- 1And an angel of the LORD 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.
- 2And 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?
- 3Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
- 4And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
- 5And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.
- 6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
- 7And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
- 8And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
- 9And 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.
- 10And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
- 11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
- 12And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
- 13And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
- 14 And the anger of the LORD 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.
- 15Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
- 16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
- 17And 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 LORD; but they did not so.
- 18And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
- 19And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves 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 LORD 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;
- 21I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
- 22That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
- 23Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
KING JAMES VERSION
JUDGES 2
Read the chapter, follow a linked verse, and continue into related Watchman 33 teaching.
CHAPTER VISUAL
Judges 2 — Israel weeps over broken covenant faithfulness, then enters the recurring cycle of idolatry, oppression, and deliverance.
About this illustration
Bochim provides the central scene, while distant shrines and threatened settlements foreshadow the cycle explained later in the chapter. The messenger is not portrayed as God the Father.
Scripture basis: Judges 2:1–23King James Version · Standardized 1769 text with Strong’s numbering · Public domain outside the United Kingdom
EXPLORE THE MESSAGEANCIENT TEXT CONNECTIONS 
Related Watchman 33 Resources
Related 1 Enoch Passages
These links distinguish direct quotation, explicit retelling, strong literary parallel, and broader shared tradition. A parallel does not by itself prove direct dependence.
Israel repeatedly becomes blind and strays, is oppressed, and is rescued through appointed leaders.
Archaeological Evidence
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEInscription
Approximately 1208 BC, Merneptah’s fifth regnal year
The Merneptah Stele: Israel in Canaan
A victory hymn from Merneptah's fifth year, about 1208 BC, contains the earliest secure extra-biblical occurrence of Israel's name and marks Israel as a people within the Canaanite campaign horizon.
Judges 1:1–36 · Joshua 11:16–23 · Joshua 13:1–7
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCECult & worship
10th century BC
Taanach Cult Stand: Iron Age Religious Iconography
A four-tiered terracotta stand from Taanach preserves a dense program of animals, a sacred tree, a female figure, and an empty guarded space, illuminating debated Iron Age worship.
Joshua 12:21 · Joshua 17:11–13 · Judges 1:27
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEInscription
about 510 BC
The Pyrgi Gold Tablets and Astarte
Three inscribed gold sheets from the sanctuary at Pyrgi preserve related Phoenician and Etruscan dedication texts naming Astarte and Uni. They document the transmission of a Levantine goddess into an Etruscan royal cult without directly illuminating Israelite worship.
Judges 2:11–13 · 1 Samuel 7:3–4 · 1 Kings 11:5
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEArchitecture
Late Bronze Age, principally thirteenth–twelfth centuries BC
The Lachish Fosse Temple
Excavators identified a succession of cult buildings in a trench or fosse below the western side of Lachish. Architectural phases, offering equipment, imported objects, pottery, and the relationship of the sanctuary to the fortified mound make it one of the clearest excavated windows into the religious life of Late Bronze Lachish. The dossier connects the excavated evidence to Joshua 10:31-32 and Judges 2:11-13 while keeping the historical claim narrower than the biblical narrative.
Joshua 10:31–32 · Judges 2:11–13
Sermons
Demons & Deliverance Part 2 - Demons in Christians
In part two of his deliverance series, Pastor Dean Odle argues that a Christian can be genuinely saved and still require deliverance from demonic oppression or indwelling influence in areas of life that have not been surrendered or cleansed. He distinguishes salvation from sanctification and deliverance, using Israel’s exodus, wilderness journey, tabernacle cleansing, and several Gospel accounts as patterns for the believer’s continuing spiritual warfare.
Spiritual WarfareDoctrine and DiscernmentChrist Alone
View sermon Spiritual Warfare #8 - Can a Christian Have Demons?
Dean Odle directly answers the question “Can a Christian have demons?” in the affirmative, distinguishing salvation from the surrender of particular areas of a believer’s soul or body. He argues from warnings addressed to Christians, Israel’s Old Testament experience, and Gospel deliverance accounts that covenant people can fellowship with demons, retain unclean strongholds, and need those bondages removed.
Spiritual WarfareDoctrine and DiscernmentHoly Spirit and Spiritual GiftsChristian Living
View sermon Facing the Giants
In “Facing the Giants,” Pastor Dean Odle presents a Scripture-centered message about prayer, family discipleship, the condition of the church. Drawing especially from Isaiah 52, 1 Corinthians 10, Exodus 13:12-14, Genesis 6, the teaching emphasizes that prayer expresses dependence on God and prepares believers to hear and obey Him. Odle connects that foundation with the conviction that faithfulness in the home requires instruction, loving correction, protection, and a consistent Christian example.
Spiritual WarfareSalvation and the Gospel
View sermon