Paraphrased one could read this verse as "“Here’s what happened after the death of Joshua”. 

The first few words of the book of Judges may at first glance seem to be only a helpful historical notation. "After the death of Joshua," however, is a statement of drastic change in the spiritual health of the nation of Israel.

Whereas Joshua is a book of conquest, but Judges is a long, sad story of defeat.

Joshua is a book of faith, Judges of unbelief and disobedience.

Joshua depicts a people united in following God's man, but Judges is a book of division and anarchy, as every man "did what was right in his own eyes."

In Joshua, God's Word is central and men submit to His authority, while in Judges, Scripture is neglected and rejected.

In Joshua, "we will not forget the Lord". In Judges "the people forgot the LORD."

Judges sets before us the warnings and danger signals regarding the perils that lie in the path of a believer. Judges sets before us the warnings and danger signals regarding the perils that lie in the path of a believer. The pattern of defeat described in the book of Judges is presented to us over and over again.

BACKGROUND SUMMARY

Judges is the second in order of what are called the historical books of the Bible, following chronologically after Joshua. It tells the tragic story in Israel's history which spans the period from Joshua's conquest of the Promised Land of Canaan to the beginnings of the Monarchy. Joshua had led Israel to conquer and occupy most of Canaan and yet many important Canaanite strongholds had been bypassed, leaving their subjugation to individual Israelite tribes as described in the foundational chapter 1 of Judges. The name of this book is derived from the gifted men and woman whom God raised up to deliver and lead Israel during this period of 350 or more years. The English title is somewhat misleading with its judicial or legal connotations, for the judges' role of administering justice was only secondary. Altogether, fourteen of these judges were named in the book, including Deborah and Barak, who served as co-judges. The chronology of Judges is controversial one must be very cautious in ascribing specific dates to the various incidents. Judges provides many examples of the principle that obedience to the law brings peace, whereas disobedience means oppression and death. Despite gross disobedience by the people, we still see the faithfulness of God in repeatedly rescuing His people. When God's grace does appear in Judges, it shines forth in brilliant brightness because of the frequent prevalent spiritual darkness. Interestingly, the historicity of the records in Judges has been confirmed in the New Testament  in Acts 13:19-21 and in Hebrews 11:32. As to the author of Judges, we cannot be dogmatic although the Talmud says it was Samuel and that is a reasonable consideration. In any event it is the fully inspired, inerrant Word from God Himself and we should pay close attention to the lessons and principles in this dramatic book.

Ray Stedman writes that Judges...

is the first in a series of books that sets before us the warnings and danger signals regarding the perils that lie in the path of a believer. The pattern of defeat described in the book of Judges is presented to us over and over again. The key principle that always spelled defeat in the lives of the people of Israel is given to us in the very last verse of the book: "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit" (21:25). These people were not trying to do wrong. They were not rebellious people, bent on frustrating God’s will for their lives. At this stage of Israel’s history these people were determined to do right—but they were trying to do what was right in their own eyes. They succumbed to the folly of consecrated blundering. They were well-intentioned blunderers, intending to do right but ending up all wrong. I have seen this pattern again and again in my counseling experience. Time after time I have heard people say, “I don’t know what went wrong. I tried to do right. I did what I thought was best. But everything seemed to go wrong.” This was the problem with Israel in the book of Judges. As the text says, there was no objective authority in their lives. The Lord Jehovah was supposedly their King, but they did not take Him seriously. And when they did not take Him seriously, they ended up taking themselves too seriously. So they did what they thought was right, guided by their own intellects and reasoning—ultimately proving that their ways were not God’s ways. (Stedman, R: Adventuring through the Bible. Discovery House)

Sidlow Baxter commenting on Judges wrote...

Would that we might erase from the tablets of Israel's history the many dark doings and sad happenings which make up the bulk of this seventh book of the canon! But alas, the sin of Israel is written "with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond. "Though Israel wash herself "with nitre" and take "much soap," yet is her iniquity here marked for all time and for all to see. Says Jehovah, long afterwards, through His prophet Jeremiah: "I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof - but when ye entered ye defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination" (Jer 2:7). As we cannot obliterate the tragic record, let us be quick to learn from it; for although it is such a pathetic anticlimax to the book of Joshua, it is nevertheless one of the richest books of Scripture in the salutary lessons and examples which it contains. (J. Sidlow Baxter. Explore the Book)

Henrietta Mears writes that...

Someone has called the book of Judges the account of the Dark Ages of the Israelite people. The people forsook God (Judges 2:13) and God forsook the people (Judges 2:23). Ingersoll (Robert Green Ingersoll, 1833-1899, American orator known as the Great Agnostic) spoke much of “the liberty of man, woman and child.” His was a godless liberty. The modern equivalent is “doing our own thing” which permeates the book of Judges. Judges was a new hour in the history of Israel who had come from a long era of bondage in Egypt to a period of forty years when she lived in tents and wandered in the wilderness. Now the march was over. The nomads were to become settlers in a land of their own. The change was not as easy for them as they expected it to be. The book of Judges is in a way another book of beginnings where we see a new nation adjusting her national life. It is filled with struggle and disasters, but also with the moral courage of a select few.

In its introduction section, the Disciple Study Bible reminds that...

Disobedience prevented Israel from receiving the blessings promised by God in the covenant. But the God who made the covenant is a God who is characterized by covenant-keeping love. When Israel recognized disobedience as the cause of their difficulties, they turned to God and confessed their rebellion. Then God acted again with unmerited grace, provided a deliverer, and led Israel to the promised blessings. The covenant people learned they needed a God-directed leader to ensure their loyalty to God. Without such leadership, "everyone did as he saw fit'' (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). God's people set themselves on the road to self-destruction.  Yahweh is the Lord of history. What He has promised He will perform. We are to believe in Him, accept the conditions of obedience to His covenant, and become like Him in character and attitude. This is righteousness. Anything else is disobedience, unrighteousness, sin. Sin cuts us off from God's promised blessings and plunges us into confusion and chaos. Confession of sin results in forgiveness by God and His provision of a Deliverer. Old and New Testaments present a God who is able to provide what we truly need in this life, "a righteous God and a Savior'' (Isaiah 45:21). Something of how God's Spirit works may also be learned from Judges. The prime mover in God's deliverance is God's Spirit. This role is first presented in the period of the Judges but becomes a major motif throughout the Bible. Gospel narratives of Jesus' life also attribute this role to the Spirit of God. When God's power is acting on our behalf, it is God's Spirit in action. The Spirit empowers individuals with the necessary skills to accomplish God's assigned task. This endowment enhances the personality of its recipient, but it does not displace that personality.

Judges begins with compromise and ends with confusion. This is what happens in every unsurrendered life! The people of Israel forgot that God had chosen them for a purpose—to tell the world the truth that there is but one true God. And so we see It the story of humans’ constant failure and God’s constant mercy. It is notable that human pride would love to believe that humanity’s trend is upward, but God’s Word in general and specifically in Judges shows us that the natural course without supernatural intervention is downward.

Failure through compromise permeates every page of the book of Judges. The exploits of the judges teach the lesson that a return to the true faith brings renewed victory; yet the very teaching of this accentuates the main, stark reality, that all the failure is due to compromise. Let the words burn into the mind, and burn out any easy-going toleration of the unholy or questionable thing. We can never enjoy God's promised rest for long if we tolerate only "partially crushed" sins to continue with us. If we make league with questionable things because they seem harmless, we shall soon find ourselves wedded to the desires of the flesh again, and down from the heights to which God had lifted us. Failure through compromise! Oh that Israel had heeded the message of this book! Oh that a compromising Church today never disregard it! God's word to His people of today is still that of 2 Cor 6:17,18

"Therefore (read the incredible promise in 2Cor 6:16 that prompts this "therefore"), COME OUT (aorist imperative = Command to do this now. Don't delay! Can even convey a sense of urgency.) FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE (aorist imperative = Command to mark off from others by setting a boundary, cf Psalm 1:1 - Spurgeon's note) ," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH (present imperative with negative = can mean stop an action in progress) WHAT IS UNCLEAN and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.

Gary Inrig writes that...

Judges begins by giving us a graphic reminder of the consequences of compromise and partial obedience in a time of spiritual anarchy. It is the fundamental principle that the Holy Spirit communicates about spiritual survival in a society without standards. Partial defense is no defense at all. As D. L. Moody once said, "The place for the ship is in the sea, but God help the ship if the sea gets into it!" When God's people begin to take on the water of the world, they go down fast, and in the opening verses of this great book we see that process vividly portrayed. (Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay )

As you study Judges notice the repeated emphasis on...

1. The wickedness of the human heart (see notes Judges 2:11-13, 17, 19; Judges 8:33-35; Judges 10:6; Judges 13:1).
2. God’s delight in using the weak things
3. The Holy Spirit in Judges. Over the book of Judges as a guide to its spiritual interpretation might be written Zechariah’s great word (Zech. 4:6)—

Not by might nor by power,
but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty

Davis asks...

Have you ever noticed how new beginnings are punctuated by the earthly end of God’s servants? Exodus begins with the death of Joseph. Joshua begins with the death of Moses. Judges begins with the death of Joshua. 1 Kings begins with the death of David. And yet for all that, God’s kingdom does not collapse, not even when Sheol takes God’s most useful servants. The kingdom of God continues though the servants of God die. That is the witness of Judges 1. Joshua died, but “Yahweh said, ‘I have given the land into Judah’s hand”’ (v 2). Joshua died, but “Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand” (v. 4). Joshua died, yet “Yahweh was with Judah so that he possessed the hill country” (v. 19). The point should not be lost on contemporary Christians. Your help is in the name of the Lord, not in the name of your favorite Christian hero. Even when the Lord himself “went away,” it proved a boon for his church (John 16:7). (Ralph Davis Judges: Such a Great Salvation - Focus on the Bible)

When did the events in Judges take place? In the range of 1400 - 1050 BC  (350 years) a time period that covers a little less 25% of Israel's history in the OT (assuming an approximate date for Abraham's call of 2100 B.C. and of 400 B. C. for the book of Malachi which would be about 1700 years) And many are only vaguely familiar with this historical book.

When Joshua was Israel’s leader, all the tribes worked together in obeying the will of God.

In the Book of Judges, however, you don’t find the nation working together as a unit. Nevertheless it seems here the sons did come before God in this moment of crisis to seek His will.

Davis writes that the diligent student needs to...

remember that Judges 1 deals with a second movement of the conquest of Canaan. The Book of Joshua, especially in chapters 1–12, tells of “taking” the land, breaking the back of Canaanite resistance in something of a blitzkrieg style. Judges 1 emphasizes the process of “possessing” the land in which separate tribes or tribal groups were to follow up the previous conquest and nail down and settle their assigned territories....for many readers Judges l raises once more the so––called moral problem of the conquest. How horrid that Israel butcher innocent Canaanites, wreak havoc and misery, grab their land — and all, allegedly, at Yahweh’s command! If only the Canaanites could know how much emotional support they receive from modern western readers. And the conquest was frightful. But people who bemoan the fate of the poor Canaanites don’t view the conquest from the Bible’s own perspective. They forget one vital fact: the Canaanites were not innocent. Moses was emphatic about that; he humbled the Israelites by insisting that Yahweh was not giving them Canaan because they were such godly folks but because the Canaanites were so grossly wicked (Deut. 9:4–6). If you want all the gory details, see Leviticus 18:6–30 and Deuteronomy 18:9–14. These texts show that the conquest was an act of justice, Yahweh’s justice. Israel was the instrument of his just judgment upon a corrupt and perverted people. The Bible, of course, does not claim the conquest will be palatable; but it does insist it was just. (Ralph Davis, D. Focus on the Bible: Judges)

The Book of Judges begins with a series of victories and defeats that took place after the death of Joshua. The boundary lines for the twelve tribes had been determined years before (Joshua 13-22), but the people had not yet fully claimed their inheritance by defeating and dislodging the entrenched inhabitants of the land. When Joshua was an old man, the Lord said to him, “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed” (Joshua 13:1, NKJV). The people of Israel owned all the land, but they didn’t possess all of it; and therefore they couldn’t enjoy all of it.

Moody Bible Institute's devotional "Today in the Word" has an interesting summary cycle of men and of nations (“bird’s eye view of the cycle of men and nations”), a pattern that is similar to that seen repeatedly in Judges...

CYCLE OF MEN AND NATIONS

(1) from bondage to spiritual faith.
(2) from spiritual faith to great courage.
(3) from courage to liberty.
(4) from liberty to abundance.
(5) from abundance to selfishness.
(6) from selfishness to complacency.
(7) from complacency to apathy.
(8) from apathy to dependency.
(9) from dependency back to bondage.

Henrietta Mears offers the following outline for Judges that is easy to remember.

“Seven apostasies,

seven servitudes to seven idolatrous and cruel nations,

seven deliverances!”

THAT THE SONS OF ISRAEL INQUIRED OF THE LORD SAYING, "WHO SHALL GO UP FIRST FOR US AGAINST THE CANAANITES, TO FIGHT AGAINST THEM: (Jdg 20:18,28; Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; 1Samuel 22:9,10; 23:9,10)

A GOOD START
SEEK GOD

Inquired (sa'al) means to ask and in context means to seek a direct message or oracle from Jehovah. How the oracle was received in this verse is not clear but methods God utilized to convey His oracle in the OT include dreams (1 Sa 28:6), the Urim (Nu 27:21) and of course His mouthpiece, the prophets.

Joshua had been faithful to his task to "Be strong and courageous...(and) give this people possession of the land which (Jehovah) swore to their fathers to give them" (Jos 1:6) and yet much of the Promised Land remained to be conquered. The first act of the children of Israel was to seek God’s will about how they should carry out the final conquest. We always begin well when we consult the omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign Living God of the Universe. Israel  asked Jehovah which tribe was to engage the enemy first.

Seeking God's wisdom and will
is always the best place to begin any venture.

It is interesting to notice that from this time forward inquiring of the Lord is mentioned only at the end of Judges but then occurs with greater frequency in 1Samuel, the time that followed the days of the Judges. Note that Moses and Joshua had received direct revelations from God, but at this time presumably the Pentateuch (Torah) had been recorded by Moses for consultation.

Inquired of the LORD (Jehovah) - Specific phrase found 11 times in the Scriptures in NAS - Jdg 1:1, 20:23, 20:27 1Sa 22:10, 23:2, 23:4, 28:6, 30:8 2Sa 2:1, 5:19, 5:23

Inquire(d) of God (Elohim) - Ex 18:15 Jdg 18:5; 20:18; 1Sa 9:9, 14:37;22:13; 15, 1Chr 14:10, 21:30

SHOPHETIM
HEBREW WORD FOR
JUDGES

The Hebrew word is Shophetim, meaning “judges, rulers, deliverers, or saviors.” Shophet not only carries the idea of maintaining justice and settling disputes, but it is also used to mean “liberating and delivering.”

First the judges deliver the people; then they rule and administer justice.

The Septuagint (LXX) used the Greek equivalent of this word, Kritai (“Judges”). The Latin Vulgate called it Liber Judicum, the “Book of Judges.”

Judges could also appropriately be titled “The Book of Failure.” But why would any Christian today want to read a book that is such a "downer"? Paul gives us a good reason...

Now these things (the events in the OT Paul had just referenced - Israel was "laid low in the wilderness") happened as examples (tupos  = a "type") for us, that (here's the purpose and the reason we should not forget this history) we should not crave evil things, as they (Israel) also craved (context refers to fact that Israelites preferred the food of Egypt to God's manna! - Nu 11:4 - Can you apply this to the modern church in American?!)....Now these things (OT) happened to them (Israel) as an example (tupos  = a "type") , and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (1Co 10:6,11)

We must remember that: "Straight ahead lies yesterday!" "Future events cast their shadows before them." "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

EXCURSUS ON
TYPOLOGY
(See more thorough notes on Typology)

As an aside, the preceding NT verses from 1 Corinthians 10 are examples of the important doctrine of typology which on one hand is neglected by many in the church or on the other extreme is misused and abused by others. The abuse by some should not detract us from an honest Spirit illuminated study of typology in the Scriptures, as it will be not only edifying, but increase our faith and hope in God's redemptive plan for mankind and for each of us individually.

Dr S Lewis Johnson defines typology as

"the study of spiritual correspondences between persons, events and things within the historical framework of revelation."

(Lectures on Typology on Leviticus 3 [Pdf, MS Word, Mp3] - 12 part series highly recommended if you are struggling to understand the relevance of Leviticus to you as a NT believer. You will be edified and blessed! If you are really serious I would recommend downloading Lesson 1 [click here for Pdf] from Precept Ministries, which will give you an excellent introduction to Leviticus as Lesson 1 covers chapters 1-7. If you want more, you can get the book and do the other 6 lessons.)

Secular dictionaries define typology as a doctrine which holds that things in Christian belief are prefigured by things in the Old Testament.

Typology describes the situation when something done in the OT is brought to notice and is shown to have signified something done or about to be done in the NT.

The typological relation between the two Testaments was summed up in Augustine

In the OT the NT lies hidden; in the NT the OT stands revealed.

(Paraphrase "The Old is the New concealed, while the New is the Old revealed.")

Stated another way typology is the study of Biblical comparisons made between persons, events, things and institutions of one biblical period and those of another, most often between the OT and the NT (there are also comparisons between persons, events, etc in the Old Testament but these are less common).

Typology in Scripture serves to demonstrate the unbroken continuity in God’s plan of redemptive history between the Old and New Testaments, and this alone should encourage us in our faith in God's Word of Truth and His trustworthy character (see note 1Thessalonians 5:24).

The New Bible Dictionary has an interesting definition of typology describing it as...

A way of setting forth the biblical history of salvation so that some of its earlier phases are seen as anticipations of later phases, or some later phase as the recapitulation or fulfilment of an earlier one... In the NT the Christian salvation is presented as the climax of the mighty works of God, as the ‘antitype’ of His ‘typical’ mighty works in the OT. (Wood, D. R. W. New Bible Dictionary.  InterVarsity Press)

The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible writes that typology as the...

Branch of biblical interpretation in which an element found in the OT prefigures one found in the NT. The initial one is called the type and the fulfillment is designated the antitype. Either type or antitype may be a person, thing, or event, but often the type is Messianic and frequently refers to salvation. In working with types, the safest procedure is to limit them to those expressly mentioned in the Bible (cf. 1 Cor 4:6). On the other hand, it is argued that such an approach limits the legitimate use of types, for some obvious types are not mentioned in the NT. Further, the types given in the NT are examples which demonstrate how to find others in the OT.

Some examples may serve to identify some biblical types and antitypes: Jesus said to Nicodemus,

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (Jn 3:14; cf. Nu 21:9)

The Passover lamb (Ex 12:1-13, 49) is a type of Christ (1Cor 5:7)

The rock from which Israel drank in the wilderness (Ex 17:6) prefigures Christ (1Cor 10:3, 4).

The Book of Hebrews is replete with examples of types which represent the Messiah. All of the sacrifices ordained by the ritual law which God gave at Sinai typified some aspect of the person and work of Jesus. The blood that was sprinkled on the altar spoke of the blood of the One Who was slain once for all (Heb 9:12-22-see notes).

In biblical study a type differs from allegory, which generally spiritualizes Bible history (Ed note: for more discussion of allegory and related topics see [i.] Art and Science of Interpretation; [ii.] The Rise of Allegorical Interpretation; [iii.] Understanding Symbols and Figures and [iv.] Understanding Numbers) . In the early church this technique was carried to exaggerated lengths by Origen and followed by others....

There are details which are singled out as types. For example, in the directions for the celebration of the Passover, it is said of the roasted lamb, “you shall not break a bone of it” (Ex 12:46). This is repeated by the psalmist in Psalm 34:20 as a predictive prophecy. In the account of the crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36), the Jews requested that the legs of the victims be broken to hasten their death so the bodies could be removed from the crosses before the Sabbath. When the soldiers came to Jesus, they found that he was already dead and did not break his legs. (more discussion of typology including differentiation from illustration, parable, (Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Page 2109. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House. 1988) (Bolding added)

See related article on Typology in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

The type is the initial person, event, thing or institution while the corresponding and later person, event, thing or institution is called the antitype (copy, counterpart). And thus the Apostle Paul portrays Christ as the antitype of Adam (the type) in Romans 5:12–21 writing...

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him Who was to come. (Ro 5:14-note) (Comment: To summarize Romans 5:12-21, just as Adam the type represented all mankind in the fall, so that when he sinned, all mankind sinned, so too Christ the antitype, in His death, burial and resurrection represented all mankind who are to be redeemed by grace through faith in His finished work. All mankind is either in Adam or in Christ [cf 1Cor 15:22]. In Christ believers have access to a high position and glorious privileges that we could never have had in Adam [e.g., seated in Christ at the right hand of the Father! Ep 2:6-note])

The essential components of typology include...

(1) Correspondence - There is a correspondence (agreement of things with one another) between the events of the OT and their fulfillment in the NT.

(2) Historicity (historical actuality or authenticity) - Typology does not speak of allegory (symbolic representation) but of events which actually occurred in time and space. Typology deals with events that are historically true and actually happened. In short, typology should not be confused with allegorical interpretation which assigns so-called "deeper meanings" to biblical persons, events, things or institutions. The actual history of the biblical story is unimportant in allegorical interpretation whereas in typology the history is essential. And thus the original historical event is viewed as the type and the later corresponding event is the antitype that parallels, fulfills and/or even transcends the type (as Christ the antitype did Adam the type - see note above).

The historical context and grammatical meaning of the Old Testament texts must to be sought out and adhered to diligently or otherwise the OT events would have had no validity if they had not actually happened. Typology  seeks to interpret how these historical texts foreshadowed the historical Christ.

(3) Predictiveness - This feature arises out of the fact that God works according to the patterns that are revealed in the OT and they find their fulfillment in the NT. It follows that the "types" of the Old Testament point forward to their ultimate fulfillment in the NT.

In regard to this latter point S T Gundry writes that...

That one point of agreement is that the essence of a type is that it is in some sense predictive, every bit as predictive as a verbal utterance of predictive prophecy. Typology was regarded as a species of predictive prophecy. The correspondence between type and antitype, whatever the nature of that correspondence, was not a mere analogy nor an artificially imposed scheme on the part of the writers of scripture; the Old Testament types were foreshadowings in a predictive sense of Christ and his saving person and work. Though the Old Testament writers may have been unaware of these things, still God in His inspiration of them intended this result. This universally accepted point of typology must be recognized before the significance of the next development can be seen. (Gundry, S T, Typology as a Means of Interpretation: Past and Present. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 12:237, Fall, 1969)

The Pocket Dictionary for Biblical Studies gives us an excellent example of a historical, corresponding, predictive type and antitype writing that...

the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham’s “beloved son,” in Genesis 22 is picked up in the NT as a type of Christ, God’s beloved Son given for all. God’s redemptive activity in the one event comes to completion in the second. Both occurrences are real and concrete, but they transcend mere chronological or causal correspondence and signify the ongoing redemptive activity of God in creation. (Patzia, A. G., & Petrotta, A. J. Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies. Page 120. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press. 2002).

The basic presuppositions which justify the use of typology as an interpretative method include...

(1) The OT history is divine salvation history. The writer of Hebrews says that...

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son (see notes Hebrews 1:1; 1:2)

In other words, God's revelation came to man in various ways - dreams, vision, institutions (e.g., the tabernacle, the priesthood) , by events (e.g., the Passover and the Exodus from bondage in Egypt) and the events that followed (e.g., wilderness wanderings) and led to Israel's entrance into the "promised land". In short, the OT history is divine salvation history.

(2) The OT history is Christological and all points forward to various facets (think of the facets of a diamond) of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, not just His first coming but also His second coming. The OT from Moses through the prophets constitutes a revelation of the things that specifically point to and describe the Messiah.

One danger in interpretation of OT types as pointing to Christ is to look for "hidden" meanings underlying the primary and obvious meaning and when this happens typology shades into allegory. This practice has in fact caused many to shy away altogether from typological interpretation of the Old Testament, but that is akin to proverbially "throwing the baby out with the bath water." Typology has a valid place in hermeneutics (science or study of the methodological principles of interpretation, in this context referring to the Scriptures), but it must stay within well defined bounds, lest it become fanciful and foolish. The shift from typology to allegorical interpretation occurred in the first century AD and unfortunately dominated the interpretative methods throughout the Middle Ages, unto the time of the Reformation.

Gundry records that...

Calvin and Luther brought about a new epoch in the typological interpretation of scripture with their return to the literal sense and methodical exegesis of scripture. With this renewed concern for the grammatico-historical sense came a new appreciation of typology. A typology grounded in an appreciation of the historical verities (cf "Historicity") precipitated a distinction once more between the typological and allegorical, though neither Calvin nor Luther worked out a system of typology of his own. But through them typology had gained a new lease on life. But once again it soon began to run wild in the fanciful production of far-fetched types. (Ibid)

A popular question in Christian circles has been "What would Jesus do?" which is a good question to ask of typology. What saith the Scriptures?

In Luke 24, as the two believers in Messiah were walking on the road to Emmaus discussing the events of Jesus' crucifixion, the Lord appeared to them (but his identity was veiled to them)...

And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! "Was it not necessary for the Christ (the Messiah) to suffer these things (betrayal, unjust trial, cruel crucifixion) and to enter into His glory?" And beginning with Moses (the first 5 books of the OT, the Pentateuch) and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:25, 26, 27, cf "all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms" in Luke 24:44, cf also Peter's pronouncement in Acts 3:18 to the Jews at Pentecost - "the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He has thus fulfilled." See also notes on the phrase "according to the Scriptures" in 1Co 15:3; 15:4).

In John 3 as Jesus explained the new birth to Nicodemus, He used a reference to the Old Testament to make His point to the spiritually blind "teacher of Israel" (Jn 3:10)...

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (type), even so must the Son of Man be lifted up (antitype); that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life." (Jn 3:14,15 compare with Nu 21:7, 8, 9)

In John 6 Jesus' followers after having been served bread by the Lord, asked Him...

"What then (Jesus had just declared "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.") do You do for a sign, that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"

Jesus therefore said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven (type), but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven (antitype). For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world....I am the living bread (antitype) that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh." Jn 6:30, 31, 32, 33, 51 compare the "type" in Ex 16:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, cp. Neh 9:15, Ps 78:24,25)

(3) The OT history is pedagogical (relating to, or befitting a teacher or education). This means the the OT Scriptures were divinely planned and intended to teach us certain truths today.

For whatever was written in earlier times (refers to OT) was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (absolute assurance that God will do God to us and for us in the future). (See note Romans 15:4)

And so we see that Paul clearly taught that the OT was divinely planned not only to instruct the OT saints but  NT saints as well. (cf 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11).

(4) The OT history is partial and incomplete.  Peter alluded to this in his first letter recording that...

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ (cf prediction = "the type"; fulfillment = "the "antitype") and the glories to follow. (see notes 1 Peter 1:10; 11)

The OT prophets sought to know the times and circumstances by which their prophecies would come to pass but their knowledge was partial and incomplete. Peter then explains that "these things...now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you (believers in the NT era) by the Holy Spirit" (1Pe 1:12-note). In other words, these truths which were partial and incomplete in the OT had now been revealed to saints in the NT. The OT clearly had a meaning in its historical context but also had a "fore" meaning in light of NT revelation.

It needs to be underscored that typology is not an invitation to fanciful interpretations of the truths in the OT. On the other hand, some teach that we should never attempt to see things in the OT which are not there in a historical-grammatical sense. There is clearly some truth in this caution for we are not to attempt to see typology that has no support (no historicity, correspondence or predictiveness). To do so would lead to fanciful, potentially erroneous and harmful interpretation.

On the other hand, there is no validity to the idea that we are not to interpret the OT in light of the NT. The NT in fact was written in light of the foundational teaching in the OT. For example, it would be very difficult to understand the Messianic promise in Genesis 3:15 if we did not understand the rest of the Bible. But from the perspective of NT revelation,  when we look at the OT, we are able to see things that we could not have seen without the light of revelation of the NT. The truth of the OT is unchanged, but our ability to see the different facets of that truth is changed.

In the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, William G. Moorehead has a balanced, well reasoned discussion on typology noting that...

The Bible furnishes abundant evidence of the presence of types and of typical instruction in the Sacred Word. The New Testament attests this fact. It takes up a large number of persons and things and events of former dispensations, and it treats them as adumbrations (Ed note: vague foreshadowing) and prophecies of the future.

A generation ago a widespread interest in the study of typology prevailed; latterly the interest has largely subsided, chiefly because of the vagaries and extravagances which attended its treatment on the part of not a few writers. Pressing the typical teaching of Scripture so far as to imperil the historical validity of God's word is both dangerous and certain to be followed by reaction and neglect of the subject.

1. Definition of Type:

The word type is derived from a Greek term tupos, which occurs 16 times in the New Testament. It is variously translated in the King James Version, e.g. twice "print" (Jn 20:25); twice "figure" (Acts 7:43; Romans 5:14 [note]); twice "pattern" (Titus 2:7 [note]; He 8:5 [note]); once "fashion" (Acts 7:44); once "manner" (Acts 23:25); once "form" (Ro 6:17 [note]); and 7 times as example" (1Cor 10:6,11; Php 3:17 [note]; 1Th 1:7 [note]; 2 Thess 3:9; 1Ti 4:12; 1Pe 5:3 [note]).

It is clear from these texts that the New Testament writers use the word type with some degree of latitude; yet one general idea is common to all, namely, likeness.

A person, event or thing is so fashioned or appointed as to resemble another; the one is made to answer to the other in some essential feature; in some particulars the one matches the other. The two are called type and antitype; and the link which binds them together is the correspondence, the similarity, of the one with the other...

Types are pictures, object-lessons, by which God taught His people concerning His grace and saving power. The Mosaic system was a sort of kindergarten in which God's people were trained in divine things, by which also they were led to look for better things to come. An old writer thus expresses it:

"God in the types of the last dispensation was teaching His children their letters. In this dispensation He is teaching them to put the letters together, and they find that the letters, arrange them as they will, spell Christ, and nothing but Christ."

In creation the Lord uses one thing for many purposes. One simple instrument meets many ends. For how many ends does water serve! And the atmosphere: it supplies the lungs, conveys sound, diffuses odors, drives ships, supports fire, gives rain, fulfills besides one knows not how many other purposes. And God's Word is like His work, is His work, and, like creation, is inexhaustible. Whatever God touches, be it a mighty sun or an insect's wing, a vast prophecy or a little type, He perfects for the place and the purpose He has in mind.

2. Distinctive Features:

What are the distinctive features of a type? A type, to be such in reality, must possess three well-defined qualities.

(1) It must be a true picture of the person or the thing it represents or prefigures. A type is a draft or sketch of some well-defined feature of redemption, and therefore it must in some distinct way resemble its antitype, e.g. Aaron as high priest is a rough figure of Christ the Great High Priest, and the Day of Atonement in Israel (Leviticus 16:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7f) must be a true picture of the atoning work of Christ.

(2) The type must be of divine appointment. In its institution it is designed to bear a likeness to the antitype. Both type and antitype are preordained as constituent parts of the scheme of redemption. As centuries sometimes lie between the type and its accomplishment in the antitype, of course infinite wisdom alone can ordain the one to be the picture of the other. Only God can make types.

(3) A type always prefigures something future. A Scriptural type and predictive prophecy are in substance the same, differing only in form. This fact distinguishes between a symbol and a type. A symbol may represent a thing of the present or of the past as well as of the future, e.g. the symbols in the Lord's Supper. A type always looks to the future; an element of prediction must necessarily be in it.

3. Classification of Types:

Another thing in the study of types should be borne in mind, namely, that a thing in itself evil cannot be the type of what is good and pure. It is somewhat difficult to give a satisfactory classification of Biblical types, but broadly they may be distributed under three heads:

(1) Personal types, by which are meant those personages of Scripture whose lives and experiences illustrate some principle or truth of redemption. Such are Adam, who is expressly described as the "figure of him that was to come" (see note Romans 5:14), Melchizedek, Abraham, Aaron, Joseph, Jonah, etc.

(2) Historical types, in which are included the great historical events that under Providence became striking foreshadowings of good things to come, e.g. the Deliverance from the Bondage of Egypt; the Wilderness Journey; the Conquest of Canaan; the Call of Abraham; Deliverances by the Judges, etc.

(3) Ritual types, such as the Altar, the Offerings, the Priesthood, the Tabernacle and its furniture. There are typical persons, places, times, things, actions, in the Old Testament, and a reverent study of them leads into a thorough acquaintance with the fullness and the blessedness of the Word of God (Ed note: Amen!)

4. How Much of the Old Testament Is Typical?:

How much of the Old Testament is to be regarded as typical is a question not easily answered. Two extremes, however, should be avoided.

First, The extravagance of some of the early Fathers, as Origen, Ambrose, Jerome (revived in our time by Andrew Jukes and his imitators). They sought for types, and of course found them, in every incident and event, however trivial, recorded in Scripture. Even the most simple and commonplace circumstance was thought to conceal within itself the most recondite truth. Mystery and mysticism were seen everywhere, in the cords and pins of the tabernacle, in the yield of herds, in the death of one, in the marriage of another, even in the number of fish caught by the disciples on the night the risen Saviour appeared to them--how much some have tried to make of that number, 153! The very serious objection to this method is, that it wrests Scripture out of the sphere of the natural and the historical and locates it in that of the arbitrary and the fanciful; it tends to destroy the validity and trustworthiness of the record. (Ed note: And this latter is the gravest potential danger, for if the Scriptures lose their trustworthiness, our faith is affected. We don't lose our salvation but we can become spiritually "weak" for "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." see note Ro 10:17)

Second, the undue contraction of the typical element. "Professor Moses Stuart expresses this view as follows: "Just so much of the Old Testament is to be accounted typical as the New Testament affirms to be so, and no more." This opinion assumes that the New Testament writers have exhausted the types of the Old Testament, while the fact is that those found in the later Scripture are but samples taken from the storehouse where many more are found. If they are not, then nothing is more arbitrary than the New Testament use of types, for there is nothing to distinguish them from a multitude of others of the same class. Further, the view assumes that divine authority alone can determine the reality and import of types--a view that applies with equal force against prophecy.

This rule may be safely followed: wherever the three characteristics of types are found which have been already mentioned, there is the type.

Weighty are the words of one equally eminent for his piety as for his learning:

"That the Old Testament is rich in types, or rather forms in its totality one type, of the New Testament, follows necessarily from the entirely unique position which belongs to Christ as the center of the history of the world and of revelation. As we constantly see the principle embodied in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, that the higher species are already typified in a lower stage of development, so do we find, in the domain of saving revelation, the highest not only prepared for, but also shadowed forth, by that which precedes in the lower spheres" (Van Oosterzee).

(Ed note: Gundry in his article amplifies Moorehead's comments writing that...

Though the man whose name designates this group was not the originator of this view, a group known as the school of Bishop Marsh propagated the rule of thumb that a type is a type only when the New Testament specifically designates it to he such. Since this is a clear and precise formula, it has exercised a great influence on conservative Protestant interpretation since the time of Marsh. However, a more moderate school of thought pointed out that the New Testament practically invites the interpreter to find additional types in Scripture. Thus, this mediating school tried to resist the wild extravagances of the Cocceian school (The Cocceian school of the mid-seventeenth century fell into the irregularities of the ancient allegorists), but it still insisted that the possibilities of a typological interpretative method were certainly greater than Bishop Marsh bad suggested. Hence, the mediating school suggested that there were two varieties of types:

1) innate types, or those specifically declared to be types in the New Testament; and

2) inferred types, or those not specifically designated in the New Testament but justified for their existence by the nature of the New Testament materials on typology.

The most able systematizer and defender of this approach has been Patrick Fairbairn, and he is supported by Terry in his Biblical Hermeneutics. In present-day conservative Protestantism (fundamentalism, evangelicalism, orthodoxy or whatever other term may be regarded as descriptive) the above three approaches to typology continue to co-exist. There are those who play the typological theme to the point that it practically amounts to allegorical interpretation. In reaction to these excesses, Bishop Marsh has many modern followers; but probably the majority of modern conservative Protestants seek to maintain a mediating position similar to that of Fairbairn and Terry. (Gundry, S T, Typology as a Means of Interpretation: Past and Present. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Volume 12:237, Fall, 1969)

LITERATURE - P. Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture, 2 volumes (Free online); Angus, The Bible Handbook; Andrew Jukes, Law of Offerings in Leviticus; Mather, Gospel of Old Testament, Explanation of Types; McEwen, Grace and Truth: Types and Figures of the Old Testament; Soltau, Tabernacle, Priesthood and Offerings. (Orr, J., M.A., D.D. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: 1915 edition)

Now back to Judges...One message in this book is that the result of abandonment of God’s law is corruption from within and oppression from without.

Compromise will bring failure. Incomplete mastery of evil at the outset always means constant trouble from it afterwards and often defeat by it in the end. So was it with Israel. So has it been with those in NT times. Israel then is a picture of our fallen flesh.

Let us beware for ourselves! Let the truth of this book burn into your mind and burn out any easy going toleration of the unholy or questionable thing. We can never enjoy God's promised rest and blessing for long if we tolerate only partially crushed sins to continue with us. If we "flirt" with questionable things because they seem harmless, we will soon find ourselves in shackles to the desires of the flesh. Oh that Israel had heeded the message of this book. Oh that a compromising Church today never disregard it! God's word to His people today is still that of 2Cor 6:17, 18. Take heed (a command, a necessity, not a suggestion).

Israel's servitudes or enslavements were not accidents but were punishments. God may confer special privileges on certain persons and nations, but He is no respecter of persons in the sense that he winks at their indiscretions!. Those who sin against extra privilege bear heavier responsibility and incur heavier penalty (cp Jas 3:1, 2Co 5:10, He 13:17-note). God gives privileges, but He never the privilege to sin! Let us as saints who enjoy the privilege of the New Covenant of grace beware lest this sense of privilege should beguile our own hearts into the sin of presumption! We must ever beware of the temptation to "turn the grace of our God into licentiousness" (Jude 1:4, 1Co 8:9, Ga 5:1