World English Bible
- The LORD’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ’I will never break my covenant with you.
- You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this?
- Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’”
- When the LORD’s angel spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept.
- They called the name of that place Bochim, and they sacrificed there to the LORD.
- Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel each went to his inheritance to possess the land.
- 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 of the LORD that he had worked for Israel.
- Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old.
- They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.
- After all that generation were gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who didn’t know the LORD, nor the work which he had done for Israel.
- The children of Israel did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and served the Baals.
- They abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.
- They abandoned the LORD, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
- The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. 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 LORD’s hand was against them for evil, as the LORD had spoken, and as the LORD had sworn to them; and they were very distressed.
- The LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
- Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the LORD’s commandments. They didn’t do so.
- When the LORD raised up judges for them, then the LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved the LORD because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them.
- But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They didn’t cease what they were doing, or give up their stubborn ways.
- The LORD’s anger burned against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice,
- I also will no longer drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died from before them;
- that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep the LORD’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.”
- So the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily. He didn’t deliver them into Joshua’s hand.
A Lament at Bokim & the Birth-Pangs of a Cycle
Yesterday (see devotion 2025-08-31) we listened to the clatter of iron chariots in chapter 1 and felt the danger of “partial obedience.” Chapter 2 answers the question left hanging: What happens when small compromises become a way of life?
Read Judges 2 aloud, slowly. If time is short, linger over verses 1-3
and 16-19.
Version used below: New International Version.
• From Gilgal to Bokim (v. 1).
– Gilgal, just north-east of Jericho, was Israel’s first campsite in
Canaan (Josh 4-5). Archaeologists have found a distinctive foot-shaped
enclosure there (and at three other sites) dating to the Late
Bronze/Iron I border. Some propose these were early Israelite
sanctuaries marking covenant territory.
– Bokim means “Weepers.” We do not know its exact location, but most
scholars place it near Bethel because Bethel soon becomes a center of
both worship and compromise (Judg 4:5; 1 Kings 12:28-29).
• “Angel of the LORD” (v. 1).
Hebrew mal’ak YHWH can be translated “messenger of Yahweh.” The
definite article points to a unique figure who speaks as God,
not merely for God. Early Christian writers (e.g., Justin
Martyr, Irenaeus) saw here a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ; others,
like Calvin, preferred to emphasize simple agency: God speaks through
His messenger but remains distinct.
The chapter forms a symmetrical diptych:
A (1-5) Covenant broken – tears
B (6-10) Passing of Joshua – loss of memory
C (11-15) Sin – oppression
B´(16-19) Raising of judges – short-lived memory
A´(20-23) Testing nations left – long-term consequence
The “sin-oppression-cry-deliverance” refrain (vv. 11-19) is a literary drumbeat that will govern the rest of the book.
“I will never break my covenant with you…” Yet Israel spared the Canaanite altars. Theologians call this syncretism—mixing faiths as if Truth were a buffet. Augustine warned, “You cannot have God’s Blessing and the world’s bracelet on the same wrist.”
Cross-References
• Exodus 23:32-33 – the original command.
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 – Paul’s echo.
Reflection
What lingering altars—habits, media, attitudes—remain “within the land”
of your heart? God does not merely renovate; He claims full
ownership.
Within a single lifetime the memory of the exodus, the manna, and the Jordan crossing became “they knew neither the LORD nor what He had done.” Hebrew yadaʿ (“know”) is experiential, covenantal knowledge, not mere data. Cultural insight: In the ancient Near East, to “know” a deity implied loyal service. Forgetting God was rebellion, not absent-mindedness.
Practical Application
Faith is never inherited; it is transmitted. Augustine called this
fiducia—personal trust. Calvin said the church is “a forge for
making weapons of remembrance.” Parents, elders, small-group leaders:
are we forging?
The word “judge” (Hebrew shophet) means more than magistrate; it carries the sense “deliverer.” God’s anger is real (v. 14), yet His mercy rises first (v. 16). Wesley preached, “Sanctifying grace keeps pace with prevenient grace; where sin abounds, grace outruns it.”
Cross-References
• Psalm 106:34-45 – a poetic retelling of Judges 2.
• Romans 5:20 – Paul’s theological summary.
God leaves certain nations “to test Israel.” The Hebrew root nāsā means “to prove, assay metal.” Tests are not traps; they are furnaces where faith is tempered. Walter Brueggemann writes that in leaving enemies God “keeps the world open and dangerous so that trust cannot fossilize into entitlement.”
Personal Angle
Where is God not removing a hardship in your life? Before
praying it away, ask what quality of faith He might be forging.
The cycle of Judges ends in chaos (21:25). Hebrews 4:8-9 insists that Joshua (and by extension every shophet) could not give final rest. Only Jesus breaks the wheel. Augustine called Him Judex Misericordiae—the Judge who judges by bearing judgment Himself.
• Berith (Covenant, v. 1). An oath-bond grounded in God’s
character, not Israel’s competence.
• Bokim (Weepers, v. 5). The place you remember long after the
tears have dried. Each believer needs a Bokim—an altar of surrendered
tears.
“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (1758, Robert Robinson).
Especially the line, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to
leave the God I love.” Sing it slowly; feel the echo of Bokim.
Faithful Covenant-Keeper,
You walked from Gilgal to Bokim to confront a wandering people.
Walk into the half-lit corners of my heart today.
Where I have tolerated lesser altars, topple them.
Where I have forgotten Your mighty deeds, remind me.
Where I face unremoved enemies, refine me.
Raise up Jesus—the true Judge—in every part of my life,
that the cycle of sin may give way to the song of Your salvation.
For Your glory and my good,
Amen.