Judges 1 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Judges 1 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Most scholars place the period of the Judges somewhere between 1450 B.C. and 1000 B.C.

• The precise dates are still widely debated.

• This book covers several hundred years of Israelite history.

CHARACTERS:

• Joshua - Moses’ assistant while he led the people in the wilderness. God selected Joshua to lead the Israelites into Canaan after Moses’ death.

• Adoni-bezek – King of Bezek

• Caleb – Caleb was one of the 12 spies God sent into Canaan to spy out the land in Numbers 13. He was one of only two spies who had faith that God would help them conquer the land (Joshua was the other).

• Othniel – Caleb’s younger brother who would eventually become a judge in Israel.

WHERE:

• The first part of Judges 1 describes some of the military victories of the Israelites in Canaan, specifically in the land belonging to Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

• The second part of the chapter records the pagan nations which remained in the Promised Land and lived amongst the Israelites.

OUTLINE:

• THE CONTINUED CONQUEST OF THE PROMISED LAND (1:1-26):

  • After Joshua’s death, the tribes of Judah and Simeon made war with the Canaanite and Perizzite inhabitants of the land.

  • At Bezek, they killed 10,000 enemies and captured a local king named Adoni-bezek.

  • The Israelites cut off Adoni-bezek’s big toes and thumbs. This was done because Adoni-bezek had previously cut off the toes and thumbs of 70 other kings (1:7).

  • After conquering Bezek, the Israelites fought at Jerusalem, in the Negeb, in the hill country, in Hebron, and Debir (Kiriath-sepher).

  • Caleb promised his daughter, Achsah, in marriage to the man who captured the city of Debir. Othniel, Caleb’s younger brother, conquered the city and married Achsah.

  • Caleb gave Achsah land in the Negeb along with the “upper springs and the lower springs.”

  • The text informs us the descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, settled with the people of Judah in their territory.

  • Other cities captured by the Israelites included: Zephath, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Bethel.

• ISREAL NEGLECTS TO DRIVE OUT ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE PROMISED LAND (1:27-36):

  • Judah neglected to drive out the inhabitants of the plains (1:19).

  • Benjamin failed to drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem (1:21).

  • The tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan are specifically mentioned as failing to purge their land of the pagan inhabitants.

  • Rather than driving them out, the people of Israel lived alongside the pagans, which was specifically forbidden by Moses (Numbers 33:50-56).

APPLICATION:

• There is a verse in the New Testament that encourages Christians not to give up when they get tired in the service of the Lord.  

• Gal 6:9 - And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 

• The Israelites got tired of fighting and stopped short of completing the mission God gave them. Their mistake would cost their descendants the Promised Land.

• Being a follower of Jesus isn’t always easy, but the last thing we want to do is to give up early and fail to obtain rest in our Promised Land (Heaven).

• God will help us preserver, but there will be times when God expects us to push through hardships to complete the tasks He’s given us to do.