Consequences of Disobedience

Consequences of Disobedience

Judges 2:1-5 (KJV) ¹ And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. ² And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? ³ Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. ⁴ And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. ⁵ And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.


The Scolding of the Lord: Judges 2:1-2

Does our disobedience matter to the Lord?  Does He hold us responsible for our sin?  God is concerned, it does matter.  Here in Judges 2 we see the angel of the LORD (a Theophany, or OT appearance of Jesus) (1&4) appearing unto His people and rebuking (scolding) them for their disobedience.  He directly asks them in verse 2, why have ye done this? 

God holds us responsible and accountable for our sins, our disobedience to Him and His Word.  We cannot not excuse it or make excuses for it.  We cannot blame others or plead ignorance.  It is our responsiblity.

In what ways did Israel disobey the Lord?

1.  Incomplete Obedience:

They did not utterly drive out their enemies.  Remember, partial obedience is disobedience. 

2.   Ingratitude:

They failed to fully appreciate what God had done, was doing, and would do for them.  The Lord had delivered them out of Egypt, was giving them Canaan, and would have driven out all the inhabitants of Canaan for them.

3.  Compromise:

They were commanded not to make any deals with the Canaanites, but yet they did.  They entered contractually into relationships with the Canaanites ususally with the motive of financial gain.

4.  Idolatry:

They failed to throw down their altars and their gods shall be a snare unto you.  Disobedience and compromise lead to idolatry.  The Canaanite gods became the gods of the Israelites.  You either influence or are influenced.