Shofetim 2

1 And Malach Hashem went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Mitzrayim, and have brought you unto HaAretz which I swore unto your avot; and I said, I will never (l’olam) break My brit (covenant) with you.

2 And ye shall make no brit with the inhabitants of HaAretz HaZot; ye shall throw down their mizbechot. But ye have not obeyed My voice; why have ye done this?

3 Therefore I said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall flank you in, and their elohim shall be a mokesh unto you.

4 And it came to pass, when the Malach Hashem spoke these words unto kol Bnei Yisroel, that HaAm lifted up their voice, and wept.

5 And they called the shem of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there unto Hashem.

6 And when Yehoshua had let HaAm go, the Bnei Yisroel went every ish unto his nachalah to possess HaAretz.

7 And HaAm served Hashem all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the zekenim that outlived Yehoshua, who had seen kol ma’aseh Hashem hagadol, that He did for Yisroel.

8 And Yehoshua ben Nun, the Eved Hashem, died, being a hundred and ten years old.

9 And they buried him in the territory of his nachalah in Timnat-Cheres, in the Har Ephrayim, on the north side of the Har Gaash.

10 And also all that dor were gathered unto their avot; and there arose another dor after them, which had no da’as of Hashem, nor yet the ma’aseh which He had done for Yisroel.

11 And the Bnei Yisroel did harah in the sight of Hashem, and served Baalim;

12 And they forsook Hashem Elohei Avotam, which brought them out of Eretz Mitzrayim, and followed acharei elohim, of the elohei ha’amim that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked Hashem to anger.

13 And they forsook Hashem, and served Baal and Ashtarot.

14 And the Af Hashem was hot against Yisroel, and He delivered them into the hands of plunderers that plundered them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, that they were not any longer able to stand before their enemies.

15 Whenever they went out, the yad Hashem was against them for ra’ah, just as Hashem had said, and just as Hashem had sworn unto them; and they were greatly distressed.

16 Nevertheless Hashem raised up Shofetim, which saved them out of the yad of those that plundered them.

17 And yet they would not pay heed unto their Shofetim, but they went a-whoring after acharei elohim, and bowed themselves unto them; they turned quickly from HaDerech which their Avot walked in, the Way of obedience to the mitzvot Hashem; but they did not so.

18 And when Hashem raised them up Shofetim, then Hashem was with the Shofet, and saved them out of the yad of their enemies all the days of the Shofet; for it relented Hashem because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and afflicted them.

19 And it came to pass, when the Shofet was dead, that they turned again, and corrupted themselves more than their avot, in following acharei elohim to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their derech hakashah (stubborn way).

20 And the Af Hashem was hot against Yisroel; and He said, Because this people hath violated My brit (covenant) which I commanded their Avot, and have not paid heed unto My voice;

21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the Goyim which Yehoshua left when he died;

22 That through them I may test Yisroel, whether they will be shomrim Derech Hashem to walk therein, just as their Avot were shomer, or no.

23 Therefore Hashem let those Goyim remain, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered He them into the yad Yehoshua.

Shofetim 2 Commentary

Chapter 2

The angel of the Lord rebukes the people. (1-5) The wickedness of the new generation after Joshua. (6-23)

Verses 1-5 It was the great Angel of the covenant, the Word, the Son of God, who spake with Divine authority as Jehovah, and now called them to account for their disobedience. God sets forth what he had done for Israel, and what he had promised. Those who throw off communion with God, and have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, know not what they do now, and will have nothing to say for themselves in the day of account shortly. They must expect to suffer for this their folly. Those deceive themselves who expect advantages from friendship with God's enemies. God often makes men's sin their punishment; and thorns and snares are in the way of the froward, who will walk contrary to God. The people wept, crying out against their own folly and ingratitude. They trembled at the word, and not without cause. It is a wonder sinners can ever read the Bible with dry eyes. Had they kept close to God and their duty, no voice but that of singing had been heard in their congregation; but by their sin and folly they made other work for themselves, and nothing is to be heard but the voice of weeping. The worship of God, in its own nature, is joy, praise, and thanksgiving; our sins alone render weeping needful. It is pleasing to see men weep for their sins; but our tears, prayers, and even amendment, cannot atone for sin.

Verses 6-23 We have a general idea of the course of things in Israel, during the time of the Judges. The nation made themselves as mean and miserable by forsaking God, as they would have been great and happy if they had continued faithful to him. Their punishment answered to the evil they had done. They served the gods of the nations round about them, even the meanest, and God made them serve the princes of the nations round about them, even the meanest. Those who have found God true to his promises, may be sure that he will be as true to his threatenings. He might in justice have abandoned them, but he could not for pity do it. The Lord was with the judges when he raised them up, and so they became saviours. In the days of the greatest distress of the church, there shall be some whom God will find or make fit to help it. The Israelites were not thoroughly reformed; so mad were they upon their idols, and so obstinately bent to backslide. Thus those who have forsaken the good ways of God, which they have once known and professed, commonly grow most daring and desperate in sin, and have their hearts hardened. Their punishment was, that the Canaanites were spared, and so they were beaten with their own rod. Men cherish and indulge their corrupt appetites and passions; therefore God justly leaves them to themselves, under the power of their sins, which will be their ruin. God has told us how deceitful and desperately wicked our hearts are, but we are not willing to believe it, until by making bold with temptation we find it true by sad experience. We need to examine how matters stand with ourselves, and to pray without ceasing, that we may be rooted and grounded in love, and that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. Let us declare war against every sin, and follow after holiness all our days.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 2

This chapter gives an account of an angel of the Lord appearing and rebuking the children of Israel for their present misconduct, Jud 2:1-5; of their good behaviour under Joshua, and the elders that outlived him, Jud 2:6-10; and of their idolatries they fell into afterwards, which greatly provoked the Lord to anger, Jud 2:11-15; and of the goodness of God to them nevertheless, in raising up judges to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, of which there are many instances in the following chapter, Jud 2:16-18; and yet that how, upon the demise of such persons, they relapsed into idolatry which caused the anger of God to be hot against them, and to determine not to drive out the Canaanites utterly from them, but to leave them among them to try them, Jud 2:19-23.