JUDGES LESSON 1


     The book of Judges is unusual in that no one knows for sure who
penned it. Some believe that Samuel was the penman. It really does not
matter who penned it, since God is the author. This covers a period of
time, between the death of Joshua and the rule of Saul as king.
During this time the 15 judges {chosen of God} were the rulers of the
Israelites. This book centers on the 15 judges and their dealings with
the people. The Israelites fell into idolatry, over and over, during
this period. Every time they fell into idolatry, the LORD allowed them
to be invaded as a chastisement of them. These judges were men and
women, chosen of God, to lead in a very difficult time of their
history. The Israelites remained loyal to the LORD in formality, but
their hearts were far from Him. The history of Israel is a history of
Israel falling into idolatry, repenting, and then God forgiving them.
This happened over and over. One statement used a great deal in this
book is "Crying to God".  They were a rebellious house. The book of
Galatians speaks of the backsliding Christians at Galatia, so I
suppose it would be the New Testament book with a similar message.
Most scholars believe the events in this book happened somewhere
between 1500 B.C. and 1000 B.C.

     Now, we will begin this lesson in Judges 1:1 "Now after the death
of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD,
saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight
against them?"

     At the end of the book of Joshua, we saw the death of Joshua,
when he was 110 years old. "Asked the LORD" is speaking of taking
counsel from the LORD. This was a very sensible thing for them to do,
and would, also, be an intelligent thing for us to do, as well. We
should never enter into any major decision without first consulting
God.  Joshua had been their leader, and now, that he is gone, they
need someone to lead them in battle.

     Judges 1:2 "And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have
delivered the land into his hand."

     We remember that, they had not completely driven out the
Canaanites at this time. Moses {the lawgiver} had been followed by
Joshua {the great soldier}. He is, now, replaced by Judah. Each time
one leader is replaced by another, his way of leading is different,
because his personality is different. Remember, it is the LORD who put
him in charge.

     Judges 1:3 "And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with
me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I
likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him."

     It seems that, Judah will be fighting for his own inheritance at
first. He asks his brother Simeon to help him, and in turn, he will
help Simeon in his battles. This was agreeable with both.

     Judges 1:4 "And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the
Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them
in Bezek ten thousand men."

     Bezek was located somewhere near Gezer. God is with them, when
they are doing what God told them to do. It appears, there were no
losses with Judah. If there were any at all, it was just a few,
because they are not mentioned here.

     Judges 1:5 "And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought
against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites."

     "Adoni-bezek" means lord of Bezek. This is just saying that, he
was the ruler at the time of the invasion. The Perizzites were
actually living in the land where Judah's inheritance was. The
Canaanites are speaking of all the people collectively that are in
Canaan land. Many of the Canaanites are known by other names, as well.

     Judges 1:6 "But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and
caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes."

     A person cannot balance himself without his big toes. He cannot
do work with his hands very well without his thumbs either. We could
look at this from the spiritual sense, and say that God had Judah to
stop his walk and his work, because it was perverted. This would be
terribly humiliating to him.

     Judges 1:7 "And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings,
having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered [their
meat] under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And
they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died."

     It appears, sometime in the past that Adoni-bezek had done the
very same thing to 70 kings. God has this done to him, because of his
actions toward others. They had eaten food under the table like a dog,
and that is exactly what is done to him. This one of the highest forms
of cruelty. "Requited", in this Scripture, means to reciprocate. God
brought the same punishmnent on him, that he had brought on others. He
died, after he felt the shame of this punishment.

     Judges 1:8 "Now the children of Judah had fought against
Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the
sword, and set the city on fire."

     "Had" shows that this happened in the past. The fire was for the
purging away of the evil, that had taken place in the city.

     Judges 1:9  "And afterward the children of Judah went down to
fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the
south, and in the valley."

     This is showing the advance of the battle. They were taking one
area at a time. This area had been occupied by the Philistines. The
Canaanites is a name which covers many of the various tribes, like
Israel is speaking of all 12 tribes.

     Judges 1:10 "And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in
Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before [was] Kirjath-arba:) and they
slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai."

     Hebron is a well known area. It was the burial-place of Abraham
and Sarah. Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah were buried there,
too. This was, also, the first place for David to headquarter. He was
here 7 years. This place was given to Caleb in the beginning. Joshua
15:13  "And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the
children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua,
[even] the city of Arba the father of Anak, which [city is] Hebron."

     Judges 1:11 "And from thence he went against the inhabitants of
Debir: and the name of Debir before [was] Kirjath-sepher:"

     Debir was 12 miles southwest of Hebron.

     Judges 1:12 "And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and
taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife." Judges 1:13
"And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and
he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife."

     This is the same Scripture. Joshua 15:16  "And Caleb said, He
that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah
my daughter to wife." Joshua 15:17 "And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the
brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to
wife."

     Judges 1:14 "And it came to pass, when she came [to him], that
she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off
[her] ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?" Judges 1:15 "And
she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south
land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper
springs and the nether springs."

     It appears, to me, that the daughter would have great influence
with her father. This is why she asked for the springs, instead of
Othniel. Her request was granted.

     Judges 1:16  "And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in
law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah
into the wilderness of Judah, which [lieth] in the south of Arad; and
they went and dwelt among the people."

     We remember that, Moses had invited him to come to the promised
land with them. These people were a branch of the Medianites. "Dwelt
among the people" is speaking of them living in the land of Judah.

     Judges 1:17 "And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they
slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it.
And the name of the city was called Hormah."

     We remember from the beginning of this lesson that, this is what
they agreed upon. After Simeon helped Judah, then Judah helped him
take his land. Hormah was the chief town of the Canaanites, south of
Palestine. This was part of the allotment to Judah at first, but later
was given to Simeon.

     Judges 1:18 "Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and
Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof."

     These had all been Philistine cities. Every time they thought
they had them whipped, they would show up again, and have to be
subdued again. This was because they did not totally destroy them.

     Judges 1:19 "And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out [the
inhabitants of] the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants
of the valley, because they had chariots of iron."

     We will read in another lesson on this that, King Jabin had 900
chariots. This gave them the advantage of fleeing speedily. In the
mountains, they had no where to run to, and in open battle, they lost
to Judah. The LORD was with Judah, and he was victorious.

     Judges 1:20 "And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and
he expelled thence the three sons of Anak."

     Caleb was a faithful spy, along with Joshua, in the beginning. It
was correct to give to his descendents the city they wanted. Hebron
was that city. Caleb expelled the three sons of Anak. We remember,
Caleb was a very brave man, knowing that God was with him. Caleb was a
Kenezite.

     Judges 1:21 "And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the
Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the
children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day."

     This same statement is said of Judah in Joshua chapter 15 verse
63. Jerusalem was known at that time as Jebusi, or Jebus. It was
during the time of King David that Jerusalem really was taken by the
Israelites.

     Judges 1:22  "And the house of Joseph, they also went up against
Beth-el: and the LORD [was] with them."  Judges 1:23 "And the house of
Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before [was]
Luz.)"

     The house of Joseph, here, is speaking of the tribe of Ephraim,
who was a son of Joseph. "Descry" means to search out. "Beth-el" means
house of God. Jacob had named it Beth-el, and it had been changed to
Luz. Now, they changed the name back to Beth-el.

     Judges 1:24 "And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city,
and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the
city, and we will shew thee mercy."

     We could easily see the comparison of this to the incident with
Rahab the harlot. She helped the spies, and in so doing saved her
family. This man will, also, save his family, if he helps the spies.

     Judges 1:25 "And when he shewed them the entrance into the city,
they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the
man and all his family."

     We see the same thing happened. He helped them, and his family
was saved.

     Judges 1:26 "And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and
built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which [is] the name
thereof unto this day."

     They must have allowed him to take his belongings, as well. He
just ran to another area, and rebuilt a city called Luz. The Hittites
are descended from Heth.

     Judges 1:27  "Neither did Manasseh drive out [the inhabitants of]
Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the
inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and
her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the
Canaanites would dwell in that land."

     Manasseh did as many of the others. He let the Canaanites, whom
they had subdued, live in these cities. They did not utterly destroy
them, but just removed them from power. They lived and worked
together. The Canaanites did not have full rights and privileges, as
did the descendents of Manasseh, however.

     Judges 1:28 "And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that
they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them
out."

     They were forced labor for the Israelites.

     Judges 1:29  "Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that
dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them." Judges
1:30  "Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor
the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and
became tributaries." Judges 1:31  "Neither did Asher drive out the
inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor
of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:"

     We find this condition was commonplace among the tribes of
Israel. Whether they allowed this to happen so they would have people
to do their hard work, is not known. They really wanted the wealth
these people could make for them. They were used of the Israelites.

     Judges 1:32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the
inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.

     The Israelites had them under their control, but it appears,
there were more Canaanites {in this particular area} than Israelites.

     Judges 1:33  "Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of
Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among
the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the
inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto
them."

     This is the same situation as in verse 32. There were more
Canaanites than there were Israelites, but the Israelites were in
control.

     Judges 1:34 "And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the
mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:"

     It appears that, the children of Dan were not able to subdue the
people in the valley, and lived in the mountains themselves.

     Judges 1:35 "But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in
Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph
prevailed, so that they became tributaries."

     In this case, the Amorites were driven to the mountains, and
subdued by the house of Joseph. They were under the control of the
house of Joseph.

     Judges 1:36 "And the coast of the Amorites [was] from the going
up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward."

     This was the mount of scorpions, that we read about in another
book. It was named that, because of the abundance of scorpions there.
This is believed to be in the area of Petra. It was located south of
the Dead Sea. This was in the mountain area.





















                         Judges 1 Questions


1.  Who penned Judges?
2.  Why is it not important who penned it?
3.  What period of time does it cover?
4.  How many judges were there?
5.  Who chose the judges?
6.  How did the Israelites remain loyal to the LORD?
7.  What is this book a history of?
8.  What book in the New Testament parallels it?
9.  What time period do most scholars believe this book covers?
10. How old was Joshua, when he died?
11. What does "asked the LORD" mean?
12. We should never enter into any major decision without first
    _________ God.
13. Who shall go up?
14. Moses was known as the __________.
15. Joshua was known as the _________ _________.
16. Who did Judah ask to help him?
17. Who did God deliver into their hands?
18. How many were slain in Bezek?
19. What does "Adoni-bezek" mean?
20. What did they do to Adoni-bezek?
21. What reason did Adoni-bezek give for this happening to him?
22. What does "requited", in verse 7, mean?
23. What had they done to the city of Jerusalem?
24. What had been the name of Hebron?
25. Who was buried here at Hebron?
26. What had Caleb promised to the man that took Kirjath-sepher?
27. Who took it?
28. What did Caleb's daughter ask for?
29. Who were the Kenites?
30. Name 3 Philistine cities in verse 18?
31. Why was Judah not able to drive out those in the valley?
32. They gave Hebron to ________.
33. Who dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem?
34. What does "Beth-el" mean?
35. What did the spies ask the man in verse 24?
36. Who could we compare that to?
37. What happened to the man and his family?
38. Those, who remained in the land with them of the Canaanites,
    became their _______ ______.
39. Who forced the tribe of Dan into the mountains?
40. Verse 36 is speaking of an area near _________.