The Israelites' return to apostasy brought discipline from two different directions at the same time. In the east the Ammonites oppressed Israel while in the west God raised up the Philistines.
"The acuter pressure at this stage came from the Ammonites who were crueller in nature and more predatory in their methods than the Philistines (cf. 1 Sa. 11:1, 2)."211
These verses really introduce the judgeships of Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson (10:8-16:31). Another possibility is that since the introductory formula in these verses is not strictly a sequence indicator, the judgeship of Jephthah may have overlapped Gideon's somewhat.
". . . it is possible that Ammon took advantage of the terror brought on by the Midianite raids of Gideon's day to do some raiding of their own."212
The Baals and the Ashtaroth (Asherim, v. 6) were the Canaanite deities. The Lord did not give us the names of the gods of Syria (Aram) that lay to the northeast of Israel in the Old Testament. In Sidon, a town in Phoenicia to Israel's northwest, Ashtoreth, the consort of Baal, was a chief deity (1 Kings 11:5). In Moab to the east and south Chemosh was the main god (1 Kings 11:33), and Molock was another important deity (Num. 21:29). The Ammonites also worshipped Molock (Lev. 18:21) and sometimes called him Milcom (1 Kings 11:5, 33). Dagon was the main idol in Philistia (16:23). These "watchdog"gods were believed to guard and favor their own particular territories.213Verses 6 and 7 give us the last and longest list of Israel's sins.
The only contiguous neighbor of Israel's that did not have a negative influence on the chosen people during the period of the judges as far as the text reveals was Edom. However, since about 300 years of history expired in the judges period, it is likely that the Edomites also opposed the Israelites.
"The spiritual trends observed in Israel at this time did not merely reflect syncretism, but in many cases involved the total abandonment of the worship of Jehovah in favor of other national deities."214
"The description of Yahweh's response to Israel's spiritual defection confirms our suggestion that in the narrator's mind the nation's Canaanization is coming to a climax. First, for the first time since 3:8 the text mentions God's anger as the emotion behind his selling the Israelites into the hands of the enemies. Second, for the first time the narrator notes that Yahweh had handed his people into the power of two different nations--the Philistines and the sons of Ammon."215
Notice how much more diversified Israel's idolatry had become. The Israelites were now worshipping foreign gods as well as the gods of Canaan. Furthermore they abandoned the worship of Yahweh.
The text reveals that the Philistines and the Ammonites began to oppress Israel simultaneously from the west and the east respectively. The writer proceeded to narrate the Ammonite account first (10:8b-12:7) and then the Philistine (13:1-16:31).
The Israelites felt the main influence of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River that bordered Ammon (v. 8). However the Ammonites also attacked the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim west of the Jordan (v. 9).
The Ammonite oppression lasted 18 years (v. 8; evidently about 1123-1105 B.C.). Finally the Israelites confessed their sin of apostasy and cried out to God for deliverance (v. 10; cf. 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:6). They had waited only seven years before appealing for His help against the Midianites (6:6). This may indicate that their hearts had become even harder toward Yahweh. This is the most detailed account of Israel's response to their oppression.216For the first time in the book, the Israelites confessed that they had sinned.
The Lord reminded them, presumably through a prophet, that their behavior had fallen into a pattern of apostasy, oppression, confession, and deliverance (vv. 11-12). God had delivered Israel from many enemies. They were the Egyptians (cf. Exod. 1-14), Amorites (cf. Num. 31:3), Ammonites (3:12-30), Philistines (3:31), Sidonians (ch. 4?), Amalekites (cf. Exod. 17:8-16), and Maunites. The Maunites were probably the Midianites (chs. 6-8), according to the Septuagint. Possibly Israel had defeated each of these nations already during the amphictyony.
We need to understand God's promise to deliver the Israelites "no more"(v. 13) as conditional. He did deliver the nation later (ch. 11).
". . . the emphatic declaration, I will deliver you no more,' is to be understood conditionally, in case their idols were kept among them; for the divine threatenings always imply a reserve of mercy to the truly repentant."217
Verses 13 and 14 reveal God's "tough love"for Israel (cf. 2:3; 6:8-10).
The genuine confession and repentance of the Israelites and God's compassion for them combined to secure Israel's deliverance eventually (v. 16). God's wayward son, Israel, had broken His heart. These verses illustrate the tension God felt as He loved Israel loyally and yet found it necessary to discipline His first-born.
"The greatness of Jehovah and His intense love for His people is nowhere more evident than in this particular situation [vv. 13-16]."218
The writer introduced the battle in which God provided deliverance for His people in verses 17-18. The Ammonites advanced into Gilead from the east, and the Israelites in that area congregated not far from them anticipating conflict. Even though the Israelites had confessed their sin and repented genuinely, they approached this battle carnally. Rather than inquiring of God for strategy the Israelites looked among themselves for a human leader whom they could persuade to lead them by promising him kingship as a reward (cf. 1:1). They were rejecting Yahweh's authority over them by doing this (cf. 1 Sam. 8:7). They soon learned that the man they chose had some glaring weaknesses (cf. King Saul).
To prepare for the recital of Israel's victory over the Ammonites the writer provided the reader with some background information concerning the man God raised up to lead this deliverance.
These three men were quite clearly successors of Jephthah (vv. 8, 11, 13). Probably Ibzan followed Jephthah (v. 8), and then Elon and Abdon succeeded Ibzan (vv. 11, 13). The writer noted no special deeds of theirs either because they performed none or because he chose not to feature them in his narrative.
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