1. Judges 2:2 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

How did Israel disobey God?

Judges 2:2 (ESV)

2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?

They have disobeyed God through what they did. They made a covenant with the Canaanites, despite being told, You shall not. They were guilty of keeping Canaanites around as slaves (indicating they had made a kind of covenant with the Canaanites). And they have disobeyed God through what they did not do. They failed to break down the Canaanites’ altars, like Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath.

Israel was not charged with failing to drive out the Canaanites. They are charged with unfaithfulness. They are charged with peaceful coexistence.1