The Redemptive Administration in the period and years of the Judges
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Introduction
This study is based on chapter 23 of the third book of the History of Redemption series, The Unquenchable Lamp of the Covenant: The First Fourteen Generations in the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, written by Rev. Abraham Park.
In this study, I’d like to share on the Judges period, and in particular I’d like for us to focus on the timeline. What we’re doing here today is the work of the comb. We are combing through the tangled facts of the Bible, all the dates and years of the events, in order to get a clear picture of what really happened.
And in particular, the timeline of the Judges period is something that has been attempted by many scholars of the Bible throughout the ages. But I believe that we have reached the peak of accuracy. Why? Because Rev. Abraham Park didn’t settle for less. He wanted to know what God’s Word says.
But before we get into that, let’s recap the biblical events surrounding this period.
Events surrounding the Judges Period
Events surrounding the Judges Period
Wilderness Journey
Conquest of Canaan
Judges Period
King Saul’s reign
King David’s reign
King Solomon’s reign
Now why bother going all the way to King Solomon’s reign? When it comes to Old Testament chronology, King Solomon’s reign is a chronological anchor.
King Solomon’s reign = Chronological anchor
970 BC
So we can think of this like a math question. If the Judges Period is X, find X.
So let’s begin by keying in the duration of each of these events.
King Solomon’s reign was in 970 BC. His father David reigned for 40 years before that, so his reign began in 1010 BC.
And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
The king before David was king Saul. And because he was the first king, his reign signalled the end of the Judges period. So how long did he reign? The Bible says that he reigned for 40 years.
Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
1010 BC + 40 years = 1050 BC.
So what this means is that the Judges period ended in 1050 BC.
Now we need to calculate when the Judges period began. But the Bible doesn’t say how long the Judges period was. So what can we do? We need to go back to our chronological anchor, King Solomon’s reign. And God kindly gave us a key piece of information.
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.
So what does this tell us? This tells us when the wilderness journey began.
970 BC - 4 years = 966 BC (Temple construction)
966 BC + 480 years = 1446 BC
The wilderness journey lasted for 40 years.
For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
So when do the Israelites enter into the promised land? When do they go around Jericho seven times and make the walls fall?
1446 - 40 years = 1406 BC (Conquest of Canaan)
So the final thing we need to know is how long did it take for the Israelites to conquer Canaan.
And this conquest of Canaan is divided into two parts.
In the first part, the Israelites fight together as one army to conquer the main regions of Canaan. In the second part, Joshua then allocates each tribe their portion, and each tribe has to conquer their portion for themselves.
So how long did this take?
The first part took 6 years. We know this because the Bible records Caleb’s age at the end of the first battle. This is the same Caleb who spied out the land with Joshua when he was 40 years old.
I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart.
And the Bible tells us that they spied out the land in the second year of the Exodus, that’s in 1445 BC.
In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony,
So Caleb was 40 years old in 1445BC. And at the end of the first part of the conquest, he’s now 85 years old.
And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.
So that means 45 years have passed since they spied out the land. 45 years after 1445 BC is 1400 BC.
Now we have to ask the question, how long did it take for the individual tribes to conquer their own portions? The Bible doesn’t state this explicitly, so we can say that it took about 10 years.
So we can tentatively say that the Judges period began in 1390 BC, and ended in 1050 BC. This means that the Judges period lasted for a total of about 340 years.
The timeline of the Judges period
The timeline of the Judges period
Oppression by Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia 8 years.
Judge Othniel 40 years.
Oppression by Eglon, king of Moab 18 years.
Judge Ehud 80 years
Judge Shamgar.
Oppression by Jabin, king of Canaan 20 years.
Judge Deborah 40 years.
Oppression by Midianites 7 years.
Judge Gideon 40 years.
Oppression by Abimelech 3 years.
Judge Tola 23 years.
Judge Jair 22 years.
Oppression by Ammonites 18 years.
Judge Jephthah 6 years.
Judge Ibzan 7 years.
Judge Elon 10 years.
Judge Abdon 8 years.
Oppression by Philistines 40 years.
Judge Samson 20 years.
If we add up all these recorded events in the book of Judges, it adds up to a total of 410 years. So this begs another question: How could all the events of the Judges take place in only 340 years? The answer is that the events overlapped each other.
Overlap between Judges Ehud and Shamgar
Overlap between Judges Ehud and Shamgar
The Judges Ehud and Shamgar give us a quick example.
Ehud reigned for 80 years, but before his death there was a judge Shamgar who reigned for an unknown time, but his story is sandwiched between Ehud’s story.
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.
So this means that Shamgar was active during Ehud’s reign as judge.
Overlap between Judges Tola and Jair
Overlap between Judges Tola and Jair
There’s another overlap between Judge Tola and Judge Jair.
Tola reigns for 23 years, and Jair for 22 years.
But the key information lies in where they were active.
Tola lived in Ephraim, but Jair lived in Gilead.
After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.
After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
The land of Ephraim was on the west coast of Canaan and bordered the Mediterranean Sea.
The land of Gilead, on the other hand, was across the Jordan River to the east.
This means that Tola reigned in the west, and Jair reigned in the east. One reigned in New York, the other in California. They may have heard of each other, but probably never crossed paths.
Overlap between the Philistine and Ammonite oppressions
Overlap between the Philistine and Ammonite oppressions
The third overlap has to do not with the judges, but with the attacks and oppressions by the Ammonites and the Philistines. This is shown in Judg. 10:7-8.
Judges 10:7–8 (ESV)
So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
It says that the Lord sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. The keyword is ‘they’ referring to both the Philistines and the Ammonites. They attacked Israel ‘that year,’ meaning that the Philistine and Ammonite oppressions began in the same year.
And the Bible tells us that these two people groups attacked different parts of Israel.
The Ammonites attacked the land of Gilead from across the Jordan River.
And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.
Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.
On the other hand, the Philistines attacked the land of Judah from the south.
Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi.
And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house.
So when did the oppression start?
Judge Jephthah, who fought off the Ammonites, records this clearly. He’s trying to be diplomatic, and so he says “We’ve been here for 300 years already, so why are you attacking now?”
While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time?
But the Ammonite king doesn’t listen. And so Jephthah goes to war and defeats the Ammonites.
When did this happen? On the 300th year anniversary of the Israelites being in Canaan.
The Israelites entered Canaan after the wilderness journey.
1406 BC - 300 = 1106 BC.
The Ammonite oppression lasted for 18 years, so 1106 BC + 18 = 1124 BC.
So the year the Philistine and Ammonite oppression began was in 1124 BC.
However, the Philistine oppression lasted for 40 years.
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
1124 BC - 40 = 1084 BC
So the Philistine oppression came to an end in 1084 BC.
The problem is that Samson was only active for 20 years.
Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.
So the Philistine oppression didn’t end with Samson. We know how his story goes. The Philistines caught Samson, blinded him, and he was brought in to entertain the Philistine lords at one of their feasts to Dagon. He prays to the Lord for strength, puts his hands on the two pillars beside him, and brings the whole house down, killing many Philistine leaders. But we know that that didn’t bring an end to the Philistine oppression. Why? Because the Israelites are still oppressed in the first chapters of 1 Samuel.
So what took place in 1084BC? The battle of Mizpah in 1 Sam. 7.
Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So in conclusion, the last oppression of the Judges period was put to an end, not by Judge Samson, but by the prophet Samuel, who led the Israelites to repentance and to cast down their idols.
And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
Through the calculations of chronology, the fictitiousness of the Bible erodes and leaves behind a concrete foundation for our faith in the Bible as the unerring and infallible Word of God.