“WHY HAVE YOU DISOBEYED ME?”

Judges 1:27-2:10 / Keywords 2:2b

but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

1:27 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Akko or Sidon or Ahlab or Akzib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob. 32 The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

2:1 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’”

4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim.[a] There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Disobedience and Defeat

6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres[b] in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

Footnotes

a. Judges 2:5 Bokim means weepers.

b. Judges 2:9 Also known as Timnath Serah (see Joshua 19:50 and 24:30)

1. It wasn’t just Judah and Benjamin who could not drive out all the inhabitants

of the land the Lord promised them. None of the other tribes were able to do so

either. While the Israelites were able to claim the land, the Canaanites and other

tribes were “determined to live in that land.” As the Israelites got stronger, they

put the Canaanites under forced labor, but the Canaanites and others were a bad

influence on them. The Canaanites enticed them into bowing down to foreign

gods. They forgot about the covenant they had made with the Lord before they

came into the land.

2. Because of this, the Lord came to them through an angel, reminded them that

it was he who had brought them up out of Egypt, and rebuked them for breaking

the covenant. The Israelites broke down and wept and offered sacrifices to the

Lord.

3. Chapter 2 verses 6-10 tells of Joshua’s death at the age of 110 years. During

his lifetime, and the lifetimes of those who served under him, Israel remembered

the Lord and served him. But after that generation died out, the next generation

neither knew the Lord nor remembered what he had done for them. This sets the

stage for the rest of the book of Judges.

Prayer Father, because we are sinful, we forget you. Have mercy on us and help

us to remember who you are and all you have done for us!

One Word Remember the Lord and his covenant