Judges 2:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?

NIV: and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

NASB: and as for you, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this thing that you have done?

CSB: You are not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed me. What is this you have done?

NLT: For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this?

KJV: 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?

NKJV: And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?

The Lord is speaking to Israel in the form of the angel of the Lord. This is some material appearance of God, possibly a pre-incarnate presence of God the Son. He has reminded them of His faithfulness and provision for them, along with His promise to never break His covenant with them (Judges 2:1). Now, though, the Lord describes Israel's side of their covenant agreement—which the people have broken.

God clearly told Israel not to integrate into the people of the land (Exodus 23:32–33). Instead of letting the Canaanites stay, Israel was to break down their altars to false and foreign gods. Part of God's reason for sending Israel into the land was to judge the wickedness of the Canaanites in the worship of their false gods (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4–5).

In direct disobedience to this, the Israelites had made covenants with some of the Canaanites. They let them stay in exchange for help or slavery. They had left pagan altars standing. They had not acted with the Lord's help to drive them from the land. This is exactly what God wanted to avoid when His people entered the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). Israel has not obeyed the overt commands of their God. In the following verse, God will tell the people what they have done and what their disobedience has cost them (Judges 2:3).

Judges 2:1–5 reveals the conclusion to the reports from chapter one: the tribes of Israel did not drive the Canaanites from the Promised Land. The angel of the Lord appears to the people, speaking as the Lord. He reminds them how He has done good for them, and empowered them, yet they have broken their covenant with Him. Now, the wicked and ungodly Canaanites will become thorns and their false gods will ensnare Israel. The people weep and make sacrifices to the Lord. However, as the rest of the book of Judges shows, their weeping doesn't lead to any meaningful change.

The tribes of Israel committed great sin when they failed to drive the depraved, wicked Canaanites from the land. God rebukes them harshly, warning them of the consequences to follow. The people weep and offer sacrifices. And yet, the generations after Joshua abandon God. They worship false gods and perform heinous sins. The Lord burns with anger and uses Israel's enemies as punishment. When the suffering becomes intense, God rescues Israel through a human "judge." When the judge dies, the people return to their sin, deeper even than before.

Judges 2 follows reports about the failure of Israel to drive the Canaanites from each tribes' territories. Despite being rebuked by God, the generations after Joshua eventually abandon the Lord to worship the gods of the Canaanites: the Baals and the Ashtaroth. This establishes a pattern to be repeated in the chapters to come. Israel will worship Canaan's gods. God punishes the people through their enemies. God saves the people through a human judge. When the judge dies, the people return to their sin. This cycle continues throughout the rest of the book of Judges.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).