Judges 2:4 Study Bible: It happened, when the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

◄ Judges 2:4 ►

When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.

When the angel of the LORD
The phrase "angel of the LORD" is significant in the Old Testament, often indicating a theophany, or a visible manifestation of God to humans. The Hebrew word for "angel" is "mal'ak," which can mean messenger. In this context, it suggests a divine messenger with authority, possibly a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. This highlights the seriousness of the message being delivered, as it comes directly from God Himself, emphasizing His active involvement in the affairs of Israel.

had spoken these words
The act of speaking here is not merely a transmission of information but a divine proclamation. The Hebrew root "dabar" for "spoken" implies a powerful and authoritative communication. The words spoken by the angel are a direct message from God, carrying weight and requiring a response. This underscores the importance of listening to God's word and the consequences of obedience or disobedience.

to all the Israelites
The message is addressed to "all the Israelites," indicating its communal nature. It is not just for a select few but for the entire nation. This reflects the covenant relationship between God and Israel, where the actions of individuals affect the whole community. Historically, this period follows the conquest of Canaan, where Israel is settling into the Promised Land, and the unity of the nation is crucial for maintaining their identity and faithfulness to God.

the people lifted up their voices
"Lifting up their voices" is a Hebrew expression often associated with lamentation and deep emotional response. It signifies a collective realization of their sin and the gravity of the situation. This act of lifting their voices is a form of communal repentance, acknowledging their failure to fully obey God's commands and the resulting consequences.

and wept
The weeping of the people is a physical manifestation of their sorrow and repentance. In the Hebrew culture, weeping is a profound expression of grief and contrition. This response indicates a moment of spiritual awakening and recognition of their need for God's mercy. It serves as a reminder of the importance of genuine repentance and the hope of restoration through God's grace.

Persons / Places / Events

1. The Angel of the LORD
A divine messenger who often appears in the Old Testament, representing God's presence and authority. In this context, the Angel delivers a message of rebuke and warning to the Israelites.

2. The Israelites
The chosen people of God, who are in the Promised Land but have failed to fully obey God's commands regarding the inhabitants of the land.

3. Bochim
The place where the Israelites wept after hearing the Angel's message. The name means "weepers," reflecting the people's emotional response to the divine rebuke.

4. Covenant Disobedience
The event of the Israelites failing to drive out the inhabitants of the land as God commanded, leading to their spiritual and moral decline.

5. Weeping
The emotional response of the Israelites, indicating their sorrow and realization of their disobedience.

Teaching Points

The Seriousness of Disobedience
God's commands are not suggestions; they are directives meant for our good and His glory. The Israelites' failure to obey led to spiritual and societal consequences.

The Role of Divine Messengers
God often uses messengers to communicate His will and warnings. We must be attentive to God's voice, whether through Scripture, spiritual leaders, or the Holy Spirit.

The Importance of Repentance
The Israelites' weeping signifies a recognition of their sin. True repentance involves acknowledging our failures and turning back to God with a contrite heart.

God's Faithfulness Despite Human Failure
Even when we fail, God remains faithful. His discipline is a sign of His love and desire to restore us to a right relationship with Him.

Emotional Responses to God's Word
Our emotional reactions to God's Word can be indicators of our spiritual state. We should allow God's Word to penetrate our hearts and lead us to genuine transformation.

Bible Study Questions

1. What does the presence of the Angel of the LORD in Judges 2:4 teach us about God's involvement in the lives of His people?

2. How can we apply the Israelites' response of weeping to our own lives when we recognize areas of disobedience?

3. In what ways does the concept of divine discipline, as seen in Hebrews 12:5-11, relate to the events in Judges 2:4?

4. How can we ensure that our emotional responses to God's Word lead to lasting change rather than temporary remorse?

5. What steps can we take to remain faithful to God's commands in a world that often encourages compromise, similar to the Israelites' situation in the Promised Land?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Exodus 23:20-23
This passage describes God's promise to send an angel before the Israelites to lead them to the Promised Land, highlighting the continuity of God's guidance and the expectation of obedience.

Joshua 24:14-15
Joshua's call for the Israelites to serve the LORD faithfully and reject other gods, emphasizing the need for wholehearted devotion.

Psalm 34:18
This verse speaks of the LORD being close to the brokenhearted, offering comfort and hope to those who repent and seek Him.

Hebrews 12:5-11
Discusses God's discipline as a sign of His love, encouraging believers to endure hardship as a form of divine correction.

Sermons

Bochim	Bp. Woodford.	Judges 2:1-5
Bochim	A.F. Muir	Judges 2:1-5
Bochim; Or, the Weepers	Spurgeon, Charles Haddon	Judges 2:1-5
From Gilgal to Bochim	R. Winterbotham, M. A.	Judges 2:1-5
Sorrow not Repentance	De Witt S. Clark.	Judges 2:1-5
The Evil of Disobedience to God	Spurgeon, Charles Haddon	Judges 2:1-5
The Failure of Obedience	L. H. Wiseman, M. A.	Judges 2:1-5
The Israelites At Bochim	T. Kidd.	Judges 2:1-5
The Preaching of Repentance	W.F. Adeney	Judges 2:1-5
The Rushing of Tears	T. De Witt Talmage.	Judges 2:1-5
Thorough-Going Christianity	R. S. Candlish, D. D.	Judges 2:1-5
Thy Weeper	J. B. Brown, B. A.	Judges 2:1-5
Wasted Emotion	L. A. Banks.	Judges 2:1-5

People

Israelites, Joshua, Nun

Places

Bochim, Egypt, Gaash, Gilgal, Timnath-heres

Topics

Aloud, Angel, Crying, Hearing, Israelites, Lift, Lifted, Loud, Messenger, Pass, Sons, Spake, Speaketh, Spoke, Spoken, Themselves, Voice, Voices, Weep, Weeping, Wept

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Judges 2:4

5567 suffering, emotional

Judges 2:1-4

4140 angel of the Lord

Judges 2:1-5

7435 sacrifice, in OT

Library

A Summary of Israel's Faithlessness and God's Patience
'And 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. 2. And 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? 3. Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Israel's Obstinacy and God's Patience
'And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim; 12. And 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. 13. And 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, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Whether the Female Sex is an Impediment to Receiving Orders?
Objection 1: It would seem that the female sex is no impediment to receiving Orders. For the office of prophet is greater than the office of priest, since a prophet stands midway between God and priests, just as the priest does between God and people. Now the office of prophet was sometimes granted to women, as may be gathered from 4 Kings 22:14. Therefore the office of priest also may be competent to them. Objection 2: Further, just as Order pertains to a kind of pre-eminence, so does a position …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Judges.
Judges 1; 1 Sam. 7. The Characteristics of the Times. This is a period of transition for Israel Nothing was quite certain, and "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (17:6). In consequence of this there was lack of organization, cooperation or leadership. While we do not have all the history covered by the period and while we do not easily understand or explain its events, it is clear that things did not run smoothly. In Judges 2:16-19 the author gives a vivid picture of the conditions …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

The Unmistakable Honesty of the Writers of the Bible Attests to Its Heavenly Origin
The title of this chapter suggests a wide field of study the limits of which we can now only skirt here and there. To begin with the writers of the Old Testament. Had the historical parts of the Old Testament been a forgery, or the production of uninspired men, their contents would have been very different to what they are. Each of its Books was written by a descendant of Abraham, yet nowhere do we find the bravery of the Israelites extolled and never once are their victories regarded as the outcome …
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

The Death of Abraham
'Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.'--GENESIS xxv. 8. 'Full of years' does not seem to me to be a mere synonym for longevity. That would be an intolerable tautology, for we should then have the same thing said three times over--'an old man,' 'in a good old age,' 'full of years.' There must be some other idea than that in the words. If you notice that the expression is by no means a usual one, that it is only …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Formation and History of the Hebrew Canon.
1. The Greek word canon (originally a straight rod or pole, measuring-rod, then rule) denotes that collection of books which the churches receive as given by inspiration of God, and therefore as constituting for them a divine rule of faith and practice. To the books included in it the term canonical is applied. The Canon of the Old Testament, considered in reference to its constituent parts, was formed gradually; formed under divine superintendence by a process of growth extending through …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

The Doctrine of Angels.
I. THEIR EXISTENCE. 1. THE TEACHING OF JESUS. 2. THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES. II. THEIR NATURE. 1. CREATED BEINGS. 2. SPIRITUAL BEINGS. 3. GREAT POWER AND MIGHT. 4. VARIOUS GRADES. 5. THE NUMBER OF ANGELS. III. THE FALL OF ANGELS. 1. TIME AND CAUSE. 2. THE WORK OF FALLEN ANGELS. 3. THE JUDGMENT OF FALLEN ANGELS. IV. THE WORK OF ANGELS. 1. THEIR HEAVENLY MINISTRY. 2. THEIR EARTHLY MINISTRY. a) In Relation to the Believer. b) In Relation to Christ's Second Coming. THE DOCTRINE OF ANGELS. We are not …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

A Case of Conscience Resolved
WHETHER, WHERE A CHURCH OF CHRIST IS SITUATE, IT IS THE DUTY OF THE WOMEN OF THAT CONGREGATION, ORDINARILY, AND BY APPOINTMENT, TO SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THEIR BRETHREN, AND SO TO ASSEMBLE TOGETHER, TO PERFORM SOME PARTS OF DIVINE WORSHIP, AS PRAYER, ETC., WITHOUT THEIR MEN? AND THE ARGUMENTS MADE USE OF FOR THAT PRACTICE, EXAMINED. BY JOHN BUNYAN. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. This exceedingly rare tract was first published in 1683, and was not reprinted, either separately, or in any edition of Bunyan's …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Judges
For the understanding of the early history and religion of Israel, the book of Judges, which covers the period from the death of Joshua to the beginning of the struggle with the Philistines, is of inestimable importance; and it is very fortunate that the elements contributed by the later editors are so easily separated from the ancient stories whose moral they seek to point. That moral is most elaborately stated in ii. 6-iii. 6, which is a sort of programme or preface to iii. 7-xvi. 31, which constitutes …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links

Judges 2:4 NIV
Judges 2:4 NLT
Judges 2:4 ESV
Judges 2:4 NASB
Judges 2:4 KJV

Judges 2:4 Commentaries

Bible Hub