6 When Joshua had dismissed the people , the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land . 7 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua , and all the days of the elders who survived e e Joshua , who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel . 8 Then Joshua the son of Nun , the servant of the Lord , died at the age of one hundred and ten . 9 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres , in the hill country of Ephraim , north of Mount Gaash . 10 All that generation also were gathered to their fathers ; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord , nor yet the work which He had done for Israel .
11 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals , 12 and they forsook the Lord , the God of their fathers , who had brought them out of the land of Egypt , and followed e other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger . 13 So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth . 14 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel , 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 . 15 Wherever e 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 . 16 Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges , for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord ; they did not do as their fathers. 18 When the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge ; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because e of those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But it came about when the judge died , that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers , in following e other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways . 20 So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel , and He said , "Because e this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice , 21 I also will no longer drive out before e them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died , 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it as their fathers did , or not." 23 So the Lord allowed those nations to remain , not driving them out quickly ; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 2:6-23
Commentary on Judges 2:6-23
(Read Judges 2:6-23)
We have a general idea of the course of things in Israel, during the time of the Judges. The nation made themselves as mean and miserable by forsaking God, as they would have been great and happy if they had continued faithful to him. Their punishment answered to the evil they had done. They served the gods of the nations round about them, even the meanest, and God made them serve the princes of the nations round about them, even the meanest. Those who have found God true to his promises, may be sure that he will be as true to his threatenings. He might in justice have abandoned them, but he could not for pity do it. The Lord was with the judges when he raised them up, and so they became saviours. In the days of the greatest distress of the church, there shall be some whom God will find or make fit to help it. The Israelites were not thoroughly reformed; so mad were they upon their idols, and so obstinately bent to backslide. Thus those who have forsaken the good ways of God, which they have once known and professed, commonly grow most daring and desperate in sin, and have their hearts hardened. Their punishment was, that the Canaanites were spared, and so they were beaten with their own rod. Men cherish and indulge their corrupt appetites and passions; therefore God justly leaves them to themselves, under the power of their sins, which will be their ruin. God has told us how deceitful and desperately wicked our hearts are, but we are not willing to believe it, until by making bold with temptation we find it true by sad experience. We need to examine how matters stand with ourselves, and to pray without ceasing, that we may be rooted and grounded in love, and that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. Let us declare war against every sin, and follow after holiness all our days.