Solomon to the Assyrian Exile (PART 1 OF 3)

Solomon to the Assyrian Exile (PART 2 OF 3)

Solomon to the Assyrian Exile (PART 3 OF 3)

Joshua

Was this just merciless genocide?
Not an easy question to address! However, below are some important points to consider (for more info on the first four points click here):

• God isn't xenophobic! (e.g. Gen. 12; Ex. 12:38, 48; Num. 12)
• Canaanite religion was more toxic than its armies (e.g. Judges 2:11-15 and see Drane 81) 
• Israel wasn't as ruthless as the surrounding nations (Instone-Brewer 66)
• They didn't drive everyone out
• The Elephant in the Room! (click here)

Most importantly, as Andrew Wilson notes: "Modern Christians do not, on the whole, cleanse their houses from mildew as prescribed in Leviticus, and nor do they attempt to overthrow ancient cities by blowing trumpets as ordered in Judges - and this is not because they do not respect the scriptures, but because they do. The fact that the Bible tells a sweeping story, not all parts of which are applicable in the same way, means that the conquest narratives provide no basis at all for modern acts of (religious) violence." (see Get a Grip 34-35).


NB. Within all of this the story of Rahab is an interesting one! Francine-Rivers brilliantly re-tells Rahab's story in her book "Lineage of Grace" - it's the chapter called "Unashamed."

Judges

The end part of Joshua is concerned with the allocation of the land to the 12 tribes of Israel, which is apportioned as follows:


The book of Joshua then ends with Joshua urging the people to keep the covenant God made with them at Sinai and assuring them that if they do, God will continue to push back their enemies. Joshua warns them specifically against turning away from God to worship the idols of the Canaanites still left in the land. The people then formally renew the covenant – following a quick recap of God’s favour towards Israel to date (note again the importance of remembering what God has already done!). Joshua then dies and, highly symbolically, the bones of Joseph are buried.

Then we get to the Judges where we see that, “the real struggle to bring Israel continued long after Joshua.”[1] During the period of the Judges, Israel maintains its national identity but “the different tribes of Israel were primarily concerned with their own affairs.”[2] Within this period there was no king over the nation as a whole, rather the different tribes had judges. These judges weren’t so much appointed by the people but rather by God and so naturally arose as leaders due to their gifts, strength and wisdom. Judges lists 12 different judges but talks in length about only 6[3] – Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jepthah and Samson (NB, if you want to listen to a brilliant sermon on Jepthah, check out Haddon Robinson, “The Danger of a Strong Faith and Weak Theology.”)

Within the book of Judges there is an oft-repeated cycle, in that when Israel are faithful to God, they prosper. However, when they turn aside from God to other idols they find themselves oppressed by their enemies, so they repent and cry out to God; God raises up a judge to bring deliverance; they are rescued, turn aside from God and the cycle begins again! [4] 

Towards the end of Judges there is the repeated refrain: “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” – see 17:6, 25:1 and – for slightly different versions - 18:1, 19:1. This refrain resonates with God’s promises of a king in:

Gen. 17:6 – “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.”

Gen. 49:10 – “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his.”

Num. 24:17-19 – “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near – a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites. Edom will become a possession, Seir a possession of its enemies, while Israel does valiantly. One out of Jacob shall rule, and destroy the survivors of Ir.”

And Deut. 17:14-20.

All of these positive references to kingship have to be born in mind when we come to look at the story of Saul...

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[1] John Drane, “Introducing the Old Testament,” 75.

[2] John Drane, “Introducing the Old Testament,” 76.

[3] John Drane, “Introducing the Old Testament,” 77.

[4] John Drane, “Introducing the Old Testament,” 78.

Ruth

The story of Ruth occurs during the Judges period. It records the story of a Moabite lady who marries the son of an Israelite widow called Naomi (who went to Moab at a time of famine). Tragically, both Ruth's husband and Naomi's other son die. Orpah, Naomi's other daughter-in-law, returns to her family but Ruth tells Naomi: "Do not urge me to leave you, or to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God." 


Naomi  and Ruth then go back to Bethlehem. Naomi is understandably devastated by her loss and tells the people to call her Mara - meaning "bitter" - saying: "the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”







Naomi and Ruth have no way of supporting themselves so Ruth goes out into the fields to collect what the reapers have left behind. A relative of theirs, called Boaz, makes sure Ruth is safe which gives Naomi an idea! She tells Ruth to go in the night to Boaz and uncover his feet (presumably indicating her desire to marry him!). Boaz wants to marry Ruth but there is another man, more closely related to Ruth's deceased husband, who has the right to buy Naomi's family's land (and marry Ruth). 


Boaz therefore speaks to this man and he decides not to exercise his right. Boaz and Ruth then get married and then have a son and this son turns out to be the grandfather of King David :-)

The story of Ruth is particularly interesting against the backdrop of the Mosaic law, within which the people are instructed not to marry people from the surrounding nations (e.g. Deut. 7:3). In fact, they are even warned: “No Ammonite or Moabite, even down to the tenth generation, may become a member of the assmbly of the Lord...” What this apparent contradiction demonstrates, however, is that God is not against the people of other nations per se but rather their religions, which - as time will demonstrate - repeatedly draw the Israelites away from worshipping God. Thus here, as with Rahab, God demonstrates his desire that people from all nationalities know him and serve him and thus welcomes (and even honours) a Moabite woman when she demonstrates faithfulness to him.

Saul

The first difficulty we encounter when looking at the story of Saul is God's displeasure at the Israelites' request for a king when previously in Scripture a king has been affirmed as a good thing! Indeed, their request appears all the more reasonable given the wayward nature of Samuel's sons, who were lined up to be his successor. 

However, despite the apparent reasonableness of their request, as God's reaction - and indeed time - indicates, it is the heart of their request that is most at odds with God's desire for them. In fact, this heart is revealed within the request itself wherein they state: "appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations;" i.e. like other nations who don't have God as their ultimate sovereign! And it is a "king like other nations" that God warns them they will receive which, from Samuel's warning in 1 Sam. 8, doesn't seem an inviting prospect (e.g. "...He will take the best of your fields and vineyards...and you shall be his slaves."). The people are undeterred, however, and so Samuel appoints Saul as the nation's first king.

Again, at first glance, Saul seems hard done by. He is reluctant to be made king in the first place therefore hides (1 Sam. 10:22). Further, God takes his kingship from him after seemingly minor transgressions (particularly when compared to the things David gets up to later on!): he offers a burnt offering that Samuel should have made because Samuel is late; he makes a foolish oath which nearly leads to the death of his son Jonathan; he is instructed to destroy a whole town but spares the king and best of their sheep and cattle to sacrifice to God.

However, as with the people's request for a king, it is the heart behind these transgressions that God is most upset by for, as is implicit a number of times and explicit in 1 Sam. 15:24, Saul fears the people more than he fears God. Thus, when God tells him through Samuel that he has removed the throne from him, Saul's primary concern is not that he has upset God but that he will now look bad in front of the people: "I have sinned; yet honour me now before the elders of my people and before Israel and return with me..." In contrast, despite his awful errors, David's heart is fundamentally directed towards God and, when pulled up on things he's done wrong, he is devastated by the effect he has had on God not just his reputation amongst others. 

It is for this reason, and looking at what follows as Saul plunges further and further into insanity, that I find the account of Saul one of the most challenging and tragic in the whole Bible.

Samuel: from Judges to Saul...

David

The Davidic Covenant

¹After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ²he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” ³Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.” ⁴But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying: ⁵“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? ⁶I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. ⁷ Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ ⁸“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. ⁹I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. ¹⁰And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning ¹¹and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: ¹²When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by human beings, with floggings inflicted by human hands. ¹⁵But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” ¹⁷Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. (2 Sam. 7)

The main thing to note from the Davidic covenant is that we still don’t know exactly how God will break the cycle of sin in Judges and bring about the fulfilment of his promises to Abraham BUT we do know that it will happen through a king of David’s line! 

(Interestingly, here no reason is given as to why David isn’t to build the temple but in 1 Chron. 22:6-10 we see that it’s because he has too much blood on his hands.)