Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20061022.htm

THE PREINCARNATE MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST
Part XII: Christ's Ministry With Israel At Bochim: Heeding His Call For Separation From Sin And Sinners
(Judges 2:1-23 et al.)
  1. Introduction
    1. 1 Peter 1:13-16 calls us Christians to be holy, or separate from sin in all realms of life, for it is written that the people of God are to be holy just as the Lord Himself is holy or separate from sin, Leviticus 11:44-45!
    2. Now, holiness applies not only to our acts, but to our relationships with others, for such relationships in time affect our thoughts and actions, a lesson revealed in Christ's Preincarnate ministry in Judges 2:1-23:
  2. Christ's Ministry With Israel At Bochim: Heeding His Call For Separation From Sin And Sinners.
    1. We know that the Angel of the Lord in Judges 2:1 is God, for His statement in Judges 2:1 recalls His divine covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:13-21 to bring Israel up out of bondage in Egypt to Canaan.
    2. We have also learned in earlier lessons in this series that He is "the Second Person of the Trinity," the Preincarnate Lord Jesus Christ, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., footnote to Genesis 16:10.
    3. Accordingly, Christ appeared to Israel at Bochim to critique Israel's failure to be separate from evil relationships that led to evil actions, a critique followed by judgment upon the nation (as follows):
      1. The Preincarnate Lord Jesus Christ came to Bochim to speak with the people of Israel, and the Bible's text clearly reveals He made the trip to them by coming up from Gilgal, cf. Judges 2:1.
      2. Now, the tabernacle where God's presence resided was no longer at Gilgal, for Joshua 18:1 reveals it had been moved from there to Shiloh "where it remained during the period of the Judges," Ibid., footnote to Joshua 18:1. It was thus significant that the Preincarnate Christ started His trip at Gilgal!
      3. Well, viewing Joshua 5:1-12, we read that at Gilgal, Israel had renewed her covenant with God by having the new generation of Israel circumcised, cf. Joshua 5:5-8.
      4. At that time, the Lord revealed He had rolled away the reproach of Egypt from the people of God, the word, "Gilgal" meaning "the rolling," Ibid., ftn. to Joshua 5:9. That reproach had likely been "the taunts leveled by the Egyptians at the Israelites for their failure to gain their promised land," Ibid.
      5. However, circumcision itself represented the condition of God's blessing the nation in His enabling her to overcome the reproaches of her Egyptian foes: "the act of circumcision itself symbolized a complete separation from the prevalent [and notoriously pagan ritualistic] sins of the flesh: adultery, fornication, and sodomy," Bible Knowledge Com., O. T., p. 337, brackets ours. Israel was thus to be separate from such sins and their pagan connotations that were so prevalent in the Canaanites.
      6. In stark contrast to this renewal of the covenant at Gilgal, Israel had broken the covenant, flirting with the idolatry of such sexually lewd paganism in the land, Judges 2:1-2:
        1. Though the Preincarnate Christ had said He had kept His promise with the forefathers to bring Israel up out of Egypt into the Promised Land, and that He would never break that covenant with Israel, contrary to Israel's symbolic ratification of her devotion to God by the circumcision performed at Gilgal from whence Christ had just come, they had tolerated Canaan's sexually vile idolatry, 2:1-2.
        2. Indeed, contrary to His previous warning in Deuteronomy 7:1-4a against tolerating friendships and leagues with these pagans that would lead to such sexually vile idolatry, the people of Israel had made leagues with the pagan Canaanites, Judges 2:2a!
      7. For this reason, Christ said He would cause the Canaanites whom Israel had befriended and whose vile sexual rituals they tolerated to stay in the land and become troublesome snares unto them, Judges 2:3.
    4. Israel wept and offered sacrifices to God in response (Judges 2:4-5), calling the place "Bochim" ["the weepers'] to recall the nation's weeping there, Ibid, Ryrie, ftn. to Jud. 2:1. However, Israel's weeping was not an exercise in true repentance, so the author of Judges 2:6-23 wrote to show how the many trials Israel faced in the era of the Judges at the hands of Gentile overlords fulfilled this prediction of judgment.
Lesson: Though God called Israel to avoid doing the ungodly acts of pagans by having no fellowship with them, Israel made leagues with the pagans and tolerated their vile rituals. Thus, God made such Gentile associates become a snare to Israel for her loss of blessing in the time of the Judges.

Application: (1) May we avoid doing the evil of the world, (2) not tolerating ties with evil folk, 1 Cor. 15:33 NIV. (3) May we especially avoid sexual immorality and ties with immoral people, 1 Cor. 5:9-11.