sets out the order God keeps.
First of all self-judgment, then conflict with the enemy… If His people had not judged themselves, they could not go to war. In the book of Deuteronomy we read, "when you go out to war, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing." So Othniel acts. The man who is going to set them free from the power of independence from God must first bring them face down before Him… There they judge for God, before going out to war.
- Cry. Eight years of slavery taught Israel that their idols could not save them. Only then did they cry to the Lord.
- Answer. One writer names the steps that never change: failure, slavery, cry, deliverance. God's answer to it was grace.
- Saviour. The one raised up is a saviour who saved them. "Othniel" means "lion of God." As a man of Judah, he pictures the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
- Weakness. God took a man from the younger branch of the family. The weakness of the instrument is what displays the power of the One using it.
- Order. Othniel won his own inheritance in private before God used him in public. He judged Israel before he went out to war.
And the Spirit of Jehovah was upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah gave Chushan-rishathaim king of Syria into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
A foreign king had held Israel for eight years. They cried out, and God raised up Othniel to save them. One line holds a whole career: the Spirit's coming, government, war, and victory. What made this man usable?
One writer traces the verse clause by clause.
Verses 10 and 11 are short, yet they mention six things about him. First, "The Spirit of the LORD," the power of God to deliver Israel, "was upon him." Second, "he judged Israel" — God entrusted him with government. Third, he "went out to war" — here we have conflict. Fourth, "the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand" — this is victory. Fifth, "his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim" — the enemy is subdued at last. Sixth, "the land had rest forty years." Israel quietly enjoys the fruits of Othniel's victory. God has reached His goal.
What happened to Othniel is not what Scripture promises believers now.
Christ accomplished His great sacrificial work and ascended on high. Since then the Holy Spirit is God's gift of love to all believers without distinction. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them any more than the humblest child of God does. The Old Testament records something different. There the Spirit of God sometimes came upon men for some special service. This is the sovereign act of God, and it does not depend on whether the person is converted. So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Othniel (Judges 3:10).
Commentators differ on "he judged Israel": one takes it as government entrusted to him, another as self-judgment before battle.
Notice two things, and they come in the scriptural order: "he judged Israel and he went out to war." First self-judgment, then conflict with the enemy. It is just in that order. On many a battlefield God let the enemy defeat Israel. He would not link His holy name with them while there was no self-judgment on their part. If His people had not judged themselves, they could not go to war.
Another writer draws the lesson from the whole book.
One lesson taught in this book is not hard to read; namely, that he who would help his brothers and sisters must himself be in fellowship with God.
Othniel's earlier life had already fitted him for this work.
Othniel fought to win a wife, and so gained his own inheritance and springs to water it. Now God uses him to fight for others, and it is always so. Before God uses a Christian publicly, that Christian must first have grown in the knowledge of the Lord and in the power of his privileges.
God answered Israel's cry by reaching for that same man.
And where did God turn? He turned to a proved man, a man who was reliable. He raised up Othniel, and the Spirit of the LORD came upon him. Othniel worked with great power, as he had done before at Kiriath-sepher. This time he was not securing something for himself, but something for the people of God, for God's interests.
The names here carry meaning.
Mesopotamia means "exalted," and the name of its king, Cushan-rishathaim, means "blackness of double wickedness." His mother likely did not give him that name, but God does. It is the greatest wickedness for anyone to exalt himself to the heights of highest honour... This kind of pride among the people of God calls for the sternest self-judgment, for we are worthy only of humiliation, not of exaltation... Othniel's name means "lion of God," so he was a fitting instrument for God to use against Mesopotamia, which means "exalted." Fleshly exaltation looks strong, but its strength is only black wickedness.
The years after the victory take only a line to record.
Happy is the country that has no "history" — that is, in the common sense of the word, a record of wars, treaties, and rival dynasties. Happy is the country when two or three clauses can tell a ruler's whole long reign: a hard and heroic undertaking, a mighty and effective deliverance, a wise and peaceful reign... He proved strong enough to conquer their oppressors. He now shows himself just as wise and strong to govern his own people and keep them growing in peace.
- Power — The Spirit of the LORD came upon Othniel for a task. It was a sovereign act, not the permanent indwelling given to believers since Christ ascended.
- Order — He judged Israel before he went out to war. Self-judgment comes first, and God would not join His name to an army that skipped it.
- Preparation — God turned to a proved man. What Othniel had won earlier for himself he now used for God's people and God's interests.
- Enemy — Cushan-rishathaim means "blackness of double wickedness," and his land "exalted." Othniel means "lion of God." Pride like that must be judged among God's people.
- Rest — Victory ended in forty quiet years. The man who could conquer proved able to govern in peace.