Judges 1-2

“You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.” (2:1-2).  The book of Judges opens with the Israelites in a half-conquered Promised Land, living among the idol-worshipping Canaanites (ch 1).  God had wanted them to completely drive out the Canaanites so that their pagan ways wouldn’t tempt the Israelites. But the Israelites took the dangers of sin lightly, and soon they “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals” (2:11).

“And they abandoned the LORD …” (2:12).  By getting involved in idolatry, the Israelites invited chaos into their lives. God urges us to take the dangers of sin seriously, because He desires our good.