Who is the angel of the Lord at the start of this passage?

In this passage the angel of the Lord speaks as if he is God Himself. He says, “I made you to go up out of Egypt” and “I will never break my covenant with you.” So this is not just a regular messenger repeating someone else’s words. Through this angel, God reminds Israel what He has done for them and what He commanded. The focus is not on the angel’s appearance but on God’s voice, calling His people to remember the covenant and face their disobedience.

What is the meaning of the place name Bochim where Israel wept?

Bochim means “weepers.” After the angel of the Lord rebuked Israel for making peace with the Canaanites and not tearing down their altars, the people lifted up their voices and wept. They felt the weight of their sin and the warning that the remaining nations and their gods would trap them. They named the place Bochim to mark that shared grief. They also sacrificed to the Lord there, showing some desire to return to Him, even though the passage later shows their change did not last.

Why did God say the remaining nations would be thorns and snares to Israel?

God had told Israel not to make agreements with the people of the land and to destroy their altars. Because they disobeyed, He said He would no longer drive out those nations. Instead, they would be like thorns in Israel’s sides, bringing pain and trouble, and their gods would be a snare, pulling Israel into idol worship. This shows that when God’s people refuse to remove what tempts them to sin, those very things often become sources of ongoing hurt and spiritual danger.

What does this passage show about the change between Joshua’s generation and the next?

The passage says that the people served the Lord during Joshua’s life and the lives of the elders who had seen God’s great works. But after that generation died, another generation arose that did not know the Lord or what He had done for Israel. As a result, they did evil, turned to Baalim and Ashtaroth, and left the God who brought them out of Egypt. This shows how quickly faith can fade if God’s works and ways are not passed on and remembered.

Why did God’s anger burn against Israel in this passage?

God’s anger burned because Israel left Him for other gods. They did evil in His sight, served Baalim, and bowed to the gods of the surrounding peoples. Twice the passage says they forsook the Lord who brought them out of Egypt. This was not a small slip but breaking the covenant, chasing other gods, and ignoring His commands. God’s anger shows that He takes His relationship with His people seriously and that turning to idols has real consequences.

Why did God deliver Israel into the hands of spoilers and enemies?

God delivered Israel into the hands of spoilers and enemies as a direct response to their breaking His covenant. They had chosen the gods and ways of the nations around them, so He allowed those nations to overpower them. Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them, just as He had warned. This was not random suffering but discipline meant to show them the emptiness of their idols and to drive them to cry out to Him again.

If God was angry, why did He still raise up judges to save Israel?

Even though God was angry at Israel’s sin, He did not abandon them. The passage says He raised up judges who delivered them from those who spoiled them. When the Lord raised up a judge, He was with that judge and rescued the people all the days of that leader. It also says it grieved the Lord because of their groaning under oppression. So we see both His justice in punishing sin and His mercy in hearing their cries and sending help.

What is the cycle of sin and deliverance described in this passage?

The pattern goes like this: Israel forgets the Lord and serves idols. God’s anger is kindled, and He gives them into the hands of their enemies. They suffer and are greatly distressed, and then they groan and cry out. God raises up a judge, is with that judge, and delivers them. While the judge lives, things improve, but when the judge dies, they quickly turn back, often becoming even more corrupt than before. This cycle repeats, showing the depth of their unfaithfulness and God’s patient mercy.

What does it mean that God left the nations to prove Israel?

At the end of the passage, God says He will no longer drive out the remaining nations. Instead, He leaves them “that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD.” This means the presence of these nations would test Israel. Surrounded by other peoples and their gods, Israel would have to choose whether to walk in God’s ways like their fathers did or follow the idols around them. Their response in that ongoing test would reveal what was truly in their hearts.

How can the message of this passage speak to believers today?

This passage warns how easy it is to drift when God’s past work is forgotten and when tempting influences are left in place. Israel wept, but their sorrow often did not lead to lasting change. Yet God kept reminding them, disciplining them, and raising up help. For believers today, it encourages honest repentance that leads to real obedience, steady remembering of what God has done, and trust that even when God disciplines, He is still merciful and ready to restore those who turn back to Him.

Judg.2.1

Judges 2:1

KJV GOD

And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Israel Rebuked at Bochim

1 And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

2 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?

3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

6 ¶ And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.

8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

11 ¶ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:

12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

13 And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

14 ¶ And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

Judges Raised Up

16 ¶ Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

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.

18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

20 ¶ And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;

21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:

22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.