3. (Judges 2:16-19) The cyclical pattern of bondage and deliverance in the days of the Judges
Then the LORD raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do as their fathers. When the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them. But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.
Then the LORD raised up judges who delivered them: In verse 16, the first explanation of the protocol of the Judges is discussed which includes the correlation between the spiritual role and the human role of the Judge. The LORD Himself would raise up a judge, and the judge would be a savior who would rescue some tribe from whoever was oppressing them. But even then, Israel would quickly return to those false gods of their neighbors after the judge/savior had completed his mission. The thing to understand is that for as long as a judge whom the LORD established ruled, Israel was kept secure.
For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning: We are told that the LORD was moved to pity because Israel's enemies were oppressing God's people. The Hebrew word that is translated as oppressed or afflicted is lachats. Lachats means to apply pressure or to squeeze. Lachats has a direct counterpart in the New Testament. The New Testament word in the Greek is thlipsis, which we translate as tribulation. It is used in both the Greek and Hebrew to mean oppressed or afflicted. However, the evangelical branch of the church has taught us to think of tribulation as equivalent to extreme subjugation, forced servitude and mortal danger to those who resist. But in fact, it can represent just a great pressure to do what is not right. We are all familiar with the term peer pressure, meaning that those who we have the closest relationship with and those whose admiration and acceptance we seek, apply a kind of unbearable psychological influence upon us to conform us to their ideals and morals. The force is more often a passive one of implicated social rejection for non-compliance and less usual is that such as aggressive coercion and physical harm.
When we read Judges, we see that unbearable pressure from both aspects is present on Israel due to their mixing the godly with the ungodly and the clean with the unclean. The LORD decides to take pity on them as a result. The two main pressure points on Israel are the immense social and psychological pressure to conform to what is seen as the common good, and some degree of physical coercion of the government to comply with the society's laws and customs. There is also a third minor pressure and that is the attacks from other nations who want to take land or crops from Israel.
The next time you read about tribulation (thlipsis, lachats) in the apocryphal books of the New Testament, do not automatically picture the situation as some kind of grossly evil fascist repressive government enslaving people or killing the opposition on a whim. More often tribulation is simply addressing a national situation whereby the pressures of a society that is far from God makes life for those living within that society who also seek to live in harmony with God terribly difficult. In the case of Israel dealing with their Canaanite neighbors, it points to a situation whereby the temptations placed in front of Israel to succumb to a pagan lifestyle are immense. The draw to personal pleasure, comfort and sexual deviance are nearly irresistible. The principle that economic advancement overrules everything else becomes Israel's focus.
They did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways: The Hebrew word translated as stubborn (and elsewhere in the Bible translated as stiff-necked) is a word that was also applied to Israel many times during the Exodus (Exodus 32:9, 33:3, 33:5). This shows that a change of location--even coming into the Promised Land--did not necessarily mean a change of heart for Israel. We should never count on sanctification by relocation. Wherever you go, you take everything with you. A new environment does not always mean a new attitude.
Additionally, the Hebrew word for stubborn (kawsheh) comes from the idea of being hard or severe. To be stubborn against the LORD is to have a hard and unyielding heart. It results in a very difficult life.
4. (Judges 2:20-23) God gives them over to their sinful compromise
So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He said, "Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice, I will also no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk in it as their fathers did or not." So the LORD allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out quickly; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel: Verse 20 continues to make the point that the LORD is VERY angry with Israel. Thus, there is NO chance that Israel will escape severe punishment.
Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded to their fathers: Hidden in the words of the second half of verse 20 is a kind of slap in the face to Israel by the LORD. In Hebrew this verse says, "Because hagoy haze violates My covenant..." Goy means gentile nation. Way back in Genesis, before the time of Abraham, goy or goyim meant nations as in any nation on earth. But when Abraham was declared by God as the first Hebrew, the earth was divided into the gentiles and Hebrews. Thus, the term goy applied ONLY to gentile people and nations but NOT to the Hebrews. So, here we have the LORD essentially saying, "because this gentile-like nation violates My covenant..." The bottom line, if a follower of God behaves as a non-follower then God will see you just as though you were a non-followed and not one of His people.
I will also no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them: God says that He is leaving those Canaanite nations there for the tribes of Israel to contend with as a test or trial. This does not mean trial as in the sense of trials and tribulations. It does not indicate being put into a bad situation whereby the bad situation is of itself the punishment. Rather, in Hebrew the word is nassa, and it refers to a judicial kind of trial. In other words, the accurate sense of this statement is that God is going to put the tribes of Israel on trial in His courtroom. They are the accused, and He is the judge. Whether they are convicted and merit further punishment, or whether they are found to be innocent and merit mercy, will all depend on if Israel proves itself to have learned its lesson and becomes Torah observant as their immediate ancestors were. The alternative is that Israel will reject God's discipline (in the form of the Canaanites nations being divinely allowed to create problems for Israel's society), and God reacts with further and more sever punishments on His people.
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