Judges 2.2, The Death of Joshua and Israel's Unfaithfulness

"So, 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 works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had, [e]been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel." Judges 2:7-10

a. So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua: Joshua’s legacy was seen in the godliness of Israel during his leadership. He was truly one of history’s great men of God.

b. The servant of the LORD: This is a deeply meaningful title for Joshua. It is applied only to great men of God like Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5), and David (Psalm 18:1, title), and the courageous prophets (2 Kings 9:7).

c. And all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua: Israel was also faithful to God in the days of Joshua’s immediate successors. But afterward, there arose a generation who had not seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

d. Another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work He had done for Israel: The new generation had no personal relationship with God or awareness of His power. God was someone whom their parents related to and who did great things for their parents' generation.

I think it is crucial that our children are taught about the Lord. They should learn verses. They should learn the stories. They should hear from you and many others about all the things God has done for you throughout your own life. They need to be taught how to seek Him, and how to talk to Him. They need to be shown how to trust someone they can't see. This is our job as parents, to teach them how to get through this life so that they have a future in the hereafter that they can rejoice eternally in. If we don't teach them about Him, what happens? They turn to the world for answers. They turn to secular teachers and professors, to wild, rebellious, unruly, fleshly-minded friends. They do as the Next generation of the Israelites did. They turn from God to anything else that "may help" them through life. As Christians, we know there is only one way. It was our Savior's Great Commission to us as His body to "go out and make disciples." How can we overlook the next generation of our own household? Why do we forget so quickly as a species?

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

"Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So, He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed."

Have you ever noticed that when we are doing good, financially, in our job, in our health, in our relationships, we have a bent to sit back and say, "I'm doing good, I don't need anything." In these times we need to be especially careful to remember to keep our appointments with God. We should still bow before Him in prayer. We should still lift up His name in exaltation and praise. We should still seek His counsel before every decision. It is in the "good times" that we grow content in our circumstances and feel like we are good on our own because we don't perceive an immediate need. What if your children only ever wanted anything to do with you when they needed something? How would that make you feel? Most likely, you'd still help because you love them unconditionally, but it hurts your heart that they don't try to reach out to you or spend time with you.

Right now, as I stated yesterday, we are in a reprieve as a nation. God heard the cry of His people for a leader that would return His values to this land. And that man is already hard at work to make those necessary changes. I cry in thanksgiving at every speech I hear, because those are the prayers I have asked for! God, get abortion out of this land! God, get the gender confusion out of the schools before it completely destroys our children! He has Heard! How GREAT IS OUR GOD!! But now more than ever, we need to be vigilant. We don't need to get comfortable with this temporary win. We need to be vigilant, stand firm on His Word, and stand for His ways, not cave to the pattern of the world.

A summary of Israel’s history during the time of the Judges.

1. (Judges 2:11-13) Israel falls into idolatry.

"Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths."

a. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: Even in the days of Joshua Israel did not fully possess what they could have in the Promised Land. Yet in that time, they remained faithful to God, and they did not worship the idols of the Canaanites. After the death of Joshua, they fell into the worship of these grotesque idols.

i. It is strange that anyone would want to trade a personal, real, living God for a false god that is the figment of man’s imagination. Yet there is something within man that is afraid of the exact God we need; we would rather serve a god of our own creation than the real, living God whom we can’t control. The gods we create are the gods wanted by our sinful desires.

b. And served the Baals: The Canaanite idol Baal was an attractive rival to Yahweh because he was thought to be the god of the weather and nature for the Canaanites; he was essentially the god of agricultural success. In an agricultural society, people served Baal because they wanted good weather for abundant crops and flocks. One might say that the bottom line with Baal was the bottom line; he was effectively the god of personal wealth.

i. “There were also ‘Baals’ associated with particular places, like the Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:3) or Baal-Berith (Judges 9:4); and this may account for the plural form.” (Wolf)

ii. According to Wolf, the word Baal also meant “husband” or “owner.” Therefore, when Israel worshipped the Canaanite god Baal, they entertained another “husband” or “owner.”

c. They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths: The Canaanite idol Ashtoreth was an attractive rival to Yahweh because she was thought to be the goddess of love, sex, and fertility. She was usually honored with the practice of ritual sex with a priestess-prostitute. One might say that the bottom line with Ashtoreth was sex and love.

i. “The religion of these fertility gods was accompanied by all kinds of lascivious practices, especially in Canaan, where it was found in a degraded form which even incorporated child sacrifice.” (Cundall)

d. They forsook the LORD: God made it clear that Israel’s pursuit of these gods was nothing less than forsaking the LORD God of their fathers. Yet in all likelihood, Israel did not see their idolatry as forsaking God; they probably just thought they were adding a few gods alongside the God of their fathers. Nevertheless, the God of Israel is a jealous God who demands exclusive worship.

i. One Biblical illustration of our relationship with God is to describe it as a marriage relationship between husband and wife. It would be wrong for a wife (or a husband) to add many lovers to her marriage, claiming that she simply could love them all. A husband or wife has a righteous claim on the exclusive affection of their spouse; God has a righteous claim on our exclusive worship.

e. In the sight of the LORD: This implies that the sin was even more offensive to God because it was done right before His eyes. To give an extreme example, it is bad enough for a married person to commit adultery, but to commit adultery before the very eyes of one’s spouse would be especially offensive.

f. They followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them: This shows another root cause for Israel’s tragic idolatry. The influence of the Canaanites that they allowed to remain in their midst led them to idolatry. The result of not fully driving out the Canaanites was far worse than Israel imagined.

i. “We worship other gods — the gods of the nations around the idols of the marketplace, the studio, the camp, and the bar.” (Meyer)

2. (Judges 2:14-15) God’s wrath upon their sin of idolatry.

And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So, He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

a. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel: This response of God to the unfaithfulness of Israel was no surprise. He specifically promised that He would do this in the covenant He made with Israel, which was characterized by blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (as in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28).

i. We serve God under the terms of a different covenant, a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6). When we forsake God and do not abide in Jesus Christ, things may (and often do) go badly for us, but not because God has actively set His hand against us as He did to Israel under the Old Covenant. When we do not abide in Jesus and things go badly for us, it is simply because our actions have consequences, and we reap the bitter fruit of not keeping ourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21).

b. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them: The purpose of all this was so that when Israel was greatly distressed, they would turn their hearts back to the LORD. God’s goal wasn’t punishment in itself, but repentance.

i. Therefore, we should see this as a manifestation of God’s love for Israel instead of His hate. The worst judgment God can bring upon a person is to leave them alone, to stop trying to bring them to repentance.

ii. We see the same principle in the relationship between parents and children. Though children often wish their parents would just leave them alone, it is their worst fear that no one would love them enough to correct them. The mid-1990s told the story of a woman named Shannon Wilsey who was a well-known actress in pornographic films. As a 23-year-old woman, she made a lot of movies and a lot of money; yet she put a gun to her head and killed herself. Though a success by some standards, the detective investigating her death said, “I think her whole life caused this suicide.” Shannon bragged about doing crazy things, yet she told a close friend that she wished her mother would have stopped her. The friend said, “She felt bad because her mother didn’t say anything about her being in the [pornography] business.” After her suicide, an unmailed letter was found in which she described what she wished her dad would have done. “Where were you when I was dating rock star Gregg Allman when he was twenty-five years older than me? Where were you when I was on heroin? Where were you when I started doing porno movies?” The dad said he would have been there had she only asked.

3. (Judges 2:16-19) The cyclical pattern of bondage and deliverance in the days of the Judges.

"Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so. And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of 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 oppressed them and harassed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way."

Are we going to learn from the reprieve we've been granted?

a. Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them: Because of His great love for His people, God raised up judges — heroic leaders — to rescue Israel from their calamity. God did this nevertheless; not because Israel ever deserved such a deliverer from God, but even though they were undeserving.

I have heard many great preachers state that this nation deserved Kamala Harris as their leader for the atrocities we as a nation have allowed to go forth and be seen with tolerance. Thank God, in His mercy, He raised up and prepared a leader for this nation that will break down these altars. One that will do his part in getting this nation back to the God it was founded under. The One True God. But it won't last forever unless we stay committed to do our part as Christians and put God before country. We are blessed to live in a constitutional republic where we, the people can decide who will be our voice. Who will make the right laws to put into practice in this land? If we fail to continue to do our part, we will be no better off than Israel when she kept falling back into her idolatries.

We need to keep a repentant heart toward the Lord. We need to teach our children who He is and all He has done before, all he has done privately in our own lives, and all He is capable of doing in the future. The next generation needs to have a heart that believes. How will they know if they have no one to teach them? Now more than ever, we need to stay in Him.

i. “It was a method made necessary by the repeated failure of the people. That should be clearly understood.” (Morgan)

b. Yet they would not listen to their judges but played the harlot with other gods: Though God gave Israel these heroic leaders, they did not listen to their judges in matters of spiritual leadership. They wanted the judges as political and military leaders, but not as spiritual leaders.

i. Trapp explains the idea behind the phrase, played the harlot: “Carried on by a spirit of fornication, a strong inclination, a vehement impetus to whoredom; so that they care not how they waste all upon it, and will not be reclaimed: so, idolaters.”

c. The LORD was with the judge: This explains the source of power with the judges God raised up. They were able to lead Israel in dramatic acts of deliverance because the LORD was with the judge, not because the judge was necessarily great or powerful in themselves.

d. The LORD was moved to pity by their groaning: During the time of the Judges, Israel only cried out to God and really depended on Him in times of emergency. When they did cry out to Him with groaning, He answered with pity and faithfulness.

i. “This connection of sin, punishment, and deliverance really forms the keynote to the historical movement recorded in the whole of the Book.” (Morgan)

ii. This principle explains why some people are in a constant state of crisis; God knows that is the only way they can be kept trusting in Him. Instead, God desires that we be in a constant relationship of dependence on Him. This is exactly how Jesus lived, as He said in John 5:19: Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

e. When the judge was dead, they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers: The pattern of bondage, deliverance, and blessing; followed by sin and bondage again is a discouraging fact in many Christian lives today.

i. This discouraging cycle was more understandable in ancient Israel than in the life of the modern Christian. This is because the Christian, as part of the New Covenant, lives with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and is made a new creature in Jesus. These are privileges that Israel in the days of the Judges knew nothing of.

ii. “The days of the judges were those in which there was no king over Israel. The fitfulness of our experience is often attributable to our failure to recognize the kingship of Jesus.” (Meyer)

f. They did not cease from their doings: Their sin was their doings; they couldn’t blame it on anyone or anything else. In the same way, their sin was their own - they didn’t learn it from God, but it came from their corrupt natures.

g. Nor from their stubborn way: The ancient Hebrew word translated stubborn (also translated as stiff-necked) is a word that was also applied to Israel many times during the Exodus (Exodus 32:9, 33:3, and 33:5). This shows that a change of location — even coming into the Promised Land — didn’t necessarily mean a change of heart for Israel.

i. We should never count on sanctification by relocation; wherever you go, you take you with you. A new environment doesn’t always mean a new attitude.

ii. The ancient Hebrew word for stubborn (kawsheh) comes from the idea of being hard or severe. To be stubborn against the LORD is to have a hard and unyielding heart, and it results in a hard life.

4. (Judges 2:20-23) God gives them over to their sinful compromise.

Sound Familiar?

"Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” Therefore, the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua."

a. Then the anger of the LORD was hot: “He is not made all of mercy, as some dream, but can be angry: and ‘who knoweth the power of his wrath?’ (Psalm 90:11). It is such as men can neither avoid nor abide.” (Trapp)

b. Because this nation has transgressed My covenant: When God said, “this nation” instead of “My nation” it showed that Israel wasn’t abiding in their relationship with God.

c. I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left: Israel wanted these Canaanite nations around, so God gave them the worst punishment He could think of: He would allow it.

d. Therefore the LORD left those nations: After setting their hearts on sinful things, Israel found that God gave what their sinful hearts desired. This illustrates the great danger of setting our hearts on sinful things; we may get to the point where God may allow us to have them - thus bringing sin, bondage, and pain into our lives.

This has been in my heart for some time. I took a break from teaching after my baby was born, and it seemed like the world turned completely upside down at that time. As if evil was allowed to run wild. I am happy to be studying hard again. I am honored to share this information in one blog post or many. I just want to make sure it is altogether for someone should they need it. I hope you all do what the Lord puts on your heart to leave behind for the ones who will need an answer when we are gone home.

Be blessed.

The study guide portion of this post is taken for private use for our church community

Guzik, David. "Study Guide for Judges 2." Blue Letter Bible, www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/judges/judges-2.cfm. Accessed 12 Nov. 2024.