We have all heard something similar to the saying: History repeats itself. In regard to this period of Israel’s history, no words could ever be more true. When I was looking for this exact quote (which I never found), I ran across these two very appropriate quotes which we could use in describing the Jewish people during the time of the judges.

“Disregard for the past will never do us any good. Without it we cannot know truly who we are.”
― Syd Moore (an English author of mystery thrillers – I’ve never read her books, I just found the quote). We have seen, often, throughout Israel’s history a prophet or other writer recount the history of God’s chosen. Writers, even in the New Testament, would review the mighty acts of God for the people and remind them from where they came. They were God’s people, under God’s covenant with Abraham and Moses, but they forgot. They disregarded the old ways, they wanted the newest god trending on the homefront. With each passing decade, they forgot who and Whose they were.

The second quote I found is “The problem with the idea that history repeats itself is that when it isn’t making us wiser it’s making us complacent.”― Lisa Halliday (American author, from her book Asymmetry. Again I haven’t read it, but Mr. Obama did, and liked it) I won’t go into a discussion comparing and contrasting the wisdom and complacency of the Jewish people during the period of the judges, for I think you have the idea.

The important thing to take away from this passage is probably found in verses 21 and 22. God eventually allowed other nations to occupy and rule over the nation of Israel. He did this to make the people acknowledge Who and Whose they were. He does the same to us, allowing adversity to enter our lives to see if we put our hope and faith in his faithful law and love, or chase after the newest god on the homefront.