It’s a hard fact that children are more ready to follow their parents’ example than their advice.
The incident at Bochim was obviously a flashback to the previous generation who, in spite of their only partial victories over their enemies, had repented and “served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua” (Jdg 2:7). We know this, because “Joshua…dismissed the people” (v 6) and sent them back to work from Bochim. Why is this inserted here? To show that what seemed to be a few minor missteps by the first generation in the land led to all-out apostasy among their children. Remember that children are like arrows (Ps 127:4), and that means they always go farther than we do, for good or ill. A social drink by the father can lead to drunkenness in the son. A few spoken doubts in the mother can produce agnosticism in the child. So it was with Israel that “another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord…Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers” (Jdg 2:10-12). It just takes one generation for the whole land to go dark. Here the consequences were dire: “And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around” (v 14). As a result of abandoning Him and colluding with the enemy, God left them to their own devices, “so that they could no longer stand before their enemies” (v 14). Ah, but God is gracious, longsuffering, forgiving! “The Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them” (v 16). But then it would happen again. And again! This downward spiral is our lesson-loaded pathway through the rest of the book. Hang on! Here we go!