mh_parser/vol_split/7 - Judges/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Jud.iii" n="iii" next="Jud.iv" prev="Jud.ii" progress="11.27%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Jud.iii-p0.1">J U D G E S</h2>
<h3 id="Jud.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jud.iii-p1">In this chapter we have, I. A particular message
which God sent to Israel by an angel, and the impression it made
upon them, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.1-Judg.2.5" parsed="|Judg|2|1|2|5" passage="Jdg 2:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>. II. A
general idea of the state of Israel during the government of the
judges, in which observe, 1. Their adherence to God while Joshua
and the elders lived, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.6-Judg.2.10" parsed="|Judg|2|6|2|10" passage="Jdg 2:6-10">ver.
6-10</scripRef>. 2. Their revolt afterwards to idolatry, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.11-Judg.2.13" parsed="|Judg|2|11|2|13" passage="Jdg 2:11-13">ver. 11-13</scripRef>. 3. God's displeasure
against them, and his judgments upon them for it, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.14-Judg.2.15" parsed="|Judg|2|14|2|15" passage="Jdg 2:14,15">ver. 14, 15</scripRef>. 4. His pity towards
them, shown in raising them up deliverers, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.16-Judg.2.18" parsed="|Judg|2|16|2|18" passage="Jdg 2:16-18">ver. 16-18</scripRef>. 5. Their relapse into idolatry
after the judgment was over, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.17-Judg.2.19" parsed="|Judg|2|17|2|19" passage="Jdg 2:17-19">ver.
17-19</scripRef>. 6. The full stop God in anger put to their
successes, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.20-Judg.2.23" parsed="|Judg|2|20|2|23" passage="Jdg 2:20-23">ver. 20-23</scripRef>.
These are the contents, not only of this chapter, but of the whole
book.</p>
<scripCom id="Jud.iii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2" parsed="|Judg|2|0|0|0" passage="Jud 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jud.iii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.1-Judg.2.5" parsed="|Judg|2|1|2|5" passage="Jud 2:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.2.1-Judg.2.5">
<h4 id="Jud.iii-p1.10">An Angel Rebukes the
Israelites. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 1425.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.iii-p2">1 And an angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p2.1">Lord</span> 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 <i>as thorns</i> in your sides, and their gods shall be a
snare unto you.   4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p2.2">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p2.3">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p3">It was the privilege of Israel that they
had not only a law in general sent them from heaven, once for all,
to direct them into and keep them in the way of happiness, but that
they had particular messages sent them from heaven, as there was
occasion, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in
righteousness, when at any time they turned aside out of that way.
Besides the written word which they had before them to read, they
often <i>heard a word behind them, saying, This is the way,</i>
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.21" parsed="|Isa|30|21|0|0" passage="Isa 30:21">Isa. xxx. 21</scripRef>. Here begins
that way of God's dealing with them. When they would not hear
Moses, let it be tried whether they will hear the prophets. In
these verses we have a very awakening sermon that was preached to
them when they began to cool in their religion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p4">I. The preacher was an <i>angel of the
Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.1" parsed="|Judg|2|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), not
a prophet, not Phinehas, as the Jews conceit; gospel ministers are
indeed called <i>angels of the churches,</i> but the Old-Testament
prophets are never called angels of the Lord; no doubt this was a
messenger from heaven. Such extraordinary messengers we
sometimes find in this book employed in the raising up of the
judges that delivered Israel, as Gideon and Samson; and now, to
show how various are the good offices they do for God's Israel,
here is one sent to preach to them, to prevent their falling into
sin and trouble. This extraordinary messenger was sent to command,
if possible, the greater regard to the message, and to affect the
minds of a people whom nothing seemed to affect but what was
sensible. The learned bishop Patrick is clearly of opinion that
this was not a created angel, but the Angel of the covenant, the
same that appeared to Joshua as <i>captain of the hosts of the
Lord,</i> who was God himself. Christ himself, says Dr. Lightfoot;
who but God and Christ could say, <i>I made you to go up out of
Egypt?</i> Joshua had lately admonished them to take heed of
entangling themselves with the Canaanites, but they regarded not
the words of a dying man; the same warning therefore is here
brought them by the living God himself, the Son of God appearing as
an angel. If they slight his servants, surely they will reverence
his Son. This angel of the Lord is said to come up from Gilgal,
perhaps not walking on the earth, but flying swiftly, as the angel
Gabriel did to Daniel, in the open firmament of heaven; but,
whether walking or flying, he seemed to come from Gilgal for a
particular reason. Gilgal was long their headquarters after they
came into Canaan, many signal favours they had there received from
God, and there the covenant of circumcision was renewed (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.5" parsed="|Mic|6|5|0|0" passage="Mic 6:5">Mic. vi. 5</scripRef>), of all which it was
designed they should be reminded by his coming from Gilgal. The
remembrance of <i>what we have received and heard</i> will prepare
us for a warning to hold fast, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.3.2-Rev.3.3" parsed="|Rev|3|2|3|3" passage="Re 3:2,3">Rev.
iii. 2, 3</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p5">II. The persons to whom this sermon was
preached were <i>all the children of Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.4" parsed="|Judg|2|4|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. A great congregation for a great
preacher! They were assembled either for war, each tribe sending in
its forces for some great expedition, or rather for worship, and
then the place of their meeting must be Shiloh, where the
tabernacle was, at which they were all to come together three times
a year. When we attend upon God in instituted ordinances we may
expect to hear from him, and to receive his gifts at his own
gates. The place is called <i>Bochim</i> (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.1" parsed="|Judg|2|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), because it gained that name upon
this occasion. All Israel needed the reproof and warning here
given, and therefore it is spoken to them all.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p6">III. The sermon itself is short, but very
close. God here tells them plainly, 1. What he had done for them,
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.1" parsed="|Judg|2|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. He had brought
them out of Egypt, a land of slavery and toil, into Canaan, a land
of rest, liberty, and plenty. The miseries of the one served as a
foil to the felicities of the other. God had herein been kind to
them, true to the oath sworn to their fathers, had given such
proofs of his power as left them inexcusable if they distrusted it,
and such engagements to his service as left them inexcusable if
they deserted it. 2. What he had promised them: <i>I said, I will
never break my covenant with you.</i> When he took them to be his
peculiar people, it was not with any design to cast them off again,
or to change them for another people at his pleasure; let them but
be faithful to him, and they should find him unchangeably constant
to them. He told them plainly that the covenant he entered into
with them should never break, unless it broke on their side. 3.
What were his just and reasonable expectations from them (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.2" parsed="|Judg|2|2|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): that being taken into
covenant with God they should make no league with the Canaanites,
who were both his enemies and theirs,—that having set up his altar
they should throw down their altars, lest they should be a
temptation to them to serve their gods. Could any thing be demanded
more easy? 4. How they had in this very thing, which he had most
insisted on, disobeyed him: "But you have not in so small a matter
obeyed my voice." In contempt of their covenant with God, and their
confederacy with each other in that covenant, they made leagues of
friendship with the idolatrous devoted Canaanites, and connived at
their altars, though they stood in competition with God's. "<i>Why
have you done this?</i> What account can you give of this
perverseness of yours at the bar of right reason? What apology can
you make for yourselves, or what excuse can you offer?" Those that
throw off their communion with God, and have fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, know not what they do now, and will
have nothing to say for themselves in the day of account shortly.
5. How they must expect to smart by and by for this their folly,
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.3" parsed="|Judg|2|3|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Their
tolerating the Canaanites among them would, (1.) Put a period to
their victories: "<i>You</i> will not drive them out," says God,
"and therefore <i>I</i> will not;" thus their sin was made their
punishment. Thus those who indulge their lusts and corruptions,
which they should mortify, forfeit the grace of God, and it is
justly withdrawn from them. If we will not resist the devil, we
cannot expect that God should tread him under our feet. (2.) It
would involve them in continual troubles. "They shall be thorns in
your sides to gore you, which way soever you turn, always doing you
one mischief or other." Those deceive themselves who expect
advantage by friendship with those that are enemies to God. (3.) It
would (which was worst of all) expose them to constant temptation
and draw them to sin. "Their gods" (their <i>abominations,</i> so
the Chaldee) "will be a snare to you; you will find yourselves
wretchedly entangled in an affection to them, and it will be your
ruin," so some read it. Those that approach sin are justly left to
themselves to fall into sin and to perish in it. God often makes
men's sin their punishment; and thorns and snares are <i>in the way
of the froward,</i> who will walk contrary to God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p7">IV. The good success of this sermon is very
remarkable: The people <i>lifted up their voice and wept,</i>
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.4" parsed="|Judg|2|4|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. 1. The angel
had told them of their sins, for which they thus expressed their
sorrow: they lifted up their voice in confession of sin, crying out
against their own folly and ingratitude, and wept, as those that
were both ashamed of themselves and angry at themselves, as having
acted so directly contrary both to their reason and to their
interest. 2. The angel had threatened them with the judgments of
God, of which they thus expressed their dread: they lifted up their
voice in prayer to God to turn away his wrath from them, and wept
for fear of that wrath. They relented upon this alarm, and their
hearts melted within them, and trembled at the word, and not
without cause. This was good, and a sign that the word they heard
made an impression upon them: it is a wonder sinners can ever read
their Bible with dry eyes. But this was not enough; they wept, but
we do not find that they reformed, that they went home and
destroyed all the remains of idolatry and idolaters among them.
Many are melted under the word that harden again before they are
cast into a new mould. However, this general weeping, (1.) Gave a
new name to the place (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.5" parsed="|Judg|2|5|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>): they called it <i>Bochim, Weepers,</i> a good name
for our religious assemblies to answer. Had they kept close to God
and their duty, no voice but that of singing would have been heard
in their congregation; but by their sin and folly they had made
other work for themselves, and now nothing is to be heard but the
voice of weeping. (2.) It gave occasion for a solemn sacrifice:
They <i>sacrificed there unto the Lord,</i> having (as is supposed)
met at Shiloh, where God's altar was. They offered sacrifice to
turn away God's wrath, and to obtain his favour, and in token of
their dedication of themselves to him, and to him only, making a
covenant by this sacrifice. The disease being thus taken in time,
and the physic administered working so well, one would have hoped a
cure might be effected. But by the sequel of the story it appears
to have been too deeply rooted to be wept out.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jud.iii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.6-Judg.2.23" parsed="|Judg|2|6|2|23" passage="Jud 2:6-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.2.6-Judg.2.23">
<h4 id="Jud.iii-p7.4">The Idolatry of the
Israelites. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p7.5">b. c.</span> 1425.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.iii-p8">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.1">Lord</span> all the days of Joshua, and all the days of
the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.2">Lord</span>, that he did for Israel.
  8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.3">Lord</span>, died, <i>being</i> a 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.   10 And also all that generation were gathered
unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them,
which knew not the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.4">Lord</span>, nor yet the
works which he had done for Israel.   11 And the children of
Israel did evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.5">Lord</span>, and served Baalim:   12 And they
forsook the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.6">Lord</span> God of their
fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed
other gods, of the gods of the people that <i>were</i> round about
them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.7">Lord</span> to anger.   13 And they forsook the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.8">Lord</span>, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
  14 And the anger of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.9">Lord</span>
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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.10">Lord</span> was against them
for evil, as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.11">Lord</span> had said, and
as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.12">Lord</span> had sworn unto them: and
they were greatly distressed.   16 Nevertheless the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.13">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.14">Lord</span>; <i>but</i>
they did not so.   18 And when the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.15">Lord</span> raised them up judges, then the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.16">Lord</span> was with the judge, and delivered
them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge:
for it repented the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.17">Lord</span> 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,
<i>that</i> they returned, and corrupted <i>themselves</i> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.18">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.19">Lord</span> to walk therein, as their
fathers did keep <i>it,</i> or not.   23 Therefore the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.iii-p8.20">Lord</span> left those nations, without driving
them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of
Joshua.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p9">The beginning of this paragraph is only a
repetition of what account we had before of the people's good
character during the government of Joshua, and of his death and
burial (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.29-Josh.24.30" parsed="|Josh|24|29|24|30" passage="Jos 24:29,30">Josh. xxiv. 29,
30</scripRef>), which comes in here again only to make way for the
following account, which this chapter gives, of their degeneracy
and apostasy. The angel had foretold that the Canaanites and their
idols would be a snare to Israel; now the historian undertakes to
show that they were so, and, that this may appear the more clear,
he looks back a little, and takes notice, 1. Of their happy
settlement in the land of Canaan. Joshua, having distributed this
land among them, dismissed them to the quiet and comfortable
possession of it (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.6" parsed="|Judg|2|6|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>He sent them away,</i> not only every tribe, but
<i>every man to his inheritance,</i> no doubt giving them his
blessing. 2. Of their continuance in the faith and fear of God's
holy name as long as Joshua lived, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.7" parsed="|Judg|2|7|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. As they went to their possessions
with good resolutions to cleave to God, so they persisted for some
time in these good resolutions, as long as they had good rulers
that set them good examples, gave them good instructions, and
reproved and restrained the corruptions that crept in among them,
and as long as they had fresh in remembrance the great things God
did for them when he brought them into Canaan: those that had seen
these wonders had so much sense as to believe their own eyes, and
so much reason as to serve that God who had appeared so gloriously
on their behalf; but those that followed, because they had not
seen, believed not. 3. Of the death and burial of Joshua, which
gave a fatal stroke to the interests of religion among the people,
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.8-Judg.2.9" parsed="|Judg|2|8|2|9" passage="Jdg 2:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>. Yet so
much sense they had of their obligations to him that they did him
honour at his death, and buried him in <i>Timnath-heres;</i> so it
is called here, not, as in Joshua, <i>Timnath-serah. Heres</i>
signifies the <i>sun,</i> a representation of which, some think,
was set upon his sepulchre, and gave name to it, in remembrance of
the sun's standing still at his word. So divers of the Jewish
writers say; but I much question whether an image of the sun would
be allowed to the honour of Joshua at that time, when, by reason of
men's general proneness to worship the sun, it would be in danger
of being abused to the dishonour of God. 4. Of the rising of a new
generation, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.10" parsed="|Judg|2|10|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
All that generation in a few years wore off, their good
instructions and examples died and were buried with them, and there
arose another generation of Israelites who had so little sense of
religion, and were in so little care about it, that,
notwithstanding all the advantages of their education, one might
truly say that they knew not the Lord, knew him not aright, knew
him not as he had revealed himself, else they would not have
forsaken him. They were so entirely devoted to the world, so intent
upon the business of it or so indulgent of the flesh in ease and
luxury, that they never minded the true God and his holy religion,
and so were easily drawn aside to false gods and their abominable
superstitions.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p10">And so he comes to give us a general idea
of the series of things in Israel during the time of the judges,
the same repeated in the same order.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p11">I. The people of Israel forsook the God of
Israel, and gave that worship and honour to the dunghill deities of
the Canaanites which was due to him alone. <i>Be astonished, O
heavens! at this, and wonder, O earth! Hath a nation,</i> such a
nation, so well fed, so well taught, <i>changed its God,</i> such a
God, a God of infinite power, unspotted purity, inexhaustible
goodness, and so very jealous of a competitor, for stocks and
stones that could do neither good nor evil? <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.11-Jer.2.12" parsed="|Jer|2|11|2|12" passage="Jer 2:11,12">Jer. ii. 11, 12</scripRef>. Never was there such an
instance of folly, ingratitude, and perfidiousness. Observe how it
is described here, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.11-Judg.2.13" parsed="|Judg|2|11|2|13" passage="Jdg 2:11-13"><i>v.</i>
11-13</scripRef>. In general, <i>they did evil,</i> nothing could
be more evil, that is, more provoking to God, nor more prejudicial
to themselves, and it was <i>in the sight of the Lord;</i> all evil
is before him, but he takes special notice of the sin of having any
other god. In particular, 1. They <i>forsook the Lord</i>
(<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.12-Judg.2.13" parsed="|Judg|2|12|2|13" passage="Jdg 2:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, and again <i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>); this was one of the two great evils they were
guilty of, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.13" parsed="|Jer|2|13|0|0" passage="Jer 2:13">Jer. ii. 13</scripRef>.
They had been joined to the Lord in covenant, but now they forsook
him, as a wife <i>treacherously departs from her husband.</i> "They
forsook the worship of the Lord," so the Chaldee: for those that
forsake the worship of God do in effect forsake God himself. It
aggravated this that he was <i>the God of their fathers,</i> so
that they were <i>born in his house,</i> and therefore bound to
serve him; and that he <i>brought them out of the land of
Egypt,</i> he <i>loosed their bonds,</i> and upon that account also
they were obliged to serve him. 2. When they forsook the only true
God they did not turn atheists, nor were they such fools as to say,
<i>There is no God;</i> but they followed other gods: so much
remained of pure nature as to own a God, yet so much appeared of
corrupt nature as to multiply gods, and take up with any, and to
follow the fashion, not the rule, in religious worship. Israel had
the honour of being a peculiar people and dignified above all
others, and yet so false were they to their own privileges that
they were fond of the gods <i>of the people that were round about
them.</i> Baal and Ashtaroth, he-gods and she-gods; they made their
court to sun and moon, Jupiter and Juno. <i>Baalim</i> signifies
<i>lords,</i> and <i>Ashtaroth blessed ones,</i> both plural, for
when they forsook Jehovah, who is one, they had gods many and lords
many, as a luxuriant fancy pleased to multiply them. Whatever they
took for their gods, they served them and bowed down to them, gave
honour to them and begged favours from them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p12">II. The God of Israel was hereby provoked
to anger, and delivered them up into the hand of their enemies,
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.14-Judg.2.15" parsed="|Judg|2|14|2|15" passage="Jdg 2:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. He was
wroth with them, for he is a jealous God and true to the honour of
his own name; and the way he took to punish them for their apostasy
was to make those their tormentors whom they yielded to as their
tempters. They made themselves as mean and miserable by forsaking
God as they would have been great and happy if they had continued
faithful to him. 1. The scale of victory turned against them. After
they forsook God, whenever they took the sword in hand they were as
sure to be beaten as before they had been sure to conquer. Formerly
their enemies could not stand before them, but, wherever they went,
the hand of the Lord was for them; when they began to cool in their
religion, God suspended his favour, stopped the progress of their
successes, and would not drive out their enemies any more
(<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.3" parsed="|Judg|2|3|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), only suffered
them to keep their ground; but now, when they had quite revolted to
idolatry, the war turned directly against them, and they <i>could
not any longer stand before their enemies.</i> God would rather
give the success to those that had never known nor owned him than
to those that had done both, but had now deserted him. Wherever
they went, they might perceive that God himself had <i>turned to be
their enemy, and fought against them,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.10" parsed="|Isa|63|10|0|0" passage="Isa 63:10">Isa. lxiii. 10</scripRef>. 2. The balance of power then
turned against them of course. Whoever would might spoil them,
whoever would might oppress them. God sold them into the hands of
their enemies; not only he delivered them up freely, as we do that
which we have sold, but he did it upon a valuable consideration,
that he might get himself honour as a jealous God, who would not
spare even his own peculiar people when they provoked him. He sold
them as insolvent debtors are sold (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.18.25" parsed="|Matt|18|25|0|0" passage="Mt 18:25">Matt. xviii. 25</scripRef>), by their sufferings to make
some sort of reparation to his glory for the injury it sustained by
their apostasy. Observe how their punishment, (1.) Answered what
they had done. They served the gods of <i>the nations that were
round about them,</i> even the meanest, and God made them serve the
princes of the nations that were round about them, even the
meanest. He that is company for every fool is justly made a fool of
by every company. (2.) How it answered what God has spoken. The
hand of heaven was thus turned against them, <i>as the Lord had
said,</i> and <i>as the Lord had sworn</i> (<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.15" parsed="|Judg|2|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), referring to the curse and
death set before them in the covenant, with the blessing and life.
Those that have found God true to his promises may thence infer
that he will be as true to his threatenings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p13">III. The God of infinite mercy took pity on
them in their distresses, though they had brought themselves into
them by their own sin and folly, and wrought deliverance for them.
Nevertheless, though their trouble was the punishment of their sin
and the accomplishment of God's word, yet they were in process of
time saved out of their trouble, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.16-Judg.2.18" parsed="|Judg|2|16|2|18" passage="Jdg 2:16-18"><i>v.</i> 16-18</scripRef>. Here observe, 1. The
inducement of their deliverance. It came purely from God's pity and
tender compassion; the reason was fetched from within himself. It
is not said, <i>It repented them because of their iniquities</i>
(for it appears, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.17" parsed="|Judg|2|17|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>, that many of them continued unreformed), but, <i>It
repented the Lord because of their groanings;</i> though it is not
so much the burden of sin as the burden of affliction that they are
said to groan under. It is true they deserved to perish for ever
under his curse, yet, this being the day of his patience and our
probation, he does not stir up all his wrath. He might in justice
have abandoned them, but he could not for pity do it. 2. The
instruments of their deliverance. God did not send angels from
heaven to rescue them, nor bring in any foreign power to their aid,
but raised up judges from among themselves, as there was occasion,
men to whom God gave extraordinary qualifications for, and calls
to, that special service for which they were designed, which was to
reform and deliver Israel, and whose great attempts he crowned with
wonderful success: <i>The Lord was with the judges</i> when he
raised them up, and so they became saviours. Observe, (1.) In the
days of the greatest degeneracy and distress of the church there
shall be some whom God will either find or make to redress its
grievances and set things to rights. (2.) God must be acknowledged
in the seasonable rising up of useful men for public service. He
endues men with wisdom and courage, gives them hearts to act and
venture. All that are in any way the blessings of their country
must be looked upon as the gifts of God. (3.) Whom God calls he
will own, and give them his presence; whom he raises up he will be
with. (4.) The judges of a land are its saviours.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p14">IV. The degenerate Israelites were not
effectually and thoroughly reformed, no, not by their judges,
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.17-Judg.2.19" parsed="|Judg|2|17|2|19" passage="Jdg 2:17-19"><i>v.</i> 17-19</scripRef>. 1. Even
while their judges were with them, and active in the work of
reformation, there were those that <i>would not hearken to their
judges,</i> but at that very time <i>went a whoring after other
gods,</i> so mad were they upon their idols, and so obstinately
<i>bent to backslide.</i> They had been espoused to God, but broke
the marriage-covenant, and went a whoring after these gods.
Idolatry is spiritual adultery, so vile, and base, and perfidious a
thing is it, and so hardly are those reclaimed that are addicted to
it. 2. Those that in the times of reformation began to amend <i>yet
turned quickly out of the way</i> again, and became as bad as ever.
The way they turned out of was that which their godly ancestors
walked in, and set them out in; but they soon started from under
the influence both of their fathers' good example and of their own
good education. The wicked children of godly parents do so, and
will therefore have a great deal to answer for. However, <i>when
the judge was dead,</i> they looked upon the dam which checked the
stream of their idolatry as removed, and then it flowed down again
with so much the more fury, and the next age seemed to be rather
the worse for the attempts that had been made towards reformation,
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.19" parsed="|Judg|2|19|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. <i>They
corrupted themselves more than their fathers,</i> strove to outdo
them in multiplying strange gods and inventing profane and impious
rites of worship, as it were in contradiction to their reformers.
<i>They ceased not</i> from, or, as the word is, <i>they would not
let fall,</i> any of their own doings, grew not ashamed of those
idolatrous services that were most odious nor weary of those that
were most barbarous, would not so much as diminish one step of
their hard and stubborn way. Thus those that have forsaken the good
ways of God, which they have once known and professed, commonly
grow most daring and desperate in sin, and have their hearts most
hardened.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.iii-p15">V. God's just resolution hereupon was still
to continue the rod over them, 1. Their sin was sparing the
Canaanites, and this in contempt and violation of the covenant God
had made with them and the commands he had given them, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.20" parsed="|Judg|2|20|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. 2. Their punishment was
that the Canaanites were spared, and so they were beaten with their
own rod. They were not all delivered into the hand of Joshua while
he lived, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.23" parsed="|Judg|2|23|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. Our
Lord Jesus, though he <i>spoiled principalities and powers,</i> yet
did not complete his victory at first. <i>We see not yet all things
put under him;</i> there are remains of Satan's interest in the
church, as there were of the Canaanites in the land; but our Joshua
lives for ever, and will in the great day perfect his conquest.
After Joshua's death, little was done for a long time against the
Canaanites: Israel indulged them, and grew familiar with them, and
therefore God would not drive them out any more, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.21" parsed="|Judg|2|21|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. If they will have such inmates
as these among them, let them take them, and see what will come of
it. God chose their delusions, <scripRef id="Jud.iii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.66.4" parsed="|Isa|66|4|0|0" passage="Isa 66:4">Isa.
lxvi. 4</scripRef>. Thus men cherish and indulge their own corrupt
appetites and passions, and, instead of mortifying them, make
provision for them, and therefore God justly leaves them to
themselves under the power of their sins, which will be their ruin.
<i>So shall their doom be; they themselves have decided it.</i>
These remnants of the Canaanites were left to prove Israel
(<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.2.22" parsed="|Judg|2|22|0|0" passage="Jdg 2:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>), <i>whether
they would keep the way of the Lord or not;</i> not that God might
know them, but that they might know themselves. It was to try, (1.)
Whether they could resist the temptations to idolatry which the
Canaanites would lay before them. God had told them they could not,
<scripRef id="Jud.iii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.4" parsed="|Deut|7|4|0|0" passage="Deut. 7:4">Deut. vii. 4</scripRef>. But they
thought they could. "Well," said God, "I will try you;" and, upon
trial, it was found that the tempters' charms were far too strong
for them. God has told us how deceitful and desperately wicked our
hearts are, but we are not willing to believe it till by making
bold with temptation we find it too true by sad experience. (2.)
Whether they would make a good use of the vexations which the
remaining natives would give them, and the many troubles they would
occasion them, and would thereby be convinced of sin and humbled
for it, reformed, and driven to God and their duty, whether by
continual alarms from them they would be kept in awe and made
afraid of provoking God.</p>
</div></div2>