April 29, 2010 (Judges 18-19)

Study Thoughts and Questions

1. What was the motivation behind the Danites apostasy?
2. In the story of the Levite, what moral absolutes are broken?

April 28, 2010 (Judges 15-17)

Study Thoughts and Questions

1. Read 15:1-8.  What do we understand in regards to sin?
2. Read 15:9-11.  What insight do these verses give us of the condition of the nation of Israel at this time?
3. After destroying the Philistines with the jawbone, what is the importance of the episode at the spring?
4. Did Samson truly understand where his strength came from? What (Who) did Samson put his faith in?
5. Looking at the life of Samson, how can we compare, contrast, and apply it to our lives?
6. The death of Samson concludes the accounts of the twelve judges and the history of the people of Israel under their leadership. The last five chapters of the book recount two incidents which provide typical examples of what life was like in Israel at the time of the Judges. The closing chapters reveal the deep effects sin can have when God’s people disobey His instructions and forget about His grace and mercy. Chapters 17 and 18 deal with the religious and spiritual chaos in Israel, focusing on the problem of idolatry. Chapters 19-21 focus on the moral chaos, which is the result of Israel’s spiritual unbelief.
7. Micah directly sins against the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-5). What is an idol? What is the root of idol worship?
8. Micah worshiped God in the way he wanted to. How should we worship God (John 4:23-24)?

April 27, 2010 (Judges 12-14)

Why did the men of Ephraim challenge Jephthah?

In the introduction of the life of Samson, we again find the Israelites doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. Israel is punished by being oppressed by the Philistines for 40 years. Again God rises up a judge in Samson to defeat Israel’s enemy. Samson is the most powerful of the judges physically and the weakest morally. He does more single-handedly than the others, but less for the nation as a whole. Samson is an individualist, but hardly a leader. Two factors differ from the recurring theme of Judges: 1) The people do not cry out to God 2) Samson judges 20 years in Israel and makes a few dents in the Philistines, but their oppression of Israel continues.

What is the significance that Samson would be a Nazirite from birth to death?

Reading the events that unfold – the ­announcement of Samson’s’ miraculous birth, the appearing of the angel, Manoah’s initial doubt – why do you think God was bringing these events at the time?

Samson marries a Philistine woman (see Exodus 34:16). How do we see God’s involvement in our lives even when we make bad decisions (sin)?

What do we learn about Samson’s character? What purpose do these events serve (feast, riddle, betrayal)?

April 26, 2010 (Judges 10-11)

Study Questions

1. In Judges 10:13, why did God say “I will no longer save you?”
2. Why must true repentance be accompanied by new behavior?
3. What do we notice about Jephthah’s response to the Ammonite king?
4. Why was Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter wrong from the start?

April 25, 2010 (Judges 8-9)

Study Questions

1. In Judges 8:23, can we see a change in Gideon by his response to the people’s request?
2. What were Abimelech’s motives for being king?
3. What is the meaning of Jotham’s fable?
4. Why are we told the story of Abimelech? How can we be encouraged?

April 24, 2010 (Judges 6-7)

Study Questions

1. For Israel, God’s chastening came in the form of oppression by the Midianites (v2). Why does God discipline His children? (See Hebrews 12:5-11).
2. What do we learn about Gideon? How does God manifest His sovereign power in the midst of human weakness?
3. Gideon needs to be sure of God’s voice. Do you think he is unreasonable in his request for proof?
4. Why was it important for Gideon to destroy the altar of Baal?
5. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Gideon. He had the angel visit, confirmed by the fire, but still, at the end of chapter 6, he was going through self-doubt. Why?
6. Why does God reduce the army? How can self-confidence and pride get in our way of giving God the glory He deserves?
7. Why does God let Gideon hear the dream and interpretation? What was Gideon’s response?
8. What is the result of the dream?

April 23, 2010 (Judges 4-5)

Study Questions

1. Why were the children of Israel scared of Jabin?
2. What is Deborah best known for?
3. How did God subdue Jabin?
4. Where would men and women “recount the righteous acts of the Lord?”
5. Who was the “most blessed among women?”

April 22, 2010 (Judges 1-3)

Study Questions

1. What was Israel’s first task after the death of Joshua?
2. Who was assigned to this great task?
3. What happened to Adoni-Bezek?  Why?
4. What did Caleb offer to the one who captured Kirjath Sepher?
5. What was the significance of Caleb capturing Hebron and driving out the three sons of Anak?
6. What did the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulon, Asher, and Naphtali fail to do?
7. What was the consequence of Israel’s failure to drive out the Canaanites?
8. What great evil did the next generation in Israel perform?
9. How did God punish them for this evil?
10. Why did God raise up judges for the people?
11. What happened after a judge died?

April 21, 2010 (Joshua 23-24)

Joshua 23

These events happened a long time later after God had given Israel rest from wars with the surrounding nations, after Joshua was old. He later died at age 110 (24:29); however, Joshua had been said to be old as far back as 13:1. We are not told how long had passed since the land was conquered nor how long it was from the time of this message till Joshua died. However, at least some considerable time must have passed since Israel had divided the land till Joshua gave this parting message.

Joshua’s final admonition to Israel contains some of the same instructions that the book began with in reciting God’s instructions to him when he began to lead the nation (1:5-9). He warned the people to have the courage to do all that God taught in Moses’ law, not turning from it to the right or the left.

Whereas Joshua promised God would continue to drive out the inhabitants if Israel was faithful, he here warned that this promise was conditional. If they did not remain true in loving God but allowed themselves to grow attached to the people in sin, God would not continue to drive out the people of the land.

Joshua 24

Joshua’s time to die drew near. He sought to give a final admonition to the people before his death. So he called the people to him along with all their officers and judges. They met at Shechem. Shechem was located the middle of Canaan between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal. This was the area where Joshua had the people hear the blessings and the curses from the law in 8:30-35.

Joshua spoke as a prophet for God and revealed to the people a message from God. He began by summarizing the history of God’s dealings with Israel. This became a common approach for dealing with the nation (cf. Acts 7).

Having described God’s goodness and blessings to Israel, Joshua challenged them to fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth. They should put away all other gods and serve the Lord. Finally, Joshua stated the choice he and his family had made. They would serve the true God. Of course, this was the choice he was urging all Israel to make.

Note that people do have the power to choose for themselves religiously. We are not robots having no power to choose for ourselves. Nor are we predestined by unconditional election, so God has made the choice for us and we can do nothing except follow the compulsion where His Spirit leads us. Rather, we are creatures with the power to choose for ourselves, because God has granted us that power. We may choose incorrectly, but God will allow us to make that choice. He will ultimately punish us for such a wrong choice, but He will grant us the freedom now to make it.

However, as parents, we are responsible to make the best choice for ourselves and then teach it to our children. We cannot, of course, ultimately decide for them. When they are on their own, they will exercise their power to choose for themselves. But we can forbid all evil in our own homes, whether the evil of idolatrous worship or any other evil acts. And we can insist that those subject to us learn about the true God and be urged in every possible way to serve Him.

Clearly the people did not believe serving God was impossible, for they proceeded to affirm their determination to serve God despite Joshua’s statement. And Joshua himself surely did not mean that serving God was impossible, for He then accepted their choice.

April 20, 2010 (Joshua 20-22)

Joshua 20

The Cities of Refuge were towns in which the perpetrators of manslaughter could claim the right of asylum; outside of these cities, blood vengeance against such perpetrators was allowed by law.

Man did not come up with the idea for these cities. This was a notion that was birthed in the heart and mind of God. He wanted to teach His people that murderers had to pay for their crimes, hence, the avenger of blood. Yet, He also wanted to teach His people that there was a place of mercy for those who were only guilty of an accident. Therefore, God gave them the cities of refuge.

Joshua 21

God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would make their descendants a great nation, give them the land of Canaan, and through their descendants would come a great blessing on all nations (salvation through Jesus).

This passage of Joshua expressly states that God fulfilled that promise. In the land, He gave them rest. Their enemies could not withstand them; the Lord delivered their enemies into their hands. But their keeping the land depended on their own willingness to be faithful (see 23:11-16). They turned out not to be faithful, so they lost the land eventually. But for now they had it as God had promised.

Joshua 22

During Moses’ lifetime, Israel had captured the land east of Jordan. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh had been granted permission to settle this land for their inheritance. However before they could return home to settle their own land, God had required them to go with the other tribes to help capture the land west of Jordan. Joshua had required these 2½ tribes to keep this agreement. See notes on Num. 32; Joshua 1:12-18.

At the present point in the account, Israel had captured the territory west of Jordan and had been given their designated inheritances. The 2½ tribes had fulfilled their agreement. Joshua here called these tribes to him and praised them for completing the task they had agreed to do. He plainly stated that they had obeyed God’s command, so now they should return home to care for their own inheritance.

Before they left, however, Joshua admonished them to obey God’s commands, hold fast to them, and serve God with all their heart and soul. These tribes would face special challenges be-ing east of the river. They would be somewhat remote from the rest of Israel. They would be closest in contact with other nations surrounding Israel on the east. This would create military difficulties and could create problems spiritually. They might be tempted to feel isolated from the worship of God and contact with surrounding nations might lead them to be tempted to participate in false worship. So Joshua gave them this special admonition to be faithful.

Lessons from this chapter:

1. We must worship God in the way He has commanded. Unauthorized worship is unacceptable, even if it is not specifically condemned in Scripture.
2. People in the congregation must be rebuked and opposed when they sin. If God’s people do not rebuke the sin, even if we do not participate in it, God holds us accountable.
3. Before disciplining those who we think might be guilty of sin, we must communicate with them to be sure we understand what has been done and why. We may find that people have not done what we thought they did.
4. If people are not guilty of sin, we should have unity and rejoice in the peace that results.