Week Ten Reading Assignment:
Joshua 21 - Judges 19

"We believe and confess the Canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men.  For God Himself spake to the fathers, prophets, apostles, and still speaks to us through the Holy Scriptures."

(The Second Helvetic Confession,1566)

This Week's Video: Ad Hoc Leadership

Good Book Review: Israel's Wild West

The era of the Judges has often been referred to as Israel’s wild, wild west days.  It is an apt comparison, for this is the frontier period in Israel’s history, and it is marked by the same rough-and-tumble lawlessness that we associate with our own country’s frontier.

Previously, the leadership in Israel had been clear.  During these first gener-ations of settlers in the Promised Land, however, leadership was a much more sketchy business.  And in the absence of clear, strong, godly leadership, Israel sank into chaos. 

The Book of Judges features some familiar names, characters, and stories -- perhaps most notably Samson and Gideon.  It also introduces us to a few stories that we never learned as children in Sunday School, however.  Grim and violent stories that bear witness to an awful era.  
 
So it was that Israel sputtered along in fits and starts.  They ran hot and cold, obeying and disobeying, loosely under the direction of a series of uneven ad hoc leaders known as the judges. They were as apt to fight one another as they were their actual enemies.  For, as the narrator reminds us at key points along the way, there was no king in Israel, and so each man did what was right in his own eyes.  
"If you find something when you are reading the Bible that is difficult to understand or seems repugnant, don't be too hasty to reject it. The problem may be your ignorance, and may have nothing to do with the Bible."

(Miles Coverdale)

What To Watch For This Month

Victory and defeat are big issues in these Old Testament history books.  And they are big issues for us, too.  We sometimes feel embattled or defeated, and Paul assures us that we are en-gaged in spiritual warfare.  As you read the many accounts of God’s people at war, what seem to be the keys to victory and the reasons for defeat?  

The sacred Ark, so central in the Pentateuch, continues to make signi-ficant cameo appearances during these stories from Israel’s history.  Make a note of each occasion when the Ark appears, and jot down a summary of what happens to it and around it.  

The people of God are always people.  And at any given time, people have some prevailing problem. At the end of each book, summarize what you think the people’s problem was.  
 
Samuel is one of the key figures in Scripture.  In what ways does he remind you of earlier notables (e.g., Abram, Moses, Joshua)? 

The first two kings of Israel, Saul and David, were both anointed by Samuel, both promising at the start, and both imperfect men who disobeyed God.  In the end, they are remembered very differently. Compare the men, their lives, and their reigns.  

Almost all of the books we read this month (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) are categorized in the Hebrew Scriptures as “former prophets.”  We typically regard these as history books, while we think of the prophets as men who talk about the future.  Why do you suppose these books about the past are labeled “former prophets”?  
 
At the end of a day’s reading, it might be helpful to ask, “If I didn’t know anything about God except for what I read today, what would I know about Him?” 
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