August 26, 2026

JUdges 2

From beginning to end, Judges establishes Israel’s need for godly saviors and the need for God to provide them. In light of Joshua’s death, the question arises: Who will lead Israel in battle against the Canaanites? (1:1). Likewise, Judges ends with the refrain that there is no king in Israel (21:25).
At this early point in Judges, God does not provide an individual savior or king but appoints the tribe of Judah to take the lead (1:2; cf. 20:18). The appointment of Judah looks forward to the kingship of David and ultimately of David’s Greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, both of whom arise from Judah (Gen. 49:10; 1 Sam. 17:12; 18:16; Zech. 12:7; Matt. 1:1–6; 2 Tim. 2:8).

Judah’s external success (Judg. 1:4–10, 11, 17), however, conceals compromise. The ongoing refrain that Israel’s tribes did not drive out the inhabitants of the land increases throughout the chapter (1:19, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31). Ultimately, this failure leads to the people of God living among Canaanites. Subsequently, Israel is negatively influenced, spiritually undermined, and militarily attacked (1:30–32; cf. 3:5–6). In the case of Dan, the tribe is actually pushed out of its inheritance (1:34).

As with our forefathers in the faith, we are called to be a people separate from the world but dedicated to testifying about the Lord in the world (1 Pet. 2:9–10). Just as all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), so all the tribes of Israel falter in the mission God gave them at this time in redemptive history. External success may lead us to trust in our own strength and leave us unprepared for the subtle compromises that lead to divided loyalty. Initial disobedience provides the soil in which further unfaithfulness takes root.**

Israel’s Disobedience

2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, ² and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? ³ So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” ⁴ As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵ And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the Lord.

The Death of Joshua

⁶ When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. ⁷ And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. ⁹ And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. ¹⁰ And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

¹¹ And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹² And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴ So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. ¹⁵ Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

The statement that Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (v. 11) is further defined as abandoning the Lord and pursing other gods (vv. 12–13). This evaluation occurs at the introduction to each major judge in the book (3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1), preparing us for the later evaluation of various tribes (1 Kings 14:22) and kings (1 Kings 11:6; 15:26, 34; 16:25; 22:52; 2 Kings 3:2; 8:18; etc.). It is the task of the former generation to tell the story of God’s work to later generations (Judg. 2:10; Ps. 78:4–8).

For God’s people today, this supremely means passing on the story of God’s greatest work—the gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3–4; 2 Tim. 2:1–2).**

The Lord Raises Up Judges

¹⁶ Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. ¹⁸ Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. ¹⁹ But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. ²⁰ So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, ²¹ I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²² in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” ²³ So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*Taken from the ESV® Literary Study Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2007 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

**Taken from the ESV® Gospel Transformation Study Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2013 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.