Israel had been rescued by God and finally entered into the promised land of rest. But it didn’t take long for them to rebel against Him and worship other gods. So, God would hand them over to their rebellion and let the gods they worshipped and the nations they longed for take them over. They would cry out for rescue so God would send someone as a judge over sin and the other nations. The people would rejoice, but again, it didn’t take long to repeat their rebellion.

They found themselves in an exhausting cycle: rescue, rest, rebellion, reaping the consequences, rescue… repeat. Who could come and break the cycle?