1. Israel Forsakes the LORD and Serves the Baals
and Ashtaroth (2:11-13)
After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel forsook
the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtaroth.
Baal: Baal refers to the Canaanite storm god Hadad.
Hadad was the god of storms, rain, and agriculture
who was related to the Mesopotamian god Adad.
The word is in the plural in this passage because
various locations had local manifestations of the
same god.[1]
Astarte: Ashtaroth is the plural form of Astarte.
This pagan deity was the goddess of sexual love,
fertility and war, and was represented by the
evening star. She was depicted as the consort of
Baal.[2]
2. The LORD Punishes Israel (2:14-15)
and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who
plundered them; and He sold them into the hands
of their enemies around them, so that they could
no longer stand before their enemies.
2:15 Wherever they went, the hand of the LORD
was against them for evil, as the LORD had spoken
and as the LORD had sworn to them, so that they
were severely distressed.
3. A Summary of the Period of the Judges (2:16-19)
The time of the Judges was cyclical in nature. The
people would do evil in the sight of the LORD,
and then God would punish them. When the
people repented and cried out to God, He sent
deliverance in the form of a judge. After the
judge delivered the people, they soon feel into
apostasy once more. This cycle is repeated over
and over in the Book of Judges.
4. The LORD's Anger Burns Against Israel (2:20-23)
• Many of the peoples were not driven out of the
land in order to test Israel (vv. 21-23).
5. The Nations that the LORD Left in the Land to Test
Israel (3:1-8)
• The five lords of the Philistines, the Sidonians, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jerusites (vv. 3, 5)
Additionally, the Israelites began to intermarry with
these people and did evil by serving their gods (vv. 6-7)
• The LORD punished the sons of Israel by making
them serve Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia,
for eight years (v. 8).
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