Judges 2:1 - Meaning and Application

It was Israel’s privilege that God did not only give them one law from heaven to guide them into the way of happiness and keep them there. He also sent them special messages whenever needed, to rebuke them, correct them, and teach them what was right, when they drifted off the path. Besides the written word they had before them, they often heard a voice behind them saying, “This is the way” (Isaiah 30:21). This is how God begins to deal with them here. When they would not listen to Moses, God would see whether they would listen to the prophets.

These verses give us a very serious sermon, preached to them when their religion began to cool. The preacher was an angel of the Lord (Judges 2:1), not a prophet, and not Phinehas, as the Jews suppose. Gospel ministers are called angels of the churches, but Old Testament prophets are never called angels of the Lord. So this was surely a messenger sent from heaven. God sometimes used such extraordinary messengers in this book when raising up judges like Gideon and Samson. Here, he sends one to preach to the people and keep them from sin and trouble.

This special messenger was sent to give the warning more weight and to reach people who seemed unmoved unless something was visible and striking. Bishop Patrick thought this was not a created angel at all, but the Angel of the covenant, the same one who appeared to Joshua as the captain of the Lord’s host, that is, God himself. Dr. Lightfoot says it was Christ himself. Who else, they ask, could say, “I brought you up out of Egypt”? Joshua had recently warned them not to get tangled up with the Canaanites, but they had ignored the warning of a dying man. So the living God himself now brings the same warning again, appearing as an angel. If they treat his servants lightly, they should surely respect his Son.

The angel is said to come up from Gilgal, perhaps not by ordinary walking on the earth, but by swift movement like Gabriel flying to Daniel through the open sky. Whether he walked or flew, he seemed to come from Gilgal for an important reason. Gilgal had long been their base after they entered Canaan, and many special favors had been given there. There the covenant of circumcision was renewed (Micah 6:5). His coming from there was meant to stir up their memories. Remembering what we have received and heard helps us hold fast and stay awake (Revelation 3:2, 3).

The sermon was preached to all the children of Israel (Judges 2:4), a great crowd for a great preacher. They were gathered either for war, with each tribe sending troops for some major campaign, or more likely for worship. If it was for worship, then the place must have been Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood, and where they were to gather three times a year. When we come before God in the worship he has appointed, we may expect to hear from him and receive his gifts at his own gates. The place was called Bochim, or “Weepers” (Judges 2:1), because it received that name on this occasion. All Israel needed this warning and rebuke, so it was spoken to all of them.

The sermon itself is short, but very sharp. God plainly tells them five things. First, what he had done for them. He brought them out of Egypt, a land of slavery and hard labor, into Canaan, a land of rest, freedom, and abundance. The misery of Egypt made the blessings of Canaan shine brighter. In this, God had shown kindness, kept the oath he had sworn to their fathers, given them proof of his power, and left them without excuse if they doubted him or turned from his service.

Second, he reminded them of what he had promised: “I said, I will never break my covenant with you.” When he took them as his special people, he did not do it with any plan to cast them off later or replace them with another people whenever he wished. If they were faithful to him, they would find him steady and unchanging. He made it clear that the covenant would never fail on his side, unless it broke because of their unfaithfulness.

Third, he states what he had a right to expect from them (Judges 2:2). Since they had entered into covenant with God, they were to make no alliance with the Canaanites, who were enemies of both God and Israel. Since they had set up his altar, they were to tear down the Canaanite altars, so those altars would not tempt them to serve false gods. Could anything have been more reasonable or easier to do?

Fourth, he tells them how they had broken the very command he had stressed most. “But you have not obeyed my voice in this small matter.” In contempt of their covenant with God, and of their bond with one another in that covenant, they made friendly agreements with the idolatrous Canaanites, even though God had marked them out for judgment. They also tolerated the Canaanite altars, though those altars stood against God’s own altar. Why had they done this? What answer could they give for such stubbornness before reason itself? What excuse could they make? Those who turn away from fellowship with God and join in the useless deeds of darkness do not understand what they are doing now, and they will have nothing to say for themselves when they stand before God in judgment.

Fifth, he warns them what they must expect to suffer for this folly (Judges 2:3). Allowing the Canaanites to remain among them would bring several results. It would stop their victories, because God says, “You will not drive them out, and therefore I will not.” Their sin would become their punishment. So it is with those who indulge the sinful desires they should kill, and so lose God’s help. If we will not resist the devil, we cannot expect God to crush him under our feet.

It would also bring constant trouble. The Canaanites would be thorns in their sides, always hurting them in one way or another. People deceive themselves if they expect good from friendship with those who are God’s enemies. Worst of all, it would expose them to constant temptation and lead them into sin. “Their gods,” or their idols, as the Chaldee explains it, “will be a snare to you.” They would become deeply drawn to them, and that would ruin them. Those who move close to sin are often left to fall into it and perish in it. God often makes a person’s own sin become his punishment, and there are thorns and traps in the path of the stubborn person who keeps walking against God.

The sermon had a remarkable effect. The people lifted up their voices and wept (Judges 2:4).

The angel had told them about their sins, and they answered with sorrow. They lifted up their voice in confession, cried out against their own folly and ingratitude, and wept because they were ashamed and ashamed enough to be angry with themselves. They had acted in a way that went directly against both their reason and their own good.

The angel had also warned them about God’s judgments, and they responded with fear. They lifted up their voice in prayer, asking God to turn his wrath away, and wept because they were afraid of it. The warning shook them. Their hearts melted and trembled at the word, and that was fitting. It is striking that sinners can read their Bible with dry eyes.

Still, this was not enough. They wept, but we do not read that they reformed, or that they went home and destroyed the remaining idols and idol worshipers among them. Many people are moved by the word, then harden again before they are reshaped. Their tears did good in two ways. First, they gave the place a new name, Bochim, which means Weepers (Judges 2:5). That is a fitting name for our religious gatherings when people come under conviction. If they had stayed close to God and duty, only singing would have been heard there. But their sin and foolishness brought them to tears instead.

Second, their weeping led to a solemn sacrifice. They offered sacrifice there to the Lord, likely after meeting at Shiloh, where God’s altar was. They offered it to turn away God’s anger, to seek his favor, and to show that they were giving themselves to him alone, making a covenant through sacrifice. If the disease had been caught in time and the medicine worked well, one would have hoped for a full cure. But the rest of the story shows that the problem was too deeply rooted to be removed by tears alone.