Wri t t en by Sher ry Worel. Unpacking the Book #4 The Conquest, Settlement & Period of the Judges The Journey from Kadesh to the east bank of the Jordan: The Edomites refuse entrance (Num. 20), so they loop back and go through Moab, defeating the Amorites. In 22-24, Balak, the King of Moab, tries to get Balaam to put a hex on the Israelites. God uses Balaam s donkey to thwart this. They arrive on the eastern bank of the Jordon River (Num. 21:24-25, 22:1), across from Jericho. In Num. 31, they also defeat the (now) strongly pagan Midianites. I. Joshua leads the conquest of Canaan Pay special attention to the scope of their assignment: Num. 33:51-56. Book of Joshua: 1. Taking the land (1-12) 7 years Josh. 1-5, Preparation (including spying on Jericho, crossing the Jordan, circumcision & Passover) ** Rahab fits here (Joshua 2) 2. Dividing & Settling in the land (1321) 18 years 3. Joshua s Last Words (22-24) A. The Military Efforts: (Josh. 6-12) Once the Israelites enter Canaan north of the Dead Sea, there are three major campaigns to subdue the land promised to these people. 1. The Central Campaign: (6-8) Focused on the cities of Jericho and Ai and then the cities of the western foothills. 2. The Southern Campaign: (9-10) Focused cities such as Lachish, Debir, Libnah, Eglon and Makkedah. 3. The Northern Campaign: (11-12) Focused on the area west and north of the Sea of Galilee Edited and taught by Cathy Ulrich
B. The Tribal Boundaries C. Setting up the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Deut. 12:4-15, Joshua 18:1 and Jer. 7:12) D. The Cities of Refuge (Joshua 20:1-6) 1 Then the LORD said to Joshua: "Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood He is to stay in that city until he has stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then he may go back to his own home in the town from which he fled." The cities: Hebron, Bezer, Shechem,Ramoth-Gilead, Golan and Kedesh D. The Significance The cities of refuge represent Jesus Christ (See Hebrews 6:18-20). They were provided by God as an expression of grace. He initiated the process (John 6:44, Eph. 2:1), He provided the means (Rom. 3:25, Acts 4:12), He saves those who believe (Acts 16:31), and He keeps in safety those whom He saves (I Pet. 1:5). 2
II. The Period of the Judges A. Title of the book: Shophatim from the Hebrew root, to judge These judges also served as military leaders whom God would raise up to lead his people in times of crises. Judges 21:25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. B. Historical Overview 1. The book of Judges covers the time period from the death of Joshua to the beginning of the monarchy under Saul. 2. While the book of Joshua records victory after victory for the people of God, the book of Judges records a series of stories outlining the apostasy of Israel. (see Judges 2:10-16) Joshua Judges Freedom Bondage Progress Decline (7 cycles) Conquest through belief Defeat through disbelief Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.: (24:16) So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and serve the Baals and Asherahs. (3:7) Israel served God (24:31) Israel served self (21:25) Israel knew the person of God and the power of God (224:16-18,31) Israel knew neither the person of God nor the power of God (2:10) Objective morality Subjective morality Israel pressing onward Israel spiraling downward Sin judged Sin tolerated Faith judged Lack of both Found in Talk through the Bible 3. Faced three great problems: a. Political since conquest had not been complete (Judges 1), they continued to be oppressed by various groups both within the land and from neighboring countries (Moab, Ammon, the Midianites and Philistines). [See map on p. 1] b. Religious polluted by the Canaanite religions Judges 2:10-11 After that whole generation [Joshua & the elders] had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. c. Tribal - Ephraim was ravaged by Manasseh in chapter 12 and Benjamin was almost annihilated by the other tribes in chapters 20-21 (Expositor s Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, pg. 376). 3
4. Judges present the facts in a selective manner, leaving out some details and emphasizing other stories. The book is a three part epic dealing with history as recorded through the lives of some 15 individuals. Chapter 1:1-3:4: Deterioration (a pattern of failure) Chapter 3:5-16:31: Deliverance at the hands of regional leaders Chapter 17:1-21:25 Depravity (an appendix of non-chronological events describing anarchy under the Levites) 5. Depending on the opinion of the Old Testament scholar, the events in the book cover a range from anywhere between 1410/1380 to 1050 B.C. If the period of the Judges extends into the first 30 years of the life of Samuel (I Sam. 1:1-25:1), it covers approximately 350-0 years. The chronology of this book is extremely difficult to nail down. The precise dating is particularly difficult for many reasons. It seems best to view the time frames of the various Judges as overlapping and in chronological order. For example, Samson and Jephthah may have ruled at the same time, one in the western part of Canaan and the other in the Transjordan region. The events of ch. 17-21 preceded most of chapters 3-16. C. The theme of the book: Judges gives a geographical survey of apostasy illustrating a sequence of events that climax in the statement everyman did that which was right in his own eyes (21:25). Repeated seven times in this book, cycle of: rebellion (sin) defeat (servitude) repentance (supplication) deliverance (salvation) Judges 3:7-11 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that He sold them into the hands of to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. But when they cried out to the LORD, He raised up for them a deliverer The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war So the land had peace for forty years, until [the judge] died. D. Author and date of the book: The author is not stated. Samuel or one of his prophetic students is the likely author. It is believed that the book was complied during the time of Samuel s ministry after the ark was removed from Shiloh (see Judges18:31 and I Sam. 4:3-11) and before David conquers the Jebusites (see Judges 1:21 and II Sam. 5:5-9). 4
The Judges Assuming you include Eli and Samuel as the last of the Judges, there are a total of 15: Oppression Peace before - yrs Judge Passage Oppressor (7 cycles) during - yrs The Southern Campaign: 1. Othniel 3:5-11 Mesopotamia 8 2. Ehud 3:12-30 Moab 18 80 3. Shamgar 3:31 Philistines - - 4:1-5:31 Canaanites 20 Midianites 7 Abimelech 3 45 The Northern Campaign: 4. Deborah 5. Barak The Central Campaign: 6. Gideon 6:1-8:32 7. Tola 10:1-2 8. Jair 10:3-5 The Eastern Campaign: 9. Jephthah 10:6-12:7 6 The Second Northern Campaign: 10. Ibzan 12:8-10 11. Elon 12:11-12 10 12. Abdon 12:12-15 8 Ammonites 18 7 The Western Campaign: 13. Samson 13:1-16:31 Philistines 20 14. Eli 15. Samuel Philistines Consider the foolish things of the world? 1 Cor. 1:26-29 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. How does God use them? Does He want to use you? 5
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