Judges 2 (résumé): Disobedience & Defeat

The angel of the Lord rebuked Israel at Bokim for not having driven out all the Canaanites and not having destroyed all their pagan religious sites. Hence the Canaanites "will be thorns in their sides and their gods will be snares to them", and God will withdraw his support. Israel was devastated by this and offered sacrifices to the Lord.

However with time the post-Joshua generation turned to serving the Baal and Ashtoreth pagan gods leading to God withdrawing his support for Israel. (It is impressive how fickle the Israelites' faith was and how easily they switch to worshipping pagan gods!) 

So God raised up judges to fill the leadership vacuum in Israel. The judges had partial success in leading Israel, but very easily the people of God slipped back into apostacy. This made God very angry and he withdrew his support in driving out the Canaanites, which God said he would now use to test Israel.