Judges 2 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Judges 2 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Most scholars place the period of the Judges somewhere between 1450 B.C. and 1000 B.C.

• The precise dates are still debated.

• The beginning of Judges 2 steps back in time to the years before Joshua’s death to explain the moral state of the nation.

CHARACTERS:

• Joshua – God selected Joshua to lead the people of Israel after the death of Moses in Deuteronomy 34.

• The Angel of the Lord – This messenger appeared to the Israelites and rebuked them for failing to keep covenant with God. Many believe the angel was God (a theophany).

WHERE:

• The Angel of the Lord spoke to the people of Israel at Bochim (not on the map).

• The events described in the second half of the chapter occurred all throughout the Promised Land.

OUTLINE:

• THE REBUKE OF THE ANGEL OF THE LORD (2:1-5):

  • The angel of the Lord spoke to the people of Israel at Bochim and rebuked them for not honoring their covenant with God.

  • God specifically commanded them not to make peace with the foreign inhabitants of the Promised Land and to destroy all their places of worship, but the Israelites had not obeyed.

  • The angel of the Lord told them the remaining pagan nations would become thorns and snares to them, and God would not help Israel drive them out.

  • In response, the Israelites wept, offered sacrifices to God, and named the place Bochim.

• THE DEATH OF JOSHUA’S GENERATION (2:6-10):

  • The people of Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who knew Joshua.

  • But after Joshua’s generation was “gathered to their fathers,” a new generation arose that didn’t respect God.

• THE CYCLE OF SIN AND RESTORATION IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES (2:11-23):

  • This last section of Judges 2 introduces us to a pattern that we’ll see repeated throughout the book.

  • For the next few centuries, the Israelites will fall into a cycle of abandoning God, being punished by God, repenting of their sins, and then being restored by God through His representatives, the Judges. 

  • The Cycle:

    • The Israelites abandon God and worship idols (2:11-13, 17, 19).

    • God withdraws His blessing and allows Israel’s enemies to subjugate them (2:14-15, 19).

    • Israel repents and cries to God for help (2:18).

    • God mercifully sends a judge to deliver the people from their enemies (2:16, 18).

APPLICATION:

• In times of hardship and formation, people are typically much more dependent on God.

• In times of ease, people tend to forget about God.

• This plays out on the national and personal level.

• The Israelites relied on God when their nation was in formation, but when they received their blessings and settled in their homes, God was forgotten.

• In the United States, the writings of the founding fathers express their dependance on God’s providence in creating a new nation.

• In the 21st Century, in a prosperous and established country, politicians rarely acknowledge the existence of God.

• When we, as individuals go through times of formation and struggle, we tend to remember the importance of God’s intervention in the outcome of our circumstances.

• When times are easy and life is comfortable, we tend to give little thought to God’s role in our lives.

• One of the marks of spiritual maturity is consistent dependence on and devotion to God through all of life’s circumstances.