Judges 2:1-23 NIV
The ANGEL of The Lord at Bokim
“I Brought you Up out of Egypt
and Led you into the land I Swore To Give to your ancestors. I Said, ‘I Will Never Break My Covenant wWth you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of
this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed ME.
Why have you done this? 3 And
I Have Also Said, ‘I Will Not Drive them Out before you; they will become traps
for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’ ”
4When The ANGEL of The Lord Had Spoken these things to all the
Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5and they called that place Bokim.a There
they offered sacrifices to The Lord.
Disobedience and Defeat
6After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take
possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 7The people served The Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and
of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the Great Things The Lord Had Done For Israel.
8Joshua son of Nun, the servant of The Lord, died at the age of a
hundred and ten. 9And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath
Heresb in the hill country of Ephraim, north of
Mount Gaash.
10After that whole generation had been gathered to their
ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither The Lord nor What HE Had Done For Israel. 11Then the Israelites did evil in the Eyes of The Lord and served the Baals. 12They forsook The Lord, The GOD of
their ancestors, Who Had Brought them Out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped
various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused The Lord’s Anger 13because they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14In His Anger Against Israel The Lord Gave them into the hands of
raiders who plundered them. HE Sold them into the hands of their enemies all
around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15Whenever Israel went out to fight, The Hand of The Lord Was Against them to defeat
them, Just As HE Had Sworn to them. They were in great distress.
16Then The Lord Raised Up judges,c who saved them out of the hands of these
raiders. 17Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted
themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways
of their ancestors, who had been obedient to The Lord’s Commands. 18Whenever The Lord Raised Up a
judge for them, HE Was With the judge and Saved them out of the hands of their
enemies as long as the judge lived; For The Lord Relented because of their groaning
under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more
corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and
worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn
ways.
20Therefore The Lord Was Very Angry With Israel and Said,
“Because this nation has violated the Covenant I Ordained for their ancestors
and has not listened to ME, 21I Will No Longer Drive Out before them any of the nations Joshua
left when he died. 22I Will Use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep
the Way of The Lord and walk in it as their ancestors
did.” 23The Lord Had Allowed those nations to remain; HE Did Not Drive them Out at once by Giving them into the hands of Joshua.
The ANGEL
of JEHOVAH (not ‘an angel’)
The phrase is used to designate The ANGEL of GOD's Presence.
See Genesis 12:7.
In all cases where "The ANGEL of JEHOVAH" Delivers a message, HE Does it as if GOD Himself Were Speaking, without the
intervening words "Thus Says The Lord," which are
used in the case of prophets. (Compare Judges 6:8; Joshua 24:2.)
In
the Hebrew Bible the term "מַלְאָךְ יהוה"
(malak YHWH), Hebrew for "Messenger of YAHWEH", in
the King James Version "ANGEL
of The Lord", occurs 65 times and always in the singular. In English
translation it is usually accompanied with the definite
article.
Appearances
of the "ANGEL of The Lord" are often presented as theophanies: in Genesis
31:11–13, The ANGEL of GOD Says, "I AM The GOD of
Beth-el"; in Exodus
3:2–6, The ANGEL of The Lord Who Appeared to Moses
in the flame of fire says, "I AM The GOD of your father";
compare Genesis
22:11; Judges
6:11–22. At times The ANGEL of The Lord Speaks in such a
way as to assume authority over previous promises (see Genesis 16:11 and
21:17).
The
following are examples of use of the term "The ANGEL of The Lord":
- Genesis 16:7–14. The ANGEL of The Lord Appears to Hagar. The ANGEL Speaks as GOD in the first person, and in verse 13 Hagar identifies the visitor as GOD.
- Genesis 22:11–15 The ANGEL of The Lord Appears to Abraham and refers to GOD in the first person.
- Exodus 3:2–4. The ANGEL of The Lord Appears to Moses in a flame in verse 2, and GOD Speaks to Moses from the flame in verse 4.
- Numbers 22:22–38. The ANGEL of The Lord Meets the prophet Balaam on the road. In verse 38, Balaam identifies The ANGEL Who Spoke to him as delivering The WORD of GOD.
- Judges 2:1–3. The ANGEL of The Lord Appears to Israel.
- Judges 6:11–23. The ANGEL of The Lord Appears to Gideon, and in verse 22 Gideon fears for his life because he was in the Presence of GOD.
- Judges 13:3–22. The ANGEL of The Lord Appears to Manoah and his
wife. In verse 16, differentiates Himself from GOD.
("And The ANGEL of The Lord Said to Manoah, “if you will offer a
burnt offering, you must offer it to The Lord.")
The
ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint (known
as LXX) translates the phrase as ἄγγελος Κυρίου, aggelos
Kyriou, "ANGEL of The Lord", a phrase used also in the New
Testament. The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo identified The ANGEL of The Lord (in the singular) with The Logos.
The
term "ANGEL of GOD" occurs 12 times (2 of which are plural). The
following are examples:
- Genesis 31:11. The ANGEL of GOD Calls out to Jacob in a dream and tells him "I AM The GOD of Bethel".
- Exodus 14:19. The ANGEL of GOD Leads the camp of Israel, and also follows behind them, with the pillar of fire.
- Judges 13:9. The ANGEL of GOD Approached the wife of Manoah after The Lord Heard Manoah.
The
following are examples of GOD "sending An ANGEL":
- Exodus 23:20-21.
The LORD Says HE Will Send An ANGEL before the Israelites, and warns
them to obey The ANGEL's Voice, and that The ANGEL "Will Not Pardon
transgressions" because “The LORD's Name Is In Him".
- Exodus 33:2.
God Says HE Will Send An ANGEL before the Israelites, and that GOD Will Drive Out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, the Hivites, and
the Jebusites.
- Numbers 20:16.
The LORD Sent An ANGEL and brought the people of Israel forth from
Egypt.
- 1 Chronicles 21:15.
GOD Sent An ANGEL To Destroy Jerusalem, but then repented and told The
ANGEL To Stay His Hand.
- 2 Chronicles 32:21.
The LORD Sent An ANGEL, Which Cut Off all the mighty men of valor and
the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.
Somewhat
similar expressions are "the Redeeming ANGEL", המלאך
הגאל, hamalak
haggoel (Genesis
48:16); "The ANGEL of His (The Lord's) Presence",
מלאך
פניו, malak
panaiv (Isaiah
63:9);
"The ANGEL of the Covenant", מלאך הברית, malakh
habrit (Malachi
3:1);
and in the Septuagint "ANGEL (or
Messenger) of Great Counsel", μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος, megalēs
boulēs angelos (Isaiah 9:6).
In
the view of the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo, The "ANGEL of YAHWEH" That Appeared to the patriarchs was The Divine Logos.
I firmly believe that The ANGEL (=Messenger) of JEHOVAH Was none other than The Pre-incarnate CHRIST, The Eternal SON of GOD Who Was With The FATHER all eternity.
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