THE KINGDOM DIVIDES, ELIJAH THE PROPHET

"Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. So the Lord said to Solomon, 'Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."'

I Kings 11:9-13

THE KINGDOM DIVIDES  (I KINGS 11-16)

Solomon turned away from the LORD in his later years, worshiping the gods that his many wives had brought with them into the kingdom.  The kingdom of Israel divided in 975 B.C. because Solomon began to serve idols toward the end of his reign.  Rehoboam, his son, likewise made many mistakes that provoked the division.  Considering how much God had blessed him, it is sad that Solomon failed to remain faithful to his beloved Jehovah.  God had made him famously wise and wealthy, yet he strayed from the One he once said he loved.  Because of his unfaithfulness, God was angry with him.  He promised Solomon that after his death, his kingdom was going to be divided, torn in two because of his disobedience.  God kept His promise!  Israel remained a split nation, split because of the king's apostasy.  Do you remember the warning that God gave Israel through the Prophet Samuel about having a king?  God said that an earthly king would bring hardship.  And indeed, this was happening.  Indeed, very few of Israel's later kings honored the LORD as David and Solomon had done in the early years of their reigns.  Because of this unfaithfulness and disobedience to God, Israel paid a terrible price: they lost God's protection and eventually lost their kingdom.

I.   I Kings 11:26-43

As God had promised, He raised up a subordinate against Solomon.  His name was Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, who was the son of Solomon's servant Nebat.  He was chosen to be the leader, and head of Solomon's northern tribes referred to as the Northern Kingdom because of their geographical location in the northern end of Israel.  Jeroboam was approached by a prophet named Ahijah the Shilonite, who told him that he would become king of the ten tribes of Israel since Solomon had sinned.  Moreover, he also learned that his kingdom would be equal to David's, giving all of Israel to him.  But there was one condition.  He was to obey God's commands, walking in His ways and doing what was right in His sight.  When Solomon heard this, he sought to put Jeroboam to death, but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt for safety where he was welcomed.  He remained in Egypt until Solomon died.  Solomon reigned a total of forty years and was buried with his fathers.  His son Rehoboam then ascended the throne.  Soon Jeroboam returned to Israel to claim his place as king of the northern tribes.

II.   Egyptian King Shishak or Sheshong (935-914 BC)

Sheshong was a Lybian warrior who most likely was the pharaoh who befriended Jeroboam when he fled to Egypt for security.  Remember, Solomon wanted to kill him. Sheshong married one of the old pharaoh's daughters.  Then claimed the throne when the pharaoh died.  This was the beginning of Egypt's 22nd Dynasty.  Sheshong is well known for his military campaigns against the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.  He attacked Jerusalem stripping the Temple of its treasures.  He even took the beautiful golden shields that Solomon had made.  Later he went north attacking Jeroboam's forces at Megiddo.  There he built a stele with his name on it to commemorate his victory.

KINGS OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM, ISRAEL 

The following dates were taken from A History of Israel by John Bright.  There are several possible sets of dates.  The dates will vary according to the scholars, but most of them mark the date of the divided kingdom as 931 BC.

KINGS OF ISRAEL

Jeroboam  922-901 BC	Bad Chosen by God.   Reigned for 22 years.   I Kings 14:19-20	When Solomon died, the kingdom's support was divided between Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor, and Jeroboam, whom the LORD had chosen as king.  Rehoboam increased the burdens of forced labor and high taxes, which had already grown heavy under Solomon's reign.  The northern tribes rebelled.  When they complained to Rehoboam seeking more lenient treatment, he took it as an insult to kingship.  Moreover, he threatened to impose twice the burden that his father had.   They revolted.  The ten northern tribes left the kingdom and followed Jeroboam, forming a new nation with the same name as the old one, Israel.  Only two tribes remained faithful to the house of David:  Judah and Benjamin along with some Levites.  The southern kingdom became known as Judah.  They were all that was left to Rehoboam.  It is sad that the great kingdom that had taken David and Solomon 80 years to build was diminished in such a short time after Solomon's death.  Without a doubt, this division of the kingdom made it more vulnerable, making it easier for their foreign enemies to attack both kingdoms.  Jeroboam made a disastrous mistake at the beginning of his reign.  In attempting to resolve a place to worship, Jeroboam created two places of worship since Israel did not include Jerusalem where the LORD'S Temple was located.  In these new places of worship, he put two golden calf idols:   one in Dan on the northern border and another one in Bethel on the southern border.  His second mistake was to appoint non-Levite priests.  Moreover, he also changed the holidays that God had ordained.  To make things worse, Jeroboam refused to receive the counsel of the prophet sent by God.  As a consequence of this, Jeroboam lost favor with God.  God cut off his line, his dynasty.   When Jeroboam died, his son also did evil before God.  From then on, none of the kings of Israel obeyed or followed God, I Kings 12-14.
Nadab 901-900 BC	Bad He reigned For two years. He was assassinated.   I Kings 15:25	Nadab was the son of Jeroboam.  He did evil before the LORD.  Judah captured the Southernmost part of Israel’s region after he took the throne.  This left the kingdom weak allowing the Philistines to take advantage of Nadab’s weaknesses.  Baasha killed him and his entire family at Gibbethon, taking the throne.  I Kings 15:25-31
Baasha  900-877 BC	Bad Reigned for 24 years.   I Kings 15:33	He did not follow the LORD and did evil in His sight.  He smote all the house of Jeroboam, fulfilling Ahijah’s prophecy, I Kings 5:29-30.  He surely had a brutal beginning.  Military losses marked his reign.  He fought with Asa, king of Judah.   I Kings 15:29-16:5-6
Elah  877-876 BC	Bad Reigned seven years. Assassinated.   I Kings 16:8	One of his army officers named Zimri killed him when was drunk.  Zimri then proceeded to kill everyone in Elah’s line to claim the throne.   I Kings 16:8-14
Zimri 876 BC	Bad. Reigned seven days. Assassinated.   I Kings 6:15	His savage brutality did not help him at all.  He only reigned for seven days.  The Israelites refused to validate his kingship, and instead, they claimed Omri, the second commander of the army as king.  When Zimri realized that he had lost all support, he set fire to the palace and died in the same fire.   I Kings 16:11-20
Omri  876 – 869 BC	Very Bad. Chosen by army. He reigned 12 years.   I Kings 16:23	He did not follow the LORD but did evil.  He was considered to be more evil than the other kings.  He obtained Samaria, this being one of his biggest accomplishments.  He also built its capital there.   I Kings 16:23-28
Ahab  869-850 BC	The Worst Inherited throne. He reigned in Samaria for 22 years.   I Kings 16:29	He did evil.  He is considered the worst of all of Israel’s kings.  He married Jezebel, a Phoenician woman, to make an alliance with the king of Tyre.  Jezebel was a devoted Baal worshiper who brought with her hundreds of Baal prophets.  Ahab tolerated and worshiped them.  He also took part in their ceremonies.   In the days of Ahab, Hiel built Jericho with the loss of his first born as well as his youngest son, fulfilling the prophecy of Joshua, Joshua 6:26. The LORD raised up a great prophet named Elijah, who confronted the king, Ahab.  I Kings 16:29-17:24

GIANTS OF THE FAITH:  ELIJAH, THE FIERY PROPHET (I KINGS 17-22 & 
II KINGS 1)

The Bible is full of extraordinary people, and the prophet Elijah is certainly one of them.  He is called the "fiery prophet." He lived during the reigns of Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, kings of the Northern tribes of Israel.  Elijah (meaning "my God is Jehovah") is one of the Old Testament’s greatest prophets.  He performed many miracles from God such as:

• He defeated the prophets of Baal. (Called fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice)
• He raised a boy from the dead.
• He predicted the fates of Ahab and Jezebel.
• Finally, he ascended to heaven in a chariot when his time came. 

Because of Ahab’s sin, Elijah proclaimed under God’s instructions that it would not rain until Elijah said so.  When he announced this prophecy, Ahab and his wife Jezebel sought to kill him.  He fled for his life.  For three years, God took care of Elijah hiding him in the wilderness.  Elijah camped beside a brook where ravens fed him with bread and meat every day.  Notice that Elijah hid even in Jezebel’s former country, a Baal worshipping country.  Perhaps, God protected him there to demonstrate that He was LORD of Baal’s territory as well as Israel.  When the drought dried up the brook, God sent Elijah to the house of a widow in Sidon, a Phoenician city.  That widow sustained him.

Elijah’s first miracle:  When the Prophet met this poor widow she was down to her last portions of food.  She planned to feed herself and her son one last time and then wait to die.  When Elijah first met her, he asked her to share her last meal with him.  He even asked her to feed him first but reassured her that God was going to provide.  In return, trusting Elijah, God provided her with enough to make what they needed.  Isn't it amazing that our God has such power over the forces of nature?

Elijah’s second miracle:  The widow’s son suddenly became ill and died.  She cried out to Elijah believing that this was happening because of her past sins, Elijah took her son and cried to the LORD.  He stretched himself upon the child three times.  He asked the LORD each time to restore the life of the child.  Miraculously, the boy’s life returned to his body and Elijah carried him back to his mother.  After seeing this, the widow placed her faith in the God of Elijah.  Again, isn’t it something that God had power over life and death even in Baal’s territory?

Elijah’s third miracle:  After three years of drought, the LORD spoke to Elijah again telling him to return to Ahab.  When Elijah saw Ahab, he challenged him to a duel of deities.  Elijah proposed to Ahab that he bring all of the 450 prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel to represent their god.  Elijah, on the other hand, would represent the LORD all by himself.  Once there, Elijah told the prophets of Baal to lay out a bull as a sacrifice to their god.  He told them to call on their god to ignite the fire.  After their altar had been built, they began to call on the name of their false gods.  When nothing happened, they began to dance.  Elijah mocked them asking if perhaps Baal might be sleeping or traveling or perhaps too busy.   They began to cry out with a loud voice and cut themselves, offering their blood in an effort to attract Baal’s attention.  To their surprise, nothing happened.  By evening, it was evident that their altar would remain unlit.    When it was Elijah’s turn, he used twelve stones, one for each tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel and rebuilt the altar on Mt. Carmel that was torn down by their false prophets.  Although there were only ten tribes after the kingdom was divided, all twelve tribes were still God’s people.  Do you remember other times when God’s people built 12 stone altars or monuments?  How about Moses in Exodus 24 and Joshua in Joshua 4?  There on Mt. Carmel, Elijah asked the people to drench the sacrifice three times with water and to fill a trench all the way around the altar with more water.  They did as he requested.  When it was the usual time for the evening sacrificial offering, Elijah prayed for God to make Himself known.  He prayed, and the LORD answered decisively:

"At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.' Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.'"  I Kings 18:36-39.

Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel accentuates a beautiful contrast between false gods like Baal and the only True God.  Consider this contrast:

• The only True God provides what His people need without the need for rituals such as dancing and bloodletting such as is done in many forms of idolatry and false religions.
• The only True God does not demand that His people cut and hurt themselves that God might hear them.
• The only True God does not sleep or need rest and is never far away.  God is always present, and He is never too busy for those who love Him, unlike the false gods who seem to be sleeping when their prophets call on them.
• Unlike the false gods, the one True God is Master of all creation.  Everything is under His control.
• The one True God cares graciously for His people providing what they need even when they fall short.   The false gods cannot do this.
• Unlike false gods, God has all power to withhold the rain, as in this drought or to send the rain as He did when Elijah prayed on Mt. Carmel.  He does all this whenever He chooses to do so.

Elijah killed all of the prophets of Baal.  As Elijah ran back to Ahab’s capital, it began to rain.  The drought was over!  Elijah had proven once again that God alone has power over all the natural forces such as fire and rain.

When Ahab returned to his wife Jezebel and told her all that had happened, she immediately plotted to kill Elijah.  She sent a message to let him know that she was going to kill him.  Elijah fled for his life.  He was so disturbed by Jezebel’s evil plan that he pleaded with God to take his life.  The LORD, however, had other plans for him.  God sent an angel to nourish Elijah with a jar of water and cake, baked over hot coals.  He sent an angel twice to provide nourishment to prepare him for a 40-day journey to Mt. Horeb/Sinai, with no food at all.  Can you imagine that?   Nourished but deeply depressed, Elijah walked to Mt. Horeb.  He felt that he was completely alone and that no one else served God in all of Israel.

Notice Elijah’s encounter with God on Mt. Horeb after the events of Mt. Carmel:

Alone in his cave, he waited to hear from the LORD. And while he was waiting, a windy storm arose, but God was not in the storm.  An earthquake shook the cave, but God was not in the earthquake. A fire passed by, but God was not in the fire.  Finally, Elijah heard a still small voice, and he went out of the cave to hear God speak.  What is the lesson here?  That God is not Baal. That God is the Creator of all the earth along with the elements that are in it.  But He is not the elements themselves.  He is a personal God, who desires a relationship with His creation.  This still small voice comes with encouraging words and a reminder that He alone is Sovereign.

So important was Elijah as a prophet of God, that the Messianic prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6, invokes his name to foresee the work of John the Baptist.

"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.  He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."

Fascinating Facts:  Baal Worship

The Israelites learned Baal worship from the Canaanites as well as from the Phoenicians like Jezebel.  Baal worship focused mainly on fertility and the cycles of nature:  growing crops, raising livestock and having children.  Baal worshipers also believed that their storm god Baal caused life-giving rain since rain happened only during the rainy season, once a year.  The story developed that Baal had to struggle each year with Mot, the god of death, to break the drought and cause the rains to come. Moreover, the rituals performed by the Baal worshipers such as body cutting, frenzied dancing, human sacrifice and acts of prostitution in the temple encouraged fertility and gave Baal the energy he needed to defeat Mot.

The Israelites were continually drawn into Baal worship.  Their failure was that they wanted to serve two gods:  the God of their fathers who brought them out of slavery in Egypt and Baal who according to what they believed and assumed brought life to their crops and livestock.

Elisha’s Call (I Kings 19:19-21)

When Elijah left Mount Horeb, he found Elisha, who was plowing the fields with his oxen.  Elijah passed by and threw his cloak over him.  In this symbolic act, Elijah indicated that Elisha was chosen to take up Elijah’s ministry.  In an agrarian society, oxen are a crucial possession.  When Elisha took his pair of oxen and sacrificed them and gave it to the people to eat, it indicated a full break from his past.  Now Elisha was ready and willing to leave everything to follow Elijah and minister to him.

Naboth’s Vineyard (I Kings 21)

Ahab had fallen in love with Naboth’s vineyard that happened to be located next to his palace.  Ahab offered to buy that land from Naboth, but he refused.  When Jezebel heard of this and saw how gloomy her husband was and that he was not eating, she immediately began to plot against Naboth.  She wanted him dead!   When her wicked plan worked, she told her husband Ahab to take possession of the land he had coveted so badly.  Now it was time for Elijah to have one last encounter with Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel.   When Elijah confronted Ahab with this horrendous crime, he answered, "Have you found me, O my enemy?'  Elijah answered, 'I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel;  and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and because you have made Israel sin.  Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken, saying, 'The dogs will eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.' The one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the field the birds of heaven will eat.'"

Indeed, Jezebel was a wicked woman.  Because of all this evil, God decreed that dogs would eat her body.  God was going to destroy his line.  And when Ahab heard these words of judgment, he tore his clothes, putting on sackcloth and fasted.  When the LORD saw that Ahab had humbled himself before Him, He decided to postpone the evil He promised until after Ahab’s death.  What a merciful God that He would be moved even by such a wicked man when he humbled himself before His mighty throne!

Ahab is Attacked by the Aramean King (I Kings 20 & 22)

Ben-Hadad, king of Aram (Damascus, in modern day Syria) got together his forces and left to attack Ahab in Samaria.  Ahab had defeated Ben-Hadad’s army twice with the LORD’S help.  Afterward, the two nations had made a treaty.   After three years, Ahab and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah joined forces to defeat Ben-Hadad's army.  Ahab, being a Baal worshiper sought counsel from his false prophets who all told him what he wanted to hear.  They predicted a victory.   Jehoshaphat insisted that they also seek the counsel of a prophet of the LORD.  When Micaiah arrived, he anticipated defeat for both Israel and Judah.   He also predicted the death of Ahab.  Ahab refused to believe this prophecy.

Now Ahab and Jehoshaphat waged war at Ramoth-Gilead, against the king of Syria.  Ahab worried about the prophecy, so he disguised himself before he went into battle.  Unfortunately, his disguise did not protect him.  He died in combat and was brought to Samaria where they buried him.  Ahaziah, his son, became king over Israel in his place.

Ahaziah  850-849 BC	Bad Inherited the throne. He reigned two years II Kings 1:17-18	Ahaziah worshiped Baal and did evil before the LORD.  He walked in the way of his father.  This angered the LORD.  When Ahaziah injured himself by falling through the lattice of an upstairs room, he sent messengers to the shrine of Baal to find out if he would live or die. Elijah intercepted the messengers and told them to tell Ahaziah that he would not leave his bed but would die. In anger, he sent fifty soldiers to capture Elijah. The prophet said to the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.  A second group of soldiers met the same fate. When the third group arrived, the captain begged Elijah to spare their lives. Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So he arose and went down with him to the king. Then he said to him, "Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'" Ahaziah died as the LORD had prophesied.  Since he had no heir, Jehoram, his brother became king in his place.  II Kings 1
Jehoram 949-843 BC	Bad Inherited the throne. He Reigned 12 years. Assassinated.  II Kings 3:2-3	Jehoram (Joram) did evil; however, he did put away Baal and discouraged its worship.  His reign coincided with the ministry of Elisha, the prophet. The two had many encounters.  Elisha warned him each time the king of Aram tried to move against Israel.  When Elisha provided water in the desert, he witnessed the miracle.  On one occasion, Elisha delivered the Arameans into Jehoram’s hands but did not allow him to kill them.  On another occasion, Elisha also predicted the day when the Aramean siege was going to be broken.  The Aramean soldiers fled because they thought they had heard the sound of mercenary chariots. When Jehoram was in the midst of the battle against the Arameans, Elisha anointed his army commander Jehu king of Israel.  He gave Jehu the charge of eliminating Jehoram and his family since Jehoram came from the line of Ahab.  When Jehoram was wounded in battle, he returned to his palace.  Jehu then chased him in a chariot.  He killed him on the same property or land that Ahab coveted and stole from Naboth.  Notice that this is what Elijah had prophesied before.  Afterward, Jehu hunted down and killed everyone in Ahab’s line, all of his seventy children.  Jezebel’s eunuchs threw her down from an upper story window of her palace.  There she died, and her broken body was eaten by dogs as prophesied by Elijah.  Jehu also killed all of the prophets of Baal.   II Kings 2-3:3

CONCLUSION:  It has been a joy for me to learn more about the division of the kingdom and the great work of the prophet Elijah.  Our next study will acquaint us with the great work of the prophet Elisha and the Kings that he worked with.

Luci

THE ISRAELITES IN CANAAN: RUTH

 

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

Ruth 1:16-17

THE BOOK OF RUTH

GIANTS OF THE FAITH:  RUTH

The Book of Ruth is such a breath of fresh air after all the sad and ugly events of the Book of Judges.  It is also such an inspiring, heart-felt Bible story of faith, loyalty and unconditional love.  The book begins with Naomi, a widow whose husband and sons have died, leaving her in despair without hope of an heir to carry on the family name.  Naomi also had a very unique and special daughter-in-law named Ruth.  The book ends with the same Naomi  holding her grandson who will become David’s grandfather hence one of Jesus' ancestors.  The Book of Ruth is one of my favorite Bible stories in the Old Testament because it is so rich with grace, mercy, beauty, loyalty and love.

The Book of Ruth is divided into six sections.  This beautiful book offers several similarities between the first and sixth sections, the second and fifth sections and the third and fourth sections.  This literary scheme is called a "chiasm," and it is found throughout the Scriptures.  This was a way to draw attention or emphasize something.   This chiasm helped the listeners to remember Scriptures more easily.

NAOMI'S SORROW (Ruth 1:1-5):    Naomi, her husband and sons were from the line of Judah. Naomi’s family were from Ephrath, the old name for Bethlehem.  When a famine struck the land during the days the judges governed,  they sojourned in the land of Moab.  Although they are in a foreign land, they chose to remain godly people determined to reject and embrace the gods of the foreigners.  This beautiful story opens with the deaths of Naomi’s husband and two sons.  She finds herself left alone in despair and without hope, along with two widowed daughters-in-law far from her homeland.  Notice that both daughters-in-law are Moabites, Gentiles.

THE CHOICE (Ruth 1:6-22):    When the famine is over, Naomi decides to go back home, to the land of Judah, little Bethlehem.  It is then that she realized she had nothing to offer her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah so she tells them to go back to their own mothers' house in order that they might be able to find husbands for themselves.  At first they both refuse but when Naomi appeals a second time, one of the daughters-in-law, Orpah, agrees to leave, leaving her with the other daughter-in-law, Ruth, who chooses to stay loyal to her mother-in-law, even though that meant leaving her own home.  I am convinced that the reason why Ruth wanted to remain with Naomi was because of the faith, conviction and beauty of her mother-in-law's righteous life and faith.  This would allow Ruth to declare her own love and loyalty to Naomi and faith in her God Jehovah.  The following is Ruth's reply to Naomi when she asked her to leave: 

"But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."   This makes my eyes water!

The two women then arrived in Bethlehem.  Naomi told her people all of her sorrows and loss.  At this point Naomi and Ruth are destitute and alone.

RUTH MEETS BOAZ (Ruth 2):  Under the Old Testament law, the law stated that when one reaped his  harvest, he had to leave the corners of  the field, nor could he gather the gleanings of his harvest so that the alien, the orphan and the widow could go behind the harvesters and glean whatever was left, Leviticus 19:9 and Deuteronomy 24:19.  It turns out that Naomi had a rich relative named Boaz. By “chance” when Ruth went out to glean, she came upon his fields. Boaz treated her kindly for the sake of his kinsman and gave her food.  Finally hope had arrived for both Ruth and Naomi!  When Boaz saw Ruth, he praised her for her faithfulness and loyalty toward Naomi.  He blessed her for it.  Boaz arranged things so that Ruth would find more to glean than the average widow.  At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar. So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left. When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, 'Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”  Ruth 2:14-16.

We can clearly see Boaz placing protection around Ruth and being kind to her.  When Ruth returned home she told Naomi everything.  When Naomi realized that Boaz was a kinsman redeemer, she praised God because He had not forgotten or forsaken them.  What a loving, kind and merciful God we serve!!!

RUTH PROPOSES TO BOAZ (Ruth 3):   Naomi encouraged Ruth into an action that would bring security to her daughter-in-law. Naomi sent Ruth to the threshing floor where the harvested grain was separated from the straw by threshing so that she could indicate to Boaz that she wanted him to redeem her.  Naomi coaxed Ruth into going to Boaz while he is sleeping , uncovering his feet and lying down at his  feet. When Boaz awoke, he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.” Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.  Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.  Now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives.  Lie down until morning.”  Ruth 3:9-13.

When she left in the morning she told everything to Naomi.  Ruth said,  "These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”  Ruth 3:17-18.

THE CHOICE (Ruth 4:1-12):    Boaz goes to the city gate, where business was usually conducted, and offers Naomi's land to the other relative, that was the closest kinsman redeemer, in the presence of a group of ten elders.  At first the kinsman redeemer wanted the land, but when he realized that Ruth was part of the deal, he refused to redeemer her.  Boaz then claimed his right to redeem the land and Ruth.  Boaz pledged himself to Ruth before the elders and all the people.  Finally, Ruth and Naomi were no longer alone and destitute!  God provided both a home and a heritage. 

NAOMI'S JOY (Ruth 4:13-22):    Boaz married Ruth and she bore him a son, Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, father of David.  Naomi, the desolate widow, now had a grandchild from her husband’s line to love and cherish.  What a beautiful story of God's providence!

THE KINSMAN REDEEMER:    Something interesting to note under the Law of Moses, is that if a person was forced to sell his property or sell himself into slavery, his nearest kin were allowed to step in and buy back whatever he sold.  This buyer was known as the "kinsman redeemer."  Also, if a family member died without an heir, the kinsman redeemer could carry on his name by marrying his widow and rear any son in the name of the widow's dead husband, his kinsman.  You can read of this in Leviticus 25:25, 48; Deuteronomy 25:5; Genesis 38:8.


Notice that both of these factors came into play in this beautiful story of Ruth.  Ruth was a widow who had borne her husband no heir leaving her in need of a kinsman redeemer to carry on her husband's line.  Also, since she was a  widow, she was eligible to receive part of her husband's estate along with his other property, Ruth 4:4-5.  Ruth decided to take advantage of this law, when Naomi made it known to her that she was selling her son's land.  In this way God provided for the widows as long as faithful Israelites like Boaz upheld the law.

A FINAL NOTE ABOUT THE BOOK OF JUDGES AND RUTH
The Book of Judges begins with hope but deteriorates into despair, closing with the pronouncement that Israel had no king.  The Book of Ruth on the other hand, begins with despair and no hope which later changes into hope.  The Book of Ruth closes with a genealogy.  The last name listed is that of Israel's greatest king, yet to be born:  Ruth’s great-grandson.

JESUS ANCESTORS UP TO THIS POINT
Abraham - Isaac - Jacob - Judah and Tamar - Perez - Hezron - Ram - Amminadab - Nashon - Salmon and Rahab - Boaz and Ruth - Obed - Jesse - King David

This beautiful story of Ruth shows clearly what happens when God's people uphold His good laws.  In my next study we will consider the transition to government by kings.


Luci

THE ISRAELITES IN CANAAN: JUDGES

 "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

Judges 21:25

The period of the Judges was discouraging as well as exhilarating. I invite you to think with me for a few moments over the things we learn from the Book of Judges. Our God is RIGHTEOUS but also MERCIFUL!

The Book of Judges is filled with shocking events and strange heroes.  It chronicles the various epochs in which Israel fell into rebellion and disobedience.  We see the everlasting faithfulness of God.  The two major themes of this book focus on the sinfulness of Israel and the faithfulness of God Jehovah.  It is amazing to me, as I read through the history of the Israelites and their relationship toward their God Jehovah, that this pattern of rebellion is repeated over and over again.  Notice the recurring pattern:  1)  The Israelites do evil before the LORD; 2)  The LORD allows some foreign king to oppress and/or enslave the Israelites;  3)  The Israelites cry out to God because of the oppression remembering their covenant with God; and finally, 4)  the LORD raises up a judge for them who delivers them because they are His people, the Israelites.  Although the Israelites broke their promise given to God before Joshua to never forsake the LORD, God never broke HIS promise!  By the time of Gideon in Judges 6, the Israelites are in severe decay, and it is more evident.  Even though a judge was a military leader as well as a hero, he was often a prophet and the judge who settled disputes.  The judge could come from any tribe.  Although this was a patriarchal society, there was one female judge named Deborah.  There were thirteen judges altogether.  Seven of them were considered major judges, heroes.

THE SEVEN MAJOR JUDGES:

OTHNIEL (Judges 3:7-11):  The Israelites began to commit evil before the eyes of the LORD, serving their idol gods.  The anger of the LORD was upon them selling them into the hands of an evil king from the north, Mesopotamia, who attacked them and defeated them, enslaving them for eight years.  The Israelites cried out to their LORD, and God heard them raising up Othniel, the son of  Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who became Israel's judge.  He fought against the king of Mesopotamia, defeating him.  After the victory,  Israel was at peace for forty years.

EHUD (Judges 3:12-30):   Again, the Israelites did evil before the LORD, and the anger of the LORD was against them.  He raised up and strengthened Eglon, king of the Moabites as a sign of His judgment toward them.  The Moabites, the Ammonites and the Amalekites waged war against the Israelites and defeated them.  They took the Israelites captive for eighteen years.  Once again, the sons of Israel cried out to Jehovah their God for help and Jehovah God raised up Ehud, a Benjamite, who was left-handed.  Ehud killed the Moabite king defeating and driving out the invaders.  This time, the land was at peace for eighty years.

DEBORAH  (Judges 4):   The Israelites forgot what they had learned and began again to do evil before the eyes of Jehovah their God.  They provoked Him to judgment.  In this judgment, the LORD gave them into the hands of the king of Canaan, Jabin, who reigned in Hazor with his commander named Sisera.  Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD.  This king had an army of nine hundred mighty iron chariots with which he attacked and oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. The Israelites began to listen to a woman named Deborah, who was a prophetess and she judged them at that time.  She liked to sit under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim.  She sent for a man named Barak and said to him, “Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.  I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’”   Now Barak replied, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”  She said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.”   Barak was to be the man she chose to lead the army.  Barak insisted that she come with him to war against the enemies.  She agreed, but she also prophesied that a woman would get the glory for the victory.  In the end, it was the woman Jael who killed the Jabin’s commander by driving a peg through his head.  Deborah and Barak sang: "When leaders lead and people are willing, praise the LORD! Blessed is Jael; Let your enemies perish, O LORD!"  Once again the land was at peace for forty years.

GIDEON (Judges 6-8):   The Israelites did what was evil in the eyes of their God Jehovah, and He gave them into the hands of the Midianites for seven years.  The Midianites oppressed the Israelites with such severity that the Israelites had to hide in dens, caves, and strongholds in the mountains.  Once again the Israelites cried out to their God Jehovah for help, and the LORD sent them a prophet.  He said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, and I said to you,  'I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me."  Judges 6:8-10.  Then the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon saying, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” Then Gideon said to him, 'O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.'  The Lord looked at him and said, 'Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?'   He said to Him, 'O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.'  But the Lord said to him, 'Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.'  So Gideon said to Him, 'If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me.  Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.' And He said, 'I will remain until you return."  Judges 6:12-18.

As you can see, Gideon objected at first but eventually he obeyed the LORD.  The LORD told him to tear down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah, a wooden totem.  When his people began to quarrel with him, his father Joash asked, “Will you contend for Baal?  Or will you save him?  Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning.  If he is a god let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”  That is how Gideon’s name was changed to Jerubaal, he who contends with Baal.  When the appropriate tribes were mustered for battle, the LORD told Gideon to send away all but 300 men. The 300 crept into the Midianite camp at night. They blew their trumpets and smashed their pitchers revealing burning torches.  They cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”  The Midianites fled.  Gideon defeated Zebah and Zalmunna and punished Succoth and Penuel.   Although this story ends on a positive note, because the land was at peace again for forty years, Gideon had to deal with a complaint from the tribe of Ephraim, because they were not called first.  With calm and wisdom, Gideon soothed their pride and vanity by reminding them of the “trophies” they had captured.  The Israelites asked Gideon to become their king believing that he had saved them from their enemies’ hands.  Actually, it was God who saved them.  In any case, he refused to change the pattern that God had ordained.  He refused to rule over them.  Although Gideon refused their offer, he did allow them to give him the golden earrings from the spoil with which he made an ephod of gold to place in Ophrah, and this became a snare to his family and all Israel who worshiped it.   When Gideon died Israel again served the Baals, especially the god Baal-Berith.

ABIMELECH (Judges 9):    Again, the Israelites did evil before their God.   Abimelech, one of Gideon's sons, raised himself up as Israel's king.  He killed his brothers, seventy men on one stone.  But Jotham, his youngest brother survived since he hid himself.  Then all the men of Shechem and all Beth-Millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar which was in Shechem.  Judges 9:6.

Jothan cried out to the people from the top of Mount Gerizim saying, "Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’  Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’  But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?’ Finally, all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’ The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’  'Now therefore, if you have dealt in truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have dealt with him as he deserved— for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian; but you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your relative— if then you have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech."  Judges 9:7-20.  Afterward, Jotham escaped and fled and went to Beer and waited for Abimelech, his brother.

Abimelech ruled over Israel for over 3 years.  The LORD sent an evil spirit between the men of Shechem and Abimelech. These men of Shechem dealt with Abimelech falsely.  The blood of Abimelech's brothers was on him and on the men of Shechem.  God caused the Israelites to fight against Israelites in this shocking story.  In the end, Abimelech was defeated.  A man named Gaal aroused and was against them.  Abimelech destroyed Shechem but was killed by a woman who tossed a millstone from the wall down on his head.  In point of fact, he committed suicide so that it would not be said that a woman had killed him.  God repaid Abimelech's evil and the curse of Jotham his younger brother came upon the men of Shechem.  Judges 9:53-57.

JEPHTHAH (Judges 10:6-12:7):   Again, the Israelites did evil before the LORD.  The Israelites ended up being oppressed by the Philistines and the Amorites for eighteen years.  The Israelites cried out to the LORD saying, "We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.” The Lord said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines?   Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands.  Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.”  The sons of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.”  Judges 10:10-15.   The LORD did not believe them, so they put away their idol gods and began serving the LORD.  They once again cried out to their God Jehovah, and the LORD raised up Jephthah, the son of a prostitute who had been rejected by his family.  The LORD has such a way of choosing his heroes!  Jephthah vowed to sacrifice whatever came out to meet him if he defeated the Ammonites. When he came home in victory, it was his daughter who came out to meet him with the joy of tambourines.  She was his only child, but to fulfill the vow he had to give her to the Lord.  The Ephraimites in their pride protested that Jephthah had not called them to fight their enemies.  They attacked Jephthah and Jephthah with the Gileadites defeated them.  They caught the survivors by making them say 'Shibboleth.'  Here again, the story ends sadly with Israelites fighting Israelites.

SAMSON (Judges 13-16):   Again the Israelites did evil before the LORD.  Thus the Philistines oppressed them for forty years.  Note that the Israelites did not cry to the LORD this time, yet the LORD still cared for them and showed mercy to them by raising up Samson.  This story is the longest story in the Book of Judges covering three chapters.  Samson was born of godly parents who raised him as a Nazarite, set apart for God from birth.  According to the Nazarite vow, he could not eat anything that came from the vine nor could he drink wine or strong drink, nor could he eat any unclean thing.  He could never cut his hair.  He had to observe all that the LORD commanded.

Samson is an unlikely hero in spite of his great beginnings.  He was spoiled and selfish, living for the desires of his flesh despite his Nazarite vow.  Against his parents' counsel, he chose a  Philistine woman to be his wife.  In spite of all this negative part about him, God used him against the Philistines, empowering and strengthening him with tremendous physical strength.  He killed a lion and bees made honey in the carcass.  He posed a riddle to the wedding party based on the marvel of the lion and the bees, but his wife under duress revealed it. Samson's wife married another man, so Samson burned the Philistine crops. The Israelites bound him and delivered him to the Philistines, but he killed a thousand Philistines when they took him into custody.  Samson then met a Philistine woman called Delilah whom he loved.  This Delilah was used by the Philistines to bring him down.  She tricked Samson into revealing his secret about his strength in his uncut hair, the sign of his vow to God.  She later brought a man to subdue him having one of them cut his hair while he was sleeping.  She had his head shaved so that he lost his strength and was captured.  His eyes were gouged out, and he was forced to amuse them.  They made him stand between the pillars.  He died pulling down the Philistine temple. There was a boy who was holding his hand whom Samson asked,  "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.  Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And about 3,000 men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them."  Judges 16:25-27.

 In the end, Samson prays to “O Lord God, please remember me, and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."  Judges 16:28.  God answers his prayers, and Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.  And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down, took him, brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah, his father. Thus he had judged Israel twenty years."  Judges 16:29-31.


ISRAEL'S DESCENT INTO UTTER CHAOS  (Judges 17-21)

The remainder of the Book of Judges, chapters 17-21, tells two shameful stories of Israel's lawlessness.  They were a nation without a king or a prophet.  They no longer worshiped and obeyed God Jehovah as a nation.  Most had turned to the foreign gods of the Canaanites.  The first story tells how a man makes his own idol and shrine, hiring his own personal priest to tend it.  Micah appointed a Levite as his priest.  Spies from Dan stayed with Micah.  The Danites from the Israelite tribe of Dan who should have known better, steal his idol and his priest for their own use.  When the Danites went against Laish, they took Micah's idol and his priest.  They named the city Dan.

The second story is even worse than the first, chapters 19-21.  When a Levite came to Gibeah, the men of the city raped his concubine until she died. He was so distraught that he cut up her body and sent a piece to each tribe.  In the ensuing war between Israel and the tribe of Benjamin,  the Benjamites were so decimated that only a few men survived while all the women were killed.  They had vowed to allow no daughters of their to marry a Benjamite, so they destroyed Jabesh-Gilead and captured wives for the remaining Benjaminites.  The Israelites had apparently failed to live up to their covenant with God during this period of Judges.  They descended into near moral chaos and lawlessness as a result of their rebellion and disobedience toward their God Jehovah.  The Book of Judges ends by saying, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."  Judges 21:25.    The Book of Judges begins with hope and deteriorates into despair closing with the pronouncement that Israel had no king.  God wanted so much to be Israel's king, but since they chose to reject God's kingship, God would give them the human king that they longed for in the Book of Samuel.  The Book of Judges leads into what follows in the Book of Samuel, in which God chooses a prophet who finds a suitable king for Israel.

In my next study, we will study the Book of Ruth which begins with despair that changes into hope.  Ruth closes with a genealogy of David, Israel's greatest king, Ruth’s great-grandson.


Luci

THE ISRAELITES IN CANAAN: JOSHUA, JUDGES AND RUTH

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

GIANTS OF THE FAITH: JOSHUA

After leaving Egypt, the Israelites were punished wandering in the wilderness for forty years because of their lack of faith and trust in their Jehovah God. They trusted more in their own flesh than in the Almighty God.

After forty years from the time of their Exodus from Egypt, all of the adults who were over the age of twenty were dead, except for Joshua and Caleb, Moses' best leaders. Notice that a new generation of Israelites had come into view, a generation with their hearts hardened and toughened by all the years of wilderness living. They had little or no memory of Egyptian slavery and the brutality of it. In other words, they had little memory of ever being oppressed slaves. They were more blessed in seeing all of God's provision for them, such as the daily manna. They had very little or no memory of the Egyptian gods, so their faith in their Jehovah was not contaminated by idolatry like that of their fathers. They were a group of men and women who had waited their entire lives to move into the land that was promised to their ancestors. Although they were disturbed and grieving over Moses' death, they were motivated enough with hope and joy that they were finally entering the Promised Land, Canaan. This conquest of the land, Canaan, finally happened around 1400 BC.

The Book of Joshua begins with the death of Moses and ends with the death of Joshua. Notice that it begins with God's promise to be their God and to take care of them and not forsake them. It ends with their covenant to follow and obey God. As we open the first page of this book, God is encouraging Joshua with these words:

"No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." Joshua 1:5

As the book closes, Joshua reminds the Israelites that their God Jehovah had been with them all throughout their wandering in the wilderness and had set them free from Egyptian slavery. He exhorted them to choose to follow and obey Him. In response to this they made a vow to God:

“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”  Joshua 24:14-18.

What remains of the Book of Joshua can be divided into two major sections:  the conquest and the dividing of the land.


THE CONQUEST (Joshua 1-12)
In order for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, they had to cross the Jordan River. This river was at flood stage when they were setting out to cross it. The LORD parted the Jordan River just as He had parted the Reed/Red Sea. "It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap. So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan." Joshua 3:13-17.

Joshua had already sent two spies to Jericho, the first Canaanite fortress they were planning to attack, Joshua 2.  The spies brought back the news that the Canaanites were terrified of the Israelites and the God they served. While in Jericho, these two spies, were protected by a Canaanite woman named Rahab who risked her life in order to save them from being discovered.

After crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites built a monument that was made out of 12 stones taken from the river bed. After that Joshua had all the men circumcised as an oath to reaffirm their covenant with their God Jehovah. Then they celebrated the Passover. After they had the Passover meal, they ate produce from Canaan, and then the manna from heaven finally stopped after forty years, Joshua 4 and 5:1-14.

The rest of the conquest of the land section includes the following account stories of fascinating interest to read:

Joshua 5 & 6:  The LORD asks Joshua to have all the men circumcised. They called the place where they were staying Gilgal. Here the LORD asked the army to march around Jericho. The walls of the city came down on the seventh day of marching by the hand of God without any Israelite demolition!
Joshua 7:   Achan had taken some of the banned items during the battle of Jericho. When the army went out against Ai, they were defeated because of Achan's sin. When the LORD revealed the cause of their defeat, Achan and all of his house were stoned to death.
Joshua 8:1-29:  Total destruction of Ai as commanded by the LORD.
Joshua 8:30-35:  Joshua renewed the covenant with God by building an altar of uncut stones on Mt. Ebal, offering sacrifices and then writing on stones all of the Laws of Moses.
Joshua 9: The Gibeonites dressed up as distant foreigners in order to deceive Joshua into making a treaty of security contrary to the laws that God had given to Moses.
Joshua 10:  The five southern kings of the Amorites united together against the Gibeonites because of the treaty that they had made with Israel. Israel attacked the Amorite kings. The sun stood still in order for the Israelites to have enough daylight to destroy the Amorites. Joshua killed the five kings conquering their southern cities.
 Joshua 11:  Joshua turned north overcoming the northern cities. Hazor was totally destroyed like Ai and Jericho. Joshua took over the whole land.
Joshua 12:  Joshua defeated 31 kings. These were the kings from both sides of the Jordan river, the ones destroyed while Moses still led them on the east side and the ones destroyed by Joshua on the west side. God is amazing!  He was with Israel, Moses and Joshua giving them the victory.



DIVIDING THE LAND (Joshua 13-22) 
There were thirteen Israelite tribes.  Jacob had twelve sons, but he also adopted Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. This would allow Joseph to receive a double portion of his father's estate, a firstborn's portion.

The Tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe, had a special provision: they were not given a separate division of land but rather received towns within each of the other tribes' divisions in order that they could live and minister among the people. For this reason the land was divided into twelve sections on both sides of the Jordan River (see map), even though they were thirteen tribes.

GIANTS OF THE FAITH: RAHAB

Rahab is an unusual and interesting character in the Bible. Remember, she protected the two Israelite spies from being discovered just before the conquest of the land of Canaan. I admire her profound understanding of their God Jehovah during this process of conquest. She secured her own protection through her bargain with these two spies. Although she was a Gentile woman, she is part of Jesus' genealogy!

Joshua sent two spies to investigate the land of Canaan especially Jericho. They were able to enter Jericho ending up in Rahab's house. Although, she is known as Rahab, the harlot, it is uncertain why the spies came into her house. I am pretty sure this was the hand of God Jehovah. When the king of Jericho heard that the Israelites had come to search out all the land, he sent word to Rahab demanding she bring out these two spies and be given into his hands. Instead, she lies, saying that she did not know where the men were from. She also said that the men escaped when it got dark and she did not know where they went. She urged the king’s men to pursue quickly and overtake them. As soon after the king’s men left, the gates were shut. Rahab, came to the spies on the roof where they were hiding and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.  For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.  Now therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” Joshua 2:9-13.  

Then she helped them escape through her window, down the wall with a rope and out of the city. That scarlet rope hanging out her window was to become the signal that saved her from the invading Israelites.
In return for her help, the spies and Rahab made a covenant to spare her life when the Israelites came to conquer Jericho. This promise was fulfilled:
 
"However, Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho."  Joshua 6:25.   Rahab’s faith in the true God was very rare among the polytheistic Cannanites.  It is stunning to me that although she was a prostitute and a Gentile when she cast her lot with the people of  God that God would receive her and honor her as a hero of faith.  

There is no more mention of Rahab's name again in the Bible until the New Testament. She is listed in the Gospel of Matthew as the mother of Boaz, the man who married Ruth. This makes her one of Jesus' ancestors. She appears again in the Book of Hebrews, in the chapter known as the “faith hall of fame.” She joints a list of heroes of the faith in God without ever seeing what they hoped for:

"By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace." Hebrews 11:31. Also, we read of her in James 2:25, "In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?"  God's ways are not our ways!

THE SAVAGERY OF THE ISRAELITES' CONQUEST OF THE PROMISED LAND

In both Joshua and Judges, the Israelites are charged by God not merely to drive out the inhabitants of the land, but to destroy them all. This would include all men, women and children. This might sound shocking and brutal to many. Some may dare to question God's unfairness in demanding that the Israelites should do all of this savagery and killing. Others perhaps might be wondering why a loving and merciful Jehovah God could demand the killing of all including children. In response or before any other speculations let us consider the following:

• God is the Creator, Judge and Ruler of all creation.  He alone has the power to hold life in His hands.
• As Judge, God has all rights to decide who or which nation has reached a level of sin that cannot be condoned.  Notice that the sins of these Canaanites had reached the climactic level. God is longsuffering, but not forever. The sins of the Canaanites are mentioned in Leviticus 18:1-24.  The list includes all manner of perverse sexual immorality as well as child sacrifice. These were abominations to our Jehovah God.
• The destruction done by the Israelites was an act of DIVINE judgment. Don't forget that Israel became God's instrument for judging all of these nations. The destruction was not the Israelites' idea but rather it was God's judgment on them.
• The Israelites did not destroy the Canaanites because of their own righteousness, but because the Canaanites were absolutely sinful, Deuteronomy 9.
• God was not being arbitrary in His judgments. He had warned the Israelites that if they should commit these abominations, then they were going to meet the same judgment as the Canaanites, Leviticus 18:25-30.
• Finally, since the Israelites disobeyed God’s instructions and allowed many Canaanites to remain, they were eventually led to their own death. Notice that they even married into some of the Canaanite families contrary to God’s specific orders.  Their stubbornness and lack of faith in Jehovah their God led them to go astray worshiping the Canaanite gods.  Eventually they were driven out of the land themselves.  Sadly, they trusted more in their own flesh than in their God Jehovah.  God is a jealous God!
  
  

JOSHUA AND MOSES

The following are some interesting similarities between Moses and Joshua:

• Both were called by God who directly promised each one that He would never forsake them.
• Both were God's instruments used to speak to His people.
• Both led the Israelites across water that God parted for them to cross.
• Both had encounters with God in which they were told to remove their shoes.
• Both presented stone tablets to the people with the law written on them. 
• Both were given tasks that seemed impossible for any men.
• Both were witnesses of Jehovah God's mighty acts of power over nature.
• Both are mentioned in Hebrews 11 as heroes of the faith, in the "hall of fame."
   

In my next study we will be discussing the Book of Judges.

Luci