Judges 2:11

THE WICKEDNESS OF ISRAEL (Judges 2:11-15)

"And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim; and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger. And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had spoken, and as Jehovah had sworn unto them: and they were sore distressed."

In this paragraph we have the theological explanation of the turbulent period of the Judges. The generations of Israel subsequent to the death of Joshua and the elders who survived him forsook the Lord, wallowed in the licentiousness of the so-called worship of the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and exhibited a pattern of behavior that kindled the anger of God Himself against their reprobacy. Here, as stated in this text, was the reason why God raised up enemies against Israel that would punish, defeat, impoverish and spoil the rebellious Israelites.

"The Baalim (Judges 2:11) ... the Ashtaroth" (Judges 2:13). These names are the plural for Baal and Ashtareth, respectively, both of which `gods' were deities of the fertility cult, and both of which were worshipped as `gods of the land.' Ashtareth was much like the Babylonian goddess Ishtar and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Wooden pillars were prominent in the groves and shrines where her worship was practiced, and these were called "Asherim."

The worship of the Baalim had many variations, and his name was hyphenated with many different places, such as Baal-peor, etc. (For those who might be interested in the nature of his worship, reference is here made to a full description of it in connection with our commentary on Leviticus-Numbers (Vol. 3 of the Pentateuchal series), pp. 489-496).)