UNROLL
Dusk over the hill country: on a near hilltop under an old spreading oak, a rough standing stone and a carved wooden pole with a small clay lamp at its foot; below, a small village on terraced slopes with its first lamps lit.

The Book of

Judges 2

A generation grows up that does not know the LORD, and the pattern of the whole book begins.

23 verses≈ 5 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–2Not finishedThe land left half-takenChapter 2
  2. 3–5The cycleSin, oppression, a deliverer
  3. 6–10Gideon and afterA weak man, a strong God
  4. 11–16Jephthah and SamsonFlawed deliverers
  5. 17–21No king in IsraelEveryone did as he saw fit

Israel Rebuked at Bochim

The angel of the LORD

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The angel of the LORD
The angel of the LORD

So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”

Evening on a bare hillside: a great crowd of Israelites, men and women with heads covered, some kneeling and some with faces in their hands, weeping; a thin column of smoke rises from a simple altar of uncut stones.

When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept. So they called that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to the LORD.

Reflect

Tears or turning

At Bochim “the people lifted up their voices and wept” and “offered sacrifices there to the LORD.” A few verses later they “served the Baals.” Tears are a good start, but they are not yet a changed life. Is there something you have been sorry for more than once? Write down what turning from it, and not only weeping over it, would look like for you this week.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelites went out to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. And the people served the LORD throughout the days of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, who had seen all the great works that the LORD had done for Israel.

And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110. They buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works that He had done for Israel.

Judges 2:10

And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.

Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger, for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Dusk in a small hill village after raiders have gone: a threshing floor swept bare, storage jars broken and spilled, an empty sheep pen with its gate hanging open, and a family standing in their doorway looking at the dust on the road.

Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.

Question

Quick question

Two generations, side by side in the same chapter.

Who served the LORD, according to 2:7?

Judges Raised Up

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them.

Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.

for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.

Judges 2:18

But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

The cycle

againServe theBaalsevil in theLORD’s sight(2:11)Given toplunderers“sold them”(2:14)Groaningunderoppressors(2:18)A judge raisedupthe LORD with him(2:16, 18)Savedwhile helivedrescue fromenemies (2:18)Worsethanbeforewhen the judgedied (2:19)

Whiteboard

This is the pattern of the whole book, set out before the stories begin. Israel “served the Baals.” The LORD “delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them.” They groaned, and He “raised up judges, who saved them.” Then the judge died, and the people “became even more corrupt than their fathers.” From chapter 3 to chapter 16 it comes round again and again, Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, and each time Israel ends up a little lower than before. It is a circle that is really a spiral, going down.

Pray

He hears groaning

Israel had wandered, and still “the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning.” Thank God that He hears the cries of people who do not deserve it, and that He has sent a Deliverer who never dies and leaves us. Then ask Him for a heart that does not drift back to old ways once the trouble has passed. Lord, keep me close to You on good days as well as hard ones. Amen.

From an Israelite village terrace at evening, a deep valley, and on the far side a Canaanite walled town still standing on its mound, hearth smoke rising peacefully.

So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed the covenant I laid down for their fathers and has not heeded My voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. In this way I will test whether Israel will keep the way of the LORD by walking in it as their fathers did.”

0:22

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

An abandoned terraced field in the hill country gone wild with thorns and thistles at evening, a jackal standing at the broken terrace wall.

That is why the LORD had left those nations in place and had not driven them out immediately by delivering them into the hand of Joshua.

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Judges 2

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A verse to carry with you

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.

Judges 2:18

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