Judges 2

Angel of the LORD

Angel of the LORD - messenger of Jehovah, speaking in His name

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. Judges 2:1–3

The messenger speaks as though he were Jehovah Himself: 'I made you to go up out of Egypt ... I will never break my covenant with you.' Latter-day Saints understand such messengers to speak for the Lord by divine investiture of authority; many Christians read the Angel of the LORD as the premortal Christ. Either way the covenant voice heard at Bochim is Christ's.

How we know: the verse itself names Him · a footnote points to Him · another scripture interprets it of Him · a traditional type, cited

• alludes to Exodus 23:20-21 — 'Behold, I send an Angel before thee ... obey his voice ... for my name is in him' - the Angel whose voice Israel was to obey, and whose voice v. 2 says they did not obey
• the same title in Exodus 3:2-6 — 'the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire', who then speaks as 'the God of thy father' - the same title used the same way
• fulfilled by Exodus 23:33 — 'if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee' - the warning the angel says has now come upon them, 'their gods shall be a snare unto you' (Church footnote note3_a)

Sacrifice as a Similitude

Bochim - 'weepers'

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. Judges 2:4–5

Bochim means 'weepers'. Sorrow for sin is answered by sacrifice, and every such offering under the law pointed forward to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That is still the pattern of real repentance: grief, then coming to the Lord's sacrifice.

How we know: the verse itself names Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

• interpreted by Alma 34:14 — 'this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God'

Joshua as a Type of Christ

Joshua (Yehoshua) - 'Jehovah saves'; Iesous, Jesus, in Greek

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. Judges 2:8

Judges repeats Joshua's death notice word for word, and with it his title, 'the servant of the LORD'. The man who bore the name of Jesus and brought Israel into their promised rest is honoured one last time as the book of the Judges opens.

How we know: the verse itself names Him · a footnote points to Him · a traditional type, cited

• a parallel account in Joshua 24:29 — the identical death notice: 'Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old'
• alluded to by Hebrews 4:8 — 'For if Jesus had given them rest' - the KJV names Joshua 'Jesus' and reads his rest as pointing beyond itself

Jehovah

And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. Judges 2:12

The new generation forsakes Jehovah - the premortal Jesus Christ who brought their fathers out of Egypt - and follows the gods of the people around them. Forgetting who delivered you is how apostasy begins.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · the verse itself names Him · another scripture interprets it of Him · the chapter heading names Him

Savior (the judges as deliverers)

Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. Judges 2:16–18

Moved by His people's groaning, the Lord raises up deliverers to save them - and when the deliverer dies they fall again. Each judge is a small, imperfect shadow of the one Deliverer who does not die again: Jesus Christ, who saves His people from their enemies and from their sins.

How we know: the verse itself names Him · a footnote points to Him · the chapter heading names Him · a traditional type, cited

• the same event in Nehemiah 9:27 — 'thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies' - Nehemiah's prayer retells this same period; the Church footnote note14_b makes the link

Jehovah

And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; Judges 2:20–22

Jehovah speaks for Himself about His covenant and His voice, and says He will leave the nations in place to prove whether Israel will walk in His way. Even the test is His mercy: it keeps the choice in front of them.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · the verse itself names Him · a footnote points to Him · the chapter heading names Him · another scripture interprets it of Him