This article is part of a series on Old Testament Christophanies. For important background information, see An Introduction to Old Testament Christophanies–with Justin Martyr.
After the death of Joshua, another generation arose that hadn’t witnessed the Lord’s presence or the mighty works He did for the nation (Judg 2:8–10).[1] The Israelites fell into disobedience, so the Angel of the Lord came to pay them a visit:
Now the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you’” (Judg 2:1–3).
The Angel traveling from an earthly location shouldn’t make us think that this was a human prophet. As the Captain of Yahweh’s army, the divine Angel visited Joshua at or near Gilgal (Josh 5:8–10, 13–15), the place now specifically mentioned. The Angel “came up” from Gilgal in the sense that it was the last place He appeared. Before, He came to speak to Joshua. Now, He came to speak to a new generation of Israelites.
Rabbinic commentaries, and some Christian commentaries, interpret this angel as a human messenger. Some say he is Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron and son of Eleazar, who succeeded his father as the high priest (Judg 20:28). However, the Angel doesn’t begin his message with “thus says Yahweh,” as would be expected of someone speaking on behalf of God. The words the Angel spoke could only rightly come from God. The Angel said that He delivered the people out of Egypt, while Yahweh had declared from the bush that He had come down to deliver them (Exod 3:7–8). And remember, the apostle wrote that it was Jesus who delivered the people out of Egypt (Jude 1:5).[2]
The Angel said He would never break His covenant, the covenant at Sinai between Yahweh and the Israelites. It was the people who were breaking it, meaning they didn’t obey the Angel. Since Yahweh’s name was in the Angel, He wouldn’t pardon the people’s transgression (Exod 23:21)—He wouldn’t drive out all the Canaanites.
Most Christian commentaries provide the option that the Angel was a Christophany, with many favoring that interpretation. Joseph Benson, a minister and one of the early leaders of the Methodist movement in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, was certain that the Angel was a member of the Godhead:
This, no doubt, was the Angel of the covenant, the same divine being that appeared to Joshua near Jericho, Josh. v. 13, 14; to whom the conduct of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan, and their conquests and success there are frequently ascribed. He alone could speak the following words in his own name and person; whereas created angels and prophets universally usher in their message with, Thus saith the Lord, or some equivalent expression. And, having assumed the shape of a man, he imitates the motion of a man, and appears to come from Gilgal to the place they now were, probably in order to remind the Israelites of his appearing to Joshua near that place, of the assurance he then gave them of his intended presence with them in the conquest of the country, and the solemn covenant they made with him by the renewal of circumcision.[3]
Following the Angel’s statement that He wouldn’t drive out the Canaanites, the Israelites cried out and wept. The people named the place where the Angel visited Bochim, which means “weepers,” and they made a sacrifice to the Lord there (Judg 2:4–5). In its meaning, Bochim contrasts with Gilgal, where the Lord said He had “rolled away” the reproach of Egypt from Israel (Josh 5:9).[4] The Septuagint adds a note that Bochim was located near Bethel, though it was more likely a new name for Shiloh, since it would seem that the people were gathered there for some kind of formal observance and because they made a sacrifice (see Josh 18:1). Even if the place already had a name, the Angel’s visit required a new one. Had the children of Israel obeyed the Son of God, they would have been overjoyed by His visit. But in His holy presence, the people could only weep, having to face the consequence of their sin.
[1] Judges 2:6–10 covers events that took place before Judges 2:1–5 (see Josh 24:29–31; Judg 1:1).
[2] The reading “Jesus” is strongly supported by the earliest extant manuscripts.
[3] Benson, Notes, Judg 2:1.
[4]Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew verb galal, which means “roll away.”
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