Joshua and Judges

1
Joshua and Judges

• The Conquerors and the Conquered

2
Conquest of Canaan

• completes the promise to the Patriarchs they
  are entering into their land which flows with
  milk and honey.
• many famous stories
• battle of Jericho
• Rahab the prostitute
• crossing of the Jordan river
• challenges the reader to live in obedience to
  covenant so as to receive Gods blessings

3
Death of Moses

• Deuteronomy provides thematic and narrative
  framework for Joshua-2 Kings
• theme those who follow law will be blessed
• they didnt and were cursed with exile (etc.)
• narrative Moses was forbidden to enter Canaan
  (Deut 312 3251-52)
• M. to command water from rock
• He struck it with his staff and God punishes him
  by forbidding his entering Canaan (Num 20)

4
Moses Death

• he is buried in Moab but no one knows his burial
  place to this day (Deut 346)
• he was 120 years of age, his sight was perfect
  his body whole
• Holy War
• God had promised the patriarchs the land flowing
  with mile and honey (Deut 273)
• but they have to fight for it.

5
Controlled Destruction

• Deut 20-21 enjoin against uncontrolled
  destruction
• Offer terms of peace (forced labor)
• only adult males to be killed first
• trees not to be cut down
• a captive woman is allowed a months mourning
  period (to avoid rape)
• yet Deut 2016

6
Joshua and Conquest

• a straightforward account of a holy war in the
  promised land
• archaeological support for Conquest
• Hyksos, an Asiatic group, moved into Egypt in the
  1720s. time of Joseph?
• New Kingdom Egypt 18th Dynasty (1570s) the
  Hyksos were expelled.
• Exod 1240 in Egypt total of 430 years.
• Dates Exodus and Conquest to 13th Century
  period of Ramses II

7
Conquest Continued

• Archaeology attests to some Canaanite cities
  destroyed in the late 1200s
• Beth-El, Debir, Lachish, Megiddo, and Hazor
• Allbright, Bright and Wright perspective
  dominated the scholarship early in 20th Cen.
• Serious challenges have arisen
• debris layers could be caused by intercity
  warfare, internal revolt
• they dont seem to be all at exactly the same time

8
Egypts Bid for Power

• If Ramses II is the Pharaoh of the Exodus, he
  became severely weakened at this time
• forces were ambushed and mauled by Hittites in
  Kadesh (Syria)
• He claims a whooping victory on the walls of his
  temple, but it was a military stalemate
• Just barely able to hold on to Canaan

9
Merneptah and his Stele

• Ramses son Merneptah faced more severe
  challenges invasions of Sea Peoples
• His son, Ramses III (1183-1152) deal also with
  invasion of Sea Peoples
• Swept in from Crete, Greece and Cyprus in huge
  and varied hordes
• Brought Hittites to their knees, almost destroyed
  Egypt

10
Images of the Sea Peoples
11
Merneptahs Stele

• Invading Israelites moved into central hill
  country, avoiding contacts with Canaanite Cities
  and Egyptian strongholds
• In 1220, Merneptah set up stele, claiming to have
  quelled unrest in Syria and Palestine
• Makes first reference to Israel for this reason
  it is very very important
• first reference to Israel outside of the Bible

12
Mereneptahs Stele

• Israel is laid waste, his seed is not.
• Harru is become a widow of Egypt

13
Steles Statement

• Israel is described as a people
• unsettled group of pastoralists
• not a city or a land
• Israel is present in Palestine in the 13th Cen.
• Yet, Merneptahs intrusion is completely
  unmentioned in Joshua/Judges!
• a discrete silence? very hard to say!

14
Historical Context

• Invasion of Canaan and expansion into hill
  country made possible by historical events
• no reference to Egyptian interference made
• after death of Merneptah (1211) Egypt lost
  control of its Asiatic empire
• lapsed into confusion and impotence
• Hittites disappeared from world stage
  Phillistine invasion and Egyptian defeat
• Assyria and Babylon were still in infancy

15
Israels Rivals

• Israels political rivals were all in Canaan
• new nations in Transjordan
• raiders from Arabian desert
• Canaanite city-states
• newly arrived Philistines
• Period of general political breakdown
• major world-empires had fallen apart at the seams
• period of local kingdoms and local control
• Canaanite cities under stress with loss of
  Egyptian backing

16
Israels Conquest of Canaan

• Josh 1-12 sets for the dramatic story
• whole land fell to Joshua in three decisive
  campaigns
• first western side of the Jordan, Jericho and
  Ai and moved up to Shechem with no resistance
• second southern hill country yet bypassing some
  fortified towns
• third northern hill country Galilee with
  decisive victory at Hazor (Josh 11)

17
The Rest of the Story

• chs 13-21 describe the division of the land into
  tribal units
• pockets of Canaanite presence which each tribe is
  encouraged to expell (ch 13)
• chs 22-24 Israel begins to settle the land
• misunderstandings almost lead to civil war (22)
• Joshuas final challenges
• As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!
  (2415)
• death and burial of Joshua (2428f)

18

• Tribes of Israel

19
And Yet!!

• Judges 1 gives a very different picture
• first question after Joshuas death Who shall go
  up first for us against the Canaanites to fight
  against them?
• Also Judges 18 credits Judah with capturing
  Jerusalem, yet 2 Sam 5 claims it was not captured
  until Davids time
• overall, Judges illustrates a very incomplete
  picture of the conquest

20
Competing Pictures

• Joshua gives us a telescoped picture, compressed,
  through eyes of Deuteronomist
• based on ancient traditions book of Jashar in
  Joshua 1013-14
• Israelite occupation was a complex process
• long time involved
• many tribes coming together
• all finally unified by worship at one central
  sanctuary at Shiloah

21
Transition to Iron Age

• transition late Bronze to Early Iron (1200)
• Many technological advancements
• new iron tools used for weaponry and agriculture
• Josh 1716-18, Judges 119,
• waterproof plaster-lined cisterns for storage of
  rainwater
• terraced hillsides for cultivation of crops

22
Various Models

• because of the complexity of the biblical data
• and the difficulties on the archaeological front
• various burn levels that could be associated with
  Israelite invasion but
• new Israelite settlement in hill country
• little difference between Israelite cultural
  assemblages and Canaanite
• various models have been presented

23
Immigration Model

• a relatively peaceful migration into sparsely
  populated hill country
• tribes represent population waves
• Six Leah tribes (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
  Isacchar, Zebulon)
• Four concubine tribes (Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher)
  settle west of the Jordan
• Rachael tribes (Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin)
  arrive with Yahwism (read Josh 2414)
• Levi looses land grand, Judah annexes Simeon (two
  ways to twelve)

24
Rahab and Gibeonites

• Rahab joined the Israelites (625)
• A whole tribe called Gibeonites joined them
  through deception!
• Hebrews took Ai through deception in ch. 8 and
  now Gibeonites deceive Israelites in 9
• twice stated that Israel honored the pact they
  had established with the Gibeonites
• they live among Israel but as servants
• 918-21 and 22-27)

25
Internal Revolt

• possible revolt of indigenous population
• Canaanite puppet kings were under Egyptian thumb
• notorious for heavy-handed taxation
• New Yahweh-worshipping Hebrews move into hill
  country with story of powerful deliverance
• catalyst for a new organization and theology
• much removal of kings was done by indigenous
  groups

26
Composite Model

• Conquest was a composite story of external and
  internal groups
• bound together by common desire for freedom from
  Egyptian (Canaanite) control
• Book of Joshua represents the end of a process of
  explaining their arrival
• completes the patriarchal promise cycle
  Hexateuch
• Ex 1238 mixed multitude went up from Egypt

27
Assembly at Shechem

• Josh 24 describes a great gathering at Shechem
• had been a great Canaanite city strategically
  located in narrow pass between two mountains
• Impressive remains of ancient pre-Israelite city
  have been uncovered
• ruins of the foundations of the largest pre-Roman
  temple in Palestine can be seen today
• Joshua rehearsed sacred history (2-13)
• challenges people to choose to serve YHWH! in
  sincerity and faithfulness

28
Surprise at Shechem!

• read 2414-15
• what is the big surprise to the reader?
• put away the gods that your ancestors served
  beyond the River and in Egypt!
• local Apiru joined with them from the region?
• no mention of battle to take Shechem
• we were all delivered from Egypt!
• Apiru had broad meaning, Israel was a covenant
  community founded at Sinai

29
The Covenant Service

• Suzerainty Treaty form
• preamble (242), historical prologue (2b-13),
  stipulations (14-24), reading of stipulations in
  the book of the law (25-26)
• witnesses called (not various gods but people
  witness against themselves!) (v 22) and a stone
  witness (27)
• earlier Shechem ritual contained blessings and
  curses (830-35)

30
Judges The Ups and Downs

• Judges continues story from the death of Joshua
  to just before the birth of Samuel
• Samuel was the last judge and the transitional
  figure toward kingship
• Read Joshua 11
• what is the surprise here?
• Joshua gives the impression the conquest was
  complete compare to Josh 1116ff

31
Unfinished Business

• Judges gives us a real picture of all the
  unfinished business
• failures to conquer the land depicted in first
  chapters of Judges (Jud 119)
• nations life falls into a downward spiral
• both moral and spiritual elements
• reaches low point under Samson
• final portion of the book describes deterioration
  into idolatry and civil war

32
They did not drive them out

• After Joshua, Canaanites are still left in the
  land! (read opening verses)
• Israel is still unable to drive them out never
  do in this book
• the book is really about how the Judges, for all
  their heroism, failed
• they did not drive them out theme is featured
  (119, 21, 27, 29, 30, 31-32, 33, 34)

33
People in the land

• Why are these other peoples left in the land?
• Israel has not obeyed (22-3, 220)
• they are left to test Israel to find out if they
  are serious about Torah (222-23 31-7)

34
What is a Judge?

• Judges should not be understood as judicial in
  any sense at all
• Shophetim in Hebrew (decision-makers)
• rulers with military roles
• part of the former prophets
• called prophets because of a prophetic viewpoint
  of history
• Deuteronomistic Historian project Israels
  history showing outworking of the blessings and
  curses of the covenant

35
Layout of Judges

• Double Introduction (11-36)
• Main Section of cycles (37-1631)
• Double Conclusion (171-2125)

36
Double Double

• Double introduction and double conclusion are
  symmetrical
• A first introduction foreign wars with cherem
  being applied (11-25)
• A(2) second conclusion domestic war with cherem
  supplied (191-2125)
• B second introduction difficulties with foreign
  idols (26-36)
• B(2) first conclusion difficulties with domestic
  idols (171-1831)

37
Main Cycle Section

• patterns of increasing failure to drive out the
  Canaanites
• introduced by Jud 11-25 (first intro)
• distinctive refrains
• In those days, there was no king in Israel (4X)
• all the people did what was right in their own
  eyes (2x)
• 176, 181, 191, 2125

38
Cycles Continued

• the 6 cycles each have 8 components
• Israel does what is evil in eyes of the Lord
• the Lord gives them over to oppressors
• Israel serves oppressors for x years
• Israel cries out to the Lord
• the Lord raises up a deliverer (judge)
• the spirit of the Lord comes upon the deliverer
• oppressors are subdued
• the land has rest for x years

39
local leadership

• In Judges (as opposed to Moses/Joshua) there is
  no decisive leader
• several local heroes who responded to crisis
• they are empowered by Yahwehs spirit
  energized by God
• served to unite people to respond to a particular
  crisis

40
General Patterns

• periods of faithfulness to Yahweh shrink at the
  book proceeds - increasing turmoil
• charismatic prophets/judges dont work
• we need a king if we are going to stave off the
  Philistines
• sets stage for Saul and especially David period
  of Kings
• from Joshua to Judges we move from assurance to
  warning
• departing from faithfulness to God jeopardizes
  the land

41
Hero Stories

• On the surface, the book is a collection of
  stories of heroes
• in various clever and courageous ways delivered
  Israel from enemies
• they outthought, outfoxed stronger oppressive
  enemies.
• read story of Ehud Judges 312-30

42
Judge Cycles

• six major judge stories
• Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson
• components help unlock the books message
• with each major judge, the cycle unravels
• the unraveling enhances the communication of
  moral deterioration taking place throughout the
  period

43
The Cycle Unravels

• Gideon Judg 827 Gideon himself leads people
  into idolatry
• Jephthah (ch. 11) sacrifices his own daughter in
  honor of Gods victory
• Samson (chs 14-6) a phenomenally gifted judge who
  squanders his calling completely
• captured and blinded, he is able to bring
  deliverance by chance
• 1628-31

44
Double Conclusion

• Conclusion narrates the failure of the era (ch.
  17-21)
• Two stories are told to make this point
• the practice of Idolatry (ch. 17-18 Micahs
  idols)
• barbaric social relations (19-21 Levite and his
  concubine)
• stories are framed by refrain In those days
  there was no king in Israel all the people did
  what was right in their own eyes. (176 181,
  191, 2125)

45

• Point couldnt be clearer advocacy of kingship
• monarchy is Israels only hope
• great assurances of Joshua have become sorry
  condemnation
• the Torah requirement and covenant loyalty
  requirement is more than the people can bear
• the land of promise has become the land of
  mission impossible

46
Three Truths

• At its Core, Joshua and Judges are about a land
• Three truths
• the land is a gift
• the land is a summons for those who live in the
  land given by Y. must respond positively to the
  giver of the gift
• the land is seduction the safety and prosperity
  of the land is an invitation to pride