imitate Joshua’s takeover of Jericho with the help of a native Canaanite (Joshua 2; see below for a comparison of the two events). However, the differences are significant (shaded below): in the earlier account Rahab took the initiative to ask for ds,x,, with a proclamation that was Yahwistic through and through, acknowledging his preeminence and his great deeds (Josh 2:9–13)—she had converted!101 So much so, after a divinely accomplished victory over Jericho, Rahab and her family were noted to be residents of Israel thenceforth: “to this day” (6:25).102 In the present case, there is no indication that the informant made any Rahab-like alliance with the Israelites, or with Yahweh. And the man’s final action of rebuilding Luz (which also stands “to this day,” Jdg 1:26), becomes a scandalous symbol of the unwise covenanting of the house of Joseph with a foreigner. It was as if the hostilities and capture of Bethel by the Israelites had never taken place—the city had merely been transferred from one site to another—“the spirit of Luz lived on.”103
A slavish imitation of a past strategy of success, without comprehension of that event’s critical elements, is futile. What was necessary here was an understanding of God’s work, his power, and his strategy for success—and a cooperation with that work, that power, and that strategy.
The final section of this pericope, 2:1–5, gives the reaction of God to the compromising and self-reliant attitudes and actions of his people. Judges 2:1–5 is a hinge between the failed conquest (“anticonquest”) of Judges 1 and the following “literary soliloquy” of the narrator in 2:6–23 (see Pericope 2: Jdg 2:6—3:10).104 It links to the previous section with the angel’s “going up” (2:1; the verb shows up also in 1:1, 2, 3, 4, 16, 22), and to the following pericope as well, with the impactful words of Yahweh’s angel: the reference to “covenant,” the accusation of “not listening to My voice,” and Yahweh’s resolution “not to drive [the nations] out before” Israel are found in both 2:1–3 and 2:21.105 In other words, the paradigm of 2:11–19 (see Pericope 2) and the pattern of the rest of the judge-narratives (built on this framework) are all based on what happened here in Pericope 1.
The angel’s message takes a forensic form: reminder of Yahweh’s past deeds and promise (2:1b)106; reminder of Yahweh’s demands (2:2a); an accusation (2:2b); the call for an explanation (2:2c)107; and a warning of punishment (2:3). The structuring of 2:1–5 places the accusation of disobedience and demand for an explanation at the center of the chiasm.
The past history of Israel’s conquest had a significant place marker, Gilgal, where the crossing of the Jordan was commemorated as the first major place of worship (Josh 4:1–24; 5:9). Now with the notice that Yahweh’s angel was leaving Gilgal to come to Bokim, the reader is alerted to the change of circumstances—from Joshua’s day of celebrated victory to this day of mourned defeat.108 This angel of Yahweh may well be “the captain of the host of Yahweh” that Joshua had encountered at Bethel (Josh 5:13–15), another not-so-subtle reminder of how much things had changed between then and now.109 Now Yahweh’s agent was “going up” to provide a divine verdict on the “goings up” of the Israelites. So, before a single judge shows up on the scene, in the very first pericope of the book, the status of God’s people before him is starkly diagnosed: they have been disobedient! For the rest of the book, there will only be cause for weeping (Bokim = “place of weeping/weepers”). Thus, in a sense, Judges commences with weeping (2:1, 4, 5) and concludes with weeping (21:2): “the book of Judges introduces the history of Israel as a story to weep about.”110
Yahweh’s rebuke is stinging: It is not so much that Israel had failed to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, but that they, forgetting their covenant God, had made covenants with the Canaanites, and not destroyed their cultic sites: they had disobeyed the explicit commands of Deut 7:1–5, 16, 25–26 (see Jdg 2:1–2).111 In fact, it was because of their disobedience that God was refusing to drive out the Canaanites before the Israelites, that otherwise would have been accomplished by God himself (2:3). “In other words, the process of dispossession and occupation would have been completed in due course if the Israelites had fulfilled their obligations to Yahweh, but now their disobedience has put the completion of the Conquest in jeopardy (2:3).”112 Moreover, the Canaanite gods would ensnare the Israelite people (Exod 23:32–33; 34:11–15; Num 33:55; Deut 7:16; Josh 23:13).
After the mourning and sacrificing, “[o]ne expects to read of Israel breaking their alliances with the native population and launching a vigorous military campaign against the pagan altars and those who worship there. But the text is silent. Through the smoke of the weeping Israelites’ sacrifices, one can still see the outlines of the pagan altars.”113 Nonetheless, the contrition exhibited by the Israelites in Jdg 2:4–5 is hopeful (the only time it happens in conjunction with sacrifices in all of Judges) but, as it turns out, this change of heart is only transitory: the Israelites’ apostasy only worsens as the next pericope will show and the rest of the book will depict.
SERMON FOCUS AND OUTLINES114
| THEOLOGICAL FOCUS OF PERICOPE 1 FOR PREACHING46 | |
| 1 | Faithfulness to God manifest in uncompromising godliness and reliance on God brings blessing (1:1—2:5). |
Of the three narrative “interpolations” in this pericope—1:5–7 (featuring Adoni-bezek); 1:12–15 (featuring Achsah); and 1:23–26 (featuring the house of Joseph and Bethel)—it might be best to bypass the Achsah story with a brief mention, in the interests of time: the contrast is with the mistreatment of women in the Epilogues, and that, I believe, is the primary function of the cameo here.
Possible Preaching Outlines for Pericope 1115
I. Background116
Thrust of the book of Judges: leadership
God’s people: only as good as God’s leaders
All of God’s people are leaders in some fashion, to some degree
Structure of book: Prologues I and II; Body; Epilogues I and II
Leadership change in Israel; silence of Yahweh (1:1)
Move-to-relevance: God’s leaders today; God’s people as leaders today117
II. Failures
Judah’s inclusion of Simeon (1:3)
Iron chariots and Benjamin (1:19–21); yet Caleb’s success (1:20)
Joseph’s abortive effort (1:22–26)
Failure
