Reflections on Judges 2

Judges 02 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The LORD's angel went from Gilgal to Bochim and gave the Israelites this message from the LORD: I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break,
   
2. and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. But you didn't keep your promise.
   
3. And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap you into worshiping their idols.
   
4. The Israelites started crying loudly,
   
5. and they offered sacrifices to the LORD. From then on, they called that place "Crying."
   
6. Joshua had been faithful to the LORD. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the LORD until Joshua died at the age of one hundred ten. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the LORD during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the LORD had done for Israel.
   
7. (SEE 2:6)
   
8. (SEE 2:6)
   
9. (SEE 2:6)
   
10. After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the LORD or any of the things he had done for Israel.
    
11. The LORD had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the LORD and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations. The LORD was so angry
    
12. (SEE 2:11)
    
13. (SEE 2:11)
    
14. at the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the LORD always let them defeat Israel in battle. The LORD had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.
    
15. (SEE 2:14)
    
16. From time to time, the LORD would choose special leaders known as judges. These judges would lead the Israelites into battle and defeat the enemies that made raids on them.
    
17. In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the LORD, but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites would disobey the LORD, and instead of worshiping him, they would worship other gods.
    
18. When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the LORD would feel sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The LORD would be kind to Israel as long as that judge lived.
    
19. But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn--they simply would not stop worshiping other gods or following the teachings of other religions.
    
20. The LORD was angry with Israel and said: The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me,
    
21. so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died,
    
22. and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.
    
23. That's why the LORD had not let Joshua get rid of all those enemy nations right away.
    

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    Following the narrative of the first two chapters of Judges chronologically is difficult. Chapter one through chapter two verses 1-5 provide a glimpse of what took place in Israel following Joshua's death. Then in 2:6 another reference to Joshua's death begins an introduction and overview of the downward spiral of Israel through the period of the judges.
    
    The picture that is painted for us is that Israel's disobedience in driving out the remaining inhabitants of Canaan led to a breaking of the covenant with God. Furthermore, we are told why they were so disobedient. With the death of Joshua, his generation was gone and the generation that followed "did not know the LORD or the works He had done for Israel." (2:10) While this sounds as if the parents had failed to teach this generation of God and His works on their behalf, it is more likely that the word translated "know" really means "acknowledge." Though this generation hadn't lived through the exodus and wilderness wonderings, many of them had lived through the conquest of Canaan and had experienced the gathering of the people on several occasions in which the covenant was referenced and had experienced God's works on behalf of Israel in defeating the Canaanites. They "knew" of God and His works but chose not to "acknowledge" Him in their lives. Instead, they chose to intermarry with the people they failed to drive out and to worship the Baals that they worshiped, thus abandoning the God of their fathers.
    
    This rise of a generation who refused to acknowledge God set the stage for the period of the judges. This period became a succession of cycles that repeated themselves in a downward spiral, each cycle worse than the previous. A cycle began with the unfaithfulness of the people which led to God's anger over their unfaithfulness and turning them over to marauders who overpowered and enslaved them. When their suffering under slavery became great enough they cried out to God for help and He had mercy on them and raised up a judge who He used to rescue them. While the judge lived God gave them strength over their enemies, but once a judge died, the people returned to their ungodly ways and the cycle repeated itself.