The Point of Failure - Part 1

Now the Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you. And as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their alters.' But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? Therefore, I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.'”
When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. So they named that place Bochim; and there they sacrificed to the Lord. Judges 2:1-6.

If you do not drive them out
​they will be as thorns in your flesh.
Numbers 33:55

The Angel of the Lord
     These Scriptures were written long before Jesus walked the land of Israel as a man. Yet even when they were written they reveal the fact that it was Jesus who is “the” Angel of the Lord. Basically, throughout the Old Testament, we often see Jesus show up a to deliver a message to His people or an individual. But the Bible leaves evidence that it was Him.
     For instance, Jesus told the Jews that Abraham was glad to seem him (John 8:56). Another evidence is that angels in the Bible do not request or permit worship. Here, Jesus was calling for worship. He was coming to deliver this message Himself. And He says to them, “I brought you up out of Egypt.” Finally, it is evidenced by the fact that the Angel came from Gilgal.

Gilgal to Bochim (Bo-keem)
     Gilgal was the base camp during the days of Joshua. Gilgal was the place of the Tabernacle of the Lord where they would inquire of the Lord. Each of the conquests by Joshua, and those who entered Canaan with him, would start and finish at Gilgal.
     However, this time was different. In the preceding verses we have a list of places where the Israelites had not removed the people and practices of the land.
The last action of Israel that is listed is the House of Joseph having the power to drive out the Canaanites from their possession but choosing to keep them for laborers.
     Instead of returning to Gilgal or continuing to remove evil practices and enemies from their land and lives, the people chose to settle for the ground they currently possessed. Jesus left the Tabernacle in Gilgal and walked all the way to where the people were to deliver His rebuke. They would continue to suffer for each of the things that they had chosen to accept.
     So they wept. They wept like that generation had not wept before. They named the place “Bochim,” which is the active participle for the Hebrew word, Bakah, which means to weep greatly.

Timing of Bochim
     Jesus did not come to Bochim when the Israelites were still advancing or when they suffered set backs, thwarted attempts or difficult battles that took significant time. It came when they stopped and settled.
​ 

Bochim is the place of ACCEPTING the altars
​and enemies that needed to be removed.

     So often we give up when we believe we have already lost. But we have NOT lost God's favor or support while we are STILL striving to grow in our spiritual lives and removing whatever God tells us to remove.
     The point in time at which Israel's failure occurred was when they stopped trying. It was not when the house of Joseph was too weak to drive out the inhabitants. It came when they stopped trying because they were now in control of the inhabitants which God said to remove.

Bochim in your life
     Jesus concluded His rebuke with a question reminiscent of God's question to Adam and Eve, “What is this you have done?” This is also the question God asks of us. He asks that we take a deep, honest consideration of our actions; before, during and afterwards.
     As Christians, we all have weeping over our regrets and failures. But your Bochim is unique. It comes at the moment in your spiritual life where you settle for not taking ground that you have been given and have a right to possess.
     The people of Israel in the Old Testament often serve as examples of our spiritual lives, obligations and responsibilities. Th people of Israel had entered the promise land and we have entered into the Kingdom of God when we are born again and freed from sin. However, we must not stop there. We must root out every sin that continues to entangle us. We must not accept as ok anything that God died to free us from.

Recap
     Bochim is a warning for those of us who are considering accepting things in our spiritual lives that need to be rooted out like lust...., anger...., rage...., bitterness...., greed...., covetousness...., pride.... and any other character deficiency because we are tired of the battle.
   Bochim is a rebuke to those of us who have already accepted those characteristics of sinful nature as “things we will just have to live with.” This was the case with the church of Laodicea. Jesus reminded them, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.”  Sadly, with rebukes, consequences are often irreversible, even when repentant.  (2 Sam. 12:16)
     Please, please take a moment and ask yourself if you have places of Bochim in your life. Weep if you need to weep.
     And finally, Bochim is a glorious encouragement to “sacrifice to the Lord,” as the people did at Bochim, and walk again in the obedience of continuing the battle in our own lives with the enemy of our souls.​​