Judges 2:1-5

Angel of the Lord Rebukes Israel Judges 2:1-5

And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you,
4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept,
5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.

1.

Who is the angel of Jehovah? Judges 2:1

The angel of Jehovah is not a prophet, a messenger, or some other earthly servant of the Lord, either Phinehas or Joshua, as the Targums, Rabbins, and others assume. Rather, the angel of the Lord is a visible manifestation of God Himself, not in the fullness of His being, but in one aspect of His person. No angel mentioned in the historical books is ever said to have addressed the whole nation or to have passed from one place to another. The prophets always distinguish between themselves and Jehovah, by introducing their words with the declaration thus saith Jehovah. In his address the angel of the Lord identifies himself with Jehovah (cf. Joshua 5:14; Joshua 6:2).

2.

Where was Bochim? Judges 2:1; Judges 2:5

Bochim was evidently near Bethel, in the hill country of Ephraim. The situation of this place is altogether unknown today. The rendering of the LXX, epi ton Klau-thmona kai epi Baithel kai epi ton oikon Israel, gives no clue whatsoever. Ton Klauthmona merely arises from a confusion of bochim with bebaim in 2 Samuel 5:23, which the LXX also rendered Klauthmon. Epi ton Baithel. is an arbitrary interpolation of the translators themselves, who supposed bochim to be in the neighborhood of Bethel. This was merely because they thought of Allon bachuth, the oak of weeping, at Bethel which is mentioned in Genesis 35:8.

3.

In what way had Israel failed to obey? Judges 2:2

God had ordered the people to make no league with the inhabitants of the land into which they came. In the days of Moses, He had said, thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them (Deuteronomy 7:2). Israel had been tricked into making a league with the Gibeonites (Joshua 9), and whenever a tribe of Israel was unable to drive out the inhabitants living in the land which was assigned to them, they made them to be tributariesthey made some kind of arrangement for these people to live among them and pay tribute to them. They also were commanded to throw down the altars of these people. Through Moses, God had especially commanded the Israelites to overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place (Deuteronomy 12:3). This Israel had failed to do. In fact, she, herself, had turned to worship the Baalim and Ashtaroth.

4.

What was Israel's punishment? Judges 2:3

God said that because Israel failed to obey Him completely, He would not drive out the nations before them. He left the nations to be as thorns in their sides. He further stated that since they had not overthrown their altars these pagan gods would be a snare to Israel. Ultimately, these people in their false worship brought the downfall of Israel.

5.

What was the reaction of the people? Judges 2:4-5

The people realized God had spoken the truth about them. As a result, they lifted up their voice and wept. Their weeping was of such nature that it gave the name Bochim to the place. The word, Bochim, means weepers. At that time, they also sacrificed there to the Lord. They accepted the Lord's punishment and turned to Him for help.