Great question… The period of the Judges wasn't necessarily 400 consecutive years. Scholars believe several judges overlapped in different parts of Israel, because there was no centralized kingdom yet.
For example, Deborah judged in the north, Jephthah judged east of the Jordan, and Samson in Philistine territory to the southwest. So when you calculate how long a judge served, you have to take into account that some of those time periods overlapped.
Scripture never tells us it is 400 consecutive years. It only gives us the timespan of each.
1 Kings 6:1 indicates that Solomon, the third king of Israel, was in the fourth year of his reign 480 years “after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.” When we subtract the 40-year reigns of King Saul and King David from 480 (Acts 13:21; 1 Kings 2:11), we are left with only 400 years.
Wonderful study! I loved the scarlet cord study, too. A pastor of mine many years ago preached in Joshua and imagined that when the dust cleared after the shout, one little sliver of wall was left, where Rahab’s house was. I really like that image. (Also, six days of silent walking must have been so eerie—a kind of psychological warfare that only God would think of.)
I can see how the silence was perhaps preventative. Knowing the propensity of the people to grumble, I could imagine there might have been some negative comments, discouraging words spoken if they were allowed to speak. I think I need to practice more silence.
How long was the period of the judges? Wasn't it something like 400 years? How then could THIS Rahab have been King David's great grandmother?
Great question… The period of the Judges wasn't necessarily 400 consecutive years. Scholars believe several judges overlapped in different parts of Israel, because there was no centralized kingdom yet.
For example, Deborah judged in the north, Jephthah judged east of the Jordan, and Samson in Philistine territory to the southwest. So when you calculate how long a judge served, you have to take into account that some of those time periods overlapped.
Scripture never tells us it is 400 consecutive years. It only gives us the timespan of each.
1 Kings 6:1 indicates that Solomon, the third king of Israel, was in the fourth year of his reign 480 years “after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.” When we subtract the 40-year reigns of King Saul and King David from 480 (Acts 13:21; 1 Kings 2:11), we are left with only 400 years.
Wonderful study! I loved the scarlet cord study, too. A pastor of mine many years ago preached in Joshua and imagined that when the dust cleared after the shout, one little sliver of wall was left, where Rahab’s house was. I really like that image. (Also, six days of silent walking must have been so eerie—a kind of psychological warfare that only God would think of.)
“If someone looked at my life from the street, could they see what my hope is tied to?” I copied this quote to put in my commonplace book.
Patterns. Patterns. Patterns. God's book of interpretive patterns. I love it!
Same!!
This article is wonderful! Forever I will see Jericho in a total new light. And the requirement of Silence and Obedience.
Thank you!
Otis Donaldson
I can see how the silence was perhaps preventative. Knowing the propensity of the people to grumble, I could imagine there might have been some negative comments, discouraging words spoken if they were allowed to speak. I think I need to practice more silence.
Sooo good. I can’t wait to study and make those connections of Jubilee. Diane the sarcastic is funny and makes me ponder what my title could be.
I’d love to hear it LOL
Wonderful -and convicting -“Ask where you’ve been recruiting GOD to your side of a situation instead of asking whether you’re standing on His.”
I love this!
Thanks for expounding on Jesus confronting Joshua. Jesus confronted Moses and was going to kill Moses. Sunday school doesn't tell the whole story.
Most scholars say that Melchizedek was also Jesus.
I don't think so. I think Rehab was a descent of Melchizedek.
There are many believers out side the bloodline of Abraham. We will see Nebabannezzar since he wrote Daniel 4.
What a legacy for Melchizedek that his distant relative was grafted into the bloodline of Jesus.
Elijah went to Zidon and the widow had a son. May I suggest that the widow's distant decendant is the lady with the sick child that Jesus healed.
Matthew 15:21 KJV — Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
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Why else would Jesus go from Jerusalem to Lebanon?
Therefore, the gentiles believers that are outside of Israel are grafted into the family of God.
It's prophecy and warning to Israel that they are the only people who are believers.
Therefore, there is a connection between Rahab and Melchizedek, and the widow and mother in Sidon.
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Genesis 15:16 KJV — But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
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After Melchizedek, four hundred years of apostasy before Rahab.