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Old Testament Survey: Joshua – 2Kings

CCEA School of Discipleship

Winter Trimester: 3:00-4:00pm

Before Class

Be sure to sign in.

Have each student wear a name tag

Homework

Did you read your assignment in HBH?

What did you appreciate about the life of Henry Halley?

Did you learn something new in reading about 2Kings?

There was a brief article on Megiddo. Here’s some more pics of the stairs going down into the well at Megiddo…and one pic of the valley to it’s north, the valley of Jezreel which stretches from the east to the west in northern Israel. (and location of Armageddon)

Timeline

Hand out initial timeline

We will also be attempting to begin to build a timeline of significant events and where the Old Testament books fit into the timeline.

I’m not going to take time today to point things out, but here’s where we start.

Source: Gleason Archer’s Survey of Old Testament Introduction - Appendix 1: Old Testament Chronology

All dates are BC

Major Events

2166 Abraham born

1876 Jacob to Egypt

1527 Moses born

1446 The Exodus

1406 Jericho conquered

1389-1050 The Judges

1050-1010 Saul rules

1010-970 David rules

970-931 Solomon rules

966 Temple construction starts

930 Kingdom splits

722 Samaria falls

612 Nineveh falls

586 Jerusalem falls

538-529 Cyrus the Great

520 Second Temple starts

539 Babylon falls

336-323 Alexander the Great

457 Ezra returns

445 Nehemiah returns

175-164 Antiochus IV (Epiphanes)

165 Temple rededicated

135 Hasmonaean Dynasty starts

63 Pompey (Rome) conquers Syria/Palestine

In coming weeks we will see where some of the prophetic books lie on this timeline.

(not shown … we will fill these in later)

Prophets

845 Obadiah

830-810 Joel

800 Jonah

760-757 Amos

756-725 Hosea

740-680 Isaiah

735-690 Micah

640 Nahum

640-630 Zephaniah

626-570 Jeremiah

608-597 Habakkuk

600-530 Daniel

592-570 Ezekiel

520-519 Haggai

519-475 Zechariah

435 Malachi

If you want to add some dates, you might consider putting “Creation” around 4000BC and the Flood of Noah around 2350BC. Those dates were made famous by Bishop Ussher, who published them in the 17^th century based on chronologies in the Bible as well as established historical dates (like Solomon building the Temple).

For the sake of space, I’ve started with the birth of Abraham.

Joshua

Author

Joshua

Joshua had been Moses’ servant for the previous forty years.

Joshua had often served as a general to lead the armies of Israel against various enemies while they were wandering (think Amalekites and Moses needing to lift his hands for Joshua to have the victory)

When

1400 BC

I regret having rounded last week’s books to the date of 1400BC. I wish I had been a tad more specific and said 1440BC.

This is written perhaps forty to 60 years after the Pentateuch.

Why?

Conquering Canaan

Deuteronomy ended with the death of Moses, and this takes up where that left off.

The book of Joshua is Joshua’s record of the nation of Israel conquering the Promised Land of Canaan.

The beginning of the book tells us of Joshua’s call by God to lead Israel and Israel miraculously crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land.

Then we see the battles begin.

First Jericho is conquered.

Then there are battles at Ai and Gibeon

At Gibeon the sun stands still for an entire day while Israel fights.

Through chapter 10, Israel conquers the entire southern area of Canaan.

In chapter 11, we have the northern kingdoms joining together to fight Israel, and Israel defeats them all.

One of those kings was at the chief city of Hazor, which Joshua burnt to the ground.

Today, you can visit Hazor, and the archaeologists have uncovered the layers of the city, showing it being burnt.

And like Megiddo, there’s a deep well.

In 1887, a file of ancient diplomatic correspondence was discovered in Egypt at ancient Akhetaton, or Tell el-Amarna.

These letters were written on clay tablets and give us the Canaanite description of Joshua’s conquest as the Canaanite kings were writing to the Pharaoh for help.

These strange invaders were called “Habiru” (like Hebrew).

Let me summarize the rest of the book by saying that after conquering the land, the land is divided up between the twelve tribes of Israel. Each tribe got their own portion.

About the twelve tribes.

I often get questions about the twelve tribes.

You are going to find in the Bible that depending on where you are reading, the list of twelve tribes may vary. Don’t panic.

First, there are always twelve tribes.

Second, when Jacob blessed his son Joseph at the end of Jacob’s life, he made Joseph’s two sons equal to the rest of their uncles, Joseph’s brothers.

You will often see Manasseh and Ephraim as separate tribes, and they will be given their own land in the book of Joshua.

So isn’t that thirteen tribes?

No, usually the priestly tribe of Levi is dropped from those lists.

Levi would be unique because “God” was their portion. They were spread throughout the nation as an opportunity to remind the nation about God.

Messianic

I think that Joshua himself is a picture of Jesus.

His name means “Yahweh is salvation” (Ya-shua)

That’s also Jesus’ name.

Many have suggested that the conquest of Canaan is a picture in some respects of when Jesus comes back the second time to conquer this planet.

Then there’s this:

(Joshua 5:13–15 NASB 2020) —13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 14 He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” 15 And the captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Could this have been Jesus? Perhaps.

Significant Verse

God said this to Joshua after the death of Moses. God was trying to encourage Joshua to be strong and courageous:

(Joshua 1:8 NASB 2020) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.

This would be a great verse to memorize. Can you see the value in it?

Judges

Author

Unknown

When

1000BC, near to when the first king of Israel is raised up.

We get this from internal evidence within the book.

Why?

The need for a King

We are told that the people of Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the first set of leaders who followed Joshua. And then things began to change.

The title refers to those whom God would raise up every time the nation got into trouble.

There is a cycle of backsliding repeated over and over again –

The people fall away from God

There is an enemy that oppresses the nation

The people cry out to God

God raises up a leader (a “Judge”) to deliver them

Then rinse and repeat…

You will read about Judges named Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, and others.

The book of Judges is a messy book. Very messy.

You will see prostitution, murder, child sacrifice, and lying. And that was the good guys.

The book is not intended to give you examples to follow, but to point out the overriding theme…

Significant Verse

(Judges 17:6 NASB 2020) In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Keep this verse in mind as you read the book and want to throw up.

This is showing us just how low people will go…even good people.

Messianic

I believe Jesus Himself shows up in the messy book of Judges.

If it is true that Jesus has always existed since eternity past, then shouldn’t He be around somewhere in the Old Testament before He takes on human flesh in Matthew 1?

There’s an individual I could have pointed out to you in the book of Genesis, but I thought I’d save it for Judges.

He actually appears 54 times in the Old Testament, and only in the Old Testament.

There is an exact, specific phrase in Hebrew is:

מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֑ה

(male’ak Adonai)

He is known as “the angel of the LORD”

He is not “an” angel, but “the” angel.

He is not the angel of “God”, but the angel of Yahweh.

In the book of Judges alone, this Hebrew phrase is used in 15 verses.

He starts appearing in chapter 2 of Judges, and one of the more significant passages is when He appears to Gideon:

(Judges 6:12 NASB 2020) And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.”

If you track this exact phrase in the Old Testament, you will find that this person is also called Yahweh.

This is Jesus.

So, here’s where we have problems: We tend to think of the word “angel” as one of that race of creatures with large wings, and maybe even a sword or two. Or else a cute little “cherub”.

But the word “angel” in both Hebrew (malak) and in Greek (aggelos) simply means “messenger” in its basic form.

It might indeed refer to one of God’s special messengers like the angel Gabriel.

It could even be a human messenger. John the Baptist was described by Jesus as His “messenger”, and Jesus used the word Greek word “aggelos” -

(Matthew 11:10 NASB 2020) This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’

Note to self: This exact Hebrew phrase does not show up in the New Testament. The New Testament is written in Greek and the name of God (Yahweh) is not used. Gabriel shows up to speak to Joseph as well as the shepherds, but this was NOT Jesus.

Quiz

Here’s the answers for your quiz at the end of class:

1. Who was the “the angel of the LORD”?

a. Gabriel

b. Michael

c. Jesus

(class – which is the correct answer?)

2. Where does “the angel of the LORD” appear?

a. Old Testament

b. New Testament

c. Both Old and New Testaments

(class – which is the correct answer?)

Ruth

This is Ruth, our first grandchild, and the cutest little girl you’d ever meet.

But sadly, this is not who our next book is about…

Author

Unknown

When

Probably around 1000BC, around the end of the time of the Judges.

David is mentioned by name at the end, so it’s possible that it was written after he became king.

Why?

King David’s lineage

The story takes place at the end of the period of Judges.

A family from Bethlehem travel to Moab to escape a famine, and there the two sons are married to two Moabite women.

The dad and two sons will die in the famine, but the mom and one of her daughter-in-laws will eventually move back to Bethlehem.

The daughter-in-law that stayed with the mother was named Ruth.

Messianic

Kinsman redeemer

(Ruth 2:20b NASB) …Again Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative; he is one of our redeemers.”

The book of Ruth is centered around the Jewish law of “kinsman redeemer”, and there will be two parts to the law.

1. If a relative of yours becomes poor and sells their family farm, after a period of years a relative (redeemer – Hebrew goel) had the option of buying the property back to retain it in the family. This is spelled out in Leviticus 25.

2. If a male relative marries, but dies before there are any children, then there is an obligation to the next living male relative to take the widow, and have children in the name of the dead husband.

This is called the Levirite law, and found in Deuteronomy 25.

When Ruth comes back to Bethlehem with Naomi, there is a backstory of finding a husband for Ruth.

She will coincidentally run into a man named Boaz, who is qualified to be a goel, a “kinsman redeemer”.

They will end up marrying and Boaz will “redeem” the family property.

There were even legal issues to be performed in front of the city elders, and it’s a fascinating thing to study.

By the way, Boaz is the son of the Canaanite Rahab the harlot.

So in David’s lineage, there is Canaanite prostitute, and a Moabitess.

That’s grace.

Jesus is our “kinsman redeemer”.

If you read Revelation 4-5, you will see a parallel situation being played out in heaven with a scroll (the title deed to earth), and an angel crying out “who is worthy” to open the scroll.

…or… who is the “redeemer” to buy back the earth?

Jesus is that Redeemer, and the legal issues are played out before the elders in heaven.

Significant Verse

Early in the story, the mother Naomi is pleading for her daughter-in-laws to leave her…

(Ruth 1:16–17 NASB 2020) —16 But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to me, and worse, if anything but death separates me from you.”

This is an example of Ruth’s commitment.

Many use this verse in their marriage ceremony.

1Samuel

Author

Unknown

Like the book of Ruth, we don’t know who the author is.

But there are some clues as to where the content came from.

There seem to other historical sources known at that time.

(1 Chronicles 29:29 NASB 2020) Now the acts of King David, from the first to the last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the chronicles of Gad the seer,

(2 Samuel 1:18 NASB 2020) and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the mourning song of the bow; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.

So whoever wrote it, it would seem that they were able to draw from existing records.

Under David’s administration, we see various men listed such as…

(2 Samuel 8:15–18 NASB 2020) —15 So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was commander over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary. 17 Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was scribe. 18 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief ministers.

I don’t think it’s a stretch that either the “secretary” or the “scribe” might have kept a history of the kingdom.

When

Perhaps 930 BC

It would seem that it was written before the death of Solomon.

In its earlier form, the Hebrew Bible considered the books of 1&2Samuel as a single book. They also considered 1&2Kings as a single book.

Later on, the Alexandrian Jews even combined the books of 1&2Samuel, and 1&2Kings as one single super book called “Kingdoms”.

The books do form a continuous history of the nation of Israel.

Yet eventually the books would all be divided into what we know today as four books – 1Samuel, 2Samuel, 1Kings, and 2Kings.

Why?

The establishment of the kingdom

This is the aim of 1Samuel.

The book gets it’s name from the prophet Samuel, who plays a significant role throughout most of the book.

Samuel is considered the last of the “Judges”.

He was a prophet who delivered the nation from the Philistines for a period of time.

1Samuel covers the time of Samuel’s ministry.

Samuel will be the one who appoints Saul as the first king.

It covers the kingdom of Saul.

Messianic

There’s a hint at

(1 Samuel 13:14 NASB 2020) But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

Even though this is initially fulfilled with David, David is a picture of Christ.

Jesus said,

(John 8:29 NASB 2020) And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

Significant Verse

God had a special mission for King Saul. He was supposed to be the one who would completely wipe out those evil Amalekites and all they possessed.

Saul only partially did what he was asked.

He didn’t kill the king and he didn’t the best of the animals.

When Samuel went to see how Saul had done, he could hear the Amalekite sheep.

Saul replied to Samuel that he was planning on sacrificing the best of these animals to the Lord.

(1 Samuel 15:22 NASB 2020) Samuel said, “Does the Lord have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, And to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

This was the final straw for God, who decided that the kingdom would be taken from Saul and given to another (though this would take some time).

We have that old saying, “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission”.

When it comes to the things of God, it’s really better to just do what God has asked you to do.

2Samuel

Author

Unknown (like 1Samuel)

When

Perhaps 930 BC

Why?

The kingdom of David

This book starts with David becoming king at Saul’s death.

It covers the entire reign of David.

Messianic

(2 Samuel 7:12–13 NASB 2020) —12 When your days are finished and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

God makes a promise to David that he will have a special son whose kingdom will last forever.

That’s not Solomon. It’s Jesus.

The Messiah is always referred to as “the son of David”.

Significant Verse

During David’s first seven years, he only ruled over the tribe of Judah. Eventually all the tribes united to make David their king.

David did not have it easy as king.

He often had people challenge his leadership.

Even two of his sons tried to toss dad off his throne.

We love that David is called a “man after God’s heart”.

We love that the Messiah would come from David.

Yet David was also a very flawed human.

(2 Samuel 11:2 NASB 2020) Now at evening time David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.

I’m not going to make an excuse for David’s behavior here.

You’ve probably heard, and I’ve probably preached dozens of sermons warning about how to not do what David did.

But the issue is still this – God loved, and used, a man who had deep faults.

And God wants to use you. Even with your faults.

When Jesus was being tried and crucified, Peter was going through the worst time of his life. He had publicly denied Jesus three times. Jesus had warned him. And Jesus saw and heard him do it. But was God finished with Peter? No.

Jesus tracked down Peter after the resurrection and asked him three times if he “loved” him.

(John 21:17 NASB 2020) He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

Jesus wasn’t trying to rub Peter’s failure in his face, He was reminding Peter that because Peter really loved Jesus, he needed to get back to what Jesus called him to do. He needed to feed God’s sheep.

Yes, God would prefer if we didn’t sin.

But when we sin, He isn’t done with us.

There is forgiveness. There is restoration.

Just serve Jesus.

1Kings

Author

Remember initially 1&2Kings were a single book, and our author…

Unknown

The Talmud (a Jewish commentary on the Old Testament) asserts that Jeremiah was the author, but we’re not sure.

The author does have other sources he pulls from (like the books of Samuel)

The book of the Acts of Solomon (1Kings 11:41)

The book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (NOT the books titled Chronicles)

The book of the Kings of Israel.

There is also a large portion borrowed from the book of Isaiah (Is. 36-39), when the Assyrians came against Hezekiah.

When

Around 580bc

Written after the Babylonians wipe out Jerusalem.

Why?

How the kingdom split

Solomon will reign for forty years, but after that there is a civil war.

From that point on, there would always be two separate kingdoms, known by different names.

It’s important that you learn the names of the kingdoms.

When we get to the prophets, we will need to know where the prophets are on the timeline.

If they write after the split of the kingdom (and they ALL do), you need to know that the names of the nation have changed.

This doesn’t mean there weren’t prophets before the kingdom split. It’s just that they didn’t write any books.

The northern kingdom will be known primarily as:

Israel

Samaria (it’s capital)

Ephraim (chief tribe)

The southern kingdom will be known primarily as:

Judah

Jerusalem (it’s capital)

Halley’s has some excellent charts laying side by side the various kings of the two kingdoms.

It’s in 1Kings that you meet the amazing prophet Elijah.

Significant Verse

The man who split the kingdom was named Jeroboam. He was responding to the harshness of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. And God was even kind of involved in this split.

Yet Jeroboam carried things too far.

God promised Jeroboam that if he would follow God, God would establish his kingdom.

But Jeroboam became afraid that when the yearly feasts were celebrated, the people would go to Jerusalem (in Judah), and celebrate the feasts, and end up renewing their loyalty to the southern kingdom.

(1 Kings 12:28–29 NASB 2020) —28 So the king consulted, and he made two golden calves; and he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

This will be a turning point in the history of Israel.

This will eventually lead to the downfall of the northern kingdom because through all their ups and downs, they never stopped worshipping the calves that Jeroboam set up in Bethel and Dan.

Bethel was on the southern border with Judah.

Dan was at the northern border.

Messianic

In a way, Solomon is a “type” of Christ. Of course he was also pretty flawed.

He was the son of David.

He was the wisest person ever.

He would build God’s temple.

When the Queen of Sheba met him

(1 Kings 10:4–5 NASB 2020) —4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 5 and the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, she was breathless.

I imagine that when we meet Jesus face to face, we too will be just a bit breathless.

2Kings

Author

Same as 1Kings

When

Same as 1Kings

Why?

To record the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms.

The northern kingdom will fall to the Assyrians in 722BC

The southern kingdom will fall to Babylon in 586BC

Messianic

I think Elisha was a “type” of Jesus as well.

He performed many miracles including healing a leper, feeding a large group of people with just a little.

And he raised the dead:

(2 Kings 4:32–35 NASB 2020) —32 When Elisha entered the house, behold the boy was dead, laid on his bed. 33 So he entered and shut the door behind them both, and he prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he got up on the bed and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands, and he bent down on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he returned and walked in the house back and forth once, and went up and bent down on him; and the boy sneezed seven times, then the boy opened his eyes.

Significant Verse

Elijah raised a widow’s son from the dead in 1Kings 17.

In 2Kings, Elijah’s disciple Elisha will do the same.

(2 Kings 4:32–35 NASB 2020) —32 When Elisha entered the house, behold the boy was dead, laid on his bed. 33 So he entered and shut the door behind them both, and he prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he got up on the bed and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands, and he bent down on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he returned and walked in the house back and forth once, and went up and bent down on him; and the boy sneezed seven times, then the boy opened his eyes.

It's in 2Kings 17 that we see the end of the northern kingdom of Israel. They will be conquered by the Assyrians and carried off into exile. Why?

(2 Kings 17:22–23 NASB 2020) —22 And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them 23 until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, just as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

There were many things they did to provoke God, but the worst was the one that started at the beginning of the kingdom split – Jeroboam’s golden calves. They never repented of that sin.

Just in case you keep thinking that God is awfully mean, keep in mind that God put up with their rebellion for almost 200 years.

That is the patience of God.

Quiz: (hand them out)

1. Who was the “the angel of the LORD”?

a. Gabriel

b. Michael

c. Jesus

2. Where does “the angel of the LORD” appear?

a. Old Testament

b. New Testament

c. Both Old and New Testaments

Homework:

Assignment: Read “The Babylonian Exile and The Return from Exile” through “Esther” (HBH) (17 pages in the “Deluxe” version).

I want to hear from some of you about what you might have learned from your reading. Did you learn something new?

Next Week:

We will be covering 1Chronicles through Esther and finish what we would call the “historical” books.

We will continue to build a timeline of significant events and where the Old Testament books fit into the timeline.