BIBLE STUDY LESSON 02
PATTERN ESTABLISHED
THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL
From Judges 2:1 -3:4
“An Angel of the Lord came one day from Gilgal to Bochim and spoke sternly to the people of Israel: ‘I led you from Egypt into this land which I had promised to your fathers. I told you that I would never break My covenant with you. I also told you that you should never make a covenant with the people who live in this land, for your orders were to destroy their altars. But what did you do? You did not listen to Me and you did not obey Me. Since you have turned against Me, I will not drive out your enemies before you and they will remain at your side, along with their gods, as a source of trouble and temptation.’ When the Angel had finished, the people began crying and wailing. That’s why the city was given the name, Bochim, which meant ‘Weepers.’ The people then presented the Lord with sacrifices. Joshua had dismissed the soldiers of Israel and they had returned to their territories to possess the land assigned to them. As long as Joshua and the people of his generation were alive, Israel served the Lord; for they had seen God’s great miracles.
After Joshua had died at the age of a hundred and ten he was buried at Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. When all his generation had died too, another generation grew up in Israel. They did not know the Lord or the miracles He had done for Israel. These people of Israel made the Lord angry, for they worshiped the Baal gods of their heathen neighbours, turning away from the God who had brought their fathers from Egypt. When they left the Lord to worship these Baal and Ashtaroth gods, He was very angry with them and turned them over to enemies who overpowered them and took away their possessions. Without the Lord’s help, they could not stand up to their enemies. Whenever they went to fight, the Lord was against them to punish them, just as He had warned. In the midst of these troubled times, the Lord raised up judges to rule over Israel and save the nation from its enemies. But the people didn’t listen to their judges either; but worshiped gods other than the Lord. They wouldn’t obey the Lord who had done so much for their ancestors. The Lord felt sorry for His people and helped the judges save them from their oppression.
But after each judge died, the people of Israel were worse than their fathers, serving and worshiping heathen gods. They clung stubbornly to their evil practices. Then the Lord’s anger burned like a flame of fire against His people. ‘Because the people of Israel refuse to keep the covenant I made with their ancestors, I will refuse to drive out their enemies who are still left in the land after Joshua’s death. I will leave these people to test the Israelites, to see if they may yet walk in the Lord’s ways as their ancestors did.’ So the Lord let the heathen nations remain in the land. He did not drive them out or let the people of Israel defeat them as Joshua had done. The Israelites of this generation had not fought in Joshua’s wars, so they lacked experience and found the wars with their enemies very trying. But the Lord used the heathen nations to teach Israel to depend upon Him. These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test Israel: the Philistines with their five princes over five cities; the Canaanites; the Sidonians; and the Hivites, who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-Hermon to the entrance to Hamath. These enemies were a test to the Israelites to see if they would obey the Lord’s commandments, which He had given to their ancestors through Moses.
COMMENTARY
VISITS BY ANGELS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The years that judges ruled in Israel were dark years. The Canaanite people that Israel refused to drive out ensnared the Israelites. Soon many turned to worship the Canaanite gods, called Baals. For many years a tragic pattern was followed in Israel. There was sin, defeat by enemies, a turning to God and deliverance when God sent a “judge” to lead His people. The Old Testament tells that many times angels appeared to the Israelites and that each visit had a special purpose.
ABRAHAM AND SARAH
Abraham was promised that his descendants would be as countless as the stars. But he and Sarah were old and childless. One day three angel visitors appeared at their tent, they reassured the couple that Sarah would give birth to the long-awaited child.
JACOB
Jacob was Isaac’s son and Abraham’s grandson. God’s promise to build a nation through Abraham was passed on to Jacob. One night Jacob met a powerful angel and wrestled with him until daybreak. When Jacob won, the angel blessed him and renamed him “Israel.” Israel’s twelve sons became the founders of the twelve Israelite tribes.
BALAAM
A Canaanite king hired the prophet Balaam to curse the invading Israelites. But on his way to the palace, Balaam met an angel who warned him that he was displeasing God and instructed him to bless the Israelites.
GIDEON
An angel appeared to Gideon in a time of crisis and instructed him to lead the Israelites in battle. When Gideon asked for a sign, the angel set fire to a food and grain offering.
SAMSON
The angel who visited Manoab’s wife foretold the birth of her son and promised that Samson would help deliver Israel from the Philistines. She was instructed to raise Samson as a Nazirite; a person who is specially dedicated to God.
DANIEL
A Babylonian ruler threw Daniel into a cage of hungry lions, but he lived to tell an amazed crowd of an angel who had protected him from certain death.
TEST YOURSELF
1.) What does “Bochim” mean?
A) Weepers
B) Milk
C) Sides of stars
D) Honey
2.) What happened when Joshua’s generation died out?
A) The next generation began to worship idols
B) The Canaanites drove the Israelites out
C) The Israelites kept to the Laws of Moses
D) None of these
3.) How many angels appeared to Abraham and Sarah?
A) Four
B) Two
C) One
D) Three
4.) What sign was given to Gideon as confirmation of his leadership of the armies of Israel?
A) A huge oak fell crashing to the ground
B) A flood sweeping the land
C) The Jordan River dried up
D) A food and grain offering was set on fire
5.) What did the angel of the Lord protect Daniel from?
A) Rabid Zebras
B) Death by falling
C) Lions
D) Attacking armies |
