After the exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel, now freed from slavery, wandered in the wilderness for forty years—but that was not the original plan. The people were supposed to go directly from the land of bondage into the Promised Land of Canaan. But they had been unwilling to trust God, so He waited until an entire generation died before leading the nation of Israel into Canaan.
Our studies open at the time when the Israelites are entering Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. Beginning with the crossing of the Jordan River, we will cover a span of many hundreds of years, culminating in the life and death of Samson. During this time period, we will discover two overriding themes: (1) God’s people lived in a continuing cycle of sin and repentance, but (2) God was always faithful.
In these twelve studies, we will examine the biblical events depicted in the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. We will look at the miraculous parting of the Jordan River, continue through some of Israel’s victories and setbacks in the land of Canaan, and conclude with the people settling into the land during the time of the judges. We will study the lives of some of the Bible’s heroes of the faith and the lives of a few of God’s people who failed at times.
Through it all, you will learn some precious truths in this study about the character of God, and you will see His great faithfulness in keeping His promises. You will learn, in short, what it means to walk by faith.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA
This is the first of twelve historical books in the Old Testament. It gained its name from the exploits of Joshua, the understudy whom Moses commissioned as a leader in Israel. Joshua means “Jehovah saves” or “the LORD is salvation,” and corresponds to the New Testament name Jesus. God delivered Israel in Joshua’s day when He was personally present as the saving commander who fought on Israel’s behalf.
AUTHOR AND DATE
Although the author is not named, the most probable candidate is Joshua, who was the key eyewitness to the events. Joshua was born in Egyptian slavery, trained under Moses, and by God’s choice rose to his key position of leading Israel into Canaan. An assistant whom Joshua groomed could have finished the book by attaching such comments as those concerning Joshua’s death (see 24:29–33). Some have even suggested this section was written by the high priest Eleazar or his son, Phinehas. The book was completed before David’s reign, and the most likely writing period is c. 1405–1385 BC.
BACKGROUND AND SETTING
Israel was at the end of its forty-year wilderness wandering period (c. 1405 BC) when Moses passed the baton of leadership on to Joshua, who would have been approaching ninety years of age at the time. As the book opens, the Israelites are poised on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River and the land that God had promised. They faced peoples on the western side who had become so steeped in iniquity that God would cause the land to spew them out, so to speak (see Leviticus 18:24–25). God would give Israel the land by conquest, primarily to fulfill the covenant He had pledged to Abraham and his descendants, but also to pass just judgment on the sinful inhabitants.
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL THEMES
A keynote feature of the book is God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise of giving the land to Abraham’s descendants. By His leading, the people inhabited the territories east and west of the Jordan River. Related to this theme is Israel’s failure to press their conquest to every part of the land (Judges 1–2 later describes the tragic results from this sin). God wanted His people to possess the land (1) to keep His promise (see Genesis 12:7); (2) to set the stage for later developments in His kingdom plan (positioning Israel for events during the periods of the kings and prophets); (3) to punish those who were an affront to Him because of extreme sinfulness; and (4) to be a testimony to other peoples as God’s covenant heart reached out to all nations.
INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES
Miracles always challenge readers either to believe that the God who created heaven and earth can do other mighty works, or to explain them away. As in Moses’ day, the miracles in this book were part of God’s purpose, including (1) His holding back of the Jordan’s waters (see Joshua 3:7–17); (2) the fall of Jericho’s walls (see 6:1–27); (3) the hailstones (see 10:1–11); and (4) the long day (see 10:12–15). Other challenges include (1) how God’s blessing on the harlot Rahab, who responded to Him in faith, related to her telling a lie; (2) why Achan’s family members were executed with him; and (3) why Ai, with fewer men than Israel, was hard to conquer. These questions will be addressed in this study.
THE BOOK OF JUDGES
The book bears the fitting name Judges, which refers to the unique leaders God gave to His people to preserve them against their enemies. The Hebrew title means “deliverers” or “saviors,” as well as judges. Twelve such judges arose before the time of Samuel, and then Eli and Samuel increased the count to fourteen. Judges spans about 350 years from Joshua’s successful conquest (c. 1398 BC) until Eli and Samuel judged prior to the establishment of the monarchy (c. 1051 BC).
AUTHOR AND DATE
No author is named in the book, but the Jewish Talmud identifies Samuel, a key prophet who lived at the time these events took place. The date of composition was earlier than David’s capture of Jerusalem (c. 1004 BC), since Jebusites still controlled the site. Also, the writer deals with a time before a king ruled. Saul began his reign c. 1051 BC, so a time shortly after his rule began is probably when Judges was written.
BACKGROUND AND SETTING
Judges is a tragic sequel to Joshua. In Joshua, the people were obedient to God in conquering the land. In Judges, they were disobedient, idolatrous, and often defeated. The account describes seven distinct cycles of Israel’s drifting away from the Lord, starting even before Joshua’s death and with a full departure into apostasy afterward. Five basic reasons are evident for these cycles of Israel’s moral and spiritual decline: (1) failure to drive the Canaanites out of the land; (2) idolatry; (3) intermarriage with Canaanites; (4) not obeying the judges; and (5) turning away from God after the death of the judges. A four-part sequence repeatedly occurred during this phase of Israel’s history: (1) Israel’s departure from God; (2) God’s judgment in permitting military defeat and subjugation; (3) Israel’s prayer for deliverance; and (4) God raising up “judges” to lead in shaking off the oppressors.
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL THEMES
Judges is thematic rather than chronological. Foremost among its themes are God’s power and His covenant mercy in graciously delivering the Israelites from the consequences of their failures, which were suffered for sinful compromise. In seven historical periods of sin to salvation, God compassionately delivered His people throughout the different geographical areas of tribal inheritances, which He had earlier given through Joshua. The apostasy covered the whole land, as indicated by the fact that each area was specifically identified. God’s power to rescue shines brightly against the dark backdrop of human compromise and sometimes bizarre twists of sin.
INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES
The most stimulating challenges of Judges are: (1) how to view men’s violent acts against enemies or fellow countrymen; (2) God’s use of leaders who, at times, did His will and, at other times, followed their own sinful impulses; (3) how to view Jephthah’s vow and offering of his daughter (see 11:30–40); and (4) how to resolve God’s sovereign will with His providential working in spite of human sin. The chronology of the various judges in different sectors of the land raises questions about how much time passed and how the time totals fit into the entire time span from the exodus (c. 1445 BC) to Solomon’s fourth year (c. 967/966 BC), which is said to be 480 years (see 1 Kings 6:1). A reasonable explanation is that the deliverances and years of rest under the judges included overlaps, so that some of them ran concurrently.
THE BOOK OF RUTH
Ancient versions and modern translations consistently entitle this book after Ruth the Moabitess heroine, who is mentioned by name twelve times. The Old Testament does not again refer to Ruth, while the New Testament mentions her just once in the context of Christ’s genealogy (see Matthew 1:5). Ruth most likely comes from a Moabite and/or Hebrew word meaning “friendship.” Ruth arrived in Bethlehem as a foreigner, became a maidservant, married wealthy Boaz, and was an important link in the physical lineage of Christ.
AUTHOR AND DATE
Jewish tradition credits Samuel as the author, which is plausible as he did not die until after he had anointed David as God’s chosen king. However, neither internal features nor external testimony conclusively identifies the writer. This exquisite story most likely appeared shortly before or during David’s reign of Israel (1011–971 BC), since David is mentioned but not Solomon. Goethe reportedly labeled this piece of anonymous but distinguished literature as “the loveliest complete work on a small scale.”
BACKGROUND AND SETTING
Aside from Bethlehem, the only other mentioned geographic/national entity is Moab, the perennial enemy of Israel located east of the Dead Sea. This country originated when Lot fathered Moab by an incestuous union with his oldest daughter (see Genesis. 19:37). Centuries later, the Jews encountered opposition from Balak, king of Moab, through the prophet Balaam (see Numbers 22–25), and then Moab oppressed Israel for eighteen years during the time of the judges. The story of Ruth occurred during those days (c. 1370 to 1041 BC) and thus bridges the time from the judges to Israel’s monarchy.
Ruth 1:1 states that God used “a famine in the land” of Judah to set in motion this beautiful drama. However, this famine is not mentioned in Judges, which causes difficulty in dating the events. However, by working backward in time from the well-known date of David’s reign (1011–971 BC), the time period of Ruth would most likely be during the judgeship of Jair, c. 1126–1105 BC. Ruth covers about eleven to twelve years according to the following scenario: (1) ten years in Moab (see 1:1–18); (2) several months (mid-April to mid-June) in Boaz’s field (see 1:19–2:23); (3) one day in Bethlehem and one night at the threshing floor (see 3:1–18); and (4) about one year in Bethlehem (see 4:1–22).
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL THEMES
Ruth has been accepted as canonical by the Jews. Along with Song of Solomon, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations, it stands with the Old Testament books of the Megilloth or “five scrolls.” Rabbis read these books in the synagogue on five special occasions during the year—with Ruth being read at Jewish Pentecost due to the harvest scenes in Ruth 2–3. Genealogically, Ruth looks back almost nine hundred years to events during the time of Jacob and forward about one hundred years to the coming reign of David. While Joshua and Judges emphasize the legacy of the nation and their land of promise, Ruth focuses on the lineage of David back to the patriarchal era.
Seven major theological themes emerge in Ruth: (1) God’s redemptive plan extends beyond the Jews; (2) women are coheirs with men of God’s salvation grace; (3) Ruth portrays the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31:10; (4) God’s sovereign and providential care of seemingly unimportant people at apparently insignificant times later proves to be crucial to accomplishing his will; (5) Ruth, along with Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba, stand in the genealogy of the messianic line; (6) Boaz, as a type of Christ, becomes Ruth’s kinsman redeemer; (7) David’s right (and thus Christ’s right) to the throne of Israel is traced back to Judah.
INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES
Ruth should be understood as a true historical account. The reliable facts surrounding Ruth, in addition to its complete compatibility with Judges and 1−2 Samuel, confirm Ruth’s authenticity. However, some difficulties require careful attention. First, how could Ruth worship at the tabernacle in Shiloh, as the Law forbade Moabites from entering the assembly for ten generations? The answer can be found in the fact the Jews entered the land c. 1405 and Ruth was not born until c. 1150 BC, which means she represented at least the eleventh generation if the time limitation ended at ten generations. If “ten generations” was an idiom meaning “forever” (as Nehemiah 13:1 implies), then Ruth would be like the foreigner of Isaiah 56:1–8 who joined himself to the Lord, thus gaining entrance to the assembly.
Second, are there not immoral overtones to Boaz and Ruth spending the night together before marriage (see 3:3–18)? In fact, Ruth engaged in a common ancient Near Eastern custom by asking Boaz to take her for his wife, as symbolically pictured by throwing a garment of love and care over the intended woman. The text does not even hint at the slightest moral impropriety, noting that Ruth slept at his feet.
Third, would not the levirate principle of Deuteronomy 25:5–6 lead to incest and/or polygamy if the nearest relative was already married? In truth, God would not design a good plan to involve the grossest of immoralities punishable by death. Implementation of Deuteronomy 25:5–6 could involve only the nearest relative who was eligible for marriage as qualified by other stipulations of the Law.
Finally, was marriage to a Moabitess not strictly forbidden by the Law? The answer to this question is found in the fact that the nations to whom marriage was prohibited were those possessing the land Israel would enter, which did not include Moab. Further, Boaz married Ruth, a devout proselyte to Yahweh (see 1:16–17), not a pagan worshiper of Moab’s deities.