Jdg 2:1-23 The Lord Raised The up Judges…and Delivered Them

[Study Aired January 31, 2021]

Jdg 2:1  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. 
Jdg 2:2  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? 
Jdg 2:3  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. 
Jdg 2:4  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. 
Jdg 2:5  And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD. 
Jdg 2:6  And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. 
Jdg 2:7  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. 
Jdg 2:8  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 
Jdg 2:9  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash
Jdg 2:10  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. 
Jdg 2:11  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 
Jdg 2:12  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. 
Jdg 2:13  And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 
Jdg 2:14  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. 
Jdg 2:15  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. 
Jdg 2:16  Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 
Jdg 2:17  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. 
Jdg 2:18  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. 
Jdg 2:19  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. 
Jdg 2:20  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; 
Jdg 2:21  I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 
Jdg 2:22  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. 
Jdg 2:23  Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. 

The end of Chapter 1 of Judges focused on the disobedience of Israel for not driving out the Canaanites from the land but rather choosing to live among them and benefit from them by the tribute they paid. It is always God who takes the initiative to dislodge us from our comfortable situation with the old man as He came on the scene to help Israel out as follows:

Jdg 2:1  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. 
Jdg 2:2  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? 
Jdg 2:3  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. 

If we are called and chosen, then God will not leave us alone to wallow in sin.  He will come to our aid by making us realize our transgression as the first step toward His salvation. He brings us to this awareness of sin through the agency of His angels (His elect), as was the case with the Israelites. The angel of the Lord in verse 1 is the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Father sent Jesus, even so Jesus is now sending His Christs (His elect) to show His people their sins. One of the key functions of God’s elect is to show God’s people their sins.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

In this journey of life, we should be ruthless in our dealing with the enemies within. There is no room for compromise (make league with the inhabitants of the land). Any little inclination toward error has the capacity of destroying our whole Christian walk.

Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

We make room for the flesh when we think that it is not possible to defeat the flesh just as Israel thought they could not overcome the enemies of the land. We make excuses such as, “As long as we are flesh, it is impossible NOT to sin.” That is the same as saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” God has assured us over and over that He will give us the land!! In other words, we shall surely overcome the flesh.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [against] thy husband [Jesus], and he [Jesus and us] shall rule over thee.

Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him [sin].

Our inability to obey God’s command to completely destroy the enemies of the land (the flesh) will cause God’s anger to be kindled against us resulting in our judgment. We then become powerless before our enemies, and this brings us under oppression to a point that we reach our wits’ end. That is when God brings us an angel of the Lord (His elect) to come and speak the word to us to lift us out of our situation!!

Psa 107:17  Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Psa 107:18  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

It is significant to know that the angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bochim. Gilgal means ‘rolling’ or ‘circle’ and Bochim means ‘weepers’. So what we need to understand is that even at this stage of our lives when we go through circles of defeats which brings us to our wits’ end (weeping), God is with us. This is what God is trying to tell us by the creation story when the earth (us) was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep (In darkness under the control of the flesh), but the spirit of the Lord was hovering over the face of the waters (God was with us).

Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Jdg 2:4  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. 
Jdg 2:5  And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD. 

As a result of the spiritual words we hear from God’s elect (the angel of the Lord), we regret our actions and cry to the Lord. As indicated, the name Bochim means ‘weepers’. We weep, repent for what we have done and begin to seek the Lord again, but unfortunately, this is temporal as we will see in later verses. This is because when we are dominated by the flesh, symbolized by the Israelites being in league with their enemies, the sorrow we experience is of the world, and therefore it worketh death!! It is not like the godly sorrow that brings repentance leading to salvation. That is why we go through cycles of defeat and oppression.

2Co 7:9  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Jdg 2:6  And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. 
Jdg 2:7  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. 

The Book of Judges was not written in a chronological order, and so this chapter is talking about the time of Joshua and the elders after him. Under the leadership of Joshua and the elders after Joshua, the people served the Lord!!  Joshua and the elders here represent God’s elect. What these verses are saying is that true fellowship of God’s elect grants us victory over the flesh because of the fiery word coming from His elect. We should also note that our fellowship is with the Father and His son, and when Jesus comes to us, He begins to drive out the oxen, the sheep, the doves and the changers of money from our temple which is our body!!

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Joh 2:13  And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

One key characteristic of the elect as depicted in Judges 2:7 is the fact that Joshua and all the elders after him had seen the great works of the Lord!! In other words, they have experienced God’s great work in their lives. The great works of the Lord is also the good works of the Lord as explained in Psalm 107. The end product of the good works of the Lord is to bring forth our righteousness as shown in Jeremiah 51:10.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Jer 51:10  The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

So the wonderful or good works of the Lord is how He brings forth our righteousness through His judgment!! This is a long process with God bringing us into darkness where He seeks for an occasion to judge us to bring us to our safe haven!!

Jdg 2:8  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 
Jdg 2:9  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 

Finally, Joshua died at the age of 110. Here Joshua is represented in a negative sense – the flesh as portrayed by his age (110 = 11×10). Ten represents the completeness of the flesh, and eleven represents the ruin and disintegration of the flesh. The end product of God’s elect is the ruin and disintegration of the flesh to bring forth the new man to live for Christ!! Joshua was buried at his inheritance at Timnathheres which means portion of the sun!! Unless we die to our old man, we do not have a portion of the sun as our inheritance. The sun represents Christ, and so our portion is in Christ!! Gaash means ‘quaking’. So we possess Christ as our inheritance through quaking (tribulations) resulting in the death of the old man as signified by the death of Joshua!!

The Generation Which Knew not God

Jdg 2:10  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. 
Jdg 2:11  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 
Jdg 2:12  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. 
Jdg 2:13  And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 

The verses here remind us of the apostasy of the people of Israel. The question is why did the Israelites follow after other gods?  Verse 10 explained the reason for following after other gods. It was because they did not know the Lord and His works towards them. We are aware that to have a good relationship with someone, you must know the person. If a marriage is to work, it means that the husband and wife know themselves well. So it is with our relationship with Christ our husband. As the bride of Christ, if we do not know our Husband Christ, then we will definitely end up following after other “men” just as the Israelites did here. As Paul puts it in Galatians 4:3-11, if we do not know God, we will do service unto them which by nature are no gods. As a result, we will turn again to weak and beggarly elements and end up in bondage as it happened to the Israelites.

Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

What we need to understand is that knowing God is a gift from God, and that gift is eternal life. If we are destined to be part of the elect, then at a certain stage of our walk, we will be given to know Christ. Looking back, we have all at certain stages of our lives played the harlot and resorted to weak and beggarly elements as we see the Israelites did after the death of the generation that knew God. Ironically, knowing the Lord entails going through all that the Israelites went through – that is, returning to our vomit of weak and beggarly elements. This experience is all to humble us and for us to realize that we are the worst of sinners to whom God has shown tremendous mercy.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

This experience of going after other gods is actually orchestrated by God who is looking for an occasion to judge the Israelites (us) as shown in the following verses:

Jdg 2:14  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. 
Jdg 2:15  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. 

These verses of scriptures talk about God’s judgments. It is through these judgments that we learn righteousness, and as a result we avoid being condemned with the world. We are all going through God’s judgment at certain periods of our lives. There are times in our lives that it seems everything we do does not work as if we are cursed!!! We endure pains in our bodies, and sometimes we are living but mentally dead – as if a death sentence had been passed on us. We are greatly distressed at certain stages of our walk. There are times that it is as if the beast within is raging uncontrollably within us, taking us captives and causing us to do things we do not want to do. Our cry then was just like Paul saying, “Oh wretched man that I man, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

2Co 1:8  For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Verses 14 and 15 clearly demonstrate that it is God who raises the storm and brings us to our wits’ end.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The end result of our judgment is that He brings us to our safe haven, which in the case for the Israelites. It means raising up judges to deliver His people from their enemies as shown in the verse below:

Jdg 2:16  Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 

The judges are God’s elect whom He raises up in every generation to bring His people out of bondage. The judges are those who go against the status quo. The status quo here is our acceptance that nobody born of flesh and blood can win this war against the beast within. Therefore we are dominated by the beast within, as we saw the Israelites being under bondage from their enemies. It is the judges (the elect) who are raised by God to defy the oppression of Israel (God’s people) by their enemies to bring liberty to God’s people. Just like Jeremiah, God has set the elect or the judges over the nations and over the kingdoms within, to root out and to pull down and to destroy and throw down. In the fullness of time, this dominion will be extended outwardly to the whole world when the kingdoms of this world will belong to Christ and His Christ. This should give us assurance that we will surely win this war against the enemies within.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Jdg 2:17  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. 

The Israelites did not listen to the words of the judges but rather chose to worship another Jesus. God’s sheep will definitely hear God’s voice through the elect. As indicated by Apostle John, our failure to hearken to the elect shows that we are dominated by the world in us, and we only understand things of the world at this stage of our walk. However, at the right time we will be caused to hear our judges and therefore get to know God.

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Jdg 2:18  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. 

The judges in our time are the elect whom God raises up to speak the fiery word of God to us and as we pay attention to these words, the enemies within are gradually destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives. Thus, in the days of the judges, God delivers His people from the hands of the enemies. The days of the judges here represent the period in our lives that God opens our eyes to see and our ears to hear what God’s elect (His Christ) are saying. As explained in an earlier review, the word ‘judges’ according to Strong’s definition means to pronounce sentence for or against. So in the days of the judges, Christ, through His elect, pronounces sentence against the enemies within, and therefore bring us out of bondage or domination by our flesh or the old man (representing the enemies within).

Judge
shâphaṭ
shaw-fat’
A primitive root; to judge, that is, pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication to vindicate or punish; by extension to govern; passively to litigate (literally or figuratively): –  + avenge, X that condemn, contend, defend, execute (judgment), (be a) judge (-ment), X needs, plead, reason, rule.
Total KJV occurrences: 203

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

At the latter part of verse 18, it says that God repented for what the Israelites were going through. This is what makes people say that the bible contradicts itself. We know that we need to know the sum of God’s words in order to know what God is actually saying.

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. (ASV)

Num 23:19  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

From Numbers 23:19, we can see that God is not a man that He should repent. So what is verse 18 trying to imply? What we are being told here is that when we go through suffering, Christ also feels our pain. My brothers and sisters, whatever we are going through now, let’s be assured that Jesus is also going through this pain with us and is interceding on our behalf.  We can see that when Jesus was going to raise Lazarus from the grave and he saw the way the people were grieving, he wept. This is to let us know that he shares our pain. We are therefore not alone in this walk!!

Joh 11:32  Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Joh 11:33  When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
Joh 11:34  And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
Joh 11:35  Jesus wept.
Joh 11:36  So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Joh 11:37  But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

2Co 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
2Co 1:4  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

In spite of the law of liberty that God’s elect (Judges) bring to us, we refuse to hear them at the early part of our walk with Christ, as indicated in verse 17 where the Israelites refused to hear the judges.

Jdg 2:19  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. 

Not listening to the judges (the elect) is the same as considering them dead to us. We consider God’s elect as dead on the streets of Jerusalem (where we were walking in time past) which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. When we were in Babylon (Christendom), we refused to hear the Lord’s song, and so we could not sing the Lord’s song in that land when we had been carried away as captives by our old man inspired by the great swelling words of man’s wisdom which are propagated by the leaders of Christendom.  In Babylon, we are tormented by our old man. When we go wrong, the old man comes to us telling us, “As far as you are concerned, this holy living is not for you. Look at your weaknesses!! Those that God is making them sons and daughters do not have weaknesses like you. You must as well give it up. You are full of sin!!” That is what the Israelites went through when they were carried away captives and their captors tormented them and required of them a song, and that is what we all are or have gone through in our walk with Christ.

The fact that your eyes are being opened and your ears are hearing God’s elect means that the old man has started his journey of death.

Rev 11:8  and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psa 137:4  How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

Our refusal to hear the elect (the judges) is because we are captivated by the teachings of our Babylonian leaders who speak man’s wisdom with which we can easily identify. As a result we end up in worse state in our walk with Christ than when we started. This is what Apostle Peter was talking about in 2 Peter 2. That was what happened to the Israelites after the death of the judges. They went back to their vomit as we also had gone back to our vomit in the past.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

2Pe 2:13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2Pe 2:14  Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
2Pe 2:15  Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
2Pe 2:16  But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Jdg 2:20  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; 
Jdg 2:21  I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 
Jdg 2:22  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. 
Jdg 2:23  Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. 

Verses 16 to 23 summarize the whole book of Judges. It shows how Israel did not drive the Canaanites from the land and therefore came into bondage; how God brought deliverance to Israel and how Israel got into bondage again. The steps are as follows:

1. Israel did not drive the Canaanites from the land when they had the opportunity to do so.
2. Israel is enticed into serving other gods of the Canaanites.
3. God reacts to Israel’s disobedience by not driving the enemies from the land. As a result, they become powerless and the enemies oppress them.
4. Israel cries to the Lord for help.
5. God in His mercy sends judges to deliver them.
6. Israel obeys the Lord during the period of the Judges until the judges die.
7. Israel goes into sin again and the cycle continues.

The rest of the Book of the Judges is a detailed account of this cycle of defeat. The detailed accounts are extremely important because they give us the tools we need to possess the land (our body) by driving out the enemies from within.

This cycle of defeat is because there are certain aspects of our lives we have not yielded to the Lord, and therefore they become a snare to us. We can see from the latter part of Chapter 1 of Judges that the Israelites went through this cycle of defeat because they were not thorough in driving the Canaanites from the land. We all have experienced this cycle of defeat in our lives when we look back. If you are at this stage of your walk with Christ, do not give up because everything that is going on in your life is according to the counsel of God’s will. It is the Lord himself who decided to leave some of the nations in our land (verse 23). At the right time, God will devise a means so that His banished is not expelled from Him. The fact that your eyes are seeing and your ears are hearing means that salvation is on the way!! Let us therefore not grow weary in our walk, for in our struggle against sin, we have not resisted to the point of shedding our blood!!

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses [His elect], let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us [this cycle of defeat], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

[Next study in this series is here.]