Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Judges
Book: Judges
Chapter: 2
Overview:
The
Angel of the
Lord rebukes the people.
(1-5) The wickedness
of the new
Generation after
Joshua.
(6-23)
1-5 It was the great
Angel of the
Covenant, the
Word, the Son
of
God, who spake with Divine authority as
Jehovah, and now
called them to account for their disobedience.
God sets forth
what he had done for
Israel, and what he had promised. Those who
throw off
Communion with
God, and have
Fellowship with the
unfruitful
Works of
Darkness, know not what they do now, and
will have nothing to say for themselves in the
Day of account
shortly. They must expect to suffer for this their folly. Those
deceive themselves who expect advantages from friendship with
God's enemies.
God often makes men's
Sin their
Punishment; and
thorns and snares are in the way of the froward, who will walk
contrary to
God. The people wept, crying out against their own
folly and ingratitude. They trembled at the
Word, and not
without cause. It is a wonder sinners can ever read the
Bible
with dry eyes. Had they kept close to
God and their duty,
No
voice but that of singing had been heard in their
Congregation;
but
By their
Sin and folly they made other work for themselves,
and nothing is to be heard but the voice of weeping. The
Worship
of
God, in its own nature, is joy, praise, and thanksgiving; our
sins alone render weeping needful. It is pleasing to see men
weep for their sins; but our tears, prayers, and even amendment,
cannot atone for
Sin.
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.