Ideas and Questions to help group leaders and members prepare for Judges 2

Judges 2 Questions

First, ask the group to break into pairs.

Second, use this suggested icebreaker question: If a book were written about your life, what would the title be? 

Judges 2:1–5

1. What is the meaning in the original language of the word translated “angel”?  It can refer to an angel, or it can mean messenger.  As in Malachi 3:1, it may have messianic implications, meaning it was the preincarnate Christ appearing. 
2. What did the Lord say about his covenant with Israel? That he would never break it.
3. What was Israel to do to keep their end of the covenant? Not to make covenants with the remaining pagans left in the land and to break down their altars.  They disobeyed and did not do either.
4. What kind of covenants did they make with the pagans?  Marriage covenants as they intermarried with pagan people.
5. What was one result of their disobedience? The Lord would not drive out the remaining nations, and they would become thorns in their sides and a snare or trap to them.  In what way would they be thorns and traps? Through their pagan customs and religions.
6. In what ways have believers today become snared by the secular culture and made covenants with them? Intermarriage with unbelievers. Paul warned against this in II Corinthians 6:14. Ask group members what other ways they can think of that believers have made compromises as a result of the secular culture.

Judges 2:11–15

1. What evil did the Israelites do in the Lord’s sight? A. They worshiped the Baals and Ashtoreths B. Abandoned the Lord C. Followed other gods from surrounding peoples.
2. How did the Lord respond? A. His anger burned against them. B. He handed them over to marauding raiders C. He sold them to enemies around them. D.He brought disaster and defeat at the hands of their enemies.
3. Did Joshua’s death leave a leadership vacuum, leaving them vulnerable to the influence of their enemies? According to the LifeWay leader’s guide, it did, and they replaced the one true God with other gods. 
4. Can you recall an occasion when Jesus referred to a similar situation when a vacuum was created?  In Matthew 12:43-45 he described the danger of a demon being cast out of a person, leaving him empty and subject to the return of even more demons if that void remains in that person. According to GotQuestions.org, this passage illustrates the danger of moral reformation without true salvation. If a person is cleansed but remains “empty” without the Holy Spirit, they are vulnerable to further oppression.  In a similar way, that can happen to a nation or any organization when there is a leadership vacuum
5. Why is it important for us as believers to remember what the Lord has done for us? We, like Israel, run the risk of turning our backs on him and following after other “gods.”

Joshua 2:16–19

1. In what sense did the judges save the people? It was only in a physical sense, but not a spiritual way. They did not listen to the judges and even worshiped other gods.
2. This generation did not follow after the Lord as previous generations had done.  Why do you think this was the case? Certainly not an easy question to answer.  Judges 2:10 says that “another generation grew up.” The way that sentence is constructed in the original language indicates that generation was different in character. (Cornerstone Bible Commentary) Why do some kids raised in Christian homes not always follow their parent’s example and walk away from the faith? After WWII, returning veterans started families in the 1950’s. During that time church attendance, including Sunday School, was never higher.  (That is when churches began building educational buildings.)  Yet in the next generation there was the rebellion of the 1960’s. Discuss as time allows. (One good resource is the book The Deconstruction of Christianity by Christian apologist Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett.)
3. That leads to another question: Can people ride the spiritual coat tails of their parents? That answer is no. Children must come to know the Lord personally and not depend on their parents’ relationship to the Lord get them into heaven. 
4. What was the cycle that was repeated over and over in the book of Judges by the Israelites?  According to the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, it was a five-fold pattern: sin, slavery, supplication, salvation and silence.  
5. At what point did the Judges enter the cycle? Salvation. This salvation was only physical, not spiritual. See 2:17.

Judges 2:20–23

1. As a result of their disobedience, what did the Lord say he was going to do, or not do? Not drive out the remaining enemy nations.
2. What was the reason he gave for that? It would be a test for that generation to determine whether they would keep the Lord’s ways. The word used for “test” is the same word used of God’s testing of Abraham in Genesis 22.
3. Is the purpose of any test the Lord sends our way to get us to fail or to see what we are really like? Always the latter and never the former. 
4. Remembering the parallel between taking the promised land and living the Christian life, how much growth would we experience if life was a cake walk and we never had any troubles? Not as much as when we do have opportunities to exercise our faith.