1. And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
2. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars; but ye have not obeyed my voice; why have ye done this?
3. Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
4. And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
5. And they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.
6. And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
7. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.
8. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
9. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
10. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
11. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim;
12. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.
16. Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
Golden Text: “The Lord raised up judges, which delivered them.” Judges 2:16.
Note.—The lessons for this quarter are on Jewish history, from the time of the judges to the birth of Christ. The book of Judges contains the record of the chief acts of the judges, and covers a period of about 400 years, from Joshua’s death to the birth of Samuel, who is believed to have been the compiler of the book. The book is not a continuous history, but rather groups of incidents designed to illustrate the progress of God’s people and his dealings with them. The time of the lesson is not long after the death of Joshua; the place is Bochim, believed to be near Shiloh. The section included is the first five chapters of Judges.
Suggestive Questions.
(1) Who is represented as bearing a message to Israel? Verse 1. (2) Where were they assembled? (3) What was the burden of the message? Verses 1, 2. (4) Because of the failure of Israel to follow the Lord properly, what did he purpose to do? Verse 3. Note 1. (5) What effect did this announcement have upon the people? Verse 4. Note 2. (6) How did they acknowledge God as the Lord? Verse 5, last part. (7) Where did the people go after Joshua’s exhortation? Verse 6. Note 3. (8) How long after Joshua did the people serve the Lord? Verse 7. (9) How old was Joshua at the time of his death? Verse 8. (10) Where was he buried? Verse 9. (11) What is the general history of the succeeding generation? Verse 10. (12) Whose service did they finally enter? Verse 11. Note 4. (13) What was the result of this? Verse 12. (14) What deliverance did the Lord provide from time to time? Golden text. Note 5.
Notes.
1. The explicit directions to Israel had been that they were to utterly drive out the inhabitants of Canaan and to take full possession of the land. The false religions were to be exterminated, altars thrown down, and idols destroyed. They were to make no league with the inhabitants. All these things were necessary in order to their success, and not only so, but were conditions of the Lord’s assistance. But they had not done as they had agreed. On the contrary, the Lord had not broken his covenant with them, but had done for them better than they had deserved. He had intended to lead them by his voice, and give them victory by his power. But they did not obey, and so they must go through a severe experience for themselves, even as had their immediate predecessors in the wilderness. How much better it is to profit by the proffered experience and wisdom of Jehovah14than to refuse it and be obliged to learn the lesson through tribulation that might have been avoided. The angel was a messenger from the Lord, and therefore it is the Lord who speaks through him. He is said to come from Gilgal to Bochim, as though, from the place and time of the first encampment in Canaan, he surveys the intervening history at a glance. From his message, the inference is that the people were assembled to complain of the presence and encroachments of the very things they had been commanded to destroy.
2. The people doubtless wept more on account of the consequences of their sin than because of the sin itself. The place—Bochim—means weeping.
3. The story reverts to the last days of Joshua, as outlined in Joshua 24:28-31. The record in Judges 1 and 2 to this point is explanatory.
4. Baalim is the place of Baal, but is used to signify great or supreme lord, as held by his worshipers. The great attraction in the worship of Baal or other false gods was that the rites and ceremonies appealed to the heart of the natural man, to the sensual nature. Baal represented the sun as the generating or male force of nature. His consort was Astarte, or Ashtoreth (verse 13), the goddess of the moon, and their worship, as practiced by the nations surrounding Israel, was revolting and debasing in the extreme. Baal had also his festivals and feast days, chief among which was the weekly festival of the sun, and the day devoted to it was called the day of the sun, or Sun-day. The natural consequence of thus forsaking God was to profane his Sabbath, a proper observance of which would have saved them from idolatry, because it was the memorial of God in his mighty acts of creation and in redeeming the people from Egypt, as well as saving them from their sins. Read Eze. 20:12-26; 8:16; Lev. 19:26-30; 20:23; Ex. 31:13. See also “The Lord’s Day,”* chapter 2, part 2. A present illustration of the marvelous extent to which an institution of ancient paganism may reach, and likewise one showing the far-reaching effects of the rival worship of the Lord, is seen in the almost universal deference paid to Sunday, the first day of the week. But this is not in accordance with the Lord’s plan. His message ever is to return to the Lord and his ways, wherein are life and peace. Isa. 58:1, 12-14; Rev. 14:6, 7; Ex. 20:8-11.
5. The people were by no means afflicted the greater part of the time, although the nations were as a thorn in their sides. During a period of perhaps 400 years they were oppressed in different parts by various nations about 118 years, from seven to forty years at a time. Then judges were raised up, who not only advised the people as judges, but acted as deliverers from their spoilers. But the continual history shows that the people relapsed into idolatry as the land settled into rest. Their danger was in peace and safety. It is in such times that God is easiest lost sight of. Let us take heed that our experience be not as theirs. See 1 Thess. 5:1-8.
