I. THE CONDITION OF ISRAEL DURING THIS PERIOD. This was partly favorable, and partly unfavorable. The favorable elements were:
1. The mountain location of Israel. The tribes were perched like Switzerland in the Alps. There was a desert on the south and on the east, while on the west lay the plain by the sea, the great route of travel between Egypt and the Euphrates. Great armies passed and repassed over this plain, and great battles were fought by Egyptians, Hittites, and Assyrians, while Israel on her mountain peaks was unmolested. This mountain home left Israel generally unnoticed, and, when attacked, almost inaccessible.
2. The racial unity of Israel. The two finest races of the world, the Greek and the Israelite, were both of pure blood. The Israelites were one in origin, in language, in traditions, in aspirations. This national unity often brought the tribes together in times of distress; though not always when their union was needed.
3. The religious institutions. In Greece every town had its own god and its own religion; hence the many parties and petty nationalities. But in Israel there was in theory but one altar, one house of God, one system of worship, with its annual pilgrimage to the religious capital (1 Sam. 1. 3). Just to the measure in which these institutions were observed, Israel was strong against all foes, and as they were neglected the land became the prey of oppressors (Judg. 2. 7-14; 1. Sam. 7. 3).
But there were also unfavorable elements in the condition of Israel, which threatened its very existence. These were:
1. The native races. These were of two kinds: the subject peoples left on the soil, more or less under the domination of the conquerors, and the surrounding nations, Ammon, Moab, Syria, and the Philistines. There was danger from their enmity, a rebellion of the subject tribes, allied with the enemies around, for the destruction of Israel. And there was far greater danger from their friendship, which would lead to intermarriage, to idolatry, to corruption of morals, and to ruin (Judg. 3. 1-7).
2. Lack of a central government. Israel was in the condition of the United States at the close of the Revolution, from 1783 to 1789, a loose confederation with no central authority. There were twelve tribes, but each governed itself. Only under some great chieftain like Gideon or Samuel were all the twelve tribes united. Most of the judges ruled only over their own district of a few adjoining tribes. Often the northern tribes were in peril, but we never read of Judah going to their assistance; and in Judah's wars with the Philistines the northern tribes stood aloof.
3. Tribal jealousy. Until the establishment of the American republic the world never saw, for any length of time, a league of states on an equal footing. In Greece the strongest state claimed the hegemony, or leadership, and oppressed its allies. In Italy the Romans reduced all their neighbors to subjection. In Europe it now requires an army of more than a million men to maintain the "balance of power." So in Israel there was a constant struggle for the leadership between the two great tribes of Judah and Ephraim. During the period of the judges Ephraim was constantly asserting its right to rule the other tribes (Judg. 8. 1-3; 12. 1-6). We trace this rivalry through all the reign of David; and at last it led to the division of the empire under Rehoboam.
4. Idolatrous tendencies. We note constantly "the two Israels"—a spiritual minority and an irreligious, idolatrous mass. For ten centuries the greatest evil of Israelite history was the tendency to the worship of idols. Causes which operated to promote it were: 1.) The natural craving for a visible object of worship, not altogether eradicated from even the Christian heart; for example, Romish images and ritualistic bowing toward the altar. 2.) The association of Israel with idolaters on the soil or as neighbors. 3.) The opportunity which idol-worship gives to gratify lust under the guise of religion. As a result of these forces we find idol-worship the crying sin of the Israelites down to the captivity in Babylon.
II. THE JUDGES OF ISRAEL. These were the heroes of that age, the men who in turn led the tribes, freed them from their enemies, and restored them to the service of God.