The Angel at Bochim

Judges 2 The Pattern of Sin and Judgement

“The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I had promised to your ancestors. I also said: I will never break my covenant with you. You are not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed me. What have you done? Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. They will be thorns[a] in your sides, and their gods will be a trap for you.” When the angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. So they named that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to the Lord.”

I know Job is the book of the Bible most steeped in personal tragedy but geez, have you ever spent time in Judges? These larger than life warriors with unique and tragic stories are bookended with terrible circumstances and outcomes. It seems as soon as one judge arrives to point the nation in the right direction, they die and up come the asherah poles and tributes to Baal. It starts with this angel warning the people of Israel and ends with this chilling line:

*In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.*

I’m not making any correlations or statements here, I’m just a lay person reading his Bible thinking, “Oh my word…”

NOTE: I recently learned from @thebibleprojectthat only certain angels had wings and the messengers wouldn’t have been among those but I can’t think of another instantly identifiable trait to present an angel in an illustration?! 🤔 If you have any ideas please let me know!