The Pattern of Judges

Judges 2

            The chronology of Judges 1-2 is unclear. Coming after the conclusion of Joshua, we are primed to think that chapter one, with its recollection of the incomplete conquest, happened in the next generation. We are also primed to think that the message from the angel of the Lord also comes in that generation. However, then, in Judges 2:6ff. the death of the Joshua is recounted and we have language reminiscent of the end of Joshua 24. All of this makes it possible that the beginning of Judges actually overlaps the end of Joshua.  My study Bible suggests that Judges 2:1-5 may actually occur in the aftermath of the Gibeonite deception. (It doesn’t give any evidence for why the editors offer that possibility.)

            Whatever the chronology, the point of the chapter is apparent: Israel didn’t pursue the Lord’s command to drive out the Canaanites, and they were ensnared in the Canaanites idolatry, just as the Lord had warned. The Lord, then, used those very Canaanites to oppress His people Israel and drive them to repentance. Having come to repentance, the Lord sent judges to save them. This actually becomes the pattern of Judges 2-16: Israel falls into idolatry; the Lord sends a foreign power oppresses them; they cry out to the Lord; He sends a judge; and there is a period of peace.