What does Judges 2:12 mean?
Before Israel came to the Promised Land of Canaan, God gave them both instruction and a warning. The Lord made it clear that Israel was to entirely purge the depraved, evil Canaanite culture from the region. Israel was not to tolerate, absorb, or accept them. A major reason for this was the danger of Israel learning to imitate the Canaanite's evil practices (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). Another further reason was that God's judgment on Canaanite sin was meant to come through conquest by Israel (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4–5).Instead, Israel abandoned the Lord. The God of their Fathers dramatically and miraculously rescued them from slavery in Egypt (Judges 2:10). He was far and above more powerful, of course, than the false gods of the people of the land they would choose who worship, instead. Rather than worship God, the people worshiped Canaanite idols. This passage twice uses the term "abandoned," implying the Israelites did not slowly drift into idolatry. They jumped into it, deliberately choosing the gods of Canaan over the God of Abraham. These false deities are referred to using names such as Baal and Ashtaroth.
The result of these choices is a phrase that should be terrifying: "…they provoked the LORD to anger." Joshua had warned the people about this before he died, putting it in the harshest terms possible, "If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good" (Joshua 24:20). At that time, the people had claimed they would "serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:21). Instead, they will see what God will do when they reject Him.
