Judges 2:6-9
Today's Passage: Judges 2:6–9
Judges 1 records events after Joshua had died. Judges 2 rewinds to before Joshua died and our passage today covers his passing. In yesterday’s passage, the angel of the Lord announced discipline for Israel’s failure to clear the Land. Not only did they fail to clear it, but in chapter 1’s summary of the Land allotments, Israel had even started taking captured Canaanites as slaves—not at all what they were supposed to do.
Those seeds of deviation were planted as Israel started the process of taking the Promised Land and continued through Joshua’s lifetime. Our passage today is nearly identical to Joshua 24:28–31—the famous passage where Joshua declared, “choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Israel agreed to serve the Lord with their lips, but the book of Judges tells a different story.
Israel wasn’t perfect during Joshua’s life, but their seemed to be periods of genuine repentance. The problem came with the chilling words of Judges 2:10, “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”
If you read Genesis to Joshua straight through, you will repeatedly encounter sections of God establishing reminders and opportunities to remember all that He had done. There were festivals, celebrations, and even piles of rocks to be an enduring reminder of God working to call Israel as a nation, establishing them in the Land, and leading them as a priesthood to all nations. Instead, after Joshua and that generation’s leaders died, everyone forgot about the Lord.
The failure of the second generation disobedience probably wasn’t a lack of information, it was a failure to remember. “Remembrance” in the Old Testament/Hebrew sense is nearly identical to repentance. These reminders and remembrances that the Lord established for Israel in the Promised Land were intended to keep the theocratic rule of the Lord present in the hearts and minds of Israel. They were to prompt the people to align their hearts and minds to Yahweh and return to Him when they fell short. They were a celebration of what God had done and a poignant instructor of what God would do as He continued to lead and fulfill His promises.
Instead, the book of Judges is marked by the phrase, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” That is, they decided “good” and “not good” for themselves. Instead of looking to God, to live His heart and His values, they pursued their own. Sound familiar?
The slide toward chaos and rebellion feels eerily similar to the world in which we find ourselves. I look at the news and think, “How did we get here?” By the time we get to the end of Judges, that same question should ring in our minds. Often, it starts with small compromises—just one degree off true north. Then, as decades pass, we find ourselves far removed from God’s design. That reflects the time of the Judges, it reflects our times, and if we’re not careful, it can reflect our lives.
So, how do you practice remembering? What reminders do you have in your life that call you to repentance? And, what are you passing along to the next generation—information isn’t enough—so that they can follow in your obedience?
Written By: Tyler Short
Judges 1 records events after Joshua had died. Judges 2 rewinds to before Joshua died and our passage today covers his passing. In yesterday’s passage, the angel of the Lord announced discipline for Israel’s failure to clear the Land. Not only did they fail to clear it, but in chapter 1’s summary of the Land allotments, Israel had even started taking captured Canaanites as slaves—not at all what they were supposed to do.
Those seeds of deviation were planted as Israel started the process of taking the Promised Land and continued through Joshua’s lifetime. Our passage today is nearly identical to Joshua 24:28–31—the famous passage where Joshua declared, “choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Israel agreed to serve the Lord with their lips, but the book of Judges tells a different story.
Israel wasn’t perfect during Joshua’s life, but their seemed to be periods of genuine repentance. The problem came with the chilling words of Judges 2:10, “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”
If you read Genesis to Joshua straight through, you will repeatedly encounter sections of God establishing reminders and opportunities to remember all that He had done. There were festivals, celebrations, and even piles of rocks to be an enduring reminder of God working to call Israel as a nation, establishing them in the Land, and leading them as a priesthood to all nations. Instead, after Joshua and that generation’s leaders died, everyone forgot about the Lord.
The failure of the second generation disobedience probably wasn’t a lack of information, it was a failure to remember. “Remembrance” in the Old Testament/Hebrew sense is nearly identical to repentance. These reminders and remembrances that the Lord established for Israel in the Promised Land were intended to keep the theocratic rule of the Lord present in the hearts and minds of Israel. They were to prompt the people to align their hearts and minds to Yahweh and return to Him when they fell short. They were a celebration of what God had done and a poignant instructor of what God would do as He continued to lead and fulfill His promises.
Instead, the book of Judges is marked by the phrase, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” That is, they decided “good” and “not good” for themselves. Instead of looking to God, to live His heart and His values, they pursued their own. Sound familiar?
The slide toward chaos and rebellion feels eerily similar to the world in which we find ourselves. I look at the news and think, “How did we get here?” By the time we get to the end of Judges, that same question should ring in our minds. Often, it starts with small compromises—just one degree off true north. Then, as decades pass, we find ourselves far removed from God’s design. That reflects the time of the Judges, it reflects our times, and if we’re not careful, it can reflect our lives.
So, how do you practice remembering? What reminders do you have in your life that call you to repentance? And, what are you passing along to the next generation—information isn’t enough—so that they can follow in your obedience?
Written By: Tyler Short
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