Having revealed the roots of Israel's apostasy (vv. 6-10), the writer proceeded to examine its character. In this section a cyclical pattern of Israel's history during this era becomes clear. Israel departed from Yahweh and served idols (vv. 11-13).43The Lord then disciplined His people by allowing them to fall under the domination of their enemies (vv. 14-15).44God then raised up judges to deliver Israel (v. 16). The people apostatized again (v. 17). God raised up another judge in response to His people's distress (v. 18). When that judge died, they wandered away again (v. 19). This continual rebellion resulted in God not driving Israel's enemies out of their land (vv. 20-21) but leaving them in Canaan to test Israel (vv. 22-23).45
"This simple routine of events cannot be projected at will over all cultures and circumstances, yet it does provide some guidelines for the interpretation of history. No corrupt nation can presume upon the grace of God indefinitely; sooner or later its lawlessness will bring disaster, either from within or without."46
2:11 The writer used "Baals"here to describe all false gods, the "other gods"of verse 12.
2:12 "The greatest sin a human being can commit is not murder or rape or other despicable acts of atrocity. It is to turn his back on the living God to serve man-made gods."47
2:13 "Baal"was the sun-god. The Canaanites believed he was the source and communicator of physical life. They credited him with generating the reproductive powers of nature from his own being. This ability included human as well as animal and plant reproduction and fertility.
"Astarte"(Asherah) was the leading female Canaanite deity, a moon-goddess, whose symbol was originally an evergreen tree or grove. "Asherah"also denotes a cult object in the Hebrew Bible, specifically a wooden pole.48
She was "worshipped as the feminine principle of nature embodied in the pure moon-light, and its influence upon terrestrial life."49
"Essentially, the religion of Canaan was based on the assumption that the forces of nature are expressions of divine presence and activity and that the only way one could survive and prosper was to identify the gods responsible for each phenomenon and by proper ritual encourage them to bring to bear their respective powers. This is the mythological approach to reality. Ritual involves human enactments; particularly by cultic personnel such as priests, of the activity of the gods as described in the myths.
"Since Baal was not omnipresent in the strict sense, each cult center would have its own local Baal. Thus there could be Baal-Peor, Baal-Berith, Baal-Zebub, and so on. This explains why the gods of Canaan are sometimes called Baalim (the Baals') in the Old Testament. There was only one Baal theoretically, but he was lord of many places."50
The worship of these idols did not involve or necessitate the abandonment of Yahweh. The Israelites worshipped both the idols and the true God. This practice constituted forsaking Yahweh because He demanded exclusive allegiance. The Israelites became syncretistic rather than exclusive in their worship. It is easier to understand why the Israelites apostatized so quickly and so frequently when we appreciate the syncretistic nature of Baal worship.
2:14-15 "Sin produces servitude. That is the fact of Judges."51
"Few books portray so complete a picture of human depravity as does Judges."52
2:16 The structure of verses 11-23 points out the importance of verse 16.
AApostasy (vv. 11-13)
BWrath (vv. 14-15)
CGrace (v. 16)
A'Apostasy (vv.17-19)
"The narrator begins to speak of divine mercy without any hint of prior repentance. In this book Yahweh's actions will not typically be bound to any mechanical formula of blessing and or retribution, based upon what human beings earn by their actions. Rather he intervenes on Israel's behalf solely on the basis of his compassion; the scene of Israelite distress moves the divine patron to action."54
2:17-19 Each cycle of apostasy was worse than the former one.
"The Israelites were stiff-necked in the wilderness, but they were even more obstinate in the Promised Land. A new environment, alas, did not mean a new attitude."55
2:20-23 None of the Israelites' conflicts in the Book of Judges involved the conquest of new territory; they all simply concerned throwing off the yoke of an oppressor. The writer explained the type of test that the continuation of the Canaanites among the Israelites constituted more fully in the next section.
