1. JOURNEY WITH THE

2. Where in the bible? The Book of Judges is the 7th book of the Bible
It can be found in the Old Testament, right after the Book of Joshua
The Book of Ruth comes after Judges; however, the story in Ruth happened during the time of the Judges.

3. Previously in the bible…
In Genesis, God creates a people group from Abraham called the Israelites.
In Exodus, the Israelites are trapped in slavery, but God delivers them. God leads them out into the desert to worship Him.
In Leviticus through Deuteronomy, the Israelites wander the desert for 40 years because of their disobedience, but in the meantime, they learn more about God’s law.
In the Book of Joshua, the Israelites are finally allowed to go into the land of Canaan—their promised home—but they have to fight for it!

4. The setting of judges… Shortly after Joshua dies The Israelites
The promised land--Canaan
Shortly after Joshua dies
The Israelites
God has allowed them to enter the land of Canaan, but they don’t complete trust and obey God—especially the new generation
The Israelites have conquered some land and make a home, but not all the land
There is a new generation who doesn’t know God well

5. Who wrote judges? When did it happen?
The time period that the Book of Judges takes place is likely around B.C.
There is no mentioned author for the Book. It is likely that the stories of the Judges existed in oral form for a long time before being written down.
As one would expect it becomes difficult to verify specific dates and authorship as we study the Bible’s earlier history.

6. Genre
The genre of the Book of Judges is narrative—that means it’s a story. It also describes to us the history of Israel so it can also be called Narrative History.
We can expect to see…
Action
Dialogue
Events unfolding
Plot and themes
Literal, and not symbolic, meanings

7. Key Concepts
What are some of the major points the Book of Judges is trying to get across to us?
God was supposed to be the King, and the covenant God made with the Israelites was supposed to be the laws by which they lived.
Moral Relativism—not having a standard of good and evil—is a dangerous way to live.
Most of the Judges are not people to copy or follow for the most part. The true hero of the story is the generous God who continues to be patient with the disobedient Israelites.

8. What is a Judge anyway?
Judges aren’t exactly what the English word means today.
In the Bible, they are people chosen by God to lead the Israelites in battle against their enemies and are people who help guide the Israelites into making right choices to worship God.
They are not Kings or political leaders since their jobs are only temporary and the people did not choose them.

9. Cycle of sin
The Book of Judges demonstrates a pattern that repeats itself over and over again. It is frequently called “The cycle of sin.”
In this pattern, the Israelites start sinning and worshipping idols, which is against God’s command. When they do that, God does not protect them from enemies. When the enemies come and hurt the Israelites, they start crying out to God. He then has compassion on the Israelites and chooses a Judge to help them. Once Israel is saved, peace comes to the land. After a while though, the Israelites start sinning again and the whole cycle starts all over again…
Not a happy ride to be on…

10. An overview of the book of Judges…

11. Another helpful diagram…