Judges 2:17
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.
Israel would not listen to the deliverers God raised up for them, but quickly left the obedient way their fathers had walked in keeping the Lord's commandments to follow and worship the gods of the surrounding nations. Those judges were not judges in the modern sense, but defenders and saviors raised up in times of crisis, though some also settled disputes between brethren. When the land prospered and rested they forgot God, neglected His law and worship, and fell into idolatry and vice, yet when trouble and oppression came they repented and were restored to favor. The Lord permitted enemies to trouble and triumph over them to reveal and correct what was wrong within them and to draw them to Himself, and when in bitter bondage they humbled themselves and cried for help He pitied them and wrought for them again and again. Faith gains strength and stability only by grappling with hard problems, so the generation trained by hardship in the wilderness remained faithful to Jehovah as long as they lived, while their children settled in peace and prosperity lacked that exercised experience and soon departed from the God of their fathers, proving that a merely theoretical faith will not save.
Context and Terms
Judges 2:17 stands in the introduction to the book, which shows that not all the country had been possessed. That introduction records fearful backsliding alongside great mercy and goodness of God.
The verse is part of the account of the period between Joshua's death and the raising up of Samuel, when Israel repeatedly backslid from God into captivity to surrounding enemies. This failure to follow God's instructions after Joshua's death led to their captivity and created the need for the judges, or saviours, whom God raised up to help them.
The judges whom Israel would not hearken to were not judges in the sense the term is now generally used. They were really defenders and saviors raised up in times of crisis. Some of them also adjudicated differences and judged between brethren, especially Deborah and Samuel.
The verse shows Israel turning from the Lord and quickly abandoning the way their fathers had followed. The nations left in the land tested the later generation's willingness to obey God. The need to fight those nations could revive Israel's faith and lead many to forsake sin and serve God.
The verse belongs to Israel's experience under the judges and shows the apostasy that led the people to demand a king and reject God.
Israel's Cycle of Apostasy
Israel quickly turned out of the obedient way their fathers had walked in by keeping the commandments of the Lord, refusing to hearken to the judges God raised up, going a whoring after other gods and bowing themselves to them. The turning was repeated and swift, abandoning the faithful path of their ancestors almost as soon as the judges called them back. Their idolatry broke covenant loyalty to the Lord, turning to the gods of the neighboring nations rather than to Him who had delivered them. It persisted despite God's deliverances, their own knowledge of His commandments, the work of reforming judges, and earlier warnings against idolatry.
Prosperity led them to forget God, to neglect His Sabbath, law, and worship, and to fall into idolatry and vice. When trouble came they heeded God's call to repent and were restored to favor, but prosperity brought a return to the same unfaithfulness. Even after judges delivered them they turned again from the Lord to idolatry, and when the land was at rest they relapsed. Peace and safety made it easy to lose sight of God.
When Israel sinned the Lord permitted enemies to trouble and to triumph over them in order to reveal and correct what was wrong within them. That chastening was to draw them nigh to find in Him their friend and refuge. When they cried for help, humbled themselves, confessed their sins, and overcame, He gave them rest.
With Satan and his host standing in the midst of their armies to tempt them, they yielded and rebelled, imitating the practices they had witnessed in Egypt and turning their faces again toward Egypt. They did so even while the holy law was still sounding in their ears, the glory of God was displayed before their eyes, and God Himself was guiding, guarding, and sustaining them by miraculous power. Their ingratitude and rebellion, contempt of God's restrictions and reproofs, persecution of those God sent to save them from utter degradation and ruin, relapse into idolatry, and hardness and impenitence of heart in following the course Satan chose rather than the way of obedience in the path of truth and true holiness brought misery upon themselves. When in the grief and bitterness of bondage under cruel heathen tyranny they called upon God, He heard and pitied them, did not cast them off nor permit them to become extinct, but wrought for them again and again as only God could to bring them into closer relationship with Himself, always magnifying His law before them and promising rich blessings if they would keep His precepts.
Testing Develops Faith
The wilderness generation was trained by difficulties, having seen and experienced God leading and helping them in every need, and that practical experience prepared them to go forward in faith to victory in taking the land and to remain faithful to Jehovah as long as they lived. After Israel settled in Canaan in peace and prosperity, their children lacked that exercised faith and experience. They did not develop strong faith in God, but soon departed from the God of their fathers to other gods, turning quickly out of the way of their fathers.
Faith gains strength, firmness, and stability only by grappling with hard problems, and an easy life does not develop it. Their quick turning proves that a theoretical and nominal faith will not save.