Exploring the Word of God: Books of History: Joshua to 2 Samuel

By Tim Finlay and Jim Herst

This is a lay-level introduction to the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1& 2 Samuel. In each book, we look at the way the book is organized, its main themes, and lessons we learn from it today. There are character sketches of Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Samuel, Saul, David and Bathsheba. By Tim Finlay and Jim Herst.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grace Communion International
• Release date: Oct 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301712724

Book preview

Exploring the Word of God

Books of History: Joshua to 2 Samuel

By Tim Finlay and Jim Herst

Copyright 2012 Grace Communion International

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Cover art by Ken Tunell. Copyright Grace Communion International.

Table of Contents

Fighting Your Goliaths

Exploring Joshua

Joshua: Conflict and Conquest

Exploring Judges

The Book of Judges: Variations on a Theme

Judges: The Misery of Sin

Judges: Gideon and His Son

Judges: Jephthah and Samson

Judges: The Danites and Civil War

Exploring Ruth

Ruth: Naomi and Ruth

Ruth: Romance and Redemption

Exploring 1 & 2 Samuel

Samuel and Saul

Lessons From the Life of King David

David and Uriah: Are You Losing Faith?

Bathsheba: Mother and Queen

Bible Concepts From the Historical Books

Bible Facts From the Historical Books

Bible Trivia From the Historical Books

About the Authors

About the Publisher

Grace Communion Seminary

Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fighting Your Goliaths

Our illustration highlights the bravery of the shepherd boy, David, who with a single slingshot defeated the heavily armed giant, Goliath. With its ground-level camera angle — taken from behind the Philistine warrior — this illustration presents a dramatic study in contrasts.

Towering over his young adversary is the huge frame of the heavily muscled Goliath, who stands almost 10 feet tall. He is protected by a feather-crested helmet and a tunic of overlapping leather strips. He is further reinforced with a full complement of scaled body armor made of leather with bronze attachments. The breastplate alone weighs 125 pounds. Strategically poised on top of a small stony ridge, Goliath takes aim with a 35-pound bronze javelin. The 15-pound spearhead points at the young man’s heart. A military attendant is slightly ahead to Goliath’s right. Peering over a large protective shield, he anticipates yet another easy kill for his master.

About 100 feet beyond the two Philistines, David pivots his body and rotates his arm with careful balance as he purposefully winds his sling. Framed by the fringes of Goliath’s armored tunic and shin-guarded legs, David’s pale, lean, almost wispy, figure seems out of place on the battlefield. In fact, Goliath had taunted him a few moments earlier: ‘Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?’… ‘Come here,’ he said, ‘and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!’ (1 Samuel 17:43-44).

But David had refused ordinary armor (verses 38-39). His strength was in the Lord. He told Goliath: You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied (verse 45).

David’s spiritual vision made a world of difference. King Saul and the army of Israel saw only a terrifying enemy — the Philistine giant. David, on the other hand, saw a mortal man mocking Israel and defying the living God. David knew God would protect him when he faced Goliath because he looked at the battle from God’s point of view. And he won!

The Bible teaches us God’s point of view. When we study God’s Word, we are putting on a vital part of the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11). Indeed, the apostle Paul encourages us:

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (verses 14-17)

This was the armor David put on. As Christians, we should follow his example. If we do, we can then look at seemingly impossible situations from God’s point of view. This will bring our giant problems into proper focus. Only then can we fight those problems effectively and win. With God’s help, the ultimate victory is ours.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him (1 Samuel 17:50).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

back to table of contents

Exploring Joshua

What’s in a name?

The book is named after its leading character, Joshua, who was appointed by God to lead Israel after the death of Moses (Numbers 27:18-23).

Joshua’s original name was Hoshea (Numbers 13:8), which means salvation. Moses changed this name to Joshua (Numbers 13:16). Joshua is the English form of the Hebrew name Yehoshua’, which means Yahweh saves. The Greek form of this name is Iesous, from which we get the English name Jesus. (Jesus was a popular name in the first century.) The title of the book in the Septuagint is Iesous Naue, which means Joshua, [son] of Nun.

Outline

The book of Joshua has four main sections: The early chapters describe the Israelites’ preparations to conquer Canaan, and the first steps of the invasion (1:1–5:12). The central event in this section is the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan River (3:1-17).

The next section details the warfare between the invading Israelites and the native Canaanites (5:13–12:24). The most important battles were against Jericho (5:13–6:27), Ai and Bethel (8:1-29), an alliance of southern cities (10:1-43) and an alliance of northern cities (11:1-15). The conquest of Canaan was a formative event in Israel’s history. Now the Israelites could describe themselves as the inhabitants of the land God had promised to their forefathers. One could now refer to Israel as a land, not just a people.

The longest section concerns the dividing of the land among the people (13:1–21:45). Even though much of the land had not yet been conquered, Joshua assigned each tribe the territory that would be its inheritance.

The book concludes with a series of postscripts (22:1–24:33). The tribes who wished to settle east of the Jordan returned to their lands (22:1-34). Like Moses, Joshua made a farewell address and gathered the people together to renew the covenant (23:1–24:27). Finally, Joshua’s death is recorded, along with an appraisal of his distinguished career (24:28-33).

How to read this book

In Judges, the book following Joshua, Israel’s spiritual decline and eventual collapse is described in gruesome detail. But the period of Joshua’s leadership was one of the high points in Israel’s history (24:31). As you read this book, keep in mind one of its major themes: Joshua’s leadership.

Joshua was a young man when Moses appointed him as one of his ministers, or attendants, during the wilderness journey. Read the following passages which tell of some of his services during those years: Exodus 17:8-16; 24:12-13; Numbers 13:1-16; 14:26-35. At the close of Moses’ career, God chose Joshua to be his successor (Num 27:18), and Moses transferred the mantle of leadership to his faithful attendant and friend (Deut 34:9)….

Read what God said of Joshua in Numbers 27:18 (cf. Deut 34:9). Joshua feared God, believed God, obeyed God, and gloried God. He was a great ruler, commanding the respect of all his subjects (Deut 34:9), maintaining order and discipline, putting the worship of God central in the nation’s government. (Irving L. Jensen, Jensen’s Survey of the Old Testament, pp. 144-145)

Learning about God

The book of Joshua illustrates many important aspects of God’s role and his nature:

• God is Creator. All of creation is subject to God’s sovereign control: He blocked the waters of a river (3:14-17), shattered the walls of a city (6:20), sent hail from heaven (10:11) and lengthened the hours of a day (10:13-14) — all to accomplish his purpose.

• God is faithful. By leading Joshua and the Israelites into the Promised Land, God was fulfilling the promises he had made to Abraham (Genesis 17:1-14), Isaac (26:24) and Jacob (28:10-22). God gave each tribe a sizable inheritance (Joshua 13–21). He gave special inheritances to the Levites (21:1-42) and to Caleb (14:6-15) and Joshua (19:49-50). Nobody was left out; God’s faithfulness was complete (21:45). Even Joseph’s bones were finally laid to rest, fulfilling earlier promises (24:32; see Genesis 50:24-26 and Exodus 13:19).

• God hates sin. God waged war against the pagan Canaanites and against any who sinned in Israel.

God is constantly at war with sin because it is an affront to his holiness and because it destroys people whom He loves and desires to bless (cf. Rom. 6:23). In the book of Joshua, God waged war with sin wherever he found it…. Given more spiritual privilege, His people shouldered more spiritual responsibility. God’s love for Israel led Him to purge out the sin in the camp so that it would not destroy the whole nation. God evidently dealt with Achan as severely as He did [Joshua 7] in order to give His people a clear demonstration of His hatred for sin at the beginning of this new era in their national life. (Thomas L. Constable, A Theology of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, in A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, ed. Roy B. Zuck, p. 105)

• God is our eternal leader. Moses, the great servant of God, had died. The leadership of Israel now passed to Joshua. God reserved for himself the right to appoint the successor of Moses. Joshua was in some ways similar to his predecessor, but in other ways different. This transition challenged the faith of Israel. The Israelites rose to the challenge and accepted Joshua. They told him: Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you (1:17).

It is always unsettling to have a change of leadership, and not only at the national level. Even the members of a small church congregation can become accustomed to their leader’s way of communicating. Even though the change of a leader or minister can be disorienting, like Israel we must remember that the same ultimate authority is still in charge. If God can allow for differences in styles of leadership according to the personalities of those he appoints, we should be able to adjust.

• Jesus Christ is revealed in the book of Joshua by type.