Judges

At the end of the first chapter, we saw the overall control of the land by the Jews; however, we see the seeds of failure.  In the north, the Amorites told Dan where he could live, not allowing them in the valley.  In the south, they had a stronghold from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.  From north to south, the Amorites stood as a testament to the disobedience of the Israelites.  Why did they allow this?

• Fear to engage them
• Failure to be obedient
• Some sense of compassion to their Canaanite neighbors?

Joshua understood this was a possibility; and he warned them:

⁵ And the Lord your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God promised you. ⁶ Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, ⁷ and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, ⁸ but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. ⁹ For the Lord has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. ¹⁰ One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you. ¹¹ Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. ¹² Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, ¹³ know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

[NKJV (Joshua 23:5–13). (1982). Thomas Nelson\

Many nations and civilizations have come and gone.  Each time there is a visible pattern that leads to their destruction.

1. It starts with spiritual apostasy; a falling away from God.  A nation blessed by Him and prosperous by His hand will become too busy to give God any of their time.  They'll be managing their wealth of blessings and pursuing even more.  In time, the business, blessings, homes and everything else is seen as the product of the human endeavor.
2. Close behind is moral decline.  When God is removed, there is no absolute right and wrong; there is no absolute truth or final justice.  Everyone is free to pursue what makes them happy, their own truth and whatever life that affirms them.  Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes.  When truths collide and reality becomes evident, therapy, safe rooms and safe spaces are provided to recover and restore the imaginary truth many live in.
3. Political anarchy. Those who flourish in dishonesty and injustice will rise to power by trading in the economy of fear.  They bring the people to bow before them, the one with the answer to their problems; the one to relieve the pressure and restore their blessings.  If the corruption that brought them to this point were not enough, they give absolute power to one who will corrupt absolutely.
4. Bondage.  People are brought to bondage, oppression and poverty with no hope for deliverance.  Hope is empowering; hope stirs courage and fosters vision and leadership.  These cannot be allowed.  This is why religion must be brought into line or silenced.

"In this day of gathering storms, as moral deterioration of political power spreads its growing infection, it is essential that every spiritual force be mobilized to defend and preserve the religious base upon which this nation is founded; for it has been that base which has been the motivating impulse to our moral and national growth. History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual reawakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster."  General Douglas MacArthur

We can easily see ourselves in these cycles.  While the details of the cycles and the lessons are applicable, don't forget to notice the grace of our God.  Yes, he brings judgment on the nation that has left the covenant protection and blessings.  Yes, His people go through difficult times.  However, through it all, we see the hand of blessing to deliver and restore and call them home. 

We are a people that never seem to learn and retain the grim reality that we are our own worst enemy.  It is the enemy within, our proclivity to sin, that keeps us in this cycle. 

Judges 2:1-4

This Angel of the Lord is a messenger (mal ak) of Jehovah and quite possibly an Old Testament appearance of Jesus (theophany).  Joshua met with an 'Angel of the Lord' and was allowed to worship Him; and was told the ground where he stood was holy.  This encounter happened near Jericho, right before the great victory of Jericho.  Gilgal is the first settlement of the children of Israel after crossing into the Promised Land.  It was near Jericho.  This angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim.

The Lord was faithful to His promise in spite of their unfaithfulness.  God's faithfulness is never at risk by our failings.  The children of Israel were to:

1. Not make any covenant or treaty with the inhabitants of the land.
2. Tear down their altars.

Their failures were multiplied, they did not do what God commanded.  The Lord asked, "Why have you done this?"  The Lord knew their heart, He knew the answer; but did they?  Because of their failure, God did not drive the Canaanites out.  God would not remove them from the land when His children allowed them to stay.  Their enemy would stay in their midst and be a thorn in their side.  The pagan gods would be like a trap set to them to be captured and ensnared.  The people responded in wailing and weeping, naming the place Bochim.

Bochim means weeping.  The presence of the Angel of the Lord is a reminder of the great victory of Jericho to begin their conquest.  It came by acting in complete obedience – even obedience that made no sense to them.  The Lord brought down Jericho in their act of faith and obedience bringing victory, celebration and praise to Yahweh.  In contrast are the defeats derived from compromise and faithlessness. 

In the garden, Eve possessed all that God promised with one restriction.  She imagined that should could retain all the blessings of being in the presence of God while also being disobedient.  She failed to recognize that she was sacrificing her relationship with the Lord and all that flowed from that.  It is very similar here.  The children imagined they could possess the promises of God apart from obedience to God.  They sacrificed the blessings He had for them.  They traded away God's best for a sin, bondage, affliction and oppression of allowing the enemy to pollute the promise. 

Judges 2:5-6

This happened while Joshua was alive.  It appears Israel had generally taken possession of the land.  They controlled the vast majority of it.  But this wasn't what the Lord commanded.  There at Bochim, the children sacrificed to the Lord; an act of worship and repentance, seeking forgiveness from their God.  Joshua sent everyone to their inheritance.  As they went home, they probably noticed the Canaanites along the way more than they ever had.  The altars they allowed to stand on the high places probably bothered them more at that moment than ever before.  Yet, the worst was yet to come.

Judges 2:7-10

Joshua's death was recorded in Joshua 24:29 and repeated here in Judges two.  The paragraph is mostly verbatim; however, it notes Israel serving the Lord during Joshua's days and the days of the elders after he was gone.  Judges adds the note about the next generation, setting the tone for the chapters and stories to come. 

The Lord granted Joshua the city he asked for.  This was his earthly inheritance; meaning 'portion of the sun'.  I wonder if he visited this city when he first came into the land as a spy.  I wonder if he saw the city and decided right then to return there some day. 

When they had made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰ According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked for, Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it.  

[NKJV (Joshua 19:49–50). (1982). Thomas Nelson.]

Those who had seen the great works of the Lord would have been young as the Lord brought them out of Egypt.  They probably remembered it well.  How could you forget the fear of being up against the see with Pharaoh's army coming.  They had seen the deliverance of the Lord as He made a way through the sea.  They witnessed Pharaoh's army, the greatest in the world, held in check while they escaped and then saw this fighting force drowned in the sea.  Their parents had died away in the wilderness (Joshua 5:6).  They were the elders for a time and they continued with the conquest of the land. 

Everything held together while Joshua was alive and even after his death while there were still a few of the elders.  But when they were gone, their memories grew short they forgot.   Now we see the turning point and the cause for the disobedience and failure.  God knew their propensity for a short memory, stiff-necked and rebellious.  This is why they were constantly called to remember; to honor the feast as well and commemorate the events that defined their redemption and deliverance.

⁴ "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

⁶ "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

[NKJV (Deuteronomy 6:4–9). (1982). Thomas Nelson.]

The success of Joshua and the elders was not because they were better motivated, more courageous or better soldiers.  Their victories were the Lord's victories; their success was the Lord's success.  Because of what they had seen and experienced, they believed the word of the Lord.  They faith leading to obedience brought success in the things the Lord promised. 

Judges 2:11-15

There is a single motivating cause for the decline of God's people and the start of the cycles.  There is a single cause given that is behind the apostasy, moral and ethical decline, failed leadership and political ineptitude all subsequent to oppression and bondage by their enemies.  This single cause is they did not know the Lord.  Sure, they heard about him, they would have known of Him.  They likely worshiped and spoke of Him.  But they did not relationally or experientially know Him and trust Him.

They brought an evil upon the land.  They not only forsook the Lord God who was the very cause and purpose behind their existence, they also served other gods in His sight.  It is not likely that they purposefully turned from Yahweh but effectively did just that as they turned toward Baal and the Ashtoreths.  They began to follow other gods and bowed down to them.  In not taking heed and diligently caring for the covenant, they unknowingly made choice. 

¹⁵ "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, ¹⁶ in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ²⁰ that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

[NKJV (Deuteronomy 30:15–20). (1982). Thomas Nelson.]

See also Joshua 24:1-28.

The word 'evil' in verse 11 can also mean destruction.  The people had chosen curses over blessing; destruction and death from life with other gods (really demons); over life and abundance from living in covenant with the Lord.  Their choice of Baal and Ashtoreth was the choice of the Canaanite gods.  Baal was the Canaanite storm god.  Astarte was a Canaanite goddess. 

Ashtoreth used in plural form is singular goddess with many local manifestations.  She was derived from Babylonia, originally androgenous but solely female due to Semitic influence.  The Ishtar of Assyria became associated with Venus in Babylon, the goddess of love.  The Greek Aphrodite came from Ashtoreth as did Dianna.  She was also associated with Chemosh of Moab and Milcom of the Ammonites.  Ashtoreth shows up in several cultures, across time with slight variations and associations.  The end result is the same across the board; a trap for the souls of men to lead them to moral, ethical and political destruction.  All the variations become the man Ashtoreth, a plurality of similar gods and goddesses, a picture of men creating a god of their own making, in their image. 

Baal is the Canaanite storm god and the one who brings rain (life to an agrarian society). Baal is used in plural form but only because there were many local variations and manifestations of the same god.  The Baal was linked to high places, shrines and cities.  Baal was seen as the one who could sustain crops, animals and mankind.  The Lexam bible dictionary says:

His followers often believed that sexual acts performed in his temple would boost Baal's sexual prowess, and thus contribute to his work in increasing fertility.

[Corduan, W. (2016). Baal. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, L. Wentz, E. Ritzema, & W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Lexham Press.]

God's anger was hot.  He is a jealous God and saw His people run to another.  He is a righteous God who saw His children run to evil, destruction and sin.  He is a just God who had to bring the fruit of their unrighteousness to their life.  They chose curses and life apart form Yahweh. 

• They were delivered into the hands of plunderers.
• He sold them into the hand of the enemies all around them.
  • You shall have no power to stand before your enemies.  You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

[NKJV (Leviticus 26:37–38). (1982). Thomas Nelson.]

• They could no longer stand against their enemy.
  • What started as five chasing away a hundred and a hundred putting ten thousand enemies to flight under the blessing had become shaking in fear and falling over each other running away due to the curse (Leviticus 26).

The hand of the Lord was against them.  He gave them over to their enemies.  All they attempted brought great calamity.  They were greatly distressed.  They would soon learn that their gods were powerless to save them or deliver them from Yahweh's anger. 

Judges 2:16-19

In spite of the children of Israel breaking the covenant, the Lord was wasn't done with them.  He still was a God of grace and His covenant was true and promises everlasting.  Therefore, He brought forth judges to deliver His people.  The judges weren't like judges that know today.  These judges were more like informal kings.  They were leaders God raised up for His purpose. 

The Hebrew term used in the context of this book describes an individual who maintains justice for the tribes of Israel. This justice comes in bringing protection from foreign oppressors. Maintaining international justice was often the role of the king. What made these judges unlike kings was that there was no formal process for assuming the office, nor could it be passed on to one's heirs. There was no supporting administration, no standing army and no taxation to underwrite expenses. So while the actual function of the judge may have had much in common with the king, the judge did not enjoy most of the royal prerogatives.

[Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. (2000). The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed., Jdg 2:16–19). InterVarsity Press.]

In general, the people would not listen.  If they did, it was only for a short time.  This not only characterizes the children of Israel but all people across all time.  The judges were essentially military leaders that delivered them from their enemies and oppressors.  Even then, they would not learn.  They were ensnared by the other gods.  They played the harlot; spiritually unfaithful running to whatever god had the best deal.  They bowed down to idols, trees, emblems, carvings, stumps and all kinds of useless things; all of which represented the demons that were having their way.  The children of God were characterized as:

• They would not listen.
• They played the harlot.
• They bowed down.
• They turned quickly from their father's way.

They did not deserve God's mercy and deliverance.  He did not do it because they were faithful but because He was.  The Lord had pity on them as they suffered from the curses they brought on themselves.  The judges delivered them from those who oppressed and harassed them.  When the judge was no longer around to save them, they quickly turned away again.  They became even more corrupt than before; lacking character, integrity and morality.

Judges 2:20-23

Then, once again, the anger of the Lord burned hot against them.  Then verse 21 repeats verse 3 showing the cycle of sin; the cycle of the judges.  Each cycle plunges to new depths of depravity, idolatry and immorality.  God had given them all they needed to know.  He had told them what would happen if they did not take heed and forgot.  They could have turned to God sincerely, completely and destroyed the altars and idols of the other gods.  They should have purged the land of the Canaanites and their gods.  They should have simply exercised faith to believe God was true to His word and always would be. 

The Lord left the nations.  Israel would have to live in the presence of the evil and the temptations presented by it because of their unbelief.  The test of Israel was for the people's knowledge of themselves.  God already knew their heart, their stubbornness and waywardness.  Israel could prove to themselves that God could deliver them.  The test could prove out faith in the end.  However, the heart is deceitful above all things.  These other ways seemed right in their eyes.  They appeared beneficial to their finances and life.  They had enough faith to belief a lump of wood could help them but not enough faith to know their God was the only God; and that He could do all things. 

Israel was losing its way.  Trending from speaking to God in the first chapter.  To being scolded by God in the second chapter.  The cycle begins, each spiraling to new depths of godlessness.

While we might look at Israel and wonder why they did this, we can look at our own life and our nation and ask the same thing.  Do we acknowledge the anger of the Lord, repent and seek Him as a nation?  As individuals, are we taking heed?  Are we holding fast to the promises of God, not making room for sin or the other gods that call to us. 

© 2015, 2022 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater