Training the Teacher Part 6

12. State the three divisions of Moses' life.

13. Where did Israel spend the first year after the Exodus?

14. What two great revelations did Moses receive at Sinai?

15. Where did Moses die?

Lesson 6

Joshua to Samson

Old Testament Division--Third Period (Concluded)

#Conquest of Canaan.#--Joshua became leader (Josh. 1:2).

Received command from G.o.d (Josh. 1:6-9). Victory at Jericho (Josh. 6), followed by defeat at Ai (Josh. 7). Central Palestine conquered, and a great a.s.semblage held at Shechem (Josh. 8:30-35). Southern and northern Palestine partially conquered (Josh. 10:1 to 11). Joshua's farewell (Josh. 23 to 24:27) and death (Josh. 24:29-33).

#Israel under Judges.#--Othniel delivered the people from Mesopotamia (Judg. 3:5-11). Ehud delivered from Moab (Judg.

3:12-30). Deborah and Barak delivered from Canaanites (Judg.

4:1 to 5:31). Terrible oppression under the Midianites, delivery by Gideon (Judg. 6:1 to 7:25). Jephthah delivered from Philistines and Ammonites (Judg. 10:6 to 12:7). Samson delivered from Philistines (Judg. 13:1 to 16:31).

#TIME.#--1458 B. C. to Samuel, 1121 B. C.

#PLACES.#--Palestine.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

#SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS.#--The Jewish nation under Joshua achieved success just so long as they obeyed fully the commands of G.o.d. The Judges, as leaders, were direct representatives of G.o.d--who was the actual head of the nation--and so far as G.o.d's laws were strictly obeyed, the nation prospered.

Joshua and the Judges

#45. Joshua Becomes Leader.#--At the death of Moses we see Israel on the east side of the Jordan, opposite Jericho. Joshua succeeds Moses as leader. To him comes G.o.d's command, "Moses, my servant, is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan." (Josh. 1:2.) Note here no sign of discouragement. Moses may be dead, but G.o.d still lives, and will work through Joshua as well as through Moses. Notice in the orders given by G.o.d to Joshua that no mention at all is made of sword, spear, or bow, but only of obedience. This is emphasized again and again and rightly, for in obedience to G.o.d's law lay Israel's hope (read Josh. 1:6-9).

#46.# Now follows the contest for the possession of the land. Jericho is taken, but at Ai defeat is experienced, on account of disobedience.

So Israel learns a costly but salutary lesson. Then follows the conquest of the central part of Palestine, ending at Shechem. Next in turn came southern Palestine, and then the northern part of the land (Josh. 10:1 to 11). Yet at the close of Joshua's life, not all of the land had been taken possession of. Still the heathen tribes held on in various places; and, indeed, they were not thoroughly subdued until the time of David.

#47. Reading the Laws of Moses.#--Worthy of note was the great a.s.semblage at Shechem, between the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, in the very center of the land, where the law of Moses was read, with its blessings and curses, to all the people (Josh. 8:30-35). Noteworthy also is the final address of the aged Joshua to his people, at Shechem, beseeching them to obey the law of Moses, recorded in chapter 24.

#48. The Period of the Judges.#--After the death of Joshua, the people seem to have become more or less disorganized. The tribes ruled themselves--at times well, and at times ill. During the times of the Judges the general trend of their history was as follows: Israel would fall into sin, and then as a punishment G.o.d allowed their foes whom they had spared to rule over them. Then in due time Israel would "lament after the Lord," that is, repent and call on the G.o.d of their fathers for deliverance. Then G.o.d would allow them respite, and by the hand of some one of the judges, whom he raised up, would give them deliverance (see Judg. 2:11-18). The chronology of the book of Judges is not very clear, and it is most probable that there were times when the "oppression" was not felt over all the land, but was only sectional. Just the lines for a right chronology are uncertain.

#49. Comparison of Periods of Oppression and Deliverance.#--Now if we desire in a general way to judge as to the proportion of G.o.dliness as compared with idolatry, that prevailed in these times, we can do so by adding up the years of "oppression" and those of deliverance. This will afford us a rough criterion as to the way in which Israel obeyed and disobeyed their G.o.d. For remember that the "oppressions" were the result of disobedience, while the "deliverances" were the result of true repentance. Worked out in this way, we have the following statement, in which the name stands for the country to which the people were in temporary bondage:

Mesopotamia, bondage 8 years,--rest 32 years.

Moab, bondage 18 years,--rest 22 years.

Canaan, bondage 20 years,--rest 20 years.

Midian, bondage 7 years,--rest 32 years.

Philistia and Ammon, bondage 18 years,--rest 7, 10, and 8 years.

Philistia, bondage 40 years,--rest 20 years.

Adding all these up, we find that the people were in bondage in whole or in part for 111 years, while they had "rest" as the result of their repentance for 151 years. Without pressing this mathematical calculation too far, we must nevertheless conclude that for more than half the time the nation at large obeyed G.o.d fairly well.

#50. Great Leaders among the Judges.#--Deborah and Barak, who, by their combined forces drove out the oppressors of Canaan, under Jabin their king. This man had mightily oppressed the people, he having nine hundred chariots of iron, against which poor Israel could bring no corresponding force. Yet when the Lord's time came, he was able to overthrow the armies of Jabin, through the courage and combination of the two persons named. Then the land had rest for forty years. (For a wonderful setting of the song of triumph that Deborah and Barak sang, let the student turn to Professor Moulton's "Literary Study of the Bible," pp. 133-142.)

#51.# After this came the terrible oppression of the Midianites, who, with their camels, their flocks, and herds came on the land like gra.s.shoppers, and ate up everything. Fortunately this oppression lasted only for seven years, otherwise there would have been nothing left. The deliverance from the hosts of Midian came through Gideon, whose three hundred men with torches and trumpets wrought havoc among the Midianite army. What the three hundred at Thermopylae were to Greece, that this three hundred were to the people of Israel.

#52.# Another terrible experience of Israel was that which came to them in connection with their oldtime foes, the Philistines and the Ammonites. Study the story as told in Judges 10:6-18, together with the narrative of their deliverance under Jephthah. Here the student will see clearly set forth the cause of the "oppression," verses 6-9, and the cause of the deliverance, verses 10-18. Jephthah was a rude man of his times, but then we must realize that rude times call for violent men.

#53.# The only other case to which attention is called here that of the longest of all the periods of oppression,--the second under the Philistines, which lasted forty years. Here it was Samson who was to deliver the people from the iron hand of the Philistines, and it took the iron hand of a Samson to do the work.

#54. Not a Time of National Unity.#--During all these many years, the government of the people was largely that of the tribal leaders. There was not the national unity that we saw in the days of their two great leaders, Moses and Joshua. Nor was there the same unity of action that came later on under the kings. But none the less, the great need of the people during these years was not so much political as religious.

Had they only obeyed the commands of G.o.d as given to Moses, and as reiterated by the angel of the Lord to Joshua, G.o.d would not have permitted them to be ground under the heel of their oppressors as they were. We fail to read the story aright unless we seize the truth that righteousness exalts a people, while sin is a reproach to any nation.

This truth has its modern as well as its ancient application.

Test Questions

Where was Israel at the time of the death of Moses?

Whom did G.o.d appoint to be Moses' successor?

What peculiarity was there in G.o.d's directions to Joshua?

In what order were the different parts of the land conquered?

Tell of the great a.s.sembly at Shechem.

What was the general trend of the history of Israel during the times of the Judges?

What was the cause of each period of "oppression"?

What was the cause of each "deliverance"?

Give the proportion of the years of "oppression" and those of "rest."

Give the first two leaders named as deliverers.

Who brought relief from the oppression of Midian?

Who delivered the people from the first Philistine bondage?

Who did the same thing in the case of the second Philistine bondage?

What was the condition of the people politically during the period of the rule of the Judges?