Conquest and Judges

By Jonathan Turner

This book is part of a multi-volume survey of the Old Testament. The twenty-one lesson plans in this volume cover the Conquest of Canaan and the time of the Judges – one of the most chaotic and turbulent eras in Israelite history. In spite of the sometimes unsavory incidents involved, the lessons, which are suitable for both teenagers and adults, stress the positive. Topics include: the fall of Jericho, the Gibeonite deception, the career of Gideon, the capture of the Ark of the Covenant, and much more. Three of the lessons are on one of the most beautiful love stories of all time, that of Ruth and Boaz.

Each lesson emphasizes principles which are relevant to life today. Examples of applications are: making and keeping vows, overcoming the past, overcoming bitterness and restoring a relationship with God.

In addition to the lessons, Mr. Turner includes an essay on the nature of God. In it he explains how a loving God can also command things like genocide.

Other books in this series deal with different periods of Old Testament history. Titles include: Beginnings and Patriarchs, Exodus and Wanderings, The United Monarchy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Turner
• Release date: Jan 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301876310

Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner is an arts and entertainment reporter for the the Dispatch and the Rock Island Argus in Moline, Illinois, for which he has written since 1995. During his twenty-eight-year professional journalism career, his work has been recognized by the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association, Northern Illinois Newspaper Association and the Moline Preservation Society. You can see more of his writing at Facebook.com/JTreporter.

Book preview

Conquest

and

Judges

Lessons From the Old Testament

Volume 3

By Jonathan Turner

Smashwords Edition

Copyright

© 2012 by Jonathan Turner

www.presbyterjon.com

All rights are reserved by the author. However, you may use this material in your own teaching provided that you do not plagiarize it. If you do use this material, please acknowledge the source.

Scripture marked (NIV) is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION © 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Jonathan Turner drew the map on page 34, Conquest of Southern Canaan, and the map on page 37, Conquest of the North, using The Generic Mapping Tools by Paul Wessel and Walter H. F. Smith, School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology, University of Hawai’i.

Logo image courtesy of clkr.com

FigPress

Table of Contents

Introduction

1    Passing the Torch

2    A Prostitute’s Faith

3    Lessons in Faith

4    Keeping Covenant

5    Give Me the Hill Country

6    Whose Side Are You On?

7    Every Man For Himself

8    Taking the Lead

9    The Least in His Family

10    Things Aren’t As They Seem

11    Beware of Millstones

12    A Daughter’s Devotion

13    Woman Trouble

14    Moral Compromise

15    Alternative Lifestyles

16    Homecoming

17    A Dose of Kindness

18    Faith Tested

19    A New Order

20    A Faithful Priest

21    By Your Help

Appendix – God of Judgment, Or God of Mercy?

Bibliography

About the Author

List of Illustrations

Conquest of Southern Canaan

Conquest of the North

Introduction

Change comes hard. Particularly when it involves, not only different circumstances but, different ways of thinking and the way we look at the world. There are probably few people or societies who can undergo true transformation without feeling a profound sense of unease and doubt. There are always those who resist change no matter how necessary and inevitable it may be. Even those who embrace change sometimes feel nostalgia for the past.

In the context of starting churches an old preacher remarked, You always lose the first generation in the wilderness. While that may be somewhat cynical, there is a large element of truth in it. It is hard for people to leave their old habits, their old friends and associates and identify with the new community and new ways of thinking and living.

In the case of the Israelites, it is literally true that they lost in the wilderness the first generation of people who had entered into covenant with God at Mt. Sinai. In spite of all the miracles they had seen and all the evidence of God’s care for them, they found true transformation too hard. In spite of being rescued from slavery, they were still slaves at heart. They did not know how to use their freedom responsibly. Egypt still called though they had pleaded with God for deliverance from Egypt. Hebrews 11:16-19 says that they were unable to enter the land God promised them because of unbelief. It was their children – the next generation which finally was able to claim the land. It was the next generation which had developed the thought patterns and world-view which enabled them to receive the promise.

There is no question that the Israelites experienced wrenching change when they left Egypt. They went from a settled life in a fertile and well-watered land to a nomadic existence in an arid desert. After being driven by taskmasters who made their decisions for them, they had to learn to be responsible for their own choices. In Egypt they had enjoyed a variety of foods. During their wanderings their diet was limited and monotonous. Most importantly, they exchanged a culture and society where they were constantly exposed to and influenced by idolatry for a covenant relationship with God.

Upon entering Canaan the Israelites confronted even more change. The first several years were characterized by bloody clashes with the peoples who were already living there. Once the Israelites had killed off or displaced enough of the original inhabitants to make room for themselves, they had to change from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled one. While many still kept their flocks and herds, the majority had to learn to tend farms, orchards and vineyards. They had to learn to build and maintain houses rather than tents.

There was another change as well. Throughout the time the Israelites spent in the wilderness God miraculously preserved their shoes and clothing – their clothing did not wear out (Deuteronomy 29:5). This came to an end when they entered the Promised Land. This meant that the people had to provide these and other necessities for themselves. This would have led to the rise of a whole variety of cottage industries with which they had no prior experience.

As welcome as many of these changes no doubt were, they still must have been difficult. Many of those who entered Canaan probably had vivid memories of slavery during their teen-aged years, when they had been forced to make and carry bricks. Then came the adjustment to a relatively safe but monotonous life in tents. Next came the horrors of close-quarter combat. Finally, quite late in life, they had to learn another, very different, way of living. Along with new skills, they had to learn new responsibilities. The necessities of life were no longer handed to them.

Though the Israelites made the external changes their situation required, perhaps it is fair to say that they were not as successful in making a corresponding spiritual transition. The people had always had a bent toward idolatry. Right after entering into covenant with God at Mt. Sinai, they made a calf idol. After conquering the territory east of the Jordan River, they participated in idolatry with the Moabites. Upon entering into Canaan they had a marked tendency to assimilate and acculturate themselves to the pagan society of the peoples among whom they lived.

Perhaps the changes they had experienced were so disruptive that they sought refuge in the familiar. Whatever their motivation, the opposing pulls of idolatry and covenant is a major theme in the next period of their history. This back and forth seesaw continued throughout the time of the Judges.

When reading the Bible it is easy to telescope history. We forget that though incidents may be recorded only a few pages apart, there may be a gap of many years between them. For example, there is a roughly four-hundred year gap between the last verse of Genesis and the first verse of Exodus. The four books after Genesis (that is, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), cover a relatively short span of about one-hundred, twenty years. However, the events they record are arguably some of the most important in the Old Testament.

In contrast, though the period of the Conquest and Judges lasted approximately four hundred and fifty years, the Bible devotes much less space to it. While from the standpoint of covenant history the period may be less important than the Exodus and the giving of the Law, it still has many important lessons to teach us. It is amazing just how relevant it is to us today.

One of the main lessons is that God can and does use imperfect people. The Judges are among some of the most flawed people in the entire Bible. However, God was able to use them in spite of their imperfections to do mighty things. For this reason, one of the messages we should take away from the time of the Conquest and Judges is hope. If God could do mighty things through them in spite of their flaws and problems, He can work in and through us as well. Our background, ancestry and circumstances don’t matter. What does matter is making ourselves available to God. We are not responsible for results, only obedience.

I have taken the following lessons from the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth and 1st Samuel.

Passing The Torch

(Deuteronomy 31:1-8, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-11)

Introduction: Forty years after leaving Egypt the people of Israel were finally ready to enter the land God had promised them. During those 40 years the people had entered into covenant relationship with God. They had become a people separate from the peoples around them. Though they had many lapses, they had learned to trust in God’s provision.

Before they could enter the Promised Land, there was one piece of unfinished business which had to be completed – the commissioning of the leader who would take the people into the land.

I.    The Passing Of An Era (Deuteronomy 31:1-8)

God had forbidden Moses from entering Canaan. But even if God had allowed him to go in, his age made it essential to pick a successor. The time had come to pass the role of leadership to somebody else. However, the transition must have been extremely unsettling – both for the nation and for Joshua who was to take over. Consider:

1) Moses was 120 years old. That made him at least twice as old as everyone except Joshua and Caleb. That made him literally, the ‘Grand Old Man’ of the nation. In a very real sense, Moses was the living repository of the collected memory and wisdom of the nation. With his death the history of the nation – and particularly entering into covenant relationship with God – would remain the direct experience of only two people who had been adults at the time. For this reason, it was imperative that Moses write it all down. (See Deuteronomy 31:9.) Otherwise, the lore of the nation as well as the covenant responsibilities would have been lost.

2) Moses had led the Israelites for 40 of his 120 years. No one under the age of 40 (except Joshua and Caleb) had known the leadership of anyone else. A change of leadership always requires a period of adjustment. It’s even worse when you have never experienced change before. The familiar is gone and the future is uncertain.

3) Up to this point, Joshua had always been the understudy. He had been the subordinate. His had never been the ultimate authority. He had always had someone above him to take the responsibility – or the blame if things went wrong. (Whenever the people had rebelled, they had always taken their frustrations out on Moses and sometimes Aaron – never Joshua except when Joshua had brought them a positive report about Canaan.) But now, Joshua was going to be the one in charge. There was no one higher to pass problems and decisions up to. There is a vast difference between being an executive officer carrying out the directives of someone else and being the actual decision maker. While it can be liberating to have the authority to act with a free hand, it can also be profoundly unsettling to realize that final responsibility rests with you – people now look to you for direction and guidance. There is no one higher to consult. There is no one to shield you from criticism. The burden of command rests solely on your shoulders.

II.    Death Of The Old Man (Deuteronomy 34:1-12)

Probably most people approach the end of life with mixed feelings. On the one hand, there is a sense of satisfaction over the things that they were able to accomplish. On the other, there is a sense of regret over opportunities missed and the tasks which will not be completed.

There is no doubt that Moses experienced both of these emotions. In one sense he had fulfilled his life’s purpose. Against all odds, he had brought the people of Israel to the border of the Promised Land. In spite of all the rebellion, all the challenges to his leadership and all external threats; in spite of the crushing disappointment of the additional 38 years of wandering because the people refused to enter the first time around, he had brought the people through. Yet, there was also overwhelming disappointment. After all Moses had gone through, he was denied the privilege of entering the land, himself. He could only look at it from a distance.

Why couldn’t Moses enter the land?

The prohibition stems from the incident which is recorded in Numbers 20:1-13. The people lacked water and quarreled with Moses about it. God instructed Moses to speak to a rock, which would then open and provide a water supply. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses hit it with his staff. As a result, God told him, …Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them. (Numbers 20:12 NIV)

Even though Moses apparently repented of his action and pleaded with God to let him go in, God refused. …That is enough, the Lord said. Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. (Deuteronomy 3:26 NIV)

Lesson: In our culture we have a saying that it’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. While that may have a certain validity in the context of rigid systems and unwieldy bureaucracies, it is totally the wrong approach with God. He expects an obedient faith – that we will comply with what He has told us to do even if we don’t understand the reasons. Disobedience and unbelief always carry consequences. Repentance does not do away with consequences.

In spite of the prohibition, Moses got the next best thing to entering the land – God allowed him to view it from a distance. Unless a miracle was involved, due to the distance and the curvature of the earth, it’s unlikely that Moses saw the entire land with his physical eyes. It’s more likely that Moses saw and