The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’”

4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord. (NIV)

There are moments – indeed there are ‘seasons’ – of God-given opportunity. But we can miss them. The people of Israel could have, should have conquered, but instead they compromised. Sin always has consequences. In this case the Lord was going to stop fighting for Israel, and the very people they could have, should have driven out (and their gods) would cause them no end of unnecessary trouble. May we not miss any opportunities for service God is putting in our pathway through sinful obedience.

‘Only the Lord knows whether their weeping indicated true repentance or only remorse and regret (Matthew 27:3-4). True repentance is always accompanied by the deeds of repentance (Acts 20:21; 26:20) – giving up sinful behaviour and turning to the Lord. Perhaps at this stage the Israelites did repent – at least for a time – because they offered sacrifices to the Lord. They named that place Bokim which means ”weepers.” ‘ Tom Hale

PRAYER: ”Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.” (Psalm 139:23,24: The Message)