It hardly seems possible that a people who had been so greatly honored by the LORD, and who had made such strong pledges of loyalty to Him, would soon fall into disgraceful idolatry and heathen wickedness. And yet this is exactly what happened within twenty or thirty years after the death of Josh'u-a. A people, chosen of God, highly privileged and well trained, became treacherous in heart and wicked in life. A nation which had been founded by special acts of Divine Providence and blessed with the noblest leaders of any age suddenly forgot the favors of God, fell into a state of idolatry, and disobeyed the known Will of God.
Instead of driving the idolaters out of the land, the Is'ra-el-ites mingled with them even to the point of worshiping their false gods. The Covenant which they had solemnly made with God was rejected, the fear of God was cast off, His Laws were scorned or forgotten, and the worship which belonged to Him was given to lifeless images.
Is'ra-el had avoided the danger of war with the heathens among them by forming sinful alliances, by accepting them as good neighbors, by entering into marriages which the LORD had forbidden, and by lowering their standards of religion. Because of these sins the LORD brought upon them a strong enemy from outside the land of the Is'ra-el-ites.
Chu'shan-Rish-a-tha'im, who was king of Syr'i-a on the Eu-phra'tes, and who was a terror throughout the east, invaded the land of Is'ra-el with a great army. His name stood for lawlessness, violence, and cruelty, and he was called "the crime-committing Chu'shan." He ruled the rich country of Mes-o-po-ta'mia, which lay between the Ti'gris and Eu-phra'tes rivers, and dominated neighboring countries for hundreds of miles around.
Traversing a distance of four hundred miles, this cruel king invaded the land of Is'ra-el from the east, and there followed one of the most tragic stories of the weakness caused by sin. The powerful host of God's people, before whom the armies of the Am'o-rites and Am'mon-ites had melted away like snow under a burning sun, trembled in fear of the invader from the far northeast. The mighty army which had routed more than thirty kings in Ca'naan quailed in dismay, and the soldiers turnt their backs in fright at the appearance of a single chieftain and his army from far away Syr'i-a.
For eight years the Is'ra-el-ites were forced to live under the oppression of Chu'shan. They were treated as though they were slaves, were beaten and tortured, and forced to pay heavy tribute to their masters. it was a period of terrible sufferings, of broken hearts and bruised limbs, and of unspeakable anguish as the people bowed under the iron rule of the dark prince of the house of Ham, notorious for his "double-wickedness." For their abandonment of God's Covenant they were abandoned by God, and were left to reap the natural result of their idolatry and wickedness.
