Recently, my wife and I played a board game with her brother. It was a complex game with too many rules to explain. So, brother-in-law let us play a round while he explained the mechanics. We often do this with new games: we play a “practice round” to get our bearings. We do not go all out, and the rules are clarified by playing the game.
Othniel is the first judge described by the book of Judges. At first glance, Othniel does not seem very interesting. Few details about his life are recorded. In fact, most people probably cannot name many things about him. Nevertheless, this first judge is essential for our understanding of the rest of the book. Othniel provided a paradigm or “type” for every other judge. He is like a “practice round” for the book of Judges. His life provides the rules in the introduction to the book, and Othniel demonstrates how those rules play out. Before reading further, perhaps take a moment to read Judges 3:7–11.
Foolish Israelites?
As Judges opens, we quickly learn Israel abandoned God within a single generation from Joshua. They should have remembered Joshua’s declaration that he and his house would serve the Lord. They should have recalled the wilderness wanderings. And yet, they quickly turned to serving foreign gods.
“Foolish Israelites!” we scoff. “How could they be so forgetful?”
But turn this story back to us. “Foolish Christians,” we should say, because we have the Scriptures, the written, complete Word of God, telling us all He has done and continues to do for us. And yet, we often go astray. We know sinning is wrong, and yet we go on sinning. We give ourselves over to the idols of our own culture. We may not serve idols of wood and stone, but we serve idols of ideas and desires.
How do we identify these idols in our lives? Ask yourself these questions: what am I delighting in more than the Lord? What am I giving my life for more than God? Is it my job? Do I want to climb the ladder at work and be in charge? Do I want to make more money and store up riches for myself? What are we doing instead of reading our Bible? Is it going to work? Playing video games? Why are we not waking up thirty minutes early to pray? Or staying up thirty minutes later to read? Are we too busy for God? Is comfort our idol?
Idolatry is a serious matter. God judges idolaters. The people of Israel were not special, exempt from God’s judgment. God’s people will be judged along with the rest. When God’s people abandon Him, we too can expect judgment. God’s anger was kindled against Israel. He sold them into the hands of their enemies. First Corinthians 10:6-7 says: “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”
That is my encouragement to us as well: flee from idolatry. Do not just cohabitate with your idolatry, like the people of Israel did with the Canaanites, but make every effort to flee from idolatry and toward the only One who can deliver us. Therefore, let us turn to the deliverer.
Who is this deliverer?
Who is Othniel? Verse 9 says Othniel was the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. You may remember Caleb was of the tribe of Judah. Nor was anything negative said about Othniel. Ehud was sneaky, Barak was a coward, Samson was sexually immoral, but Othniel was, as far as we know, noble. Obviously, he was not perfect. He was human after all. But the author gives no reason to think bad of him.
The first two verses of the book indicate the Israelites asked Yahweh who should go up first to attack the Canaanites, to which God replied: “Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand” (verse 2). Judah was supposed to be first. We know the ideal ruler of Israel would be from Judah, and that Judah was the only tribe to fully drive out the Canaanites, as Yahweh told them to do. Even among the judges, Othniel was the only one from Judah, and everything went downhill after him. It’s a good reminder: the further God’s people get from God’s plan, the worse it goes.
While Othniel is presented as a noble figure, he is far from the main character of this story. It is Yahweh’s Spirit that comes upon Othniel and empowers him to do what he is going to do. By God’s grace, He sent His people a deliverer when they cried out to Him. It was God who gave Mesopotamia into Othniel’s hand, just as He had given Israel into Mesopotamia’s hand. Othniel was the instrument, but God was the agent.
Like Israel, in our world today, and especially in the Church, God is the One who can and will accomplish His sovereign will. God calls us to do many things, whether that is sharing the gospel, leading our homes, or serving the poor, but He never expects us to do them on our own. It is only through God’s grace working in and through us that we can accomplish what He calls us to.
Thankfully, God chooses to use imperfect people like us, and like Othniel, to accomplish His will.
Unfortunately, Othniel died. After giving Israel the longest rest in their immediate future, he also finds his rest. Israel’s rest in the book of Judges is tied to the life of the judge. As we will see repeatedly, Israel soon returned to idolatry. This fulfilled what the author said in 2:19: “And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.”
Peace and rest were tied to the lifespan of the judge, but judges kept dying. The pattern of this book makes us desire a Judge who does not die and can give eternal rest. Who is this Judge that we desire? He, too, is of the tribe of Judah, the proper authority over God’s people. He is our Deliverer.
In fact, the word used for Othniel, deliverer, could also be translated savior. Jesus is our perfect Judge and Ruler, whose Kingdom will never end. He has delivered us from our enemies and will grant us eternal rest. Human rulers cannot save us. God’s appointed Deliverer, empowered by His Spirit, is the only One who can save us.
Look to Jesus, our greater Deliverer. He has saved us from our sins. We find eternal rest in Him. It is not enough to flee idolatry, but we must also run to Christ, the Ruler of the tribe of Judah. We cannot cast off the idols that often keep us bound in our own strength; we can only cast them off through reliance on Him. Let us long for Him more each day and pray for His deliverance from the sins that entangle us, so we may run the race He has set before us and reach our eternal rest.
About the Writer: Alejandro Johnson and his wife Breanna are preparing to serve as missionaries to France. The couple met at Welch College where Alejandro earned a B.A. in Intercultural Studies and Worship Ministry and completed his M.Div in May 2024.
