CHAPTER TWO. THE SIN OF THE NATION.
This chapter gives an account of the sudden appearance of the angel of
Yahweh and the rebuking of the children of Israel for their present
misconduct, followed by an account of their previous good behaviour
under Joshua, and the elders that outlived him, and of t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH QUESTIONS WHY THEY HAVE BEEN DISOBEDIENT AND THE
PEOPLE MAKE A SHOW OF REPENTANCE (JUDGES 2:1).
Judges 2:1 a
‘ And the Angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he
said, “I made you to go up out of Egypt, and I have brought you to
the land which I swore to your father... [ Continue Reading ]
A FLASHBACK TO THE DAYS OF JOSHUA AND THE DAYS OF FAITHFULNESS (JUDGES
2:6).
Judges 2:6
‘ Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel
went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.'
What a time of triumph and hope that had been. Joshua had sent them to
their inheritanc... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CONTINUED FAILURE OF THE PEOPLE SUMMARISED WITH RESPECT TO THE
DAYS THAT WERE COMING - HIS ATTEMPTS TO WOO THEM BY DELIVERANCE - AND
THEIR CONTINUAL BACKSLIDING (JUDGES 2:10).
Judges 2:10
‘ And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers. And
there arose another generation after t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Israel did what was evil in the sight of
Yahweh, and served the Baalim.'
It was the ‘natural' thing to do. The Baalim were the main god of
the land represented in the form of statuettes of bulls, so easily
satisfied and demanding nothing in return. They were like good luck
cha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought
them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of
the people who were round about them, and bowed themselves down to
them. And they provoked Yahweh to anger.'
They ignored two things, God's covenant with Abraham w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they forsook Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.'
The repetitiveness is deliberate so that the words will be burned into
the hearer's hearts. We must not understand by ‘forsook' that they
ceased to look to Yahweh in some way as their God. They still accepted
their part in the tribal co... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he
delivered them into the hands of spoilers who spoiled them, and he
sold them into the hands of their enemies round about so that they
could not any longer stand before their enemies.'
So Yahweh's anger was kindled against them, and what f... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Wherever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them for
evil, as Yahweh had said, and as Yahweh had sworn to them.'
Because they had failed to drive out the Canaanites God would give
them no more victories. When they now sought to expand they would face
defeat after defeat, just as Yahweh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And yet they did not listen to their judges, for they went a
whoring after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They
turned quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked in obeying
the commandments of Yahweh. They did not do so.'
From now on there was an up-down situation. Having... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And when Yahweh raised up judges, then Yahweh was with the judge,
and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the
judge. For Yahweh relented because of their groaning as a result of
those who oppressed them and vexed them.'
The repetition compared with Judges 2:16 is deliberate... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And it happened that, when the judge was dead, they turned back
and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to
serve them, and to bow down to them. They did not cease from their
doings, nor from their stubborn ways.'
The only result of God's goodness and mercy was that the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he said,
“Because this people have transgressed my covenant which I commanded
their fathers, and have not listened to my voice”.'
Again we read of God's anger kindled against them, compare verse 14.
Everything is repeated to bring out either... [ Continue Reading ]
“ I also will not henceforth drive out from before them any of the
nations which Joshua left when he died.”
His patience was now finished. He would deliver them from outside
nations, but the nations in the land were now to be their snares, and
traps, and thorns and headaches. He would no longer hel... [ Continue Reading ]
“ That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the
way of Yahweh to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.”
These nations would act as a continual proving ground, testing how
faithful to the covenant Israel would be. Testing whether, like their
fathers, they would be willing... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out quickly,
neither did he deliver them into the hand of Joshua.'
Here the writer makes plain the truth. Yahweh had known all along that
His people would be unfaithful, for even in the days of Joshua when
the people were relatively faithful to H... [ Continue Reading ]