Judges 10-13

“We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to Thee; only please deliver us” (10:15).  Whenever Israel repented, God had compassion on them.  However, Judges is like a horror story depicting the natural consequences of sin.  Gideon had refused to become Israel’s king, saying “The Lord shall rule over you” (8:23), but the Israelites, like Gideon himself (8:27), didn’t have the necessary inner righteousness for that to work.  So, without a king, they sank lower and lower into civil war and idolatry.

“Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah” (11:29).  God’s mercy stood between Israel and self-destruction, as by His Spirit He rescued them.