Judges 10

Judges 10:1

TOLA, THE SEVENTH JUDGETola and Jair become the next judges. Maybe you have never heard of Tola. If you haven’t, it is perfectly all right. He did nothing noteworthy. What did Tola do? He died and was buried in Shamir. Not one thing is recorded about any achievements. Although he was a judge in Israel twenty-three years, there is not one thing that can be mentioned about the deeds of this man, from the day he was born to the day he died. All you have here is what is on his tombstone: “Borndied.”

Judges 10:3

JAIR, THE EIGHTH JUDGEAll that we are told about this man is that he had thirty sons and he bought each one of them a little donkey. He did not get them a Jaguar, Mustang, Pinto, or Cougar, he gave each boy a donkey. What a sight it must have been to see these thirty boys ride out of Gilead! In Jair’s story I can see three things: (1) prosperity without purpose; (2) affluence without influence; (3) prestige without power. In that day a donkey was a mark of prosperity. That was the thing that denoted a man’s wealth. For example, Jdg_5:10 says, “Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.” This verse speaks about the upper echelon, or the establishment. The donkey was a mark of wealth and was the animal that kings rode upon. There has always been a question about whether or not they had horses in that day. In Scripture the little donkey is the animal of peace and the horse is the animal of war (the horse was imported into that land). But the little donkey was actually the mark of prosperity and the mark of a king. You remember that the Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a little donkey. We misinterpret Zec_9:9 which says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Zechariah does not mean that the Lord Jesus is humble because He is riding on a little donkey. He is humble in spite of the fact that He is riding upon an animal which only kings ride. If He had not been King, it would really have been a presumption to ride into Jerusalem on that donkey as He did and receive all of the adulation and hosannas from the crowd that day. Jair was obviously a man of wealth and prominence to be able to afford thirty donkeys. He gave each one of his sons a donkey, so he must have had a thirty-car garage! This was the mark of a benevolent father. He was generous, and I think he spoiled his sons. He got them what they wanted. They lived in the lap of luxury and with golden spoons in their mouths. Donkeys probably came in several models, and Jair bought each son the latest thing. But did these donkeys bring glory to God? Did they make Jair a better judge? Did they bring blessing to the people? Did any one of these boys go out as a missionary? No. They lived in Gilead. It is true that there is nothing particularly wrong with donkeys. On the other hand, there is nothing particularly right with a man who is a judge and spends a whole lot of time with many boys and donkeys. This is important for us to see. Our Lord rode into Jerusalem on a little donkey to fulfill prophecy and to present Himself as King, and the hosannas were sung. Satan was angry and the religious rulers protested as Christ rode through the gate and into the city. But all of Jair’s donkeys never lifted one hosanna.

When these animals brayed, I think Satan smiled and the mob was entertained. Jair is a picture of prosperity without purpose, friend, and it is a dangerous thing. We see the same picture in the days of Noah when they were marrying and giving in marriage. This is also demonstrated in the account of Solomon sending out ships to bring back apes and peacockspeacocks for beauty and apes for entertainment. Years ago a high school class in the state of Washington came up with this motto for their graduating class: “Pep without purpose is piffle.” Well, it is not much of a motto, but it certainly expresses present-day conditions. We have prosperity but without purpose. May I ask you what the goal of your life is? Is it pointless? Is it aimless? Have you found life pretty boring? Shakespeare’s Hamlet said, “How stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me the uses of this world.” What we need today is direction and dimension in our lives. We need a cause, and the cause of Jesus Christ is still the greatest challenge any man can have. Old Jair was some judge, wasn’t he? Jair’s days were also marked by prestige without power. He was the outstanding man in the community. The traffic cops probably never gave any of his sons a ticket. But verse Jdg_10:5 does not speak of a monument for Jair. He was buried in an unknown spot. He never performed one conspicuous act. He never did a worthwhile deed. He never gained a victory. He may have had thirty donkeys, but he had no spiritual power. We are living in a day when the church has lost its power. What a picture we have in this man Jair. Right before World War II, the city of Pasadena was having its annual Rose Parade. The float that was entered by the Standard Oil Company was covered with American Beauty roses. It was a sight to behold. The theme of the parade was, “Be prepared.” Right in the middle of the parade the Standard Oil Company’s float ran out of gas. It stopped right where I was viewing the parade. I couldn’t help but laugh. If there was one float that should not have run out of gas, it was that one. Standard Oil Company should have had plenty of gas! As I looked at the float, I saw a picture of many Christians today. They are beautiful, but they have no power in their lives. They have beauty and prestige, but no power. That was judge Jair for you. He did nothing, died, and was buried.

Judges 10:6

EIGHTEEN YEARS OF SERVITUDE UNDER THE PHILISTINES AND AMMONITESYou would think that after all their experiences, the Israelites would learn that when they turned to idolatry, trouble came upon them. Because of their idolatry, they went into slavery againthey served the Philistines and Ammonites for eighteen years. Human nature is fallen nature. Jeremiah has said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer_17:9). You and I certainly do not know the heart. It is easier for us to point our finger back to these people who lived about one thousand years before Christ and say, “You did wrong,” than it is for us to see what we are doing wrong. How are we doing today, by the way? May I say that there is a frightful apostasy today in the church. Human nature is like that, and we are in a nation that is in trouble. We have tried every method, political scheme, and political party, and none of them has worked. What is wrong? We have gone to the wrong place for help. Only a turning to God will get us on the right path. I know that sounds square and out of date, but it sounded that way one thousand years before Christ also. The Israelites turned to other gods, refused to serve the living God, and look at what happened.

Judges 10:7

God can afford to remove His instrument when that instrument fails Him. A great many people think that God has to have the church, even a particular church, and that God has to have America because it is sending out missionaries. May I say to you that God does not have to have any of us. He is not dependent upon us at all. We are, however, dependent upon Him. Israel was probably at its lowest point at this time. Things were very bad for them.

Judges 10:10

These people finally got so desperate that they turned to God. Here we see the same old story being acted out once again. It is the hoop of history that is rolling, and it is still rolling today. So then what happened?

Judges 10:11

How merciful and gracious God is!

Judges 10:17

The Israelites lacked leadership. That is always characteristic of men, or of a generation, that have turned from God. Lack of leadership has definitely characterized our nation for the last twenty-five years. In fact, there has been a lack of leadership in the world for many years. We need vital leadership, but we cannot seem to find it. This was Israel’s experience. Now they are going to turn to a most unusual man for guidance. Under normal circumstances they would not have turned to him at all.