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 ]