Judges 2:1-23

Life Without Law

Judges

Philip Smith

Chapter 2

v1 The *angel of the *Lord came from Gilgal to Bokim. He said ‘I brought you out of Egypt. And then I brought you into the country that I promised to your family. I said, “I will never stop doing what I agreed with you. v2 You must not make an agreement with the people in this country. You must destroy their stone tables where they offer *burnt offerings to their gods.” You have not done what I said. v3 So now I will not force them to leave. They will be your enemies and their gods will *capture you.’ v4 The *angel of the Lord said this to all the *Israelites. Then they wept aloud. v5 They called the place Bokim. They offered *sacrifices to the *Lord.

The phrase ‘the *angel of the Lord’ refers to God. It means that he appeared and he spoke to them there. Before that time, the central place where they praised God had been in Gilgal. (This was where *Israel’s people first lived in that country.) But now it was in Bokim (which means ‘weepers’).

Many Bible students think that Bokim was at Bethel. Here people buried Rachel’s nurse at the *oak where people wept (Genesis 35:8). That is why Bible students think that.

God had made an agreement with his people. And he had done what he agreed to do. But they had not done what they agreed to do. Now God said that he would allow their enemies to *capture them. They would praise other gods. The people wept and they offered sacrifices. (Sacrifices were gifts for God. They were asking him to forgive the things that they had done wrong.) They were probably not really sorry. Later, they did wrong things again.

v6 Joshua told the people to go. They each went to live in their own particular area in that country. God had given to them different parts. v7 The people served the *Lord during Joshua’s life. And they continued to do so during the lives of some other leaders. These were leaders that lived longer than Joshua did. And they had seen the great things that the *Lord had done for *Israel’s people. v8 Joshua died when he was 110 years old. v9 They buried him at the edge of his property. This was in Timnath Heres. It was in the hilly country where Ephraim’s *tribe lived, north from Mount Gaash.

This was the time when the Judges began to rule. There are some similar verses at the end of the book called Joshua. There, the writer tells us more about the great things that God had done for *Israel’s people. Joshua and some other leaders died, and a new *generation of *Israel’s people grew up. These people did not know what God had done. They did not obey God. They praised the *Baals and the Ashtoreth. *Baal was the false god of rain and good crops. ‘Ashtoreth’ is the plural of Astarte, who was the female god of war and good crops. She was the wife of the god *Baal. This was how people praised those gods. People had sex with the male and female priests in the *temple. They hoped that this would encourage the gods and female gods to do the same. This would make the land produce food. Sometimes the people even sacrificed their children. (They killed their children. In this way, they were making a gift to a god.)

v10 After that *generation died, the next *generation did not praise the *Lord. They did not know what he had done for *Israel’s people. v11 They did what God did not want. They praised the *Baals. v12 They left their ancestors’ God, who had brought their ancestors out of Egypt. (Their ancestors were their families that had lived before them.) They *worshipped other gods, which the nations near them *worshipped. That made God angry. v13 They left him and they served the *Baals and the *Ashtoreth. v14 God was angry. He let the people that attacked them steal their possessions. They could not oppose their enemies. Their enemies defeated them. v15 Whenever they went out to fight, the *Lord let people defeat them. He had said that he would do this. They were very unhappy. v16 Then the *Lord sent to them judges, who rescued them from their enemies. v17 Still they did not listen. They showed honour to other gods and praised them. They quickly stopped doing what God said. Their *ancestors had not been like that. Their *ancestors had obeyed God. v18 Whenever God gave a judge to them, he was with that judge. He saved them from their enemies as long as the judge lived. God was sorry for them. They suffered because some people controlled them. And those people were very cruel to them. That was why God gave them a judge. v19 But when the judge died, the people acted even worse than before. They *worshipped other gods and they served those gods. They refused to change what they were doing. They did not stop doing wrong things.

The writer then tells us what the book is about. The people left God. They did evil things and they praised the *Baals. Then God allowed their enemies to defeat them. And he allowed the enemies to divide them. The people cried out to the *Lord. He sent judges to rescue them. Even then, they only changed their behaviour for a short time. After the judge had died, they were worse than ever!

v20 The *Lord was very angry with *Israel’s people. He said, ‘These people have not obeyed my agreement. I made it with their family that lived before them. They have not listened to me. v21 So I will not force the other nations to leave. These nations were still in the land when Joshua died. v22 I will use them to test *Israel’s people. I will see whether they will obey the *Lord. Their *ancestors did obey the *Lord.’ v23 The *Lord had allowed these nations to remain. He did not force them to leave immediately. He did not allow Joshua to defeat them.

As a result, God did not force that country’s people to leave.

He left them there

1) to punish *Israel’s people,

2) to test whether they were loyal to God, and

3) to give them experience in battle, as we learn in chapter 3.

angel ~ a special servant of God. He lives where God lives and he brings messages from God.
Lord ~ a name for God. It means that he is the master, the ruler over all. Also, people often use this word to translate Yahweh, a very special Hebrew name for God.

Yahweh ~ the name of God. It means ‘I am what I am’. Or it can mean ‘the same always’.
Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham’s descendants; and they spoke a language called Hebrew.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
capture ~ take someone as a prisoner; take control of a place in war; or take an object in war.
Israelites ~ the people that belonged to the nation called Israel. God had chosen them as his own special people.

Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
sacrifice ~ something valuable (usually food or a dead animal) that people offer to God or to a false god.
Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.

descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
oak ~ a tree with hard wood. People often considered it as a holy thing.
tribe ~ a large group of people that are all relatives of each other.
generation ~ a period of time between a father’s birth and his child’s birth.
Baal ~ the false god of rain and good crops.
temple ~ a building where people praise a god.
worship ~ to show honour and respect to God or to a false god. To praise and serve God or a false god.
Ashtoreth ~ false female gods.
ancestors ~ people that lived before you in your family.