Judges 2:20-23

Judges 2:20-23

[20] 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;  [21] I also will not henceforth  drive out  any  from before  them of the nations  which Joshua  left  when he died:  [22] That through them I may prove  Israel,  whether they will keep  the way  of the LORD  therein, as their fathers  did keep  it, or not. [23] Therefore the LORD  left  those nations,  without  driving them out  hastily;  neither delivered  he them into the hand  of Joshua. 

What does Judges 2:20-23 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

None of the Israelites" conflicts in the Book of Judges involved the conquest of new territory; they all simply concerned throwing off the yoke of an oppressor. The writer explained the type of test that the continuation of the Canaanites among the Israelites constituted more fully in the next section.
". . . in a real sense the book of Judges actually involves multiple replayings of the pattern found already in the Torah, especially the book of Exodus: God delivers the people, who then disobey, experiencing not only the destructive results of their disobedience (the guilty are by no means cleared, as Exodus 34:7 says) but also the steadfast love and faithfulness of a God who cannot finally let the people go ..." [1]