The Isrealites lived among the tribes that occupied the Promised Land..
Notice that we read about the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites? They were all tribes in Canaan. Where did Canaan come from? Go back to Genesis 9 and you see that Noah curses Canaan. Noah had gotten drunk and passed out naked on wine. Ham mocked him; therefore Noah cursed Canaan the son of Ham. The Isrealites got weak in faith because they tried to be accepting of their spouses gods....before you know it, sin sneaks in. The Isrealites probably didn't even mean for it to happen. (Isn't sin like that?) The people pleaded for help and God sent Othniel (remember him-Caleb's younger brother) and the Spirit of the Lord was on him and he gave Isreal peace for 40 years. The cycle of sin and deliverance continues.
Ehud uses his perceived weakness (being left handed), to stab unexpectedly with his left hand.... Dang, the king of Moab just must have been fatter than I can imagine....to lose the knife, along with the handle and everything in his mounds of fat!! Nasty, yet effective. Ehud means "deliverer".
The Moabites and the Ammonites were descendents of Lot (Bonnie, remember the unfortunate reading where Lot's daughters use Daddy and wine to continue the family line?) The Amalekites were descendents of Esau (a cranky, warring mule of a man)
Shamgar delivers Isreal with a tool used to lead oxen...
And then our Deborah comes onto the scene. A woman leader....she tries to give Barak (name remind you of anyone?) credit, but he needs her with him. Jael, another fabulous women, lures Sisera the army commander to her tent....no one would ever look for a man in a women's tent....and then she uses her tent pitching skills and hammers a stake right through Sisera's head. Sorry Barak, if you leave it to the women, it will be done right...ha!
And then it turns into a musical and Deborah and Barak break into song. Actually, music and singing were a great way to pass the heritage down the generations (since no one could read!) We do see in the song that four tribes didn't help in battle (Rueben, Gilead, Dan and Asher)...but no reasons are given.
Note that the judges are foreshadowing the ultimate deliverer, Jesus Christ.
Look what comes up from the depths of the sea.
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