Judges 3:8-11

List of Judges Judges 3:8 to Judges 16:31

Othniel Judges and Delivers Israel Judges 3:8-11

8 Therefore the anger of the Lord 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.
9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
10 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

5.

Who was Cusban-risbathaim? Judges 3:8

Cushan-rishathaim was the king of Mesopotamia. All that we know about this king is what is recorded here. The name is more than likely a title which was given to him by the Israelites. Rishathaim means double wickedness. Cushan may be a derivative of Cush, signifying that the man was a Cushite. The rulers of Babylon from 1518-1273 B.C. were Arabs, but the Arabs of the time may have included not only Shemites of the tribe of Joktan or Ishmael, but Cushites as well. The invasion of Canaan by this Mesopotamian king has a historical analogy in the campaign of the allied kings who came with Chedar-laomer in the time of Abraham (Genesis 14).

6.

Who was Othniel? Judges 3:9

Othniel was the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, His tribe was Judah, Later Biblical history reveals he had a son named Hathath (1 Chronicles 4:13). Heldai, a Netophathite, is also described as being of the family of Othniel (1 Chronicles 27:15). Othniel had conquered Kiriath-sepher, later known as Debir, in the territory of Judah in the days of Joshua, As a result, he was given the daughter of Caleb, Achsah, as his wife (Joshua 15:17, Judges 1:13). Josephus in Antiquities (V. vi, 3) says Othniel had an admonition from God not to overlook the Israelites in their distress. Undoubtedly, he was stirred by the circumstance of these people and, as Josephus said, endeavored boldly to gain them their liberty. The particular problem in Othniel's day was the oppression of Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia. Josephus said one of Othniel's first strokes was to attack the garrison which Cushan had set over them. When the people saw he was successful in his first attempt, they were willing to join battle with the Assyrians, and thus they drove them out entirely. He held sway in Israel for forty years.

7.

What was the Spirit of the Lord? Judges 3:9-11

The Spirit of God is the spiritual principle of life in the world of nature and man; and in man it is the principle both of the natural life which we receive through birth and also of the spiritual life which we receive through regeneration. In this sense the expressions Spirit of God (Elohim) and Spirit of the Lord (Jehovah) are interchanged even in Genesis 1:2, compared with Genesis 6:3, and so throughout all the books of the Old Testament. The former denotes the Divine Spirit generally in its supernatural causality and power. The latter signifies the same Spirit in its operations upon human life and history in the working out of the plan of salvation. The recipients and bearers of this Spirit were thereby endowed with the power to perform miraculous deeds, in which the Spirit of God which came upon them manifested itself generally in the ability to prophesy (1 Samuel 10:10; 1 Samuel 19:20; 1 Samuel 19:23; 1 Chronicles 12:18; 2 Chronicles 20:14; 2 Chronicles 24:20). His working is seen also in the power to work miracles or to accomplish deeds which surpassed the courage and strength of the natural man. The latter was more especially the case with the judges. We are hardly at liberty to split up the different powers of the Spirit of God and to restrict its operations upon the judges to the spirit of strength and bravery alone. The judges not only attacked the enemy courageously and with success, but they also judged the nation. For this the spirit of wisdom and understanding was indispensably necessary. They put down idolatry (Judges 2:18-19), which they could not have done without the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. We can make these observations:

1.

The influence came straight from above

2.

It was not necessarily a sanctifying influence

3.

Not the same as the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit

4.

Gifts were miraculous, rather than gracious

8.

How are the chronological notes to be understood? Judges 3:11

All the chronological notes in the book of Judges indicate a period of 410 years. It has been supposed that the rule of several judges was contemporaneous, not successive. Therefore the total period during which the judges ruled Israel would be cut down accordingly. It is evident that this was not the thought of the writer. The reader of the Biblical narrative will note that it is stated in the case of the judges-' rule that they ruled over Israel. No intimation is made of taking Israel as partial or limited in sense. The best way to work out the chronological problem is to subtract the periods of oppression as having occurred during the time of some of the different judges, Adding up the total periods of rule of the judges, one finds the period must have been at least 299 years in length. If Abimelech's usurpation is ignored, then a total of 296 years is achieved; and this resultant number is very near the total which the statement in 1 Kings 6:1 suggests.