For three years Abimelech ruled in Israel. We know little of his reign except that it ended in turmoil. The self-declared king was not God’s promised king, nor did he deliver Israel, but did that which was right in his own eyes and died in the he lived and ruled the nation. Leadership matters. After the Bramble King’s reign of terror, Israel needed a savior.

I. An Obscure Judge (Judg 10:1-2). Tola (worm) was a man of low estate. An obscure man from an obscure family, from an obscure place, with an obscure career. He was born. He died. Little is known of his life in-between.
He ruled over the tribe of Ephraim in northern Israel, but what he did is important: he saved Israel from what Abimelech had done. He left Israel better than he found it. He judged (rescued, saved, delivered) Israel from Abimelech’s messy reign, creating a time and place of political peace and prosperity. God, in His grace, does not allow sin nor its suffering to go on forever (Mt 24:21-22).

II. An Opulent Judge (Judg 10:3-5). God gives leaders to restrain evil by punishing it (Rom 13:2-4). After Tola, God raised up Jair (he shines) to judge for 22 prosperous years. We know nothing of Jair’s past, only his future, and it rested in his 30 sons; Jair was a polygamist like the pagan kings around Israel.
He made each son the leader of a town. Nepotism is putting a family member in a place of power regardless of calling, character, or capability.
Each son rode a donkey, symbolic of peace, prosperity, power, and prestige in the ancient world (Gen 49:11; Judg 12:14). Humble Jesus rode a donkey (Zech 9:9; Mt 21:2, 7; Jn 12:12-15).
Jair had a Gideon-like attitude (Judg 8:30). Since the Garden of Eden, mankind has been tempted to overthrow Earth’s true king (Gen 3:5; Mk 10:35-45). The true desires of our hearts have a way of slipping out from behind our largest fig leaves. There is nothing wrong with prosperity, affluence, or prestige, except for how it’s used. Abraham (Gen 13:2; 25:5-6) and David (2 Sam 8; 1 Chron 29:28-30) had all three, yet were godly men who sought God’s glory not their own.

III. An Oppressive Enemy (Judg 10:6-9). Comfortable living often produces weak character. When Jair died, Israel returned to open idolatry, which was practiced before, but hidden under darkness (Jn 3:19-21). Leaders can bring peace and prosperity and restrain evil, but it’s always temporary and limited by man’s sinfulness. As godly leadership wanes, evil abounds.
Paganism seeks to harness the power of nature and bring about a desired end through the images of gods. The worshiper performs certain rituals and makes offerings and prayers to get the gods to do what he desires. It is not so with Christianity which calls us to conform to God’s will, not the other way around. Idolatry is seeking and enjoying God’s gifts while ignoring the true Giver.
Israel’s apostasy (abandoning or forgetting God) led to worshiping deities of 7 foreign nations. The number 7 is often used in the Bible as a symbol of something complete (Gen 2:2). Israel’s apostasy was complete and God sold Israel as slaves to the nations whose gods they served. The people whose gods Israel served harassed (to crush until shattered), oppressed, (to break into pieces) and severely distressed (to constrict and squeeze) them for 18 years (Ps 106:41; Neh 9:27). Sin never produces what it promises.
Human nature is not to seek after God but to hide from Him through self-effort (Gen 3:6-8; Rom 3:10-18). In prosperity and poverty, strength and sickness, simplicity and schooling, man remains sinful (Gen 6:5; 8:21; Jer 17:9). God warned Cain (Gen 4:1-8) that sin desired to dominate him, but Cain was to master that desire. He refused, and murdered Abel. Sin always oppresses.
Apart from an eternal Saviour, man is eternally damned (Eph 2:1-10). Jesus is our Deliverer!