Judges 10:13-18

Judges 10:13

Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

God reminds the Israelites that they have forsaken Him and had gone on to serve other gods.  Their crying out to Him was not in sincerity.  God has the ability to know the hearts and minds and their attempt to play the victim was not going to win them approval by God unless their cries were from a sincere and repentant heart.

Judges 10:14

Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

Then the Lord tells them that since they are in such tribulation, why then should they call to the true God whom they have forsaken.  If they are in trouble then let them cry out to the false gods which they have voluntarily chosen to follow and obey.  He was challenging them to see if the false gods could get them out of the predicament they got themselves into.  The word “deliver” carries with it the meaning of “preserve or defend.”

Judges 10:15

And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.

They were desperate and did not want to remain under the captivity of their captors.  They finally surrendered their pride and told the Lord they have sinned and they were so distraught that they said to the Lord that they would be willing to be subject to whatever punishment they deserved for forsaking Him.  Whatever He would deem proper in the way of punishment would be acceptable to them because they wanted to be delivered and be delivered on that day.  They were basically asking the Lord to hurry with their deliverance because they were in such affliction.  Hebrews 10:31 (KJV)   It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  When they asked the Lord to give them whatever punishment they deserved, they did not realize what they were asking.  If God truly wanted to give them what they deserved, they would be under the judgment of God in hell right now.

Judges 10:16

And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

To show their true repentance at this time, they had removed all the strange gods from among them.  The words “put away” carries with them the meaning of “depart, eschew or remove.”  They began to serve the Lord once again but the Lord was showing his sympathy toward them because of what they suffered under the rule of the wicked kings.  The word “misery” carries with it the meaning of “travail or toil.”  God still showed how much He cared for them even though they had sinned against him by forsaking Him and serving other gods.  1 Thessalonians 1:9 (KJV)   For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;  The Thessalonian Christians showed their true repentance by turning away from the false gods to serve the true God.

Judges 10:17

Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.

The Ammonites had crossed the Jordan to harass three of the tribes (10:9) but now word came to them that the children of Israel were ready to mount a campaign to free themselves from the terror so the Ammonites had begun to consolidate themselves and camped in Gilead.  Then the Israelites had also begun to consolidate their army.  Mizpeh was somewhere in Gilead but the exact location was unknown.  It may be related to the name Mizpah which locations were known.

Judges 10:18

And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.