Judges 10: More Judges - And Judgment!

And the cycle goes on.  Israel continues to receive deliverance through judges, yet then turn their back on the Lord after they are rescued.  In this chapter, God reveals that He is beginning to get a little tired of their continual faithlessness.

We first hear of Judge Tola, who helped deliver Israel from her enemies.  He lived in the hill country of Ephraim and served as a judge for 23 years.

Next arose a man from across the Jordan, in Gilead, named Jair.  Jair was a judge for 22 years.  The Bible notes that he had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys and lived in 30 towns in Gilead.

But after these judges passed, "the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" (vs. 6).  Instead of worshiping God, they abandoned Him.   So God abandoned them to be sold into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites to be crushed and oppressed for 18 years.  Judgment has arrived.

When the Israelites cry out to Him for deliverance, God's response was not pleasant.  After recounting His past faithfulness and their repeated faithlessness, He says "...I will deliver you no more.  Go and cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress" (vs. 13-14).

But God's compassion had not run out.  When the Israelites truly humble themselves and repent by putting away their foreign gods and worshiping the Lord, He relents.  "He could no longer bear to see Israel suffer" (vs. 16).  The stage is set for a new ruler to emerge and deliver the people.