AN OUTLINED INTRODUCTION
TO THE BIBLE

by
JOHN WADDEY

Minister of the Karns Church of Christ
Instructor in the East Tennessee
School of Preaching and Missions

VOLUME I
Genesis -- Esther
1977

Published by
J. C. CHOATE PUBLICATIONS
Burton Drive
Winona, Mississippi 38967
U.S.A.

DEDICATION

To the students past and present of the East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions who have enjoyed the fruitful study of the scriptures along with me. May they go forth to teach these wonderful lessons throughout the world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Waddey was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1938. He was baptized by George Prosser in 1955. Parker French encouraged him to become an evangelist. One year after his conversion he preached, his first sermon at the Blackmon congregation near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He is married to the former Reba Duncan and is the father of three daughters, Lourene, Lesia and Rebecca.

His schooling was received at the College of Evangelists and Itawamba Junior College. Much of his education was gained from his own study and experience. In his nineteen years of preaching, Brother Waddey has served churches in Mississippi, Colorado and Tennessee. Evangelistic work has carried him into fourteen other states. He has made eight overseas trips, visiting mission works in thirteen countries. He has done evangelistic work in seven foreign nations.

Since 1968 John Waddey has worked with the Karns congregation of Knoxville, Tennessee. Each year that church hosts a World Mission Workshop. He has planned and directed that program since 1968.

Each year he conducts several revival meetings. He is an. officer of the Teenage Christian Camp. He has engaged in three public debates.

For eleven years Brother Waddey conducted a weekly radio broadcast. For several years he wrote a weekly newspaper column. Through the Rocky Mountain News of Denver, Colorado, over 50 million copies of his lessons have been circulated. His articles are carried in the Firm

Foundation, Gospel Advocate, Words of Truth, Christian Echo, Gospel Vidette, Gospel Light, World Evangelist, and other brotherhood papers.

In 1970 he assisted the Karns elders in establishing the East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions and continues to serve as a teacher in it.

This is the tenth book Brother Waddey has authored. See the list on the following page.

OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR:

Searching the Scriptures, newspaper and radio sermons on denominational doctrines. (cloth)
Christianity vs. Liberalism, essays for the church on current problems. (cloth)
The Great Commission and You, lessons on World Evangelism suitable for sermons or classes. (paper)
Growing in Grace and Knowledge, studies for new converts on every important Bible theme. (paper)
Sermons on Saints and Sinners, sermon outlines on Bible characters. (paper)
The Anatomy of Sin, a book of full length sermons. (cloth)
Preaching to Preachers
Liberalism, the Deadly Enemy of the Church
A Child of the King, sermon outlines.

THE PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT

Not too long ago a preacher friend of mine remarked that he wished someone would come out with an outline study of the books of the Bible and I think this is the sentiment of a good percentage of preachers. I told him that I thought Bro. John Waddey was preparing just such a book. Now we have the proof of that. At least, this volume represents a beginning point and I am sure before too long the entire Bible will be covered in subsequent works.

Although the Old Testament in particular is not binding on us today as a law, all Bible Students know that it nevertheless is the word of God and there are many valid reasons why we need to and should study it. I fear that we as the Lord's people have neglected to read, study, and to preach from it far too long, and to our own hurt. There is so much in it that we need to know. There are so many principles in it that we need to learn and apply to our lives. Such a book as this will focus our attention on it and give us the incentive to do that which we have failed so far to do.

Bro. John Waddey is qualified to deal with the Bible in this way since he is not only a preacher but is also a teacher of young preachers in a school setting. But beyond all of that, he is a diligent student of God's word. This can be seen in his writings, since he digs in, searches, and probes, to bring out the richness of the meaning of God's word.

Please allow these outlines to kindle afresh your interest in the Books of the Bible. Let them serve as a guide as

you go through these scriptures to learn from them personally, and as you prepare to preach and teach these great lessons from God's word.
--J. C. Choate
Winona, Mississippi
December 8, 1975

CONTENTS

Page
INTRODUCTION .......... 10
AUTHOR'S PREFACE .......... 11
GENESIS, THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS .......... 13
The Days of Genesis I .......... 20
EXODUS, THE EXIT OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPT .......... 22
LEVITICUS, HANDBOOK FOR THE PRIESTHOOD .......... 29
NUMBERS, THE TRAVEL LOG OF ISRAEL .......... 43
DEUTERONOMY, MOSES' FAREWELL ADDRESS .......... 55
JOSHUA, THE HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST
AND OCCUPATION OF CANAAN .......... 65
The Extermination of the Canaanites and the
Righteousness of Jehovah .......... 75
JUDGES, THE DARK AGES OF ISRAEL .......... 80
The Sacrifice of Jephthah's Daughter .......... 91
RUTH, A LESSON OF LOVE .......... 94
FIRST SAMUEL, THE KINGDOM ORGANIZED .......... 103
Some of the Psalms of David and Their Historical
Background in the Two Books of Samuel .......... 121
SECOND SAMUEL, THE ADMINISTRATION
OF KING DAVID .......... 123
FIRST KINGS, THE ROAD TO NATIONAL RUIN .......... 136
Chronological Record of the Kings of Israel and Judah .......... 156
A List of Psalms That Have Their Historical
Background in Kings and Chronicles .......... 161

CONTENTS (continued)

Page
SECOND KINGS, THE RECORD OF
TWO RUINED KINGDOMS .......... 163
Foreign Rulers Whose Nations
Seriously Affected the Hebrews .......... 178
A Chronology of the Events Affecting Judah from 626 .......... 179
FIRST CHRONICLES, THE SPIRITUAL HISTORY
OF DAVID'S KINGDOM .......... 180
SECOND CHRONICLES, THE BOOK OF
RELIGIOUS REVIVALS .......... 193
EZRA, THE STORY OF THE RESTORATION
AND REORGANIZATION OF
THE HEBREW THEOCRACY .......... 208
NEHEMIAH, THE MAN WHO
REBUILT JERUSALEM .......... 220
ESTHER, THE QUEEN OF PERSIA .......... 232
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......... 245

INTRODUCTION

As a former student of the East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions, I have come to appreciate the work of John Waddey. I respect him first as a Christian man, then a sound preacher of the Word, and as a thorough student and teacher of the Bible.

These outlines of the Pentateuch and historical books of the Old Testament will surely serve as an invaluable tool to any serious student of the Bible.

I have found several other books and writings by John Waddey to be helpful in my work as a young preacher and anticipate many hours of fruitful study from this volume also.

May God's blessings be upon the author of this volume and upon everyone who considers truth by the use of it.
--Charles A. Huff
Tazewell, Virginia

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AUTHOR'S PREFACE

The right system and method is essential to successful Bible study. A lack of a sound system has crippled many students and made their study of limited benefit. For several years the author read diligently and widely in his Bible study with but limited success. It was only when on a mission trip to Nigeria in West Africa that he stumbled across a book in a mission bookstore that gave him the clue he had searched for. The book, entitled The Outline Bible by Robert Lee was purchased and put to use. In his classes at the Commerce City, Colorado church, the author prepared and taught survey studies through the New Testament. Then at the Karns church in Knoxville he completed the Old Testament in his classes. When he began teaching in the East Tennessee School of Preaching a great deal of study in preparation for his Bible courses resulted in a revision and expansion of those original materials to their present state.

While many students are anxious to wade into the deep waters of a verse by verse study requiring the need of materials and reference volumes the author believes that another way will produce much more speedy and satisfying results. Let the student get clearly in his head the following information about a given book and 90 percent of its contents will be clearly discernable without any commentaries.

1. Who wrote the book? What do we know about him and his circumstances both before and at the time of writing?

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2. To whom was the material written? What can be known of them, their culture, the conversion and their present condition at the time of writing? We need to know all we can in these important areas.

3. Why was the book written? The author's purpose in writing is absolutely essential in understanding the book.

4. What is unique and peculiar to this book? These peculiarities are often essential to a proper understanding.

5. What type of literature is this book? Is it historical, legislative, biographical, poetical, devotional, wisdom, or epistolary? The kind of literature determines our method of interpretation of its contents.

6. What is the structure and design of the contents? He that has a proper outline of a book has a large part of his work of interpretation done.

7. In addition, a Bibliography of useful books that greatly assisted the author is provided so that those desiring to study at yet a deeper level can know where to find the necessary help,

8. In this volume the author offers the student the fruit of his study to learn these and other vital facts about the first seventeen books of the Old Testament. These materials have been tested in the classroom. They worked well for the teacher and his students. With proper application they will greatly aid any other serious student.

This is the first of three projected volumes. The second will be ready shortly, covering the balance of the Old Testament. The third will deal with the New Testament books.

May God use these materials to His honor and glory in aiding His children to grow in grace and knowledge.
--John H. Waddell
Rt. 22, Weaver Road
Knoxville, Tennessee 37921

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GENESIS
The Book of Beginnings

Key Verses:
1:1;
1:27;
3:15

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Moses, Lk. 24:44, John 7:19-23.
2. B. Born in Egypt, Ex. 2:1-2.
3. C. Of Hebrew-slave parents, Amram and Jochebed, Ex. 6:20.
4. D. A brother to Aaron and Miriam.
5. E. Rescued from the river, adopted and raised by Pharoah's daughter, Ex. 2:3-10.
6. F. He was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, Acts 6:22.
7. G. Spent 40 years in exile in Midian, Ex. 2:11, 4:26.
8. H. At 80, he led the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage, Ex. 12:29-51; 14:1-31.
9. I. He received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, Ex. 19:1-20; 21.
10. J. He wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, also Ps. 90.
11. K. Because of disobedience he lost his right to enter the promised land, Num. 20:10-13; 27:12-14.
12. L. He died at 120 years and was buried by the Lord in the land of Moab, Deut. 34:6-8.
II. The Book:
1. A. Written 1500-1450 B.C.
2. B. Name: Genesis, Greek name given by the trans-

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14 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. lators of the Septuagint. Bereshith, "in the beginning," the Hebrew name.
2. C. The first of five books of Moses are called:
  1. 1. Torah, the law.
  2. 2. The five-fifths of the law by Jewish scholars.
  3. 3. Pentateuch, the five books, by the Greeks.
3. D. Purposes:
  1. 1. It gives us a record of the origin and development of the chosen nation of Israel.
  2. 2. It gives man a reliable record of the origin of the cosmos and himself.
  3. 3. It is the beginning of God's revelation of Himself to man.
  4. 4. It is the record of how God dealt with man in the beginning, thus providing a foundation for all subsequent dealings.
4. E. Special Value: Genesis answers man's most imperative questions.
  1. 1. Where did I come from?
  2. 2. How did my world begin?
  3. 3. Where did sin originate?
  4. 4. What is the origin of the Hebrews and their religion?
5. F. Historical Record:
  1. 1. It records at least the first 2,000 - 2,500 years of man's history on earth.
  2. 2. "The history contained in Genesis, as in other Biblical books, is not a chronicle of facts, but a series of specifically chosen episodes, genealogies or statistics, designed to exhibit the purpose of God with respect to his people at a given age." C. F. Pfeiffer.
6. G. "Genesis is the seed-plot of the whole Bible,

GENESIS -- The Book of Beginnings 15

1. and is essential to the understanding of every part." Bullinger.
2. H. Satan has worked unceasingly to destroy Genesis and The Revelation. Genesis is attacked by unbelieving Scientists, Anthropologists and others. Revelation is attacked by persuading men that they cannot understand it This is because both foretell his doom.
3. I. Jesus linked himself inseparably to Genesis in John 5:46-47. He put his divine seal on those parts of Genesis most often attacked:
  1. 1. Creation of man, Mt. 19:4-5.
  2. 2. Noah and the flood, Mat 24:37-39.
  3. 3. The destruction of Sodom and Lot's wife, Lk. 17:28-32.
4. J. Genesis opens with man in a paradise. It closes with a coffin, in the land of bondage.
5. K. Three main themes:
  1. 1. God, the Creator of All Things.
  2. 2. The Failure of Man Met By the Salvation of God.
  3. 3. The Founding of the Hebrew Nation.

OUTLINES OF GENESIS:

I. The Creation, 1:1-2:3 --The beginning of the Material Universe.
1. A. Day One, Light, 1:3-5.
2. B. Day Two, Firmament, division of water, 1:1-8.
3. C. Day Three, Dry land, vegetation, 1:9-13.
4. D. Day Four, Luminaries, 1:14-19.
5. E. Day Five, Birds, fishes, 1:20-23.
6. F. Day Six, Animals, man, 1:24-31.
7. G. Day Seven, God rests, 2:1-3.

16 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

II. The Generations of the Heavens and Earth, 2:4-4:26.
1. A. The beginning of the Human Race, 2:4-25.
2. B. The beginning of sin on the Earth, 3:1-7.
3. C. The beginning of God's Plan of Redemption, 3:8-24.
4. D. The beginning of Human Family Life, 4:1-15.
5. E. The beginning of a Godless Civilization, 4:16-26.
III. The Generations of Adam, 5:1-6:8.
1. A. Adam's righteous descendents from Seth -- Noah, 5:1-32.
2. B. The Moral Deterioration that demanded the Flood, 6:1-8.
IV. The Generations of Noah, 6:9-9:28.
1. A. Noah's commission to build the Ark, 6:9-22.
2. B. God's judgment on Man by the Universal Flood, 7:1-24.
3. C. Noah's Deliverance After the Flood, 8:1-19.
4. D. Noah's Worship, 8:20-22.
5. E. God's Covenant with Noah, 9:1-17.
6. F. The Sin and Curse of Ham and Canaan, 9:18-29.
V. The Generations of the Sons of Noah, 10:1-11:9. The Beginning of the Nations of the World.
1. A. The sons of Japheth, 10:1-5.
2. B. The sons of Ham, 10:6-20.
3. C. The sons of Shem, 10:21-32.
4. D. The Tower of Babel, 11:1-9.
  1. 1. The beginning of the different languages.
VI. The Generations of Shem, 11:10-26. The Beginnings of the Semetic Nations.
VII. The Generations of Terah, 11:27-25:11.
1. A. Terah's Descendents, 11:27-32.

GENESIS -- The Book of Beginnings 17

1. B. Abraham's story, 12:1-25:11.
  1. 1. The call of Abram, 12:1-9.
  2. 2. Abram in Egypt, 12:10-20.
  3. 3. Parting of Abram and Lot, 13:1-18.
  4. 4. The Battle of Abram and the Kings, 14:1-17.
    1. a. Lost rescued, 14:14-17.
  5. 5. Abram meets Melchizedek, 14:18-20.
  6. 6. The promise of an heir, 15:1-21.
  7. 7. The birth of Ishmael, 16:1-16.
  8. 8. God's Covenant with Abram, 17:1-27.
  9. 9. Sodom and Gomorrah. destroyed, 18:1-19:38.
  10. 10. Abraham and Abimelech of Gerar, 20:1-18.
  11. 11. Isaac and Ishmael, 21:1-21.
  12. 12. Alliance between Abraham and Abimelech, 21:22-33.
  13. 13. The offering of Isaac, 22:1-23.
  14. 14. The Death of Sarah, 23:1-20.
  15. 15. A Wife for Isaac, 24:1-67.
  16. 16. The Last Days of Abraham, 25:1-11.
VIII. The Generations of Ishmael, 25:12-18.
IX. The Generations of Isaac, 25:19-35:29.
1. A. The birth of Esau and Jacob, 25:19-34.
2. B. Isaac and Abimelech, 26:1-33.
3. C. Esau and his Marriages, 26:34-35.
4. D. Isaac blesses Jacob, 27:1-42.
5. E. Jacob's Flight, 27:43-28:22.
6. F. Jacob marries Leah and Rachel, 29:1-30.
7. G. The birth of Jacob's sons, 29:31-30:24.
8. H. Jacob's conflicts with Laban, 30:25-43.
9. I. Jacob's Flight from Laban, 31:1-42.
10. J. Jacob's Covenant with Laban, 31:43-55.

18 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. K. Jacob encounters Esau, 32:1-33:17.
2. L. Jacob settles in Canaan, 33:18-20.
3. M. The assault of Dinah, 34:1-31.
4. N. The birth of Benjamin and death of Rachel, 35:1-27.
5. O. Death of Isaac, 35:28-29.
X. The Generation of Esau, 36:1-37:1.
XI. The Generations of Jacob, 37:2-50:26.
1. A. Joseph and His Brethren, 37:2-28.
2. B. Jacob deceived about Joseph's alleged death, 37:29-36.
3. C. Judah and Tamar, 38:1-30.
4. D. Joseph and Potiphar's wife, 39:1-23.
5. E. Joseph and the Prisoners, 40:1-23.
6. F. Pharoah's Dream and Joseph's Promotion, 41:1-57.
7. G. The First Visit of Joseph's Brothers, 42:1-38.
8. H. The Second Visit of Joseph's Brothers, 43:1-34.
9. I. Benjamin and the missing cup, 44:1-34.
10. J. Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers, 45:1-24.
11. K. Jacob's journey to Egypt, 45:25-46:27.
12. L. Joseph's family settled in Goshen, 46:28-47:12.
13. M. Joseph's Administration in Egypt, 47:13-27.
14. N. The Last Days of Jacob, 47:28-50:14. 0. The Last Years of Joseph, 50:15-26.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. The unlimited Power of God.
2. The freedom of will and concurrent moral responsibility of man.
3. The devestation of one sin.

GENESIS -- The Book of Beginnings 19

4. The evil consequences when the sons of God marry the daughters of men.
5. The awful judgment of God upon sinners.
6. The rainbow promise, i.e., the world will never again perish by water.
7. The seed of the woman (Jesus) has bruised the serpent's (Satan's) head.
8. The faithful worship of Abel.
9. The complete obedience of Abraham when he offered Isaac.
10. The moral purity and discipline of Joseph.
11. The providential guidance of God in bringing His will to pass.

20 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

THE DAYS OF GENESIS I
Appendix A

1. It is a rule of Bible study that the original and literal meaning of a word should be accepted unless there are significant reasons for making it figurative.

2. Reputable Hebrew dictionaries do not allow "yom" to be a period of time lasting millions of years. Marcus Dods says that if the word "day" in these chapters does not mean twenty-four hours, Scripture is hopeless.

3. In the Old Testament, when "yom" is used with a numeral, a solar day is meant. (Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:14; Exodus 12:6 and others.)

4. The Genesis account of creation does not suggest that great "periods of time" were involved in the formative acts of God.

5. The designation of days in Genesis I conforms with the method of time used in the Mosaic period. The six days each had a light time and a dark time, even as days do now.

6. Making "yom" mean an age of indefinite length does not cause harmony between Genesis and the theory of evolution. The events recorded in the Genesis creation account do not conform to the evolutionary scheme of things.

7. In other places in the Bible, "yom" means what we consider a regular day.

8. The Sabbath command given to the Jewish nation in Exodus 20; 8-11 is understood only when the days of

GENESIS -- The Book of Beginnings 21

the week are solar days. (From God's Wonderful World by Leonard Mullens)

9. The days must be literal or else an enormous problem arises as to Adam's -age. He was created on the sixth day and lived on into the seventh. If the days stand for epochs of time, how many million years did Adam live?

10. The plant life was created on the third day. Most plant life depends upon insect life for its pollenization and seeding. However, the insects were not created until the sixth day. If the days stand for long geologic ages of millions of years, all the plant life dependent upon insects for pollenization would have perished. Their presence on earth today is testimony to a brief creation week of seven solar days.

EXODUS
The Exit of Israel From Egypt

Key Verses:
3:7-8 declares God's purpose
12:13 tells how redemption was accomplished

Key Thought:
Deliverance.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Moses, Ex. 17:14; Mk. 1:44.
2. B. The Career of Moses:
  1. 1. Forty years of training in Egypt as the adopted prince of Pharoah's daughter. The world considered him somebody at this time.
  2. 2. Forty years in the wilderness of Midian as a lowly shepherd for his father-in-law, Jethro Ruel. These were years of spiritual training for his life's mission. He learned that he was no one.
  3. 3. Forty years leading Israel from Egyptian slavery through the Sinai desert to Canaan. He learned what God could do with a nobody.
3. C. Moses is without doubt one of the greatest men of all ages. He successfully served as a statesman, lawgiver, historian, poet, emancipator and prophet to a nation that little appreciated him in his life-time.
4. D. Moses' Family:
  1. 1. His wife: Zipporah, daughter of Jethro Ruel, priest of Midian.

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EXODUS -- The Exit of Israel From Egypt 23

1. 1. 2. His sons: Gershom and Eliezer, Ex. 18:1-4.
  2. 3. He married at a later date a Cushite (Ethiopian) woman, Num. 12:1.
2. E. For more information about Moses, see notes on Genesis.
II. About the Book:
1. A. Name: The term "Exodus" means the going out. We get this name from the Septuagint translation. The Jews called it Shemoth which meant "names."
2. B. Date: It was written by Moses somewhere between 1500 and 1400 B.C.
3. C. Period of History Covered: The time covered in the book is approximately 360 years; from the death of Joseph to the setting up of the tabernacle at Sinai.
  1. 1. A total of 430 years were spent in Egypt.
4. D. The book was written to continue the story of Genesis. One must have an understanding of Genesis to fully appreciate Exodus.
5. E. Purpose: The book was written for the Hebrews as a historical record of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and their being organized into a nation.
  1. 1. It was also written for them and all future children of Abraham by faith, to typify their deliverance from the slavery of sin by Jesus, I Cor. 10:1-12.
6. F. It is the book of Redemption in the Old Testament. It sets forth God's efforts to rescue His people from bondage. It opens with the gloomy scenes of slavery but closes in the glorious deliverance.

24 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. G. "The story of Exodus is repeated in every soul that seeks deliverance from the enslaving dominion of sin." See I Cor. 10:1-6.
2. H. Major Themes:
  1. 1. Deliverance from Bondage and
  2. 2. God's Law are seen in Exodus.
3. I. Three Major Sections of the book:
  1. 1. Deliverance from Egypt, Chapts. 1-18.
  2. 2. The covenant given on Mt. Sinai, Chapts.19-24.
  3. 3. The building of the tabernacle and the worship system thereof, Chapts. 25-40.
4. J. Another Summary:
  1. 1. Israel in Egypt, 1:1-12:36.
  2. 2. The journey to Sinai, 12:37-19:2.
  3. 3. Israel at Sinai, 19:3-40:38...Oswald Allis.
5. K. Other Facts: The Hebrews increased from a family of 70 to a nation of approximately -3,000,000. The men of war numbered 600,000 (Ex. 12:37) plus women, children and men too old or unfit for war; also the Levites. They possibly numbered half of Egypt's population, Ex. 1:9.
6. L. Tabernacle: One third of the book is dedicated to the building of the tabernacle and its divine worship. This emphasizes the important role it played in the life of the nation.
7. M. The Pharoah of the Exodus: It was likely Amenhotep II who ruled approximately 14501420 B.C. He was of the Hyksos dynasty.
III. Types of Christ in Exodus:
1. A. Moses, the deliverer, lawgiver and prophet, Deut. 18:15-18.
2. B. The Passover Lamb, Ex. 12:6; I Cor. 5:7-8.
3. C. The Living Bread, Ex. 16:4; John 6:48-51.

EXODUS -- The Exit of Israel From Egypt 25

1. D. The Smitten Rock, Ex. 17:6; I Col-. 10:4.
2. E. The Veil of the Tabernacle, Heb. 10:19-20. F. The High Priest, Aaron, Ex. 28:36-41; Heb. 7:23-28, 9:11.
IV. Mt. Sinai: This is a specific mountain peak. The range of mountains of which it is a part is called Horeb. Often the words are used interchangeably.
V. Christ and Exodus: Jesus forever linked himself with the book of Exodus and Moses its author in John 5:46-47. We do not have the privilege of choosing Christ or Moses. It is both or neither. Moses wrote Exodus by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

OUTLINE OF EXODUS:

I. Israel in Bondage in Egypt, 1:1-5:23.
1. A. Israel's oppression, 1:1-22.
2. B. Moses' birth and training, 2:1-4:31.
  1. 1. His birth and preservation, 2:1-10.
  2. 2. His flight and life in Midian, 2:11-22.
  3. 3. The call of Moses by God, 2:23-4:17.
  4. 4. His obedience, 4:18-31.
3. C. Israel oppressed by Pharaoh, 5:1-23,
  1. 1. Moses and Pharaoh, 5:1-18.
  2. 2. Moses with Israel, 5:19-23.
II. The Deliverance From Bondage, 6:1-18:28.
1. A. Jehovah and Moses, 6:1-7:7.
  1. 1. God declares Himself to Moses, 6:1-30.
  2. 2. God's charge to Moses, 7:1-7.
2. B. The power of Jehovah versus Pharaoh, 7:8-11:9. (The ten plagues)
  1. 1. Aaron's rod becomes a serpent, 7:8-13.
  2. 2. The waters of Egypt are turned to blood, 7:14-25.

26 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 3. The plagues of frogs, lice and flies, 8:1-32.
  2. 4. The plagues of murrain, boils and hail, 9:1-35.
  3. 5. Plagues of locusts and darkness, 10:1-29.
  4. 6. Jehovah reveals the last plague, 11:1-9. Note: The ten plagues were judgments of God upon the false gods of Egypt, showing their impotence before Jehovah. Ex. 12:12.
2. C. Jehovah saves Israel, 12:1-18:27.
  1. 1. The passover and death of the first-born. 12:1-51.
  2. 2, Deliverance, 13:1-22.
  3. 3. Crossing the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharoah's army, 14:1-31.
  4. 4. The song of victory, 15:1-21.
  5. 5. God provides quail and manna, 16:1-36.
  6. 6. War with Amalek, 17:1-16.
  7. 7. Moses and Jethro, 18:1-27.
III. The Organization of the nation, 19:1-40:38.
1. A. The giving of the ten commandments, 19:1-20:26.
  1. 1. Rules and instructions preparing the people for God's revelation, 19:1-25.
  2. 2. The ten commandments, 20:1-26.
2. B. Laws for the Nation, 21:1-23:33.
  1. 1. Laws of the Person, 21:1-32.
  2. 2. Laws of Property, 21:33-22:15.
  3. 3. Miscellaneous Laws of conduct, 22:16-23:19.
  4. 4. A guiding angel promised, 23:20-33.
3. C. Worship of the Hebrews codified, 24:1-40:38.
  1. 1. God calls Moses to the mountain to receive His laws, 24:1-28.
  2. 2. Offerings for, and instructions for:
    1. a. Ark of Covenant

EXODUS -- The Exit of Israel From Egypt 27

1. 1. 1. b. Table of Showbread
    2. c. Candlestick, 25:1-40.
  2. 3. Plans for construction of the tabernacle, 26:1-37.
  3. 4. The altar of Burnt-offerings and the courts of the tabernacle, 27:1-21.
  4. 5. Garments for Aaron the high priest, 28:1-43.
  5. 6. Instructions for the daily offerings, 29:1-46.
  6. 7. The altar of incense, brazen laver and anointing oil, 30:1-38.
  7. 8. Bezalel and Oholiah commissioned to build the tabernacle and its contents, 31:1-12. 9. Observance of the Sabbath, 31:13-18.
2. D. The sin of the golden calf, 32:1-35.
3. E. Jehovah talks with Moses, 33:1-34:35. 1. Moses again receives the ten commandments and sundry laws, 34:1-35.
4. F. Construction of the tabernacle and furnishings, 35:1-39:43.
5. G. Dedication and consecration of the Tabernacle 40:1-38.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. We see God's great providential care in saving the infant Moses.
2. We should emulate Moses' example in rejecting the pleasures of sin to follow God.
3. God uses prepared people to do His work.
4. Things written beforehand are our examples, that we not make their mistakes; I Cor. 10:6.
5. They also provide a firm basis for our hope, Rom, 15:4.
6. Hardships develop character.
7. The Exodus story is typical of every man's salvation from sin.

28 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

8. We see the weakness of men in soon forgetting God's past blessings and complaining for lack of present comforts.
9. We see God's displeasure at murmuring.
10. When God sees the saving blood of Christ upon our hearts, He will pass over us in the judgment and we shall be saved.
11. We see the awesome judgments of God upon a wicked nation that oppresses God's people.
12. The blood of the Passover lamb had not only to be shed, but applied to the door posts of the houses. So today the bloodshed on Calvary cannot save until it is applied to the heart.
13. The continual danger of apostasy and relapse into sin, even as Aaron and the Hebrews did with the golden calf.
14. We must be baptized unto Christ as the Israelites were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, I Cor. 10:1-2.
15. We see Moses and the elders sitting at God's feet that they might learn His will and teach it to the people.
16. God often allows oppression to come upon His people to prepare them for greater things.
17. We must not allow our minds to look back to the old life and lust after it.
18. God will not accept our excuses, even as He will not accept Moses' excuses.
19. "The History of the human race has been affected by the fact that on a given day a baby cried into the face of a woman." G. C. Morgan.
20. When God was ready, he called Moses to deliver the Hebrews. If Moses had attempted the Exodus at age 40, he would have failed.
21. Jesus is the "I Am," Ex. 3:13-14, John 8:58.

LEVITICUS
Handbook For The Priesthood

Key Verses:
17:11 "...for it is the blood that maketh atonement..."
19:2 "Ye shall be holy, for I Jehovah your God am holy."

Key Words:
Holiness, used 88 times.
Atonement, used 45 times.

Key Thought:
That our holy God has appointed a way by which sinful man can come into His presence by means of sacrificial blood. The relationship is sustained only when the whole life is holy.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Moses. Notice that twenty of the chapters commence with "and Jehovah spake unto Moses."
2. B. For additional information on Moses see the notes on Genesis and Exodus.
II. About the Book:
1. A. Name: "Leviticus" was the name given to this book by the translators of the Septuagint since it contained laws, regulations and ordinances for the ministry of the priestly tribe of Levi.
  1. 1. The Hebrew title is "Va-yich-rah," i.e., And He Called, the first words of the book.
2. B. Date: It was written during the early months of the Exodus from Egypt (1500-1400 B.C.)

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30 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. while Israel was encamped at the base of Mt. Sinai.
2. C. Period of time covered: The instructions and events recorded in Leviticus cover a brief period of approximately one month. Compare Ex. 40:2, 17 and Num. 10:11.
3. D. Leviticus is a continuation of the record begun in Genesis and Exodus. Without an acquaintance with these books it would not make much sense.
4. E. Purpose:
  1. 1. The book's major purpose was to declare the laws, regulations and customs for the Levitical priesthood and God's plan of worship for the nation.
  2. 2. It sets forth the way the nation and each person was to approach God and continue in His fellowship.
  3. 3. It served as a guide for the priesthood's functioning.
  4. 4. In it God is showing His people that the way to continuing fellowship is by Sacrifice and Separation from Sin.
  5. 5. It teaches the awfulness of sin; how it alienates man from God; and that sacrificial blood is necessary to man's reconciliation.
5. F. In Genesis we see man ruined. In exodus we see man redeemed. In Leviticus we see man worshipping.
6. G. Type of Literature. Leviticus has very little historical material, it is mainly statutory regulations for the Hebrews.
7. H. No other book makes so many claims to God speaking its message.

LEVITICUS -- Handbook For The Priesthood 31

1. 1. 1. "The Lord spake, said, or commanded" is used 56 times.
  2. 2. "I am Jehovah" is used 21 times.
2. I. It is like a "picture book" for God's children in that every sacrifice pointed to the coming Messiah who would be the final and supreme sacrifice.
3. J. In this book God shows his instance on holiness of body as well as holiness of soul.
II. The Levites and the Priesthood.
1. A. The men of the tribe of Levi were chosen by God to care for all public and religious ceremonies and the tabernacle worship.
2. B. Of the men of Levi, God separated Aaron and his sons to fulfill the acts of worship pertaining to the tabernacle and all sacrifices.
  1. 1. The other men of Levi assisted the priests in their work.
3. C. One of Aaron's descendants was selected "high priest."
  1. 1. He alone could enter the most holy place.
  2. 2. He could enter there only one day of the year, the Day of Atonement.
  3. 3. He had to come with sacrificial blood for himself and the nation.
4. D. The Levites were supported by the tithes of the nation.
  1. 1. The priests received the tithes of the Levites.
  2. 2. No land district was given to the Levites, but they were provided with 48 cities, Jos. 21:1-42.
5. E. The Levites served from age 30 to age 50.
6. F. They did not serve in the military.

32 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

III. Definition of terms used in Leviticus:
1. A. Ephod, a sleeveless jacket or cape, made of two linen panels and tied at the shoulders.
2. B. The Breastplate was worn by the high priest. It was about 10 inches square, woven of multicolored threads and adorned with 12 precious stones, each bearing the name of one of the tribes of Israel.
3. C. Urim and Thummin were the names of two stones carried by the high-priest to assist him in determining the will of God. We know little about them.
4. D. For definitions and explanations of the various sacrifices and festivals, see the notes in the following outline.
IV. Leviticus and the New Testament:
1. A. Since the ideas of sacrifice, altar, priesthood, and tabernacle are used in the New Testament, we must look to the books of the Pentateuch for their background and meaning.
2. B. The book of Hebrews provides a divine commentary on the book of Leviticus.
3. C. There are numerous references and allusions to Leviticus in the New Testament.
  1. 1. I Pet. 1:16, "Ye shall be holy; for I am holy"; Lev. 11:44, 19:2, 20:7.
  2. 2. Jas. 2:8, Matt. 22:39, etc., "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Lev. 19:18.
  3. 3. Lk. 2:22-24, "turtle-doves for purification," Lev. 12:6-8.
  4. 4. The sin-offering of Lev. 16;18-27 is repeatedly mentioned in Heb. 9, 10 and 13.
  5. 5. God's promise to set his tabernacle among

LEVITICUS -- Handbook For The Priesthood 33

1. 1. his children, Lev. 26:1142 is alluded to in John 1:14; II Car. 6:16, and Rev. 7:15.
  2. 6. Also, most all of the sacrifices and institutions were typical of Christ, and his church.
    1. a. Aaron, the high priest -- Christ our high priest
    2. b. the tabernacle -- the church
    3. c. The holy of holies -- heaven
    4. d. Innocent animals sacrificed -- Christ's death
    5. e. Scores of others could be cited
V. The Levitical system of Holy days and rituals were built around the numeral 7. The number 7 suggested completion or perfection.
1. A. The seventh day was a sabbath.
2. B. The seventh year was a sabbatical year.
3. C. Following seven sabbatical years came the year of Jubilee.
4. D. The seventh month was especially holy, having three festivals; trumpets, tabernacles and atonement.
5. E. Seven weeks elapsed between Passover and Pentecost.
6. F. Pentecost, Passover and Tabernacles lasted seven days.
7. G. During Passover, 14 lambs were offered daily (2 x 7).
8. H. During Tabernacles, 14 lambs were offered daily, plus 70 bullocks.
9. I. At Pentecost, 7 lambs were sacrificed.
VI. Liberalism and Leviticus:
1. A. Liberal scholars have denied the Mosaic authorship of Leviticus and have sought to date it

34 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. in the 500-450 B.C. period. They view it as a composite of an uninspired "priestly code" and a "holiness code," chapters 18-20. They also argued that the ordinances were borrowed from the heathen ancestors and neighbors of the Hebrews. While always rejected by God-fearing students, this theory has been destroyed by the archeological discoveries at Ras Shamra. "It may be confidently affirmed that external evidence is in full accord with internal evidence for the Mosaic authorship of Leviticus." C. F. Pfeiffer.
VII. Five Major Divisions of the book:
1. A. Provisions for approaching God, Chapters 1-7.
2. B. Institution of the Priesthood by which man could approach God, Chapters 8-10.
3. C. The Life of Holiness which was essential to being acceptable to God, Chapters 11-22.
4. D. The Sacred Festivals which reminded them of God's past and continued blessings, Chapters 23-24,
5. E. Symbols of Israel's relation to God which guaranteed their continued right to come before him. Chapters 25-27.

OUTLINE OF LEVITICUS:

The People's Access to God in Worship by the Shedding of Blood. 1:1-10:20.

I. The Law Concerning Sacrifices, 1:1-7:38
1. A. Burnt offerings, 1:1-17.
  1. 1. The entire flesh was burned on the altar.
  2. 2. It signified the complete dedication of the individual or nation to God.
2. B. Meal Offerings, 2:1-16.

LEVITICUS -- Handbook For The Priesthood 35

1. 1. 1. Fine flour with oil and frankincense, salt could be used but no leaven.
  2. 2. These were always offered with the blood sacrifices. -
  3. 3. The priest ate part of this offering.
  4. 4. Being the produce of man's labor, it suggested his gratitude for God's provisions.
2. C. Peace offerings, 3:1-17.
  1. 1. An unblemished ox, sheep or goat of either sex.
  2. 2. Only the fatty portion and blood were given to God.
  3. 3. The priest and the worshipper divided the flesh between themselves to be eaten in the court.
  4. 4. It signified the worshipper's communion with God.
  5. 5. Christ's sacrifice brought us peace, Eph. 2:16-18.
3. D. Sin offerings, 4:1-35.
  1. 1. Sins committed in ignorance were atoned for by this sacrifice.
  2. 2. The fat, the kidneys and the caul were burned.
  3. 3. The priests ate the remainder or else burned it without the camp.
  4. 4. Christ is our sin offering, II Con 5:21.
4. E. Trespass offerings, 5:1-6:7.
  1. 1. Only a ram without blemish to be offered.
  2. 2. This atoned for sins wherein it was possible to make restitution.
    1. a. The restitution was six-fifths of the original value.

36 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 3. Only the fat, kidneys and caul were burned.
  2. 4. The priest ate. the remainder or burned it.
  3. 5. Trespass offerings provided for definite acts of willfull wrong doing, 6:1-7.
2. F. Special instructions for priests, concerning the various sacrifices, 6:8-1:38.
II. Historical Section: The Consecration of the Priests: 8:1-10:20.
1. A. Aaron and his sons called to the priesthood, 8:1-5.
2. B. Their cleansing and clothing, 8:6-13.
3. C. The sacrifices offered, 8:14-29.
4. D. The anointing and holy meal, 8:30-36.
5. E. Aaron and his sons begin their ministry, 9:1-24.
  1. 1. Aaron offers sacrifices for himself, 9:1-14.
  2. 2. He sacrifices for the people, 9:15-21.
  3. 3. He blesses the people, 9:22-23.
  4. 4. Fire from heaven consumed the sacrifice, 9:24.
6. F. The Punishment of Nadab and Abihu, 10:1-21.
  1. 1. Their sin, 10:1.
    1. a. Strange fire, i.e., fire from some source other than the altar of burnt sacrifices. Compare 16:11-12.
    2. b. The only worship acceptable to God is that which He has authorized.
  2. 2. Their punishment: burned to death at their post of duty. 10:2.
  3. 3. Disposal of their bodies, 10:3-5.
  4. 4. Aaron and his sons warned not to mourn for Nadab and Abihu, 10:6-7.
  5. 5. Aaron and his sons warned not to drink strong drink when serving, 10:8-11.

LEVITICUS -- Handbook For The Priesthood 37

1. 1. 6. The disposal of the offerings, 10:12-20.
    1. a. Holiness of Body and Soul Enjoined, 11:1-27:34.
III. Laws and instructions on purity and uncleanliness, 11:1-16:34.
1. A. Regulations on clean and unclean Food, 11:1-47.
  1. 1. Things edible and not edible, 11:1-23.
  2. 2. Things that defile by physical contact, 11:24-47.
2. B. Purification of Women after Childbirth, 12:1-8.
  1. 1. The period of cleanness after childbirth, 12:1-5.
    1. a. Forty days for a male child.
    2. b. Eighty days for a female child
  2. 2. The offerings prescribed for cleansing after childbirth, 12:6-8.
    1. a. A lamb
    2. b. A young pigeon or turtle dove for the poor.
3. C. Laws Relating to Leprosy, 13:1-14:57.
  1. 1. Examination of Leprosy, 13:1-46.
  2. 2. Leprosy in clothing, 13:47-59.
  3. 3. Cleansing and restoration of leprosy cases, 14:1-57.
4. D. Purifications from bodily secretions, 15:1-33.
  1. 1. Purification of men, 15:1-18.
  2. 2. Purification of women, 15:19-30.
5. E. The Great Day of Atonement, 16:1-34.
  1. 1. Aaron's preparation, 16:1-10.
  2. 2. Offerings to be presented, 16:11-19.
  3. 3. The scapegoat sent away, 16:20-22.
  4. 4. The offering completed, 16:23-28.
  5. 5. The sacredness of the occasion, 16:29-34.

38 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

IV. The Laws of Holiness, that separated Israel from the world, 17:1-20:27.
1. A. Holiness in regard to food, 17:1-16.
  1. 1. All sacrifices must be killed at the tent of meeting, 17:1-9.
  2. 2. The people forbidden to eat blood, 17:10-16.
2. B. Holiness in Sexual Conduct, 18:1-30.
  1. 1. Solemn reminder to heed God's word and avoid Canaanite abuses, 18:1-5.
  2. 2. Incest forbidden, 18:6-18.
  3. 3. Other sexual prohibitions, 18:19-23.
  4. 4. Warning against disobedience, 18:24-30.
3. C. Miscellaneous laws that stress practical holiness, 19:1-37.
  1. 1. Primarily, matters governed by the first five of the Ten Commandments, 19:1-8.
  2. 2. Primarily matters governed by the last five Commandments, 19:9-18.
  3. 3. Other ordinances, 19:19-37.
4. D. Punishment for ungodly actions, 20:1-27.
  1. 1. Molech worship to be punished by death, 20:1-5.
  2. 2. Witchcraft is forbidden, 20:6-8.
  3. 3. Cursing parents, a capital crime, 20:9.
  4. 4. Sexual crimes punishable by death, 20:10-21.
  5. 5. Exhortation to follow God's ways, 20:22-27.
V. Laws Relating to Priestly Holiness and duties and holy seasons, 21:1-26:2.
1. A. Regulations for priests, 21:1-22:35.
  1. 1. Priests must avoid being defiled by dead bodies, 21:1-6.
  2. 2. Concerning wives and children of priests, 21:7-9.

LEVITICUS -- Handbook For The Priesthood 39

1. 1. 3. Regulations for the high-priest, 21:10-15.
  2. 4. Rules for priests with physical blemishes, 21:16-24.
  3. 5. General rules for priests concerning uncleanness, 22:1-9.
  4. 6. The rights of the priest's family to eat the "holy things," 22:10-16.
  5. 7. Concerning the animals to be offered as sacrifices, 22:17-33.
2. B. The Holy Days and Seasons of the nation regulated, 23:1-25; 55.
  1. 1. The Sabbath, 23:1-3.
    1. a. To remember their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, Dent. 5:15.
    2. b. It marked God's rest following creation, Gen. 2:3.
  2. 2. The Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, 23:4-14.
    1. a. Commemorated their deliverance when God smote the first-born of Egypt, Ex. 12:26-27.
  3. 3. Pentecost, the feast of weeks, 23:15-22.
    1. a. To dedicate to God the first-fruits of the wheat harvest.
    2. b. Pentecost means fiftieth; it came on the fiftieth day after Passover Sabbath.
  4. 4. The Feast of Trumpets, 23:23-25.
    1. a. The Jewish New Year, the first day of the seventh month.
  5. 5. The Day of Atonement, 23; 26-32.
    1. a. The one day of each year when God received atonement for the sins of the nation at the hands of the high priest.

40 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 6. The Feast of Tabernacles, 23:33-44.
    1. a. Called Feast of Booths, the people lived in tents or booths for seven days.
    2. b. To commemorate the wilderness wandering of the nation and the finishing of the harvest.
2. C. The Holy Lamp, the Showbread, 24:1-9.
3. D. Blasphemy punished, 24:10-23.
4. E. The Sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee, 25:1-55.
  1. 1. Regulations for the Sabbath year, 25:1-7.
    1. a. The land was not cultivated for the whole year, every seventh year.
  2. 2. The Year of Jubilee, 25:8-55.
    1. a. The fiftieth year was a second sabbatical year in succession. No land was cultivated.
    2. b. All slaves were freed, all debts were cancelled, all land reverted to the original owners.
VI. Conclusion: 26:1-46.
1. A. Blessings for obedience to God, 26:1-13.
2. B. Punishments for disobedience, 26:14-39.
3. C. God's faithfulness affirmed, 26:40-46.
VII. Appendix: Vows and Tithes, 27:1-34.
1. A. Vows concerning people, 27:1-8.
2. B. Vows of domestic animals, 27:9-13.
3. C. Vows of houses and fields, 27:14-25.
4. D. Things excluded from vows, 27:26-29.
5. E. Tithes, 27:30-34.

LEVITICUS -- Handbook For The Priesthood 41

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. No man, whether saved or lost, can draw nigh unto God without sacrificial blood.
2. We who are redeemed must be holy because our Redeemer is holy.
3. God demands holiness of our bodies as well as of our souls.
4. God's people must always distinguish between the clean and unclean.
5. Sin defiles man and makes him unsuited to enter God's presence.
6. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, Heb. 9:22.
7. Even today the blood of an animal remains forbidden unto man, Acts 15:29.
8. Then, only Levites of Aaron's family were priests; today, every faithful Christian is a royal priest of God, I Pet. 2:5-9,
9. They offered slain animals and meal offerings, we present our bodies as living sacrifices, Rom. 12:1-2.
10. Our songs, prayers and gifts are spiritual sacrifices unto God, Heb. 13:15-16.
11. Also, good works done for others and unto God are acceptable sacrifices of the Christian, Heb. 13:16.
12. The sacrifices had to be of the very best quality. So must our sacrifices be.
13. In the case of Aaron and his disobedient sons, we see that his relation to God was superior to any fleshly relationships. So also, ours with God.
14. Like Nadab and Abihu, we will be punished if we offer strange fire unto God in our worship.

42 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

15. Their sins were "atoned for" for only one year, ours were atoned for once for all by Christ, Heb. 10:10.
16. Every sacrifice offered declared man's sinfulness and the need for the coming Savior.
17. Christ, our high-priest, lives and ministers before the Father in heaven, Heb. 7:26-8:2.
18. Aaronic high-priests were mortal men, who were sinners, Christ is a sinless high-priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Heb. 6:20, 7:26-8:2.

NUMBERS
The Travel Log of Israel

Key Verses:
Num. 14:28-34.

Key Words:
Warfare,
wandering,
journeying.

Key Persons:
Moses,
Aaron,
Miriam,
Joshua,
Caleb.

Key Thoughts:
God's Discipline upon His rebellious children.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Moses. The expression "Jehovah spake unto Moses" appears over forty times in Numbers. It is used to begin 16 chapters.
2. B. For further information on Moses, see the notes on Genesis and Exodus.
II. About the Book:
1. A. Name: The name "Numbers" comes to us from Jerome's Latin Vulgate, he took this name from the Septuagint.
  1. 1. It is called this because it records the two numberings or census of the Israelite males of military age.
  2. 2. The Hebrews called it B'midbar which means, "in the wilderness."
2. B. Date: Between 1500 and 1400 B.C.
3. C. The time covered in the book is the 39 years of wilderness wandering.
4. D. Numbers continues the historical record begun in Genesis and Exodus. Also it enlarges upon

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44 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. the ordinances of Leviticus. A prior study of these three books is essential to an understanding of Numbers.
2. E. Purpose:
  1. 1. It was written for the nation of Israel as an historical document and record of the past.
  2. 2. The events of this book taught Israel that their God was Jehovah-jireh, the God who provides, Gen. 22:14.
    1. a. He provided food when they were hungry, 11:6-9.
    2. b. He gave them meat to eat, 11:31-33.
    3. c. He provided water in the desert when they were thirsty, 20:8.
    4. d. He raised up leaders for the nation, 1:1-3.
    5. e. He kept their clothes and shoes from wearing out through the forty years.
    6. f. He gave them a land of their own, 14:7-8.
  3. 3. To teach future generations the awful consequences of rebellion, lack of faith and murmuring.
3. F. Notable Themes in Numbers:
  1. 1. The two Census.
  2. 2. The Wilderness Wandering from Sinai to Canaan.
  3. 3. The murmurings of the Nation.
  4. 4. The leadership of Moses.
4. G. The Events recorded in Numbers are not all in chronological order.
5. H. In Genesis we saw man ruined by Sin.
6. In Exodus we saw him redeemed by Gad.
7. In Leviticus we saw him worshipping.
8. In Numbers he is serving God.

NUMBERS -- The Travel Log of Israel 45

1. I. Type of Literature: Historical narrative and legislative.
2. J. In this book God stresses the need for orderly service.
III. Sketch of the Encampment Pattern of the Nation in the wilderness.

N

CAMP OF DAN
including
Dan, Asher, Naphtali
Merarites

CAMP OF EPHRIAM
including Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin

ARK

Altar of Burnt Offering

Moses,
Aaron,
Aaron's sons

CAMP OF JUDAH
including Judah, Issachar, Zebulon

Kohathites
CAMP OF REUBEN
including
Reuben, Simeon, Gad

S

IV. Numbers and the New Testament:
1. A. Num. 12:7; Heb. 3:5-6, Moses was faithful in all his house.
2. B. Num. 14:16; I Cor. 10:5, They were overthrown in the wilderness.
3. C. Num. 16:15; II Tim. 2:19, Jehovah will show who are his.

46 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. D. Num. 17:8; Heb. 9:4, Aaron's rod that budded.
2. E. Num. 19:1-9; Heb. 9:13, The Ordinance of the Red Heifer.
3. F. Num. 22:5; II Pet. 2:15; Jude 11; Rev. 2:14, Balaam.
4. G. Num. 24:6; Heb. 8:2, The tabernacle which the Lord pitched.
V. Attacks of Infidels against Numbers.
1. A. They question the correctness of the census count of Israel's population, finding it impossible to believe that the 75 Hebrews of Joseph's day multiplied to some 2 1/2-3 million in 450 years.
2. B. Such a large number could not have survived in the wilderness of Sinai for forty years according to them.
3. C. Also they argue that the order of march described would have been impossible for such a large number of people.
4. D. A number of other lesser matters are set forth in an attempt to discredit Moses as the, author.
5. E. For a complete and thorough refutation of these infidelic attacks, see Au Introduction to the Old Testament by E. J. Young and A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by Gleason Archer.
VI. The Structure of the book:
1. A. Chapters 1-10 are primarily legislative.
2. Chapters 11-20, relate Israel's failure.
3. Chapters 21-36 tell of Israel's return to God's favor and final victory.
4. B. The travel log of Israel.
  1. 1. From Sinai to Kadesh, Chapters 1-14.

NUMBERS -- The Travel Log of Israel 47

1. 1. 2. From Kadesh back to Kadesh, Chapters 15-19.
  2. 3. From Kadesh to Canaan, Chapters 20-36.
2. C. An Outline of the Major Divisions by Oswald Allis.
  1. 1. Israel still at Sinai, 1:1-10:10.
  2. 2. From Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea, Apostasy and Rejection, 10:10-14:45.
  3. 3. The years of wandering, 15:1-19:22.
  4. 4. Events of the fortieth year, 20:1-36:13.
VII. Miscellaneous:
1. A. In Numbers we see the younger generation of Israel educated in the school of God in the wilderness.
2. B. Israel's disobedience led to apostasy. The covenant of circumcision was not observed during the forty years. Compare Genesis 17:10; Ex. 12:48; Josh. 5:5-7; and Acts 7:42. Uncircumcised, they could not have come into the tabernacle to worship.
3. C. It seems that the Levites were not under the curse of the wilderness death march. Aaron's son, Eleazar, entered the land, Jos. 14:1. He would have been over 60 years of age. No Levites were among the spies.
4. D. The brass serpent on the pole was a symbol of the serpent being dead, impaled on the pole. So Israel looked to him that had the power to destroy the deadly serpents.
  1. 1. Hezekiah destroyed the brass serpent because the people were using it for idolatrous purposes, II Kings 17:4.
5. E. Moses lost his right to enter Canaan because

48 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. of his disobedience at Meribah, but he did not lose his soul. We see him with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, Matt. 17:3.

OUTLINE OF NUMBERS:

I. Preparation to Depart from Sinai, 1:1-10:10.
1. A. The order of the camp, 1:1-4:49.
  1. 1. The census, 1:1-54.
    1. a. 603,550 males above age 20, excluding Levites.
  2. 2. The encampment, 2:1-34.
  3. 3. The Levites numbered and duties described, 3:1-4:49.
2. B. The Purity of the camp, 5:1-6:27.
  1. 1. Lepers quarantined, 5:1-4.
  2. 2. Restitution of Trespasses, 5:5-10.
  3. 3. Trial for those accused of adultery, 5:11-29.
  4. 4. The Law of the Nazarite vow, 6:1-21.
  5. 5. The benediction on the children of Israel, 6:22-27.
3. C. The Worship of the Camp, 7:1-9:14.
  1. 1. The offerings of the Princes of Israel, 7:1-89.
  2. 2. The order of worship, 8:1-26.
    1. a. The golden lamp stand, 8:1-4.
    2. b. The purification of the Levites, 8:5-26.
  3. 3. The first annual Passover observed, 9:1-14.
4. D. The movement of the camp, 9:15-10:36.
  1. 1. The pillar of cloud determined when they moved, 9:15-23.
  2. 2. The silver trumpets for signaling the camp, 10:1-10.
II. The March from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea, 10:11-14:45.
1. A. The tribes march from Sinai, 10:11-36.

NUMBERS -- The Travel Log of Israel 49

1. B. Discontent and murmuring, 11:1-12:16.
  1. 1. Murmuring against God at Taberah, 11:1-3.
    1. a. The Israelites complaining.
  2. 2. Murmuring for flesh at Kibrothhattaavah, 11:4-35.
    1. a. The mixed multitude complaining.
  3. 3. Murmuring against Moses, 12:1-16.
    1. a. Miriam and Aaron complain about Moses' marriage to a Cushite woman, 12:1-3.
    2. b. The real reason was they were envious of Moses' authority, 12:4-8.
    3. c. Miriam punished with leprosy, 12:9-16.
2. C. The great rebellion at Kadesh, 13:1-14:45.
  1. 1. The twelve spies sent into Canaan, 13:1-24.
  2. 2. The discouraging report of ten of the spies, 13:25-33.
  3. 3. The great rebellion of the people against God and Moses, 14:1-5.
  4. 4. Joshua and Caleb's attempt to rally the congregation, 14:6-10.
  5. 5. Jehovah's threat and Moses' intercession, 14:11-19.
  6. 6. The curse of forty years wandering in the desert imposed, 14:20-35.
    1. a. Only Joshua and Caleb live to enter the land of all those over 20 years of age,
  7. 7. The Ten unfaithful spies are stricken by God and die, 14:36-38.
  8. 8. The people act presumptuously and are smitten by Canaanites and Amalekites, 14:39-45.
III. The Wilderness Wanderings From Kadesh to the Plains of Moab, 15:1-21:35.
(Chapters 15-19 cover a period of approximately 37 years)

50 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. A. Laws concerning offerings, 15:1-31.
2. B. The Sabbath-breaker and his punishment, 15:32-36.
3. C. Fringes for their garment prescribed, 15:37-41.
4. D. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram against Moses and Aaron, 16:1-50.
  1. 1. Their complaint lodged, 16:1-3.
  2. 2. Moses' response, we will let God decide it, 16:4-11.
  3. 3. They attempt to rally the people against Moses and Aaron, 16:12-19.
  4. 4. God destroys the houses of Korah, Dathan and Abiram and others who sympathized with them, 16:20-35.
  5. 5. The rebels' holy censers made into a covering for the altar, 16:36-40.
  6. 6. For further complaining 14,700 are destroyed by plague, 16:41-50.
5. E. Aaron's priesthood confirmed by the budding rod, 17:1-13.
6. F. Duties of priests and Levites, 18:1-32.
7. G. Ordinances of Purification with the ashes of a red heifer, 19:1-22.
8. H. Miriam dies and is buried at Kadesh, 20:1.
9. I. Moses and Aaron make a tragic mistake in providing water for the people, 20:2-13.
10. J. Edom refuses them passage through its land, 20:14-21.
11. K. Aaron's death, and Eleazar's succession to the priesthood at Mt. Hor. 20:22-29.
12. L. Episode of the brazen serpent, 21:1-9.
  1. 1. War against Arad, 21:1-3.
  2. 2. Seventh murmuring against God and Moses, 21:4-5.

NUMBERS -- The Travel Log of Israel 51

1. 1. 3. Punishment by fiery serpents, 21:6-7.
  2. 4. The brass serpent lifted up in the camp, 21:8-9.
2. M. The first permanent conquest of land, 21:10-35.
  1. 1. The journey from Oboth to Pisgah, 21:10-20.
  2. 2. The defeat of Sihon, king of the Amorites, 21:21-32.
  3. 3. The defeat of Og, king of Bashan, 21:33-35.
IV. The Conflict with the Moabites and Balaam, 22:1-25:18.
1. A. Balak buys Balaam's services to curse Israel, 22:1-41.
  1. 1. Balak's delegation, 22:1-8.
  2. 2. Balaam is forbidden to go by God, 22:1-14.
  3. 3. Upon further enticement Balaam agrees to go, 22:15-20.
  4. 4. Balaam's ass speaks God's warning, 22:21-35.
  5. 5. Balaam and Balak, King of Moab meet, 22:36-41.
2. B. Balaam's attempted curse turns out a triple blessing upon Israel, 23:1-24:25.
3. C. The awful sin of Israel at Baal-pear, 25:1-17.
  1. 1. Israel engages in an idolatrous feast to Baal-peor, 25:1-3.
  2. 2. God's orders the death of the sinners, 25:4-5.
  3. 3. The righteous zeal of Phinehas in punishing the apostates, 25:6-8a.
  4. 4. Twenty-four thousand die by plague, 25:8b-18.
V. Final Preparations for entering Canaan, 26:1-36:13.
1. A. The second census taken, 26:1-65.
  1. 1. The nation had declined in population to 601,730 men of war age.

52 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 2. All the older generation that had rebelled at Kadesh was now dead, 26:65.
2. B. The inheritance laws for women, 27:1-11.
3. C. Moses appoints Joshua as the next leader of the nation, 27:12-23.
4. D. Laws concerning offerings and holy days repeated, 28:1-29:40.
5. E. Laws concerning vows, 30:1-16.
6. F. Slaughter of the Midianites, 31:1-54.
  1. 1. Balaam perished in this battle, 31:8.
  2. 2. Israel lost not a single man, 31:49.
7. G. Division of the Land east of the Jordan River, 32:1-42.
8. H. The travel log of Israel's encampments from Egypt to the Plains of Moab, 33:1-49.
9. I. Orders for the division of Canaan, 33:50-35:34.
  1. 1. The Canaanites and their idolatry to be destroyed, 33:50-56.
  2. 2. National boundaries established, 34:1-15.
  3. 3. Directions for tribal territories, 34:16-29.
  4. 4. Cities of the Levites prescribed, 35:1-8.
  5. 5. Cities of refuge appointed, 35:9-15.
  6. 6. Laws concerning murder, 35:16-34.
10. J. Laws regulating the estate of an heiress who marries, 36:1-13.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. Under Moses' law every transgression received a just recompense of reward, Heb. 2:2. Therefore, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation as Christ has given us? Heb. 2:3.
2. We see the evil results and punishment of unbelief toward God and that we must avoid such, Heb. 3:12.

NUMBERS -- The Travel Log of Israel 53

3. Like Caleb we need to wholly follow the Lord.
4. That first generation of Israelites out of Egypt were just outside the borders of the promised land, yet, all but two of those adults perished in the wilderness. So, we can perish just outside the gates of the kingdom of heaven.
5. God is no respecter of persons, even a Moses must pay the penalty for his sins.
6. As Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so was our Lord lifted up that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, John 3:14.
7. God's people can move forward only as long as they trust His promise and obey His will.
8. It was not the size of Israel's army that kept her out of Canaan, it was the lack of faith.
9. Without bread from heaven (manna) Israel would have perished in the wilderness, without the "true bread of life" (Jesus), we would surely perish, John 6:33-35.
10. Like Balaam, the desire for a house full of silver and gold can cost us our souls, I Tim. 6:10.
11. When we make a vow unto God we must not defer to pay it, Eccle. 5:4.
12. The moral and spiritual degradation of the Canaanites cost them their land, the same corruption will destroy a nation today.
13. For Israel to insist on going up into Canaan when not commanded to, was as sinful as to refuse to go in when commanded to do so.
14. Israel learned that they must trust God and not men in the day of crisis.

54 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

15. Israel could have made eleven days of progress and have been in their promised land, instead they rebelled and paid for it by forty years of wandering.
16. When God opens a door, no man can close it; when he closes a door, no one can open it, Rev. 3:8.
17. Fear will keep us from enjoying blessings that God has intended for us even as it kept Israel out of Canaan.
18. Disobedient to God, man finds himself wandering about in circles, getting nowhere.
19. Israel paid a dear price for her grumbling toward God and His appointed leaders. So will we, I Cor. 10:10.
20. Woe to them who rebel against God's ordained authority as did Korah, they will perish as he did, Jude 11.
21. We can be sure our sins will find us out, Num. 32:23.
22. Truly great men, like Moses, are meek men.

DEUTERONOMY
Moses' Farewell Address

Key Verses:
4:5-9, 23.

Key Words:
Obedience.

Key Thought:
Out of gratitude for what God had done for them, they should obey Him.

Key Concept:
An indispensible key to understanding Deuteronomy is the concept of the covenant relationship between Jehovah and Israel.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Moses. Compare 1:1, 5; 4:44-45; 31:24-26.
2. B. Jesus attributed the Law (including Deuteronomy) to Moses, John 5:35-47.
3. C. No book of the Bible contains clearer indication of authorship and occasion than Deuteronomy.
4. D. For additional information on Moses, see the notes on Genesis and Exodus.
II. The Book:
1. A. Occasion and Date:
  1. 1. It was delivered "beyond Jordan" in the Plains of Moab, just east of Jericho, Deut. 1:5; Num. 36:13.
  2. 2. It was delivered and recorded at the close of the fortieth year of the Exodus from Egypt, just prior to Moses' death and the invasion of Canaan.

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56 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 1. a. The invasion began approximately one month after these lessons were given.
  2. 3. It was written to the new generation of Hebrews who had grown up in the rigorous hardships of the wilderness wandering.
  3. 4. It was first spoken by Moses, then written, 1:3; 31:24-26.
2. B. Name: Deuteronomy means "the second law."
  1. 1. This comes to us from the Septuagint via the Latin Vulgate translation. The name was based on 17:18.
  2. 2. The Jews named it elleh haddebarim, "these are the words, 1:1.
    1. a. Some shortened the title simply to "Words."
    2. b. Later, Jews called it "Repetition of the Law."
  3. 3. It is not a new law, different from that received at Sinai. Also it is more than a simple restatement. It is an amplification, an expounding, a rehearsal and an applying of the Sinaitic laws to the settled life of Israel in Canaan.
3. C. Purposes:
  1. 1. Deuteronomy relates to the final preparation of the nation before entering Canaan.
  2. 2. It is a book of remembrance, designed to remind the people of what God had done for them.
  3. 3. The book states to the people the moral and spiritual purposes of the laws which had been received at Sinai.
  4. 4. "It is a hortatory description, explanation and enforcement of the most essential con-

DEUTERONOMY -- Moses' Farewell Address 57

1. 1. tents of the covenant revelation and the covenant laws with emphatic prominence given to the spiritual principle of the law and its fulfillment . ." Keil.
  2. 5. Leviticus was addressed to the spiritual leaders of Israel, Deuteronomy was addressed to the common people for every day guidelines for godliness.
  3. 6. The ordinances of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers had regulated their nomadic life in the wilderness. Now as they were about to settle down in their own land some adjustments were necessary. This book provides these.
2. D. Its place in the Pentateuch. Deuteronomy fills an essential role as the necessary conclusion to the historical record begun in Genesis and continued through Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. It adds important supplemental material to the history of the period. Also it provides a fitting climax to Moses' career while explaining how Joshua became leader of the nation.
3. E. Some Notable Things in Deuteronomy:
  1. 1. The great commandment, 6:5. Compare Matt. 22:37.
  2. 2. The prediction of Christ, the great prophet like unto Moses, 18:15-19.
  3. 3. The prophecy of the future destiny of the Hebrew nation, 28:1-68.
  4. 4. The death and burial of Moses, 34:1-12.
4. F. The Structure of the Book:
  1. 1. There are five separate discourses of Moses in the book plus a song of Moses and the final chapter containing a record of his death.

58 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 1. a. The last chapter was doubtless added, by some inspired hand following Moses' death; perhaps Joshua.
  2. 2. Three scenes in Deuteronomy according to H. Mears:
    1. a. Looking back over the forty years, Chapts. 1-4.
    2. b. Looking up to know God's will, Chapts. 5-26.
    3. c. Looking out into the future, Chapts. 27-33.
2. G. Deuteronomy and the New Testament:
  1. 1. It is quoted some 85 times in the New Testament.
  2. 2. Only six New Testament books fail to quote it.
  3. 3. It ranks among the four most quoted Old Testament books.
  4. 4. It was a favorite of Jesus and was often quoted by him.
    1. a. When tempted by Satan, Jesus appealed to this book, Compare Matt. 4:1-11, and Deut. 8:3, 6:16, 6:13.
  5. 5. The five books of Moses amount to almost a quarter of the Old Testament and are virtually as large as the entire New Testament.
III. Attacks on Deuteronomy:
1. A. Satan has worked unceasingly to discredit this book by his "Higher Critics" who teach in theological seminaries, and write for religious journals. In reality they are unbelievers who vainly imagine themselves qualified to criticize God's Word.

DEUTERONOMY -- Moses' Farewell Address 59

1. B. Until some 200 years ago, all scholars considered Moses the author of this grand volume. Since that time, great numbers of liberal theologians have denied the Mosaic authorship, insisting that it be dated approximately 621 B.C. at the time of Josiah's reformation or if not that date, then at any time this side of Moses.
2. C. They take this position because they cannot believe that Moses was inspired of God to issue such spectacular prophecies as contained in the book.
3. D. For a thorough refutation on these false views see The Authorship of Deuteronomy by J. W. McGarvey; An Introduction to the Old Testament by E. J. Young; or A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by G. Archer.
4. E. We cannot help but wonder why men who seek to find the minutest flaw in the Bible, never bother to do so in the works of Homer, Virgil or Horace?

OUTLINE OF DEUTERONOMY:

I. The First Address of Moses: Learning from the past, 1:1-4:43.
1. A. Introduction, 1:1-5.
2. B. Events from Sinai to the present, 1:6-4:43.
  1. 1. Failure at Kadesh-Barnea, 1:6-46.
  2. 2. Review of the forty years of wanderings, 2:1-3:22.
  3. 3. Moses forbidden to enter Canaan, 3:23-29.
  4. 4. The new generation admonished to honor the law, 4:1-40.
  5. 5. Appointment of cities of refuge beyond the Jordan, 4:41-43.

60 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

II. The Second Address of Moses: A review of God's Laws for Israel. 4:44-26:19.
1. A. Historical introduction, 4:44-49.
2. B. The nature of the law and their responsibility to it, 5:1-11:32.
  1. 1. The exclusive limitations of the law to Israel, 5:1-3.
  2. 2. The Ten Commandments, 5:4-21.
  3. 3. Israel's reaction and God's response, 5:22-31.
  4. 4. The purpose of the law stated, 5:32-6:3.
    1. a. To live.
    2. b. To live well.
    3. c. To live long.
    4. d. To multiply.
  5. 5. Exhortation to live and teach the faith, 6:4-25.
  6. 6. Defending the faith, the necessity for holy war, 7:1-26.
    1. a. Reasons why Gentiles must be driven out, 7:1-16.
    2. b. The difficulties they will face and God's provisions, 7:17-26.
  7. 7. Warnings against forgetting God, 8:1-11:21.
    1. a. The danger of affluence, 8:1-20.
    2. b. Guidelines for faithfulness, 9:1-11:21.
  8. 8. The blessing and the curse, 11:22-32.
3. C. Statutes of the Law concerning worship and the holy life, 12:1-26:19,
  1. 1. Concerning idolatry and their one place of worship, 12:1-28.
  2. 2. They must worship only the ONE God: the death penalty for apostasy, 12:29-13:18.
  3. 3. They were to be a holy people, separate from all others and different, 14:1-25:9.

DEUTERONOMY -- Moses' Farewell Address 61

1. 1. 1. a. Their diet would be different, 14:3-21.
    2. b. Their economic practices would be different, 14:22-15:23.
    3. c. Their holy days would make them different, 16:1-17.
    4. d. Their leaders must be different, 16:18-18:22.
      1. 1) Judges must give righteous judgment, 16:18-17:13.
      2. 2) Kings must be guided by God's law, 17:14-20.
      3. 3) Priests and Levites must abide by the law, 18:1-8.
      4. 4) Prophets must speak only the truth of God, 18:9-22.
    5. e. Statutes safeguarding human life, 19:1-21:14.
      1. 1) Provisions for the person involved in accidental homicides, 19:1-21.
        a) Murderers to be executed, 19:11.
        
        b) False witnesses to be punished severely, 19:15-21.
      2. 2) Regulations and rules of war, 20:1-21:14.
        a) Exemptions from military service, 20:1-9.
        
        b) Opportunity for surrender to be offered, 20:10-18.
        
        c) Natural resources are not to be destroyed, 20:19-20.
        
        d) Community responsibility for protection of innocent life, 21:1-9.
        
        e) Treatment of women captured in war, 21:10-14.

62 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 1. f. Sundry laws for holy living, 21:15-22:12.
    2. g. Laws concerning sexual offenses, 22:13-30.
    3. h. Laws concerning those to be excluded from the worship assembly, 23:1-8.
    4. i. Laws on sanitary cleanliness, 23:9-14.
    5. j. The "Bill of Rights" protecting the individual's rights and property, 23:15-25:16.
    6. k. Laws regarding "first fruits and tithes," 26:1-19.
III. The Third Address of Moses: The Solemn Warning, 27:1-28:68.
1. A. The law to be publicly displayed on stones and recited in Mount Ebal, 27:1-8.
2. B. The curses for disobedience, 27:9-26.
3. C. The blessings for faithfulness, 28:1-14.
4. D. The awful consequences of disobedience, 28:16-68.
  1. 1. Even the destruction of the Jewish state by Rome in 70 A.D. is predicted.
IV. The Fourth Address of Moses: The Covenant renewed, 29:1-30:20.
1. A. An appeal to the past, 29:1-9.
2. B. He warns against hypocrisy, 29:10-29.
3. C. Future blessedness will depend on keeping the covenant, 30:1-20.
V. The Fifth Address: The last counsels of Moses, 31:1-29.
1. A. He charges all the people, 31:1-6.
2. B. He commissions Joshua, 31:7-8.
3. C. He instructs the priests, 31:9-13.
4. D. God's warning about the nation's future, 31:14-23.

DEUTERONOMY -- Moses' Farewell Address 63

1. E. The Levites are instructed to preserve Moses' words in a book, 31:24-29.
VI. The Song of Moses, 31:30-32:43.
VII. Moses Final Charge and Farewell, 32:44-33:29.
1. A. Moses' closing exhortation, 32:44-47.
2. B. Moses warning to prepare for his death, 32:48-52.
3. C. His final blessing upon the nation, 33:1-29.
VIII. The Death of Moses and his obituary, 34:1-12.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. Public religious instruction was not sufficient for the welfare of the nation, they needed daily home instruction, Deut. 6:4-9.
2. Moses laid the responsibility for the preservation of the nation upon the heart of each citizen thereof. So is the preservation of the church dependent upon each member.
3. The most effective way to guard against the corruption of true religion is by the continued reading and teaching of God's Word.
4. Like Israel, we too are a covenant people, bound to our God who delivered us. As the preservation of Israel rested upon their faithful loyalty to the covenant, so the preservation of the church is tied to her loyalty to the covenant.
5. We need the lessons of the past to guide us safely through the storms of today.
6. Moses' one failure at the rock of Meribah kept him from receiving his earthly reward. So one unforgiven sin can rob us of heaven.
7. The cause of God is never more than one generation away from apostasy. If one generation is not properly taught, it will forget God and turn aside to false ways.

64 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

8. Our God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. Deut. 4:24, Heb. 12:29.
9. God's people then were forbidden to marry those who did not share Israel's faith; so today, we should not be yoked to unbelievers. Dent. 7:3-4; II Con 6:14.
10. Israel received their land by the grace of God, not by personal merit. So we are saved by grace, Eph. 2:8-9.
11. The intercessory prayers of Moses saved Israel from destruction repeatedly. So today the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much for his brother, James 5;16.
12. Respect of persons was wrong then and now.
13. Jesus is the prophet like Moses and whoever will not hear him shall be cut off, Deut. 18:18-19.
14. God has always hated false witnesses, Deut. 20:15-21.
15. Immorality was a serious offence before God then and should be considered so now.
16. Obedience to God's law has always brought blessings and disobedience has always brought curses.
17. The secret things belong unto God, only the things that are revealed belong to us. We must remember this in our Bible study. Dent. 29:29.
18. Prosperity was a greater enemy to Israel than Gentile armies, so today it destroys multitudes of God's people.
19. Moses taught Israel of God's greatness and mighty works by his spiritual song, so we teach one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, Eph. 5:19.
20. In eternity all the saved will sing the song of Moses, Rev. 15:2-4.
21. We usually think of Moses being denied entrance into Canaan as a tragic loss, perhaps we should see it from another view, did not he receive a reward far greater than Canaan land?

JOSHUA
The History of the Conquest and
Occupation of Canaan

Key Verses:
1:11;
11:23;
21:43-45

Key Person:
Joshua

Key Thought:
God's faithfulness in keeping his promises

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Uncertain
2. B. The Talmud says that Joshua wrote it, with Eleazar and Phinehas providing the closing records.
3. C. Many conservative scholars feel that we cannot make an unquestionable case for Joshua as author. Some parts of the book were obviously written after the death of Joshua, since they concern events that happened afterward. 1. Joshua is said to have written at least part of it, 24:25-26.
4. D. It is important to note that the book is about Joshua regardless of its author.
5. E. Whoever its author, we believe him to be a holy man...moved by the Holy Spirit, II Pet. 1:21.
6. F. We see no good reason to deny the Joshua authorship, allowing for inspired editing of posthumus events.

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66 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

II. About Joshua:
1. A. His name means "he (Jehovah) shall save."
  1. 1. Sometimes called Hoshea, Num. 13:8.
  2. 2. The Greek form of Joshua is Jesus.
2. B. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, Num. 13:8.
3. C. One of the two faithful spies that spied out Canaan for Moses, Num. 13:8, 16.
4. D. He went upon Mt. Sinai with Moses, Ex. 24:13.
5. E. He led the battle against the Amalekites, Ex. 17:9.
6. F. He was Moses personal attendant, working and serving with him throughout the forty years, Ex. 13:8.
7. G. The Spirit of God was upon him, Num. 27:18.
8. H. He was commissioned by God to succeed Moses as the leader of the nation in the invasion and conquest of Canaan, Deut. 31:14, 23.
  1. 1. He was approximately 85 years old when he took office, according to Josephus.
  2. 2. His administration lasted some 25 years.
9. I. He was a great military strategist and leader, enjoying the highest respect of his followers.
10. J. He was a great statesman, showing great wisdom and utter fairness. Hebrew history gives him a high and honored place.
11. K. Joshua was a devout, God-fearing man whose life was dedicated to faithful service all of his days.
12. L. He died at 110 years of age and was buried at Timnath-serah in Ephraim, Josh. 24:29, 30.
III. The Book:
1. A. Written between 1400-1350 B.C.

JOSHUA -- Conquest and Occupation of Canaan 67

1. B. Named after its chief subject, Joshua the leader of the Israelite nation.
2. C. The ancient Hebrews grouped this book with "the early prophets."
3. D. Purposes:
  1. 1. To provide an accurate history of God's dealings with the covenant nation in giving them. their homeland.
  2. 2. It provided important legal records for the boundaries of the land and for settling disputes of future generations.
  3. 3. It was a record of God's indisputable power over the heathen and their gods.
  4. 4. It is a vindication of Jehovah, showing how He faithfully fulfilled His promises made to Abraham and the fathers, 21:43-45.
4. E. Joshua and the Pentateuch. The history of Joshua is a direct continuation of the record of the Exodus and Wilderness Wandering. The previous books of Moses need to be read in preparation for Joshua.
5. F. The Period of History covered:
  1. 1. From the crossing of the Jordan about 1400 B.C. to the general occupation of the land by the tribes, in all about 25 years of Hebrew history are covered.
6. G. Type of Literature:
  1. 1. Historical, being mainly the military chronicles of the Jewish war of conquest.
  2. 2. The historical books of the Bible give us a selected history of God's nation and His work in and through them.

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1. 1. 3. They give us only enough information as is necessary to set forth principles of duty, to reveal God's character and to point men to the coming Messiah.
IV. The Promised Land:
1. A. Canaan was approximately 180 miles long by 40 miles.
2. B. It covered some 10,000 square miles.
3. C. Its boundaries were the mountains of Lebanon on the north; the river of Egypt in the wilderness on the south; the Mediterranean Sea on the west; and the Euphrates River on the east.
V. Notable Miracles in Joshua:
1. A. Crossing the Jordan at flood season, 3:14-17.
  1. 1. A miracle reminiscent of the earlier crossing of the Red Sea.
2. B. The fall of Jericho's Walls, 6:15-21.
  1. 1. The ruins of ancient Jericho have been excavated by archeologists.
3. C. The long day of 10:6-14.
  1. 1. Many ancient civilizations have records of an unusually long day: Chinese, Incas of Peru, Aztecs of Mexico, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, and Polynesians. H. Rimmer.
VI. Joshua and the New Testament:
1. A. The fall of Jericho, 6:20, Heb. 11:30.
2. B. Rahab the harlot, 2:1-21; Matt. 1:5; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25.
3. C. Joshua's leading the nation into the promised land, Acts 7:35, 13:19; Heb. 4:8.
4. D. Josh. 1:5; Heb. 13:5.
5. E. Josh. 24:32; Acts 7:16; Heb. 11:22.

JOSHUA -- Conquest and Occupation of Canaan 69

VII. Some Difficulties in Joshua:
1. A. The extermination of the Canaanites.
  1. 1. For discussion, see Appendix A.
2. B. The saving of Rahab the harlot.
  1. 1. The profession of a harlot was not looked upon by her contemporaries as a moral evil as in our Christian culture.
  2. 2. Among the Canaanites, the religious priestesses were all "sacred" prostitutes to their gods and ritual fornication was part of their worship.
  3. 3. She was not saved because she was a harlot, but because she believed in the God of Israel and assisted in His holy cause, Heb. 11:31.
  4. 4. She married an Israelite named Salmon and bore Boaz.
  5. 5. Of her descents was born Christ, Matt. 1:5.
  6. 6. This shows us:
    1. a. God's willingness and ability the most immoral soul.
    2. b. The Christ had flowing in his veins the blood of both Jews and Gentiles.
VIII. Main Divisions of the Book:
1. A. Crossing the Jordan, Chapts. 1-5.
2. B. Conquest of Canaan, Chapts. 6-12.
3. C. Apportioning the land, Chapts. 13-22.
4. D. The Warrior's Farewell, Chapts. 23-24.

OUTLINE OF JOSHUA:

I. Entrance into the land of promise, 1:1-5:15.
1. A. God's charge to Joshua, 1:1-9.
2. B. Preparations for crossing the Jordan, 1:10-18.

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1. C. Episode of the two spies in Jericho, 2:1-24.
  1. 1. Rahab helps them to escape, 2:1-16.
  2. 2. The plan and promise to spare Rahab when the city is taken, 2:17-24.
2. D. The Jordan Crossed, 3:1-17.
  1. 1. Instructions given, 3:1-6.
  2. 2. God promises Joshua to divide the Jordan even as the Red Sea, 3:1-17.
  3. 3. The people walk across Jordan's channel, 3:14-17,
3. E. The memorial of stones erected at Gilgal, 4:1-24.
  1. 1. To remind future generations of God's miracle upon the Jordan.
  2. 2. Note that two memorials were set up, one in the midst of the Jordan, one at Gilgal, 4:8-9.
4. F. Preparation for conquest, 5:1-15.
  1. 1. The fear that fell upon the Canaanite kings, 5:1.
  2. 2. All the males born in the wilderness were circumcised, 5:2-9.
  3. 3. The manna ceased. 5:10-12.
  4. 4. The prince of Jehovah's hosts appeared to Joshua, 5:13-15.
II. The conquest of the promised land, 6:1-12:24.
1. A. Jericho is taken.
  1. 1. Jehovah's instructions for taking Jericho, 6:1-5.
  2. 2. The march around Jericho begins, 6:6-15.
  3. 3. The fall of the city, 6:16-21.
  4. 4. Rahab is spared, 6:22-25.
  5. 5. Joshua's curse against rebuilding Jericho, 6:26-27.
    1. a. Compare I Kings 16:34.

JOSHUA -- Conquest and Occupation of Canaan 71

1. B. Israel's defeat at Ai, 7:1-26.
  1. 1. The sin of Achan in taking the devoted things, 7:1.
  2. 2. The army of Israel smitten at Ai, 7:2-5.
  3. 3. The sin of Achan is brought to light, 7:6-21.
  4. 4. Achan and his family are executed in Achor, 7:22-26.
2. C. Ai again attacked and this time destroyed, 8:1-29.
3. D. The Law of Moses recorded and read on Mt. Ebal, 8:30-35.
4. E. The pact with the crafty Gibeonites, 9:1-27.
  1. 1. The Canaanite alliance against Israel, 9:1-2.
  2. 2. The stratagem of the Gibeonites, 9:3-15.
  3. 3. The servitude of Gibeon because of their deceit, 9:16-27.
5. F. The conquest of the south of Canaan, 10:1-43.
  1. 1. The battle at Gibeon, 10:1-14.
    1. a. The intervention of God by the hail storm, 10:11.
    2. b. The sun hasted not to go down about a whole day, 10:12-14.
    3. c. All other kings of the south were similarly defeated, 10:15-43.
6. G. Conquest of the northern confederacy, 11:1-15.
  1. 1. The details of the enemies and their defeat, 11:1-15.
7. H. Summary of Joshua's battles and victories over the Canaanite kingdoms, 11:16-12:24.
III. The Division of the Promised Land, 13:1-22:34.
1. A. God's instructions to Joshua about further battles and the inheritance, 13:1-7.

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1. B. The inheritance of the tribes east of Jordan, 13:8-33.
  1. 1. The possessions of Reuben, 13:15-23.
  2. 2. The possessions of Gad, 13:24-28.
  3. 3. The half-tribe of Manasseh's possessions, 13:29-33.
2. C. The assignments of the tribes west of Jordan, 14:1-19:51.
  1. 1. The possession of Caleb, 14:1-15.
  2. 2. The lot of the children of Judah, 15:1-63.
  3. 3. The lot of the children of Joseph, 16:1-17:18.
    1. a. The lands of Ephraim, 16:1-10.
    2. b. The lands of Manasseh, 17:1-13.
    3. c. Joseph's descendants request more land, 17:14-18.
  4. 4. The tribe of Benjamin receives its inheritance, 18:1-28.
    1. a. The complaint of the seven remaining tribes, 18:1-3.
    2. b. The survey team commissioned, 18:4-10.
    3. c. Benjamin's portion described, 18:11-28.
  5. 5. Simeon's lot determined, 19:1-9.
  6. 6. The children of Zebulon are settled, 19:10-16.
  7. 7. Issachar's inheritance determined, 19:17-23.
  8. 8. The tribe of Asher located, 19:24-31.
  9. 9. The people of Naphtali's territory, 19:32-39.
  10. 10. The Danites allotted their land, 19:40-48.
  11. 11. Joshua's portion, 19:49-51.
3. D. The cities of Refuge assigned, 20:1-9.
4. E. The cities of the priests and Levites given, 21:1-45.
  1. 1. The Levites request their portion, 21:1-3.
  2. 2. The assignments made for each course, 21:4-22.

JOSHUA -- Conquest and Occupation of Canaan 73

1. 1. 3. Notation of God's faithfulness to his land promise, 21:43-45.
2. F. The eastern tribes are allowed to return home, 22:1-34.
  1. 1. Joshua's parting words to these tribes, 22:1-8.
  2. 2. They build an altar on the banks of the Jordan, 22:9-10.
  3. 3. The other tribes mistake this for an idolatrous rite, 22:11-20.
  4. 4. The eastern tribes reassure their western brethren of their intent, 22:21-29.
  5. 5. The western tribes return home in peace, 22:30-34.
IV. The Farewell address of Joshua, and his Death, 23:1-24:33.
1. A. His last message to the nation, 23:1-16.
2. B. His last words to leaders of the people, 24:1.
  1. 1. He rehearses the nation's ancestral past, 24:2-13.
  2. 2. He exhorts them to faithful service to Jehovah, 24:14-18.
  3. 3. He warns against idolatry, 24:19-28.
3. C. The death of Joshua, 24:29-31.
4. D. Historical appendix about Joseph's bones being deposited in Shechem, 24:32.
5. E. The death of Eleazar the priest, 24:33.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. God never commands that which is impossible for us. He will provide the needed strength.
2. Joshua was ready to lead the nation after Moses because of 40 years of rigorous training under Moses.

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3. Like Joshua, we know not the way He leads us, but we do know our Guide and our ultimate destination.
4. To enjoy God's abundant provisions, we must appropriate them to ourselves as did Israel.
5. God will never fail or forsake his faithful ones, 1:5.
6. God can take a ruined Rahab, reform her, and use her to His glory in His kingdom, compare Matt. 1:5.
7. May we never, like Achan, bring shame and defeat to the army of God by our selfish sin.
8. May we and our households serve the Lord as did Joshua.
9. Like Caleb, let us wholly follow the Lord, 14:8.
10. As did Caleb, let us claim and possess the mountains God has promised us.
11. Even the mighty heavenly bodies meekly obey the voice of their Creator and Master.
12. Each generation must decide just whom they will serve, the true God of Israel or some other, 24:15.
13. We see God's hatred of sin in his judgments upon the Canaanites and Achan.
14. When a nation becomes morally and spiritually degenerate, it will be overthrown and dispossessed.

JOSHUA -- Conquest and Occupation of Canaan 75

THE EXTERMINATION OF
THE CANAANITES AND
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JEHOVAH

Appendix A

When the Israelites were camped on the east bank of Jordan, ready to cross over and take the land promised, God instructed them:

"But of the cities of these peoples, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth; but thou shalt utterly destroy them...as Jehovah thy God bath commanded thee; that they teach you not to do after all their abominations...so would you sin against Jehovah your God." Dent 20:16-18.

An oft heard assertion of the infidel is that Jehovah could not be a totally benevolent God, one of love and mercy, and at the same time order the annihilation of the Canaanite nations. They go even farther and equate the God of the Bible with murderous tyrants such as Hitler and Stalin who committed genocide. Some of them attempt to make a distinction between the "cruel" God of the Old Testament and the God of love of the gospels as though there were two different beings. Their conclusion is that a God who would order the extermination of a nation is not worthy of our adoration. Of course, their real purpose is to discredit the God of the Bible and the religious system that worships Him. Today the same objections are being raised by liberal theologians. Really, this assault

76 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

is not new, for the Gnostics of the second and third centuries held the same views. See Robert Milligan Scheme of Redemption, p. 194.

When Christians meet such challenges to their faith in the classroom they are often shaken, not knowing how to respond to the charge. Every Christian should be able to give an answer to this blasphemous indictment. The ten reasons given below give a scriptural and logical vindiction of God's actions in dealing with the Canaanites.

1. We must remember that God is not only benevolent, but He is also just. "His work is perfect; for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. Just and right is he." Deut. 32:4. Justice requires that sin be punished, "The wages of sin is death," Rom. 6:23. This same attribute of justice required that He severely punish His own chosen nation of Israel when they sinned, Lev. 18:26-29.

2. The Canaanites were punished because of their own sins, not just because of a whim of an unhappy God. "The land is defiled: therefore, I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out her inhabitants," Lev. 18:25. They had filled their cup of iniquity and their judgment had come. (Com. Gen. 15:16 and Rev. 17:4.)

3. God, being the creator and sustainer of life, has the right to destroy those of His creatures that rebel and defile themselves and dishonor their Creator. This is illustrated in Jeremiah 18 when the prophet pointed out a parable of the potter making a vessel on the wheel. When it marred in his hand "he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter," vs. 4. So God does with nations, 18:4-12.

JOSHUA -- Conquest and Occupation of Canaan 77

4. The Lord had the total good of the total race in mind in this judgment. A doctor is not cruel who removes a cancerous growth from a body to spare the whole body from infection and death. Nor is God cruel when he removes and destroys a fatally diseased society of people who would corrupt many others if left alone.

5. It was necessary for God to cleanse the land to protect the chosen nation (Israel) from the moral and spiritual corruption of idolatry in order to preserve a fit environment for Messiah to spring from. "Thou shalt drive them out before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in the land, lest they make thee sin against me; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee." Ex. 23:31b-33.

6. Infants who died were saved by His mercy whereas they would have grown up into idolatry and condemnation if left in that awful environment. Only the soul that sins is held morally responsible in eternity, Ezek. 18:20.

7. Arrangements were made for the sparing of any righteous souls who wished to turn to the God of Abraham. See the case of Rahab, Joshua 6:17. Also leniency was offered to some of the tribes, Deut. 20:10-11.

8. This act of judgment demonstrated to the whole world the awful penalty for gross wickedness. Others could benefit from this, repent, and be spared. Thus it was a deterrent to other sinners.

9. The Canaanites had been exposed to the true knowledge of Jehovah arid His righteousness in an earlier day. They had had Melchezidek, priest of God Most

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high, in their midst, Gen. 14:18-19. Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob and the patriarchs had lived among them for some 150 years. Their ancestors had known the traditions of God from the days of Noah. They had witnessed the judgments of God upon Sodom and the cities of the plain, Gen. 19:24-29. They had consciences that cried out against their infractions of moral law, Rom. 2:14-15. Like the Gentiles of Romans Chapter 1, they had refused to have God in their knowledge, therefore, God had given them up to destroy themselves, Rom. 1:21-28. With the knowledge of God that could be deduced from nature, they were "without excuse" for their idolatry and abominable sins.

10. The Lord, in his goodness had spared those nations 450 years because their situation was not wicked enough to warrant expulsion from the land, Gen. 15:16. This time could have been used for reformation. But it was not.

God with infinite wisdom, purity and justice is able to decree an act of severe judgment upon a whole nation such as we have been discussing. No man has the totality of knowledge to make such an awesome decision. One little point overlooked might change the whole picture. Nor has any man the total sense of fairness and justice and the moral purity to pass such judgments on his fellowman. Man is so easily prejudiced by many factors that he should never attempt such a decision. Fiends like Hitler and Stalin were more evil than the people they exterminated. They exterminated peoples for selfish motives. They destroyed good people who were trying to do their best. No such charge can be leveled against Jehovah and His judgments upon the Canaanites.

JOSHUA -- Conquest and Occupation of Canaan 79

The Christian trembles when he considers the judgments of Jehovah against the wicked. With faithful Abraham, he confesses, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Gen. 18:25. We need not give place to the infidel who blasphemes our God. "Is there unrighteousness with God?" With Paul we cry out, "God forbid", Rom. 9:14. "There is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts," II Chron. 19:7. With David we sing, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Psalms 19:9.

JUDGES
The Dark Ages of Israel

Key Verses:
Jud. 2:11-16;
21:25.

Key Thought:
Degeneration and deliverance.

Key Persons:
Deborah,
Gideon,
Samson.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Uncertain
2. B. Ancient Jewish tradition ascribes the book to Samuel the prophet-judge.
  1. 1. This we favor.
3. C. The chronological indications place the composition at the time of Samuel. (See below under Date of Writing.)
II. About the Book:
1. A. Name: "Judges" is descriptive of the kind of leadership Israel had from the death of Joshua to the installation of Saul as king of the nation.
2. B. Date of Writing: Early in the time of the united monarchy about 1000 B.C.
  1. 1. Jud. 18:1, "In those days there was no King in Israel." See also 19:1.
    1. a. This implies there was a king when it was being composed.
  2. 2. Jud. 1:21, "...The Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day."

-- 80 --

JUDGES -- The Dark Ages of Israel 81

1. 1. 1. a. David drove out the Jebusites and made Jerusalem his capital, II Sam. 5:6.
  2. 3. Jud. 1:29, "The Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them."
    1. a. The king of Egypt captured Gezer and gave it to Solomon in about 970 B.C., I Kings 9:16.
2. C. Period of History Covered: It covers the period from the death of Joshua to the judgeship of Samuel, about 350 years.
  1. 1. Of these 350 years, approximately 100 were spent in disloyalty to God.
3. D. The book is a continuation of the history of Israel found in the book of Joshua. Acquaintance with Joshua will facilitate your understanding of Judges,
  1. 1. Its record is continued in Ruth and I Samuel.
4. E. What a "judge" was: The judges were not a continual succession of rulers, rather they were deliverers raised up by God to rescue His people from oppression and to administer justice.
5. F. Three classes of judges:
  1. 1. Warriors such as Gideon and Samson
  2. 2. Priests such as Eli
  3. 3. Prophets such as Samuel
6. G. Purposes:
  1. 1. To record the unfaithfulness of the nation and in contrast, the faithfulness of their God.
  2. 2. To glorify the grace and mercy of Jehovah.
  3. 3. To remind the nation of the awful results of apostasy.
  4. 4. It presents a divine record of the nation's history (warts and all) for future generations.

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1. H. Type of Historical Record:
  1. 1. It does not give a complete history of the period of the judges, neither does it give light on all sides of the nation's life in the records presented.
  2. 2. It is mainly a biographical study of how God can do great things with the weakest of human resources.
  3. 3. Not all of the book is in chronological order.
    1. a. Chapters 2:6-16:31 are chronological, but many of the episodes may be overlapping.
2. I. Historical Background:
  1. 1. The author shows Israel's failure as a nation to keep the divine covenant faithfully even under the direction of judges chosen by God to save them from heathen oppression.
  2. 2. We should remember that Jehovah left some of the Canaanites in the land to prove Israel as to whether or not she would keep His commandments.
  3. 3. The story presents the history from two points of view.
    1. a. The human side is one of disobedience and disaster.
    2. b. The divine side is one of direction and deliverance.
  4. 4. Following Joshua there was no national leader to succeed him, neither was there a capital or fixed government. Each tribe fol., lowed its own separate course.
  5. 5. So gloomy is the picture painted that the period is often called "Israel's Dark Ages."
    1. a. However, it should be noted that only about 100 out of the 350 years of the

JUDGES -- The Dark Ages of Israel 83

1. 1. 1. judges were years of national sin. The rest were of general faithfulness.
  2. 6. The great failure of the nation was to compromise with the remnant of the Canaanites and allow them to stay in the land. This led to confusion and catastrophe.
III. The Recurring Cycle of Events of Judges.
1. A. The people going into sin.
2. B. God sending an enemy nation to conquer and chasten them.
3. C. The people repenting and praying for deliverance.
4. D. God answering their prayers by raising up judge to deliver them.
5. E. Years of peace as they remained faithful to God.
IV. Judges and the New Testament.
1. A. Judg. 2:16; Acts 13:20
2. B. Judg. Chapt. 4, Barak )
  1. Chapts. 6-8, Gideon ) Heb. 11:32
  2. Chapts. 11-12, Jephthah )
  3. Chapts. 14-16, Samson )
V. Notable things in Judges:
1. A. The oldest known parable, 9:8-15.
2. B. The great battle song of Deborah.
3. C. The earliest historical record of the emergence of a woman as a national leader.
VI. Some miscellaneous observations:
1. A. The term "forty years" seems to have been a round number denoting a generation, sometimes, but not always exact.
2. B. Samson was under a life-time Nazarite vow. Compare Num. 6:1-21.

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1. C. The list of judges varies as some omit Abimelech because he was an usurper, others eliminate Barak since Deborah claimed the honor of victory.
2. D. We style the national government of Israel in this period as a theocracy, i.e., ruled by God.
VII. Chart of the Oppressions and Deliverances of the period of Judges:

	Vss.	Sin	Oppressors	Length of Oppressions	Judge who Delivered	His Tribe	Years of Peace
1	3:7-11	Idolatry	Mesopotamians from East King Cushan-rishathiam	8	Othniel	Judah	40
2	3:12-31	Immorality, Idolatry	Moabites from Southeast & Philistines	18	Ehud Shamgar	Benjamin	80
3	4:1-5:31	Departing from God	Canaanites from North	20	Deborah Barak	Ephraim Naphtali	40
4	6:8-32	Departing from God	Midianites from East	7	Gideon	West Manasseh	40
5	9:1-10:6	Departing from God	Internal civil strife		Abimelech (usurper) Tola Jair	West Manasseh	3 23 22
6	10:6-12:15	Idolatry	Ammonites from East	18	Jephthah Ibzan Elon Abdon	E. Manasseh Judah (?) Zebul.	6 7 10 8
7	13:1-16	Departing from God	Philistines from Southwest	40	Samson Eli Samuel	Dan Levi Levi	20

JUDGES -- The Dark Ages of Israel 85

VIII. A Sentence Summary of Judges: Seven apostasies, seven servitudes to seven heathen nations and seven deliverances.

OUTLINE OF JUDGES:

I. Introduction: Following Joshua's death were years of dependence upon God, 1:1-3:6.
1. A. Israel occupies the land under God's direction, 1:1-36.
  1. 1. Victories of Judah, 1:2-21.
    1. a. Over Adonibezek of Bezek, 1:4-7.
    2. b. Over Jerusalem, the South and Hebron, 1:8-10.
    3. c. Over Debir, 1:11-15.
      1. 1) Caleb gives Othniel his daughter for a wife.
    4. d. The Kenites assist Judah in smiting Zephath and the Philistine league, 1:16-21.
2. B. God's Messenger rebukes Israel for compromise with the heathen, 2:1-5,
3. C. The loyalty of the people under Joshua, 2:6-10.
4. D. A synopsis of Israel's history and their recurring apostasies, 2:11-23.
  1. 1. How apostasy brought oppression, 2:11-15.
  2. 2. How Jehovah delivered them by His judges, 2:16.
  3. 3. The repetition of apostasy, 2:17-19.
  4. 4. Their rebellion punished by God, 2:20-23.
5. E. Enemies of Israel which God left to test them, 3:1-6.
II. History of Israel Forsaking God and the Judges who delivered her, 3:7-16:31.
1. A. Othniel delivers Israel from Cushan-rishathiam, 3:7-11.

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1. 1. 1. Their sin: idolatry, 3:7.
  2. 2. Their punishment: eight years oppression by the king of Mesopotamia, 3:8.
  3. 3. Their deliverance by Othniel, 3:9-11.
2. B. Ehud delivers Israel from king Eglon of Moab, 3:12-30.
  1. 1. Their sin: they did evil in the sight of Jehovah, 3:12a.
  2. 2. Their punishment: 18 years oppression by the Moabites, 3:12b-14.
  3. 3. Their deliverance by Ehud, 3:15-30.
    1. a. Ehud assassinates Eglon, 3:15-23.
    2. b. Ehud's escape, 3:24-26.
    3. c. Ehud rallies the nation to defeat the armies of Moab, 3:27-30.
3. C. The Military feats of Shamgar against the Philistines, 3:31.
4. D. Deborah and Barak deliver Israel from Jabin, king of the Canaanites, 4:1-5:31.
  1. 1. Their sin: that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, 4:1.
  2. 2. Their punishment: 20 years oppression at the hand of Jabin and the Canaanites, 4:2-3.
  3. 3. The deliverance by Deborah and Barak, 4:4-24.
    1. a. Deborah aids Barak in mobilizing Israel's forces, 4:4-11.
    2. b. The Canaanite army routed, 4:12-16.
    3. c. The death of Sisera by Jael, 4:17-23.
  4. 4. Deborah's song of triumph, 5:1-31.
5. E. Gideon delivers Israel from Midian, 6:1-8:35.
  1. 1. Their sin: that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, 6:1a.

JUDGES -- The Dark Ages of Israel 87

1. 1. 2. Their punishment: 7 years oppression at the hands of the Midianites, 6:1b-6,
  2. 3. Their deliverance by Gideon, the son of Joash, 6:7-8:35.
    1. a. A prophet reminds the people of their sin, 6:7-10.
    2. b. The angel of the Lord calls Gideon, 6:11-24.
    3. c. The altar of Baal destroyed by Gideon, 6:25-32.
    4. d. God assures Gideon of victory of Midian, 6:33-40.
    5. e. Gideon's army of 300 men chosen, 7:1-8.
    6. f. Midian dealt an overwhelming defeat, 7:9-25.
    7. g. Gideon's mop-up campaign against the Midianites, 8:1-12.
    8. h. Succoth and Penuel punished, along with Midianite kings, 8:13-21.
    9. i. Gideon's ephod that led the people astray, 8:22-28.
    10. j. Gideon's death and his descendants, 8:29-35.
2. F. The Rise and Fall of the Tyrant Abimelech, 9:1-57.
  1. 1. The sons of Gideon executed by Abimelech, 9:1-6.
  2. 2. Jotham's fable, 9:7-21.
  3. 3. The war between Abimelech and Shechem, 9:22-49.
  4. 4. The death of Abimelech, 9:50-57.
3. G. The administrations of Tola and Jair, 10:1-5.
4. H. Jephthah delivers Israel from the Ammonites, 10:6-12:7.

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1. 1. 1. Their sin: forsaking Jehovah and worshipping the gods of the Canaanites, 10:6.
  2. 2. Their punishment: 18 years of oppression by the Philistines and Ammonites, 10:7-9.
  3. 3. The repentance of the nation, 10:10-18.
  4. 4. Jephthah delivers the nation, 11:1-12:7.
    1. a. Jephthah chosen as national leader, 11:1-11.
    2. b. Jephthah's unsuccessful attempt to negotiate peace with Ammon, 11:12-28.
    3. c. The Ammonites are defeated, 11:29-38.
    4. d. Jephthah's foolish vow, 11:34-40.
      1. 1) See Appendix A for a discussion of Jephthah's sacrifice.
    5. e. The jealous Ephraimites are smitten by Jephthah's army, 12:1-6.
    6. f. The death of Jephthah, 12:7.
2. I. The administrations of Ibzan, Elon and Abdon, 12:8-15.
3. J. The exploits of Samson the judge against the Philistines, 13:1-16:31.
  1. 1. Their sin: doing evil in the sight of Jehovah, 13:1a.
  2. 2. Their punishment: oppression by the Philistines for 40 years, 13:1b.
  3. 3. Supernatural announcement of Samson's birth.
    1. a. The angel of Jehovah instructs Manoah that the coming son will be a Nazarite, 13:2-7.
    2. b. The second appearing of the angel and his divine confirmation, 13:8-20.
    3. c. Samson's birth, 13:21-25.

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1. 1. 4. Samson's unfortunate marriage, 14:1-20.
    1. a. He chooses a Philistine wife, 14:1-4.
    2. b. He kills a lion with his hands, 14:5-9.
    3. c. His wedding feast and attendant trouble, 14:10-20.
  2. 5. Samson gets revenge upon the Philistines, 15:1-8.
  3. 6. He kills 1,000 Philistines at Lehi, 15:9-20.
  4. 7. Betrayed by Delilah, Samson is captured and enslaved, 16:1-22.
  5. 8. In Samson's death he destroys over 3,000 Philistines, 16:23-31.
III. Miscellaneous Episodes that Reflect the Confusion of the Era, 17:1-21:25.
1. A. The idolatry of Micah and its punishment, 17:1-18:31.
  1. 1. Micah's mother aids him in making an image, 17:1-6.
  2. 2. He hires a Levite to be his priest, 17:7-13.
  3. 3. The Danites capture Micah's image and priest and possess the city of Laish, 18:1-31.
2. B. The atrocity at Gibeah and the war against Benjamin, 19:1-21:25.
  1. 1. Episode of the Levite and his concubine, 19:1-30.
    1. a. The rape and murder of the woman by the Benjamites of Gibeah, 19:22-30.
  2. 2. The war against Benjamin by the rest of Israel, 20:1-48.
  3. 3. The tribe of Benjamin destroyed except for a small remnant, 21:1-25.

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LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. Every saint must make his faith first-hand and personal.
2. There is a chronic weakness in third generation faith.
3. Sin left in our midst becomes a thorn in our sides, 2:2-3.
4. As in the period of the judges, when sin abounds, grace does much more abound, Rom. 5:20.
5. When we depart from Jehovah, judgment soon follows.
6. Woe to that home, church or nation when every person does that which is right in his own eyes.
7. Genuine repentance always restores us to God's favor.
8. Disobedience always stymies progress.
9. Judges teaches us how God works his will through the weak and insignificant things of the world, I Cor. 1:26-29.
10. In Judges we see that God's goals are reached, not by power nor by might, but my Spirit saith the Lord, Zech. 4:6.
11. God has always used the talents of godly women like Deborah, but always in harmony with His Revelation.
12. God can use His 300 faithful ones to put to flight thousands of enemies.
13. Make no rash vows like Jephthah did.
14. It was a mistake for Samson to take a heathen for a wife, so it is for God's children today, II Cor. 6:14.
15. Samson ran in the way of temptation. We should pray, lead us not into temptation, Matt. 6:13.

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THE SACRIFICE OF
JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER

Appendix A

Was she actually burned on the altar, or dedicated to a life of perpetual virginity?

Views of Kiel and Delitzsch

These two eminent Bible Scholars take the position that the sacrifice was a spiritual one that consisted in committing her to a life of perpetual virginity and service to God before the tabernacle. Their reasons are listed below and are worthy of our consideration as we seek to understand this difficult passage.
1. Human sacrifices were forbidden by the law under penalty of death, Lev. 18:21, 20:2-5; Deut. 12:31, 18:10. They were declared to be, an abomination before the Lord.
2. They were unheard of among the Israelites in early times being introduced much later by king Ahaz and Manasseh.
3. Kings Jehosaphat and Jehoram withdrew at once and relinquished the continuance of their war when the king of the Moabites sacrificed his son, II Kings 3:26, 27.
4. The diametrical opposition between Jehovah worship and Molech worship reflected throughout the Old Testament period, seems to forbid its literal interpretation.

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5. That God would have chosen Molech worshippers to carry out his work or a man capable of child-sacrifice to be a man of leadership over his nation and a hero of the faith, Heb. 11:32, seems unreasonable.
6. Her request for two months to mourn her virginity would have been of no consequence if she was to be put to death. To mourn one's virginity does not mean to mourn because one has to die a virgin, but because one has to live and remain a virgin.
7. If life were the question, the same tears might have been shed at home. But her lamentations were devoted to her virginity and such lamentations could not be uttered in the town and in the presence of men. Modesty required the solitude of the mountains for these.
8. The clause, "she knew no man" is not in harmony with the assumption of her death by sacrifice. This clause would add nothing to the description in that case, since it was already known that she was a virgin.
9. "The idea of a spiritual sacrifice is supported not only by the words, but also most decisively by the fact that the historian describes the fulfillment of the vow in the words, "he did to her according to his vow," in such a manner as to lead to the conclusion that he regarded the act itself as laudable and good. But a prophetic historian could never have approved of a human sacrifice."
10. "Burnt offerings...in which the victim was slaughtered and burnt upon the altar, could only be offered upon the lawful altar, at the tabernacle, or before the ark, through the medium of the Levitical priests, unless the sacrifice itself had been occasioned by some

JUDGES -- The Dark Ages of Israel 93

extraordinary manifestation of God; and that we cannot for a moment think of here."
11. It is true that no exactly corresponding parallelisms can be adduced from the Old Testament in support of the spiritual view, but the gems of the view...are contained in the demand of God addressed to Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt-offering, when compared with the issue of Abraham's temptation, namely, that God accepted his willingness to offer up his son as a completed sacrifice, and then supplied him with a ram to offer up as a bleeding sacrifice in the place of his son."
12. It is evident, from the perfectly casual reference to the women who ministered at the tabernacle (Ex. 38:8; I Sam. 2:22), that there were persons in Israel who dedicated their lives to the Lord at the sanctuary, by altogether renouncing the world. And there can be no doubt that Jephthah had such a dedication as this in his mind when he uttered his vow.... The (Hebrew term) does not involve the idea of burning, like our word "burnt-offering", but simply that of going up upon the altar, or of complete surrender to the Lord.
We need to be familiar with this alternative to the literal interpretation of this problematic event.
From Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Kiel and Delitzsch, (Joshua, Judges and Ruth) pp. 387395. Wm. Eerdmans, publisher, 1963.

RUTH
A Lesson of Love

Key Verses:
1:15-18;
4:17.

Key Persons:
Naomi, a tragedy stalked Israelite widow;
Ruth, a young Moabite widow, daughter-in-law to Naomi;
Boaz, a wealthy Hebrew land owner and relative of Naomi who marries Ruth, thus rescuing her and Naomi from poverty.

Key Thought:
Rest through redemption and union.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Unknown:
  1. 1. Scholars are divided, some ascribing it to Samuel, others to Ezra.
  2. 2. We lean towards Samuel.
II. Occasion and Date:
1. A. Date: The setting is in the days of the Judges, 1:1, 1300-1000 B.C.
  1. 1. Since David is mentioned by name in 4:22, it must have been composed after his birth.
  2. 2. Since Solomon is not mentioned, probably he was not yet king.
  3. 3. Since Samuel lived on into the early reign of David, we would conclude he wrote it at that time.
2. B. The story recorded covers some 10-15 years.

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RUTH -- A Lesson of Love 95

1. C. It provided genealogical information for the royal family of David, explaining the Gentile strain in his family background.
III. About the Book:
1. A. Name: The name is taken from its principal subject, a young widow named Ruth, of Moab, who followed her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, to the land of the Hebrews and to Jehovah.
2. B. The Hebrews grouped Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon as the five Megilloth or Festal Rolls, one of which was read at each festival.
  1. 1. Ruth was read on Pentecost because of its harvest background.
3. C. Its contents serve as an appendix to the Book of Judges and an introduction to I Samuel.
4. D. Type of Literature: It is a biographical episode from the historical period of the Judges.
  1. 1. Ruth is one of the world's greatest short stories.
  2. 2. It is a "pastoral", i.e., a story of the quiet, peaceful rural life of the Hebrew people.
  3. 3. It is a true story of the sorrows and blessings of the young Moabite widow. Goethe called Ruth "the loveliest little idyll that tradition has transmitted to us."
5. E. A unique book: It is one of only two books in the Bible devoted exclusively to the life of a woman.
6. F. Purposes:
  1. 1. It helps to establish the family tree of David the king, 4:18-22.

96 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible .

1. 1. 2. It explains the background of David's Moabite ancestry.
  2. 3. It also is an important link in the genealogy of Christ, Matt. 1:1-14, especially vs. 5.
  3. 4. To show God's concern for Gentiles as well as Hebrews and the possibility of their acceptance even in the Mosaic age.
  4. 5. To show the power of pure love to overcome all difficulties.
  5. 6. It sets forth a high ideal of the sacredness of marriage, 4:11-17.
  6. 7. To show that although the general pattern of the nation under the Judges was one of failure, there were loyal, faithful children of God.
  7. 8. It demonstrates God's providence as He watched over the family line through which Christ would enter the world.
  8. 9. It sets forth the ideal of family love and loyalty.
2. G. The Message of Ruth:
  1. 1. It foreshadows the day when all Gentiles would be welcomed into the Kingdom of God.
  2. 2. It TYPIFIES Christ's salvation of the Gentiles:
    1. a. Ruth is a type of Gentile sinners:
      1. 1) Shut out by the Law (Deut. 23:3), but admitted by grace.
      2. 2) A stranger and afar off.
      3. 3) Poor and needy.
      4. 4) Related to Boaz by marriage as we are to Christ in the flesh.
    2. b. Boaz is a type of Christ our kinsman and redeemer:

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1. 1. 1. 1. 1) Lord of the harvest.
      2. 2) A mighty man of valor, 2:1 (R. V. margin).
      3. 3) He takes note of us and treats us kindly (2:5), accepting us as his own.
      4. 4) We must come to Christ asking Him to accept us as His.
      5. 5) He speaks comforting words and gives us blessings.
      6. 6) He redeems us and unites us to Himself. Sorrow, loneliness and insecurity are gone.
  2. 3. It shows us the importance of family responsibilities; they transcend individual interests and desires.
  3. 4. It demonstrates the far-reaching blessings that may grow out of the fulfillment of seemingly commonplace responsibilities.
III. The Moabites:
1. A. They were descended from Lot's son, Moab, Gen. 19:27.
  1. 1. Thus they were distantly related to Israel.
2. B. They were idolators, worshipping Chemosh.
  1. 1. Their worship included child sacrifice.
  2. 2. Also it included licentious rites and ceremonies.
3. C. Their land was located southeast of Judah, the Dead Sea being their western boundary.
4. D. There was continual strife and military conflict between the Moabites and the Hebrews. 1. David conquered them and put them under tribute.

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1. E. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed them as a political entity in his campaigns, 606-586 B.C.
IV. The Levirite Marriage:
1. A. This was an ordinance of Moses, law, Deut. 25:5-10.
2. B. It was a patriarchal practice in the days of the 12 sons of Jacob, Gen. 38:1-30.
3. C. This law provided that if an Israelite died without children, his brother or nearest of kin was to take the widow to wife and raise up children to perpetuate the name and inheritance of the deceased.
  1. 1. Levirite is from the Latin term "levir" which means "husband's brother."
  2. 2. The term "brother" can have a wide variety of meanings. Compare Lev. 25:48-49 and Jud. 9:3.
V. The Law of Redemption provided that the near of kin of a poor family could buy back family property that had been sold under stress of poverty to keep it in the family inheritance, Lev. 25:25-34.
VI. Unusual customs in Ruth:
1. A. To go to Boaz' bed at night.
  1. 1. An accepted social approach for making a legal claim to her family rights. Not a promiscuous immoral act.
  2. 2. To spread one's skirt over one, meant to take in marriage. Compare Ezek. 16:8.
2. B. To take off the shoe of a man publicly before the elders.
  1. 1. Deut. 25:7-10.
  2. 2. It was a public rebuke to one who refused to accept his responsibilities to his kindred.

RUTH -- A Lesson of Love 99

1. C. Gleaning, a Mosaic ordinance that made provision so that the poor would have food to eat. See Deut. 24:19-21.
VII. Ruth and the New Testament:
1. A. She is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus, Matt. 1:1-5.
2. B. Boaz is mentioned there and in Luke 3:32.

OUTLINE OF RUTH:

I. The Migration to Moab and its Sorrows, 1:1-5.
1. A. Elimelech, Naomi and their sons migrate to Moab, 1:1-2.
2. B. Elimelech's death, 1:3.
3. C. The marriage of Mahlon to Ruth and Chilion to Orpah, 1:4.
4. D. Death of the two sons, 1:5.
II. Ruth's choice of Faith, 1:6-18.
1. A. Naomi's decision to return home, 1:6-13.
2. B. Orpah's choice to stay in Moab, 1:14.
3. C. Ruth chooses to go with Naomi, 1:15-18.
III. The Sorrowful Return to Bethlemen, 1:19-22.
1. A. Naomi's sad homecoming, 1:19.
2. B. Her interpretation of her affliction, 1:20-22.
IV. Providential Events at Boaz' field, 2:1-23.
1. A. Ruth happens to glean in Boaz' field, 2:1-3.
  1. 1. The Law allowed the poor to gather food after the harvesters had passed over the field, Deut. 24:19-22.
2. B. Boaz meets and befriends Ruth, 2:4-16.
  1. 1. Boaz appears in the harvest field, 2:4.
  2. 2. He makes inquiry about the Moabite gleaner, 2:5-7.

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1. 1. 3. He deals kindly with the industrious maiden, 2:8-9.
  2. 4. His appreciation for her loyalty to Naomi, 2:10-13.
  3. 5. He gives her special considerations, 2:14-16.
2. C. Ruth works diligently to provide for Naomi and herself, 2:17-23.
  1. 1. She shares her blessings with her mother-in-law, 2:17-18.
  2. 2. It is realized that Boaz is a near kinsman, 2:19-23.
V. Family Security is Sought Through the Redemption Law, 3:1-18.
1. A. Naomi suggests that Ruth visit Boaz to seek his favor, 3:1-5.
2. B. Ruth sleeps at Boaz' feet, 3:6-9.
  1. 1. This was simply making a legal claim to her family rights in a manner socially approved of in that time. Compare 3:11 and Deut. 25:5-9.
3. C. Boaz promises to seek to arrange for their marriage, 3:10-18.
  1. 1. He accepts her proposal kindly, 3:10-11.
  2. 2. A problem. must be overcome, 3:12-13.
    1. a. There is one who is a closer relative. He has the first right to redeem the family. 3. He sends her home with yet another gift, 3:14-18.
VI. Boaz redeems Elimelech's Inheritance, 4:1-16.
1. A. The redemption hearing at the city gate, 4:1-12.
  1. 1. The other near kinsman is advised of the situation, 4:1-5.
  2. 2. He declines to take Ruth to wife, 4:6.

RUTH -- A Lesson of Love 101

1. 1. 3. The ceremony of removing the shoe to confirm the agreement, 4:7-8.
    1. a. Compare Deut. 25:7-10.
  2. 4. Boaz publicly declares his intention to marry Ruth and redeem Elimelech and his sons' inheritance, 4:9-10.
    1. a. Compare Lev. 25:25-34.
  3. 5. The people praise Boaz and bless the marriage, 4:11-12.
VII. The Birth of Obed and the Ancestry of David, 4:13-22.
1. A. The birth of their child, 4:13.
2. B. The rejoicing of Naomi at the birth of Obed, 4:14-17.
3. C. The genealogy from Perez to David, 4:18-22.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. Naomi learned that through God's providence there is a silver lining behind every cloud.
2. God can bring joy even out of the midst of sorrow.
3. We should have the same love and loyalty for our kinsmen that Ruth had.
4. True love always shines brightest in times of crisis.
5. May we like Ruth, be devoted to Jehovah, Naomi's God.
6. We must work with God to fulfill His purposes in our lives; we cannot sit and wait for Him to do everything.
7. We must always judge social customs and practices by the age and society in which they occur.
8. The rewards that come from following God are worth more than all we might give up, Mark 10:29-30.

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9. We see the promise of God fulfilled to provide for the righteous soul and that He does this through the agency of other saints, Ps. 37:25.
10. We see the virtue of honest work such as Ruth did, II Thess. 3:10.
11. The Mosaic method of letting the poor work to gather their own food shows far greater wisdom than modern welfare giveaway programs.
12. Though our Savior was a Hebrew of the royal blood line, yet the blood of Gentiles flowed in his veins as well. He was representative of all and a savior of all races.
13. With God there is no respect of persons, neither should there be with us, James 2:9.
14. Even in the darkest hours of a nation's history, there will be found a righteous remnant such as Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.
15. Experiences of hardship wean us away from the material things of this life and make us think of heaven's rest.
16. Naomi and Ruth diligently sought for rest in Israel, how much more should we seek for rest in eternity with our God.

FIRST SAMUEL
The Kingdom Organized

Key Verse:
8:5, 18.

Key Thought:
The value and power or prayer, 1:10, 27;

Key Persons:
Samuel,
Saul,
David,

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Ancient Jewish tradition attributes the book to Samuel.
2. B. However, Samuel could not have written all of it, since it records the details of his death and many events that took place following his demise, I Sam. 25:1.
3. C. I Chron. 29:29-30, gives us a strong clue as to the source of much of the historical material of this period. "Now the acts of David the king first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer, with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries."
4. D. Some conservative scholars believe from internal considerations that this and its sister volume were composed at a later date by some inspired hand, possibly Jeremiah.

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104 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. E. We subscribe to the belief that Samuel authored the first 24 chapters and that the rest was written by some other inspired man, likely Nathan or Gad or both.
II. The Book:
1. A. Period of history covered: from the birth of Samuel 1149 B.C. (?) to the ascension of David, 1055 B.C.
2. B. Time of composition would have been during the latter part of this period and shortly thereafter.
3. C. Name: The book is named for the prophet Samuel whose life and leadership occupies such a large part of it.
  1. 1. The Hebrew manuscripts attach the name Samuel to them.
4. D. Original form: The two books of Samuel originally were one book.
  1. 1. The translators of the Septuagint regarded Samuel and the Book of Kings as a history of the Hebrew Monarchy from its rise to its fall. Thus they divided them into four units which they named Books of the Kingdom. a. Our First Samuel was the First Book of the Kingdom
  2. 2. Jerome introduced their form into his Vulgate, altering the name to Books of the Kings. 3. This four-fold division was first introduced into the Hebrew Bible in 1518.
5. E. Type of Literature:
  1. 1. It gives an historical account of the founding of the monarchy.

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 105

1. 1. 2. It does this with a series of biographical narratives about the key national leaders of the period.
  2. 3. Remember that Old Testament history differs from uninspired history because it presents the facts as God sees them and always presents its information as it relates to Heaven's revealed will and plan.
  3. 4. Remember too, that this divine record of history is partial, only giving such information as God deemed necessary to give His people sufficient light to trace their steps.
  4. 5. It was progressive, The whole of sacred history is a gradual unfolding of God's plan and is only fully realized with the completion of the New Testament.
  5. 6. It is preparatory, always looking forward to the coming of Messiah and his kingdom.
2. F. Purposes:
  1. 1. First Samuel records the events connected with the founding of the monarchy.
  2. 2. It emphasizes the fact that God never relinquished the rule of his kingdom in spite of all the failures of the people and developments of the centuries.
  3. 3. It taught Israel the reasons for Saul's failure as their first king.
  4. 4. It laid out for all ages the principle that rulers who forget God and disobey His will are destined to dismal failure.
  5. 5. It provides an historical link between the period of the Judges and the kingly era.

106 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 6. It demonstrates that God is able to take the contrary intents and actions of His people and overrule them to His honor and glory and the ultimate fulfilling of His purpose.
  2. 7. In its presentation of David, we see a king that was after God's own heart, Acts 13:22.
2. G. Some Lessons Taught:
  1. 1. It shows the need for prayer in all areas of life and that God will answer prayer.
  2. 2. It demonstrates the unhappiness that polygamy brings, 1:6.
  3. 3. It teaches the disaster that indulgent parenthood brings, 2:22-25.
  4. 4. It shows that partial obedience will not bring one blessings, rather it brings condemnation, 15:4-26.
  5. 5. It reminds us that ritual worship without sincere love and obedience is vain, 15:22.
  6. 6. To be like the nations around us is never suitable grounds to make a request of God.
3. H. A useful tool for study: A Harmony of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, by W. D. Crockett, published by Baker Book House.
4. I. A chronological arrangement of First Samuel, according to A. F. Kirkpatrick in the Cambridge Bible Commentary on Samna.
  1. B.C.
  2. Birth of Samuel ..... 1149
  3. Call of Samuel at the age of 12 ..... 1137
  4. Death of Eli ..... 1127 (?)
  5. Philistine oppression ..... 1127 - 1107
  6. Samuel's judgeship (? 18 years) ..... 1107 - 1089

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 107

1. 1. Rule of Samuel's sons (? 10 years) ..... 1089 - 1079
  2. Saul's election ..... 1079 (?)
  3. David's anointing ..... 1065
  4. Samuel's death, at the age of 90 ..... 1059 (?)
  5. Saul's death and David's accension ..... 1055

III. Biographical information on the Key Characters:
1. A. Samuel:
  1. 1. Son of Hannah and Elkanah, 1:1-2.
  2. 2. Given to his mother in direct answer to prayer, 1:9-20.
  3. 3. Born at Ramathaim-zophim of Ephraim, 1:1.
  4. 4. Of the tribe of Levi.
  5. 5. Dedicated to God at about four years and raised at the temple (tabernacle) under the guideline of Eli the priest at Shiloh, 1:24-28.
  6. 6. He led the nation in a great spiritual reformation upon taking Eli's place as the priest-judge, 7:3-4, 15:17.
  7. 7. He led the armies of Israel to victory over the pesky Philistines, 7:5-14.
  8. 8. He, by divine guidance, selected and anointed Saul as the first king of Israel, 9:15-10:1.
  9. 9. He served as a prophet and counsellor to Saul and the nation throughout the rest of his life.
  10. 10. Before his death he was led to select and anoint David as the future king of his people, 16:1-14.
  11. 11. He is counted as the first of that succession to prophets that ministered to and taught the nation until the death of Malachi, Acts 3:24.
  12. 12. He was the only man to fill the three offices of prophet, priest and judge.

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1. 1. 13. It seems that he filled the office of priest in Eli's stead even though it is not indicated that he was descended from Aaron.
    1. a. He interceded, 7:9.
    2. b. He offered sacrifice, 7:9, 10.
    3. c. He blest the nation, 9:12-13.
    4. d. He anointed rulers, 10:1, 16:13.
    5. e. It appears that God raised him up "to be faithful priest in a day when no other of the priestly line was so inclined," I Sam. 2:35. So was Moses allowed to serve, Ps. 99:6.
2. B. Saul:
  1. 1. The son of Kish, a Benjamite, 9:1-2.
  2. 2. Of great stature and strength, 9:1-2.
  3. 3. Chosen to be the first king of the monarchy, 9:15-10:1.
  4. 4. Led the nation to military victory over numerous enemies, 11:6-11.
  5. 5. He became obsessed with power and position and grew rebellious toward God and His commandments.
  6. 6. God withdrew his blessings and guidance from him, 15:26, 16:14.
  7. 7. He suffered from periods of insanity in his latter years, 18:10.
  8. 8. He died at his own hand after sustaining a serious defeat at the hands of the Philistines, 31:1-6.
3. C. David:
  1. 1. The son of Jesse of Bethlehem in Judah, 16:1.
  2. 2. The youngest of eight sons.
  3. 3. He worked as a shepherd for his father, 16:11.

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1. 1. 4. Anointed by Samuel, while Saul was yet on the throne.
  2. 5. He was a handsome youth, 16:12.
  3. 6. He proved himself a valiant warrior in facing and killing Goliath, the Philistine giant, 17:1-54.
  4. 7. He filled the role of royal armor bearer and military leader of Saul's forces.
  5. 8. He became a son-in-law of King Saul, by marriage to Michal, 18:27.
  6. 9. He was later hated by Saul who made repeated attempts on his life.
  7. 10. This forced David to live the life of a vagabond and fugitive for several years.
  8. 11. He finally succeeded Saul upon the throne of Israel at the former King's death.
IV. Important terms and concepts:
1. A. Theocracy. Israel was a nation governed by God, from the Exodus until Samuel's day. God had provided national leadership through appointed leaders.
2. B. Monarchy. The government of a nation by one man, a king.
3. C. Shiloh. A city north of Jerusalem in the land of Ephraim where the tabernacle was kept from the days of Joshua until its destruction about 1050 B.C.
4. D. School of the prophets.
  1. 1. There had been individual prophets prior to Samuel's time,
  2. 2. But it appears that he began a new religious training program for young men that they

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1. 1. might assist in the spiritual education and leadership of the nation.
    1. a. I Sam. 19:18ff.
    2. b. They existed at Bethel, II Kings 2:3; Jericho, II Kings 2:5; Gilgal, II Kings 4:38.
    3. c. Some prophets were not of these schools, Amos 7:4.
  2. 3. The prophets played a mighty role in the affairs of the nation, serving variously as historians, spiritual instructors, preachers of righteousness to high and low, condemning idolatry in high places, injustice in the courts, and empty formality among the priests. They were private advisors to kings and interpretors of the Law. They predicted the rise and fall of nations and the coming Messiah.
2. E. Jehovah. God had revealed his name to Israel but it seems that along the way they came to feel it was too sacred to pronounce. To this day we are not sure how it originally sounded. In Ex. 6:2, God gave Moses his name. It is spelled JHVH or YHWH. They would write the consonants but never articulate the word. When Hebrews came to this holy word, they substituted the word Adonai (Lord). "The vowels for adonai were written into the consonants JHVH so that we think of the divine name as Jehovah. More probably the name was something like "Jahveh" (or Yahweh as the usual English spelling has it)." G. Robinson, The word LORD in capital letters in the Old Testament indicates this divine name and its substitute.

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 111

V. First Samuel and the New Testament:
1. I Sam. 2:1 Lk. 1:46-47
2. I Sam. 8:10 Acts 13:21
3. I Sam, 13:14 Acts. 13:22
4. I Sam. 15:22 Mark 12:33
5. I Sam. 21:6 Matt. 12:14, Mark 2:25, 26; Lk. 6:3, 4.
VI. Some Notable Things in I Samuel.
1. A. The first use of the divine title Lord of Hosts is found here. Altogether it is used some 281 times.
2. B. It first reveals the "schools of the prophets," 10:5, 19:20.
3. C. It contains much about the Holy Spirit compared to other Old Testament books.
4. D. Hannah's beautiful prayer of thanksgiving is reflected in the song of Mary at her conception in Lk. 1:46-55. I Sam. 2:1-11.
5. E. Samuel's Ebenezer monument stone, to remind the people, "Hither hath Jehovah helped us." 7:12.
6. F. The divine humiliation of Dagon the god of the Philistines at Ashdod and consequent judgments upon the citizens of Ashdod, Gath and Ekron while they held the ark of God captive, 5:1-12.
VII. First Samuel and the Unbelievers.
1. A. Those who hold to the "documentary hypothesis" argue that this book and its sister volume were composed by a redactor in the years between 650-550. This anonymous compiler gathered his materials from two principle older documents plus many oral traditions and fragments according to them. Of course, their view leaves the

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1. book filled with mistakes and contradictions and generally unreliable. To them the author was not verbally inspired and inerrant.
2. B. Again we cite the student to the fine works of E. J. Young and Gleason Archer for a thorough refutation of this low view.
VIII. Basic Pattern.
1. A. Samuel's career, Chapters 1-7.
2. B. Saul's reign, Chapters 8-15.
3. C. David's early life, Chapters 16-31.

OUTLINE OF FIRST SAMUEL:

I. The Close of the Theocracy; Samuel's Ministry, 1:1-7:17.
1. A. Samuel's birth, 1:1-2:10.
  1. 1. Samuel's parents, 1:1-8.
  2. 2. The prayer of Hannah and its answer, 1:9-20.
  3. 3. Samuel dedicated to the Lord, 1:21-28.
  4. 4. Hannah's grateful song, 2:1-10.
2. B. Samuel's apprenticeship at Shiloh, 2:11-4:1.
  1. 1. Samuel preserved in a place poisoned by Eli's wicked sons, 2:11-17.
  2. 2. He ministers in the tabernacle, 2:18-21.
  3. 3. Eli's fruitless correction of his sons, 2:22-26.
  4. 4. The man of God predicts the doom of Eli and his sons, 2:27-36.
  5. 5. The call of Samuel by God, 3:1-10.
  6. 6. The sad message to Eli, 3:11-18.
  7. 7. Samuel established as a prophet, 3:19-4:1a.
3. C. The period of national disaster, 4:1b-7:2.
  1. 1. The defeat at Shiloh and loss of the ark to Philistia, 4:1b-11a.

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 113

1. 1. 2. The doom of Eli and his sons, 4:11b-22.
    1. a. Hophni and Phinehas are slain, 4:11b.
    2. b. Eli dies, 4:12-18.
    3. c. Phinehas's wife dies, 4:19-22.
  2. 3. The ark of God held by the Philistines, 5:1-6:21.
    1. a. God's judgment upon Dagon, god of Ashdod, 5:1-5.
    2. b. His judgment upon the Ashdodites, 5:6-8.
    3. c. The citizens of Gath punished, 5:9.
    4. d. The city of Ekron chastized, 5:10-12.
    5. e. The Philistines resolve to return the ark to Israel, 6:1-9.
    6. f. The ark is delivered to Beth-shemesh, 6:10-18.
    7. g. The Beth-shemites punished for irreverence, 6:19-20.
    8. h. The ark is settled at Kiriath-jearim.
2. D. Samuel's reformation and victory over Philistia, 7:3-17.
  1. 1. The nation repents and reforms, 7:3-6.
  2. 2. The Philistines defeated at Ebenezer, 7:7-14.
  3. 3. A summary of Samuel's ministry, 7:15-17.
II. The Founding of the Monarchy; Saul's rise to power, 8:1-15:35.
1. A. The people request a king, 8:1-22.
  1. 1. The misrule of Samuel's sons, 8:1-3.
  2. 2. The people petition Samuel for a king like their neighbors had, 8:4-6.
  3. 3. Jehovah's reply of warning to their request, 8:7-18.
  4. 4. Israel refuses to heed the warning, 8:19-22.
2. B. Saul is anointed by Samuel privately, 9:1-10:16.
  1. 1. Saul's family record, 9:1-2.

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1. 1. 2. He searches for his father's beasts, 9:3-10.
  2. 3. He inquires of Samuel, 9:11-14.
  3. 4. Samuel entertains Saul, 9:15-24.
  4. 5. Saul is anointed before he leaves, 9:25-10:1.
  5. 6. Signs of confirmation given to Saul and fulfilled, 10:2-16.
2. C. Saul is elected by lot at Mizpah, 10:17-27.
  1. 1. The assembly and selection, 10:17-23.
  2. 2. Saul installed as king, 10:24-27.
3. D. Saul defeats the Ammonites, 11:1-15.
  1. 1. The citizens of Jabesh appeal to Saul for help against the Ammonites, 11:1-5.
  2. 2. God gives Saul and Israel victory, 11:6-11.
  3. 3. Saul confirmed as king of Gilgal, 11:12-15.
4. E. Samuel's farewell address to the nation, 12:1-25.
  1. 1. He reviews the integrity of his life's work among them, 12:1-5.
  2. 2. He reminds them that their king is an apostasy from God, 12:6-18.
  3. 3. He offers mixed warnings and encouragement for the future, 12:19-25.
5. F. Saul's war of independence against the Philistines, 13:1-14:52.
  1. 1. The revolt of Saul against Philistia, 13:1-7.
  2. 2. Saul's fateful disobedience and its penalty, 13:8-15.
    1. a. He offered a burnt-offering which only a priest was to do, 13:9.
    2. b. He is told that his rule will not continue, 13:14.
  3. 3. The military situation in Israel, 13:15-23.
  4. 4. Jonathan gets a victory over a Philistine outpost, 14:1-15.

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 115

1. 1. 5. All Israel joins in routing the enemy, 14:16-23.
  2. 6. Saul foolishly forbids his soldiers to eat, 14:24-30.
  3. 7. The people keep Saul from slaying Jonathan, 14:31-46.
  4. 8. A summary of Saul's wars and reign, 14:47-52.
2. G. God rejects Saul as king, 15:1-35.
  1. 1. The commission to exterminate the Amalekites, 15:1-3.
  2. 2. Saul deliberately disregards God's orders, 15:4-9.
  3. 3. Samuel rebukes Saul, and announces his rejection by God, 15:10-31.
  4. 4. Agag is executed by Samuel, 15:32-33.
  5. 5. Samuel departs from Saul, 15:34-35.
III. David's Rise to Power and Saul's Decline, 16:1-31:13.
1. A. David selected as Saul's successor, 16:1-13.
  1. 1. Samuel is sent to Jesse of Bethlehem to Maul the new king, 16:1-5.
  2. 2. God chooses, selects David, 16:6-12. 3. Samuel anoints the lad, 16:13.
2. B. David is introduced to the court of Saul, 16:14-23.
  1. 1. Saul is troubled by an evil spirit, 16:14-17.
  2. 2. David is brought to comfort Saul with music, 16:18-23.
  3. 3. He is also made armor bearer to the king, 16:21-23.
3. C. David advances in prominence in the kingdom, 17:1-18:9.
  1. 1. The Philistines invade Judah, 17:1-3.

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1. 1. 2. The insulting challenge of Goliath, 17:4-11.
  2. 3. David hears and accepts the giant's challenge to fight, 17:12-40.
  3. 4. He kills Goliath and beheads him, 17:41-58.
  4. 5. The friendship of David and Jonathan, 18:1-5.
  5. 6. The public celebrations of David's victories, 18:6-9.
2. D. Saul's growing jealousy and hostility toward David, 18:10-20:42.
  1. 1. Saul attempts to kill David, 18:10-11.
  2. 2. David is promoted and gains more popularity, 18:12-16.
  3. 3. David is offered Merab, Saul's daughter, to wife, 18:17-19.
  4. 4. Saul plots David's death and gives him Michal to wife, 18:20-30.
  5. 5. Jonathan alerts David to his father's assassination plans, 19:1-3.
  6. 6. Jonathan intercedes successfully for David, 19:4-7.
  7. 7. David escapes another attempt on his life by aid of Michal, 19:8-17.
  8. 8. David flees to Samuel at Ramah and Saul pursues, 19:18-24.
    1. a. Saul is humbled before God, 19:19-24.
  9. 9. David and Jonathan consult and renew their covenant of friendship, 20:1-23.
  10. 10. Jonathan advises David of Saul's evil intent, they part, 20:24-42.
3. E. David becomes a hunted fugitive, 21:1-27:12.
  1. 1. David flees to Ahimelech at Nob, 21:1-9.
    1. a. The priest gives the hungry fugitive the holy bread, 21:1-6.

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 117

1. 1. 1. b. He gives David the sword of Goliath, 21:7-9.
  2. 2. David flees to Achish, king of Gath, 21:10-15.
    1. a. He finds himself in danger from the Philistines, 21:10-12.
    2. b. He feigned madness to escape from the Philistines, 21:13-15.
  3. 3. David hides from Saul, 22:1-5.
    1. a. At Adulam he gains a following of 400 men, 22:1-2.
  4. 4. Saul takes vengeance on the priests at Nob, 22:6-19.
  5. 5. Abiathar the priest escapes to David, 22:20-23.
  6. 6. David delivers the village of Keilah but is forced to flee from Saul, 23:1-15.
  7. 7. David and Jonathan meet the last time at Ziph, 23:16-18.
  8. 8. The Ziphites betray David, but he escapes, 23:19-28.
  9. 9. David confronts Saul at Engedi, 23:29-24:22.
    1. a. Saul is delivered into David's hand, but is spared, 24:1-7.
    2. b. David protests his innocence and harassment, 24:8-15.
    3. c. Saul admits his sin and David's righteousness, 24:16-22.
  10. 10. The death and burial of Samuel, 25:1.
  11. 11. Episode of Nabal, Abigail and David, 25:2-44.
    1. a. Nabal's hateful attitude towards David's men, 25:2-13.
    2. b. Abigail wisely saves the day, 25:14-35.
    3. c. Nabal dies, 25:36-38.
    4. d. David marries Abigail, 25:39-44.

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1. 1. 12. Saul renews his pursuit of David, 26:1-25.
    1. a. The treachery of the Ziphites, 26:1-4.
    2. b. Saul is again spared by David, 26:5-12.
    3. c. David pleads with Saul for peace, 26:13-25.
  2. 13. David becomes a vassal of the Philistines, 27:1-12.
    1. a. David and his band settle in Gath, 27:1-4.
    2. b. They are given Ziklag for their residence, 27:5-7.
    3. c. David's raids on neighboring cities, 27:8-12.
2. F. The final days of Saul's life, 28:1-31:13.
  1. 1. The Philistines muster for war against Israel, 28:1-2.
  2. 2. Saul seeks help from the witch of Endor, 28:3-14.
  3. 3. Samuel appears to Saul from the dead, 28:15-18.
  4. 4. He announces the doom of Saul and his sons, 28:19-25.
  5. 5. David and his men are dismissed from the Philistine army, 29:1-11.
  6. 6. The Amalekites raid David's camp at Ziklag, 30:1-6.
  7. 7. He overtakes and utterly defeats them, 30:7-31.
  8. 8. The defeat and death of Saul at Gilboa, 31:1-13.
    1. a. Saul and his sons die, 31:1-6.
    2. b. The Philistines desecrate their dead bodies, 31:7-10.
    3. c. They are rescued and buried by the men of Jabesh, 31:11-13.

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 119

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. Polygamy always made for unhappy homes, 1:6.
2. God hears even the silent prayers of His saints, 1:12-13.
3. God did then and still does answer prayer.
4. Children are a gift from God, Ps. 127:3.
5. We need mothers to dedicate their sons to the service of Jehovah like Hannah did.
6. How often a great leader, like Eli, neglects the moral and spiritual training of his own children.
7. It is a sin for parents not to restrain their sinful children, 3:13.
8. Like young Samuel, we should say, speak Lord, "for thy servant heareth," 3:10.
9. God punishes saints as well as sinners when they mishandle His sacred things, 5:1-6:21.
10. We need modern day Samuels to lead our nation to repentance.
11. Let each of us raise our own Ebenezer monument for hither by God's grace we have come, 7:12.
12. To be like the nations around us is never a sufficient motive, 8:5.
13. A king after the people's heart was not necessarily one after God's heart.
14. In rejecting God's appointed leadership, they rejected God himself, 10:19.
15. We need leaders as morally and ethically upright as Samuel to lead our nation, 12:3-4.
16. Only God the Creator has the right to order the extermination of a tribe of people.
17. "To obey is better than to sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of rams." 15:22.

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18. "Jehovah seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward appearance but Jehovah looketh on the heart." 16:7.
19. Always remember that the battle is Jehovah's, 17:47.
20. May we be blest with a friend like Jonathan.
21. May God keep us from the two deadly sins of Saul toward David, envy and ingratitude.
22. Let us never be a churl like Nabal.
23. Lord, help all Christian women to be like Abigail.
24. We should never abuse the dead, even of our enemies.

FIRST SAMUEL -- The Kingdom Organized 121

SOME OF THE PSALMS OF DAVID
AND THEIR HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
IN THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL

Appendix A

Those marked * are according to the superscriptions, others conjecturally: some Psalms are ascribed to more than one occasion, the opinion of expositors vary greatly. (As suggested by Joseph Angus in The Bible Handbook (Revised), Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Reprint, 1952.)

I. Prior to the reign of David.

Historical Connection	References	Psalms
David when calumniated at court of Saul	I Sam. 18, 19	7*, 11, 12
When pursued by Saul	I Sam. 19:1-11	59*, 22
David's flight to Gath	I Sam. 21:10-15	56, 34
When he fled from Saul in the cave, i.e., at Adullam, or it may be En-gedi	I Sam. 22:1, 2	57, 142 or 24
When Doeg the Edomite informed Saul of David's coming to the house of Ahimelech	I Sam. 22:6-23	52*
When David was betrayed by the Ziphites	I Sam. 23:19-24	54*
Escape from Saul	I Sam. 23:25-28	17, 31
When pursued by Saul at En-gedi	I Sam. 24	35, 63
David's pursuit of and victory over Amalekites	I Sam. 30	16

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II. After David's accession to the Throne and prior to his great fall.

Historical Connection	References	Psalms
Accession to the Throne	II Sam. 2:1-4	27, 28
Jerusalem made the capital	II Sam. 5:1-12	68, 101
At the dedication of the house of David'	30*, 29
Removal of the Ark to Jerusalem	II Sam. 6:1-11	68, 15, 24, 26
Promises by Nathan to David	II Sam. 7	138
Wars and conquests	II Sam. 8:1-14	60, 9, 20, 21, 5, 6, 8, 16, 18, 19, 23, 29, 36, 58, 68, 108, 97 (Sept.), 98* (Sept.), 99* (Sept.)

III. David's Fall and Repentance.

David's great sin and repentance	II Sam. 12:1-14	51*, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41
To this period generally		55, 58, 103

IV. The Time of the Great Revolt.

Events immediately preceding	II Sam. 15:1-6	6, 64
Flight from Absalom	II Sam. 15:13-30	3*, 4, 31, 61, 62, 63, 69
Rebellion of Absalom	II Sam. 17	27, 28, 42 (Sept.), 43 (Sept.), 70, 143
Ahithophel's treachery	II Sam, 17:21-23	35, 65

V. Dedication of Araunah's threshing floor.

II Sam. 24:26

SECOND SAMUEL
The Administration of King David

Key Verses:
5:12;
7:12-16.

Key Phrase:
"Before the Lord."

Key Thought:
The blessings that come from obeying the Lord, the judgments that come from disobedience.

Key Character:
David.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. Author:
1. A. Likely Nathan the prophet or Gad the seer, Compare I Chron. 29:29-30.
2. B. The author probably consulted existing sources for information.
  1. 1. The Book of Jashar, II Sam. 1:18. This seems to have been a national anthology of poetic literature.
  2. 2. There was a book called, The Chronicles of King David, I Chron. 27:24. This seems to have been a record of statistical records of state.
  3. 3. See I Chron. 29:29-30. Both Nathan and Gad wrote records of the national events of their day.
3. C. This would in no way discredit his being fully inspired of God and thus directed to write his hook.

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II. The Book:
1. A. The two books of Samuel were originally one.
  1. 1. See Notes on I Samuel for further information here.
2. B. Time: The book covers the 40 years of David's reign, 1055-1015 B.C.
3. C. Name: The book bears the name of Samuel the prophet-judge who anointed David as king. In their original form when the two books were one, the name applied to the whole. Since Samuel's death is recorded in I Sam. 25:1, this volume has no mention of him or his work.
4. D. Type of literature:
  1. 1. It provides a historical record of David's reign.
  2. 2. It presents its message in biographical form.
5. E. The Canonicity of this book stands indisputable.
6. F. Arrangement of the contents: The materials of II Samuel are arranged according to subject matter rather than time sequence of events.
7. G. Some lessons taught:
  1. 1. It teaches the need of patience and dependence upon God for the fulfillment of his promises.
  2. 2. It shows the awful consequences of sin.
  3. 3. It demonstrates the futility of trying to hide sin.
  4. 4. It describes the reign of a king after God's own heart.
  5. 5. We see how God can bless and exalt even a small nation and a king from the sheep cote when they honor His name and keep His law.

SECOND SAMUEL -- Administration of King David 125

III. Chronological arrangement of the events of Second Samuel, according to A. F. Kirkpatrick, Cambridge Bible Commentary on Second Samuel.
1. Reign of David at Hebron (II Sam. 2:11) ..... 1055-1048
2. Absalom's birth ..... 1052 or 1050(?)
3. Reign of Ishbosheth and civil war (II Sam. 2:10) ..... 1050-1048
4. Reign of David at Jerusalem (II Sam. 5:4-5) ..... 1048-1015
5. Period of foreign wars (II Sam. 8) ..... 1045-1035
  1. in which are to be placed
  2. A period of peace (II Sam. 7:1)
  3. Mephibosheth's elevation.
  4. The famine (?)
6. Adultery with Bathsheba ..... 1035
7. Ammon's outrage ..... 1034
8. Absalom's rebellion ..... 1023
9. Period of tranquility and steady national growth ..... 1023-1015
10. The Plague ..... 1018 (?)
11. David's Death ..... 1015

IV. Second Samuel and First Chronicles compared:
1. A. These two records stand related much as the four gospels do to each other. Neither book gives a complete history of David's rule. Each approaches it from a different point of view.
2. B. The author of Samuel tells of David's reign.
  1. 1. Noting the conflicts through which he passes as God raised him to be head of the kingdom.

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1. 1. 2. It deals with many matters of David's private life.
  2. 3. The punishments God inflicted upon David for his sin are portrayed.
  3. 4. Thus, the primary emphasis is upon David the man whom God appointed to be king.
2. C. The author of Chronicles gives prominence to:
  1. 1. Matters of religious ceremony; especially the role of Priests and Levites.
  2. 2. It stresses only the positive acts of David's rise to power and consequent reign. It omits the reverses David's kingdom experienced.
V. The Organization of David's kingdom:
1. A. Military Organization:
  1. 1. The national militia, 12 regiments of 24,000 men with a general. It appears that they devoted one month per year to service, I Chron. 27:1-15.
  2. 2. David's personal body guard, the Cherethites. and Pelethites, II Sam. 8:18.
  3. 3. The Gittites or Heroes, six hundred men, a traditional group carried over from his days in exile, II Sam. 15:18.
  4. 4. The Band of Thirty. A group similar to the Knights of old England and Europe, II Sam. 23:24-29.
  5. 5. The First Three, and the Second Three, II Sam. 28:8ff. These were warriors who performed exceptional deeds of valor.
  6. 6. Captain of the Hosts, Joab held this post. He was second only to David.
2. B. Governmental Organization: II Sam. 8:15-18, 20:23-26.

SECOND SAMUEL -- Administration of King David 127

1. 1. 1. Counsellor to the king.
  2. 2. Recorder.
  3. 3. Scribe, i.e., secretary of state.
  4. 4. The king's companion or friend.
  5. 5. Superintendent of public works.
  6. 6. Ministers of states, which included the king's sons.
  7. 7. The High Priest.
  8. 8. The Commander-in-Chief of the army.
  9. 9. The captain of the body guard.
  10. 10. Each tribe was placed under the government of a prince or ruler, I Chron. 27:16-22.
2. C. Religious Organization:
  1. 1. David himself took a leading role in the public religious activities of the nation, II Sam. 6:19.
  2. 2. Prophets played an important part, i.e., Gad, Nathan.
  3. 3. High Priests, notably Zadok and Abiathar, I Chron. 16:37-40.
  4. 4. Priests and Levites were organized by courses and given specific assignments, I Chron. 23:1-24:31.
  5. 5. Singers and musicians were organized under Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, I Chron. 25:1-31.
VI. David the King:
1. A. He was distinguished as a shepherd, soldier, poet, musician, statesman, prophet, king, devoted father, sincere friend, and a notable leader of men.
2. B. His personality reflected the characteristics of passion, tenderness, generosity, fierceness, fearlessness, and religious devotion.

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1. C. One notable mark of the divine origin of the Bible is the utter impartiality of its reporting. We have David presented as a man after God's own heart and yet we are told of his great sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah.
  1. 1. Do not overlook the contrition and repentance of David regarding this wrong.
  2. 2. The Bible does not endorse the sin of David. It only reports it and makes sure that we see how God punished him.
VII. Second Samuel and the New Testament:
1. A. Second Samuel 7:12-13 Acts 2:30; 13:34.
2. B. Second Samuel 7:14 Heb. 1:5.
3. C. Second Samuel 12:24 Matt. 1:6ff; Lk. 3:25ff.
4. D. II Samuel and Prophecies of Christ.
  1. 1. "It does not simply contain prophecies of Christ: it is from first to last a prophecy of him." Kirkpatrick.
  2. 2. The kingdom of David and Solomon was typical of Christ's kingdom as were those two great kings types of Christ.
  3. 3. The whole Jewish dispensation was designed by Jehovah to prepare men for the coming of Messiah. Many of its institutions were typical, as were its ordinances, events and characters. These pre-figured and foreshadowed the Christ and his church.
VIII. Second Samuel and David's Psalms.
1. A. For a chart coordinating the psalms of David with their historical background in II Samuel, see the appendix following I Samuel.

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IX. Two important Translations of the Old Testament.
1. A. Septuagint. The earliest known translation of the Old Testament.
  1. 1. A translation into Greek.
  2. 2. Prepared in Egypt.
  3. 3. In the third and second centuries B.C.
  4. 4. By a number of different hands.
  5. 5. Of great value to Bible students.
    1. a. It preserves evidence of a text far more ancient than our oldest Hebrew manuscripts.
    2. b. It is the source of most of the Old Testament quotes by New Testament writers.
    3. c. It was the version used by the early "fathers" of the church for many centuries.
2. B. Vulgate. A translation of the scriptures into Latin.
  1. 1. Made by Jerome.
  2. 2. He began it in 389 at 60 years of age and completed it 14 years later.
  3. 3. Samuel and Kings were the first books he issued.
  4. 4. It shows us that the Hebrew text of the 4th century is the same as ours today.
X. Summary of Second Samuel:
1. A. Coronation of David and the growth of his kingdom, 1:1-10:19.
2. B. David takes Bathsheba and reaps a bitter harvest, 11:1-18:33.
3. C. David's restoration to divine favor with the events of the last years of his reign, 19:1-24:25.

130 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

OUTLINE OF SECOND SAMUEL:

I. The reign of David over Judah, 1:1-4:12.
1. A. David's lament over Saul and Jonathan, 1:1-27.
  1. 1. Tidings of the king's death brought to David, 1:1-16.
  2. 2. David's dirge over the loss of his king and his friend, 1:17-27.
2. B. David crowned king over Judah, 2:1-4.
3. C. His message of appreciation to the men of Jabesh, 2:5-7.
4. D. The civil war between David and the House of Saul, 2:8-32.
  1. 1. Abner organizes the other tribes under Ishbosheth, Saul's son, 2:8-11.
  2. 2. Abner's forces defeated at Gibeon, 2:12-17.
  3. 3. Asahel is killed by Abner, 2:18-32.
5. E. The progress of David's cause, 3:1-5.
6. F. The defection of Abner and his death, 3:6-39.
  1. 1. The quarrel between Abner and Ishbosheth, 3:6-11.
  2. 2. Abner's overtures to David, 3:12-21.
  3. 3. Joab murders Abner, 3:22-30.
  4. 4. David mourns for Abner, 3:31-39.
7. G. Ishbosheth assassinated, 4:1-7.
8. H. The murderers are executed, 4:8-12.
II. The Rule of David over all Israel, 5:1-10:19.
1. A. David crowned ruler over the entire kingdom, 5:1-5.
2. B. The capture of Jerusalem, 5:6-10.
3. C. David's place and his family, 5:11-16.
4. D. The Philistines are defeated by David's troops, 5:17-25.
5. E. The ark removed to Jerusalem, 6:1-23.

SECOND SAMUEL -- Administration of King David 131

1. 1. 1. Uzzah's punishment for touching the ark, 6:1-11.
  2. 2. The ark properly delivered to Jerusalem, 6:12-19.
  3. 3. Michal, David's wife, rebuked for her ridicule, 6:20-23.
2. F. David desires to build God a temple, 7:1-3.
3. G. God promises eternal dominion to the house of David, 7:4-17.
  1. 1. A great Messianic promise is couched in 7:12-16.
  2. 2. Compare Acts 2:29-31; 13:34.
  3. 3. Notice the promise had a dual fulfillment in Solomon and in Christ.
4. H. David's prayer of thanksgiving, 7:18-29.
5. I. The extension of David's kingdom, over foreign enemies, 8:1-18.
  1. 1. A catalogue of military victories over Gentile foes, 8:1-14.
  2. 2. The internal administration of David's kingdom, 8:15-18.
6. J. David shows mercy to Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, 9:1-13.
7. K. The combined forces of Ammon and Syria are defeated by David's army, 10:1-19.
III. David's Fall and Punishment, 11:1-18:33.
1. A. David's sin with Bathsheba, 11:1-12:31.
  1. 1. The wicked deed, 11:1-5.
  2. 2. David orders Uriah's death, 11:6-25.
  3. 3. He then marries Bathsheba, 11:26-27.
  4. 4. Nathan reproves David, 12:1-15a.
    1. a. David repents, 12:13.
  5. 5. Bathsheba's child dies, 12:15b-23.

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1. 1. 6. Solomon is born, 12:24-25.
  2. 7. Rabbah, the royal city of Ammon is captured by Joab, 12:26-31.
2. B. Family problems in David's house, 13:1-14:33.
  1. 1. Ammon's outrage against Tamar, 13:1-22.
  2. 2. Absalom kills Ammon in retaliation and flees,. 13:23-39.
  3. 3. Absalom is finally allowed to return, 14:1-33.
3. C. Absalom's rebellion and David's flight, 15:1-18:33.
  1. 1. Absalom's conspiracy grows, 15:1-6.
  2. 2. The rebellion breaks out, 15:7-12.
  3. 3. David is forced to flee Jerusalem, 15:13-16:14.
    1. a. The fidelity of Ittai, the Gittite, 15:19-23.
    2. b. The priests and the ark are ordered to return to Jerusalem, 15:24-29.
    3. c. The commission of Hushai, David's friend, 15:30-37.
    4. d. The gift of Ziba, 16:1-4.
    5. e. The wicked deed of Shimei, 16:5-14.
  4. 4. Absalom takes Jerusalem, 16:15-19.
  5. 5. The plan of Ahithophel thwarted by Hushai's counsel, 16:20-17:23.
  6. 6. The battle is joined in the forest of Ephraim, 17:24-18:8.
  7. 7. Absalom is killed, 18:9-18.
  8. 8. David's great grief at the news of Absalom's death, 18:19-33.
IV. David's Restoration to God's Favor, 19:1-20:26.
1. A. Joab reproves David for his grief, 19:1-8.
2. B. Preparations for David's reinstatement, 19:9-14.

SECOND SAMUEL -- Administration of King David 133

1. C. Incidents of David's return to Jerusalem, 19:15-39.
  1. 1. Shimei pardoned for his offense, 19:16-23.
  2. 2. David's interview with Mephibosheth, 19:24-30.
  3. 3. Barzillai's farewell, 19:31-39.
2. D. Dispute and strife between Judah and Israel, 19:40-20:26.
  1. 1. A strife arises between those of Judah and the rest over the restoration, 19:40-43.
  2. 2. Sheba, the Benjamite, leads an insurrection, 20:1-22.
    1. a. The outbreak of trouble, 20:1-2.
    2. b. The pursuit of Sheba, 20:3-13.
    3. c. Sheba's death, by the people of Abel, 20:14-22.
  3. 3. David's governmental officers after the restoration, 20:23-26.
V. Supplemental Material on David's Reign, 21:1-24:25.
1. A. The three years' famine, 21:1-14.
  1. 1. Saul's sons executed, 21:1-10.
  2. 2. The burial of the bones of Saul and his sons, 21:11-14.
2. B. Heroic deeds during the Philistine wars, 21:15-22.
3. C. David's psalm of thanksgiving for victory over his enemies, 22:1-51.
4. D. David's final words, 23:1-7.
5. E. King David's heroes, 23:8-39.
  1. 1. "The three" mighty men of David's forces, 23:8-12.
  2. 2. The episode at the well of Bethlehem, 23:13-17.

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1. 1. 3. Abishai and Benaiah, of "the second three" mighty men, 23:18-23.
  2. 4. "The thirty" notable warriors of his army, 23:24-38.
2. F. David's sin in taking the census, 24:1-25.
  1. 1. The census, 24:1-9.
  2. 2. David chooses the pestilence for punishment, 24:10-17.
  3. 3. The king's sacrifice at Araunah's threshing floor is accepted, 24:18-25.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. Never can suicide be right. Remember it is self murder.
2. Like David, we should have great respect for God's appointed leaders, I Chron. 16:22.
3. As David did, let us always take everything "before the Lord."
4. We must judge David and his actions by the times in which he lived and the law under which he lived.
5. Notice how the record constantly stresses the conflicts and sorrows that polygamy always brings.
6. No matter how good are our intentions, we must honor and respect God's law. Remember Uzzah, II Sam. 6:6-7.
7. David's great desire was to build God a house. Let us have as our great desire to build up the Spiritual house of God, the church, I Tim. 3:15.
8. God wanted a man of peace to build His temple. Today he seeks for peacemakers for the kingdom, Matt. 5:9.
9. Remember some prophecies have dual meanings like II Sam. 7:12-16. We are safe in so concluding when an inspired man indicates this about a prophecy.

SECOND SAMUEL -- Administration of King David 135

10. Like David, let us execute justice and righteousness to all men, II Sam. 8:15.
11. David's affair with Bathsheba teaches the awful consequences of immorality.
12. We admire the faithful loyalty of Uriah to his king.
13. We are disgusted with David's ingratitude toward Uriah.
14. Though David laid no hand to Uriah, he was guilty of his death.
15. Nathan shows us the value of the indirect mode of correcting another's mistakes, II Sam. 12:1-7.
16. We respect the great courage of Nathan in rebuking the king on such a sensitive subject.
17. Our sin affects many others, even innocent children.
18. "Be sure your sin will find, you out," Num. 32:23.
19. David's sin with Bathsheba was forgiven but could not be left unpunished.
20. Young ladies should learn a lesson from Tamar's experience with Ammon. After he humbled her, he despised her.
21. Like Absalom, "charismatic" leaders are still stealing the hearts of the people.
22. Surely David reaped what he sowed.
23. David waited too late to weep over Absalom, his son.
24. The meaning of verbal inspiration is seen in II Sam. 23:2. "The spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue."
25. The wisdom of David is seen in his choice to fall into the hands of Jehovah for his punishment, II Sam. 24:14.
26. David would offer nothing to Jehovah that cost him nothing, nor should we.

FIRST KINGS
The Road To National Ruin

Key Verses:
9:4-9.

Key Persons:
Solomon, King of united Israel;
Elijah, God's prophet to the Northern Kingdom.

Key Concept:
Jehovah the sovereign ruler of Israel blesses those who honor and keep His covenant and punishes the disobedient.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Uncertain.
2. B. Ancient Jewish tradition ascribes the book to Jeremiah the prophet.
  1. 1. Some attribute it to Ezra.
3. C. It was written while the first temple still stood. See 8:8.
4. D. Whoever the inspired author was, he made extensive use of writings and records already in existence.
  1. 1. The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah referred to 15 times: 14:29; 15:7; 15:23, etc.
  2. 2. The Book of the Chronicles of the Icings of Israel, cited 18 times: 14:19; 15:31; 16:5, etc.
  3. 3. The Book of the Acts of Solomon, I Kings 11:41.

-- 136 --

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 137

II. The Book:
1. A. Period of time covered: approximately 120 years.
  1. 1. From the crowning of Solomon and death of David in 1015 B.C.
  2. 2. To the death of Ahab (north) and Jehoshaphat (south) approximately 893 B.C.
2. B. Time of composition: Since the book consists of a compilation of existing documents written by various prophets who were contemporaries of the kings and events mentioned and since the temple is spoken of as yet standing, we would conclude that it was written prior to Jerusalem's fall to Babylon in 587. The closing chapters of II Kings would have been added at a later date by some inspired hand.
3. C. Name: The name Kings is used because this and its sister volume give the history of the Kings and kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
4. D. Original form: The two books of Kings were originally one.
  1. 1. The Septuagint translators regarded them and Samuel as a history of the rise and fall of the Hebrew monarchy, and divided them into four units which they styled Books of the Kingdom.
  2. 2. Our First Kings was identified as the Third Book of the Kingdom.
5. E. Type of literature:
  1. 1. It offers an historical record of the nation from Solomon on through the schism.
  2. 2. It does not purport to be a complete history, rather it is a major outline.
    1. a. It stresses key persons, dates and events.

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1. 1. 1. b. The kingly lines and their conduct is focused upon.
    2. c. The religious history of the nation is given.
2. F. State of the text. The Hebrew manuscripts of Kings as well as Samuel and Chronicles are the most poorly preserved of any Old Testament books.
  1. 1. Observe though that no serious problem that affects any doctrine, teaching or truth is presented by this situation.
  2. 2. All such textual problems taken together only affect a small fraction of one percent of the words.
3. G. Purposes:
  1. 1. To provide a history of the nation from Solomon to its end by Babylon.
  2. 2. The book shows the causes of the establishment and the decline of the kingdom. When Israel was loyal to God, she flourished; when she departed, the kingdom declined.
  3. 3. This then reminded the nation that their welfare depended upon their faithfulness to the divine covenant.
  4. 4. The writer wished to demonstrate that the promise made to David in II Sam. 7:12-16 was fulfilled. See I Kings 11:35; 15:4; II Kings 8:19.
  5. 5. The Kings of Judah are judged according to the promise given David in II Sam. 7:12-16. The northern kings are all condemned since they followed the steps of Jeroboam who made Israel to sin.

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 139

1. 1. 6. He provides an accurate history of the division of the nation giving future generations a background of the tragedy.
III. Background of the Division of the Kingdom:
1. A. For some 300 years there had been a brooding jealousy between the tribes of Ephraim and Judah.
2. B. Ephraim had provided most of the nation's leadership until David's time.
3. C. With David's ascendency, that role of authority shifted to Judah.
4. D. Solomon's lavish programs with corresponding heavy taxation and conscription for national work projects strained the nation's patience, I Kings 12:4.
5. E. God's judgment upon the Kingdom because of sin and pride, I Kings 11:26-43.
6. F. The foolishness of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, I Kings 12:16.
IV. Relation of Kings and Chronicles:
1. A. The books of Kings give a history of both the northern and southern kingdoms.
2. B. Chronicles the history of only the southern kingdom of Judah.
3. C. Chronicles deals mainly with the religious history while Kings puts more stress on the political developments.
4. D. Many passages in Kings and Chronicles are virtually identical.
V. The Temple at Jerusalem:
1. A. First erected by Solomon in approximately 1004 and destroyed by Babylon in 587 B.C. It took seven years to complete.

140 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. B. Zerubbabel's temple built upon the return from the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Started in 537 and completed in 516 B.C. It was greatly damaged by the Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes in the Maccabean wars, 167-160 B.C.
2. C. Herod's Temple begun in 20 B.C. and completed in 64 A.D. It was destroyed by the Romans under Titus in 70 A.D.
3. D. The Mosque of Omar now stands on the ruins- of the Temple.
4. E. The fantastic cost of the temple.
  1. 1. John Davis estimated it at $4,900,000 in 1898 currency. Davis's Dictionary of the Bible.
  2. 2. The Architects' Association of Illinois estimated it at $87,000,000 in 1830. W. S. Deal, Baker's Pictorial Intro, to the Bible, p. 103.
5. F. The temple was not built as a literal house for God, but for "the Name of the Lord." Compare I Kings 5:5, 8:27. Pagans really housed their gods in their temples.
6. G. The First Book of Kings opens with the building of the temple and closes with its destruction.
VI. The Kings of Israel and Judah following Solomon in 975 B.C., according to J. R. Lumby in The Cambridge Bible far Schools and Colleges on First Kings, See Appendix A.
1. A. The Southern Kingdom had but one dynasty, the house of David; The Northern Kingdom had a total of nine different dynasties all of which perished in violence.
2. B. The Southern Kingdom had a total of 20 kings, the north had 19.

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 141

1. C. First Kings describes the disintegration of the Northern Kingdom. Second Kings records the fall of the Southern kingdom.
VII. The Prophets of the Period:
1. A. Great prophets of the Southern Kingdom were Nathan, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, and Zephaniah.
2. B. Great prophets of the North were Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, and Hosea.
3. C. With Solomon's death ended the period where God dealt with the nation and led them by His kings. This introduced the period of the prophets who lead the nation spiritually.
  1. 1. Elijah is the great prophet of First Kings.
VIII. Character Sketches on Solomon and Elijah:
1. A. Solomon.
  1. 1. Son of David and Bathsheba.
  2. 2. His name, Solomon, means "peaceful."
  3. 3. Called Jedidiah, "God's darling" by Nathan, II Sam. 12:25.
  4. 4. Designated for the throne of Israel by David before the latter's death, I Kings 1:13.
    1. a. He was not the natural heir (first born) but specially selected and approved.
  5. 5. He led Israel to its greatest heights, nationally, internationally, economically.
  6. 6. Only in Solomon's day did the kingdom reach the full extent outlined in Joshua's day, Jos. 1:4,
  7. 7. Solomon excelled in wisdom, being the wisest man of his day, I Kings. 4:29-34.
    1. a. He wrote 3,000 Proverbs.
    2. b. He composed 1,005 songs.

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1. 1. 1. c. He wrote on botany and zoology.
    2. d. We have Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and 2 Psalms (Ps. 72, 127) by Solomon in our Bibles.
  2. 8. His mistake that led to his downfall was his multiplying of wives: a total of 700 plus 300 concubines, I Kings 11:1-3.
  3. 9. His heart was turned away after other gods, I Kings 11:4-11.
2. B. Elijah:
  1. 1. The Tishbite.
  2. 2. From Gilead east of Jordan, I Kings 17:1.
  3. 3. His name means "Jehovah is my God."
  4. 4. He lived an ascetic type life.
  5. 5. He virtually single-handedly fought the invasion of Baalism introduced by Ahab and Jezebel.
  6. 6. He was spared death, being taken to heaven in a fiery chariot of angels, II Kings 2:1-12. 7. He along with Moses appeared with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, Matt. 17:1-8.
IX. Some Study Problems in First Kings:
1. A. In I Kings 6:1 the period between the Exodus and the beginning of the temple under Solomon is given as 480 years whereas it actually was 577 years. The 93 years difference is the exact length of time covered 'by the various captivities of the Judges. Thus, God did not count the years of their captivity in the national history.
2. B. Difficulties in the chronologies of the Books of Kings. Old Testament scholars have determined a number of factors in the historical records

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 143

1. of that period that vitally affect all attempts to reach a correct time chart.
  1. 1. Often the heir to the throne was crowned and his reign officially began while his father was yet on the throne.
  2. 2. There were a number of co-rule situations and the record of the reigns include the overlapping years of each king.
  3. 3. A different system of counting years of reign was used by the two kingdoms.
    1. a. Even one day at the end of a calendar year would be counted as a whole year when speaking of the years of a king's rule in the north.
    2. b. Judah used this system only for a brief period.
    3. c. The southern kingdom generally counted as years of rule only the full calendar years a king held the throne.
  4. 4. The two kingdoms began their legal calendars with different months.
    1. a. The northern kingdom began its year in Nisan or Abib, the first month of the religious year.
    2. b. The southern kingdom began its year in Tishri or Ethanim, the seventh month of the religious year.
  5. 5. Obviously this complex situation demands a flexible approach to the question of precise dates for the events of these books.
  6. 6. For further discussion consult -- Charles Pledge's Getting Acquainted With the Old Testament, Vol. 2, pp. 67-68.

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X. The Books of Kings and the Liberal Critics;
1. A. As with all the canonical books, liberal scholars attack these books as well.
  1. 1. They usually focus upon the fact that written sources are used by the author, assuming this to be evidence it is merely a compilation of uninspired materials by uninspired hands.
  2. 2. They capitalize on the chronological problems discussed above and insist that they are errors and contradictions.
  3. 3. They attribute to the writer devious motives for writing: i.e., in order to gain power for certain religious cliques in those times; namely the priests.
2. B. Hear a liberal scholar: "This complicated, and to some extent conjectural, analysis need cause us no perturbation. Scripture is no less inspired and authoritative because it is seen to have passed through many processes before it arrived at its present form. To assume, as some did in the past, that analysis of the books of Scripture into their sources and examination of the process of compiling and editing casts doubt on their inspiration is a fallacy. Behind all the long processes by which Scripture was written down we see even more clearly the guiding hand of God. He did not dictate inerrantly to one person. He used a host of people and many media to reveal Himself and His purposes to mankind." Robinson, G., Historians of Israel (1), Abingdon Press, New York, p. 34.
3. C. Again we cite the student to the works of

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 145

1. Archer and Young for a thorough rebuttal of these infidelic attacks.
XI. First Kings and the New Testament:
1. A. I Kings 2:10 Acts 2:29, 13:36.
2. B. I Kings 10:1 Lk. 11:31.
3. C. I Kings 17:22 Heb. 11:35.
4. D. I Kings 18:42 Jas. 5:17-18.
5. E. I Kings 19:10-13 Rom. 11:3-4, Jas. 4:17-18.
XII. Kings and Chronicles and the Psalms. See Appendix B.
XIII. Some Notable Things in First Kings:
1. A. Solomon's inauguration to the King's office, I Kings, 1 and 2.
2. B. The details of the building of the temple, I Kings 5 and 6.
3. C. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, I Kings 10.
  1. 1. The royal family of Ethiopia (the former Emperor Haile Selassie) claimed to trace their dynasty back to Solomon and Sheba.
4. D. The division of the Kingdom in 975 B.C., I Kings 12.
5. E. The contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, I Kings 17 and 18.
6. F. The contents of the two Books of Kings have woven throughout them references to the Books of Moses. The people whose lives are paraded before us had these books at their disposal and were thoroughly acquainted with them. It is totally wrong to assume that any of the five books of Moses were composed after these times. 1. Solomon's prayer in 8:12-21 is a good example of this use of the Law. Much of its content is based on Lev. 26 and Deut. 28.

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1. G. It first tells of the using of the horns of the altar as a place of refuge, 1:50, 2:28.
XIV A Simple Outline of First Kings:
1. A. The rise and reign of Solomon, Chapters 1-10.
2. B. Solomon's decline and fall, Chapters 11-12.
3. C. The divided Kingdom, Chapters 13-25.

OUTLINE OF FIRST KINGS:

I. The Last Days of David, 1:1-2:11.
1. A. The rebellion of Adonijah, 1:1-37.
  1. 1. The infirmity of elderly David, 1:1-4.
  2. 2. Adonijah's claim to the throne, 1:5-10.
  3. 3. Nathan and Bathsheba appeal to David, 1:11-27.
  4. 4. David orders Solomon anointed and proclaimed king, 1:28-37.
2. B. The crowning of Solomon, 1:38-53.
  1. 1. Zadok the priest anoints Solomon at Gihon, 1:30-41.
  2. 2. The usurper and his followers are caught off-guard and terrified, 1:42-48.
  3. 3. Solomon spares Adonijah's life, 1:49-53.
3. C. David's dying charge to Solomon, 2:1-11.
II. The Reign of Solomon, its splendor and glory, 2:12-11:43.
1. A. Solomon's dealings with the adversaries in his kingdom, 2:12-46.
  1. 1. The request of Adonijah for the Shunammite girl, 2:13-18.
  2. 2. Solomon orders Adonijah executed, 2:19-25.
  3. 3. Abiathar is ejected from the priesthood, 2:26-27.
    1. a. Compare I Sam. 2:31-36.

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 147

1. 1. 4. Joab is put to death at the altar, 2:28-35.
  2. 5. Shimei is killed for violation of his parole, 2:36-46.
2. B. Solomon's piety and wisdom, 3:1-28.
  1. 1. He takes Pharoah's daughter to wife, 3:1-3.
  2. 2. His request to God for wisdom to rule wisely granted, 3:4-15.
  3. 3. Solomon's wisdom in dealing with the two harlots, 3:16-28.
3. C. The administration, power and wealth of Solomon's kingdom, 4:1-34.
  1. 1. The princes and governors of his government, 4:1-19.
  2. 2. The affluence and peace of his reign, 4:20-28.
  3. 3. The extensive wisdom of the king above all others, 4:29-34.
4. D. Solomon's many building projects, 5:1-7:51.
  1. 1. The temple of God at Jerusalem, 5:1-6:38.
    1. a. His league with Hiram of Tyre to build the temple, 5:1-12.
    2. b. The preparatory work for the temple, 5:13-18.
    3. c. The dimensions of and details of the building of the temple, 6:1-10,
    4. d. God promises to accept the temple, 6:11-13.
    5. e. The most holy place described, 6:14-28.
    6. f .The ornamental work of the temple, 6:29-36.
    7. g. The work completed, 6:37-38.
  2. 2. Solomon's palace, 7:1-12.
  3. 3. The work of Hiram the Tyrian on the temple and its furnishings, 7:13-51.

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1. 1. 1. a. The brass pillars, Jachin and Boaz, 7:13-22.
    2. b. The great brass sea (laver) of the temple, 7:23-26.
    3. c. The ten bases and lavers, 7:27-39.
    4. d. A summary of Hiram's various works, 7:40-47.
    5. e. The golden vessels of the temple, 7:48-57.
2. E. The consecration of the temple, 8:1-66.
  1. 1. The ark is brought into the temple and the glory of Jehovah appears, 8:1-11.
  2. 2. Solomon's address to the assembly, 8:12-21.
  3. 3. The king's prayer of dedication, 8:22-53.
  4. 4. His blessing upon the assembly, 8:54-61.
  5. 5. The sacrifices of the dedication, 8:62-66.
3. F. God's covenant with Solomon, 9:1-9.
4. G. Solomon's power, wealth and fame, 9:10-10:29.
  1. 1. The king's gifts to Hiram, 9:10-14.
  2. 2. The work force of Solomon, 9:15-25.
  3. 3. Solomon's navy, 9:26-28.
5. H. The visit of the Queen of Sheba, 10:1-13.
6. I. Solomon's revenues, wealth and fame, 10:14-29.
7. J. The king's apostasy and death, 11:1-43.
  1. 1. Solomon's foreign wives turn his heart away from God, 11:1-8.
  2. 2. God's anger at and reproof of Solomon, 11:9-13.
  3. 3. God raises up adversaries to Solomon, 11:14-40.
    1. a. Hadad the Edomite an adversary, 11:14-22.
    2. b. Rezon the son of Eliada an adversary, 11:23-25.

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 149

1. 1. 1. c. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite, an adversary, 11:26-40.
      1. 1) Ahijah's prophecy and promise to Jeroboam, 11:29-39.
  2. 4. The king's death, 11:41-43.
III. The Division of the Kingdom, 12:1-16:34.
1. A. Rehoboam's folly and the revolt of the ten tribes, 12:1-24.
  1. 1. The delegation to Rehoboam, 12:1-15.
    1. a. Their petition was, lighten our load, 12:1-5.
    2. b. He rejected their request with threats, 12:6-15.
  2. 2. The ten tribes rebelled, making Jeroboam their king, 12:16-20.
  3. 3. Rehoboam is forbidden to war against Jeroboam by God, 12:21-24.
2. B. Jeroboam's administration in the north, 12:25-14:20.
  1. 1. Jeroboam establishes calf worship to protect his rule, 12:25-33.
  2. 2. The episode of the young prophet, 13:1-32.
    1. a. The young prophet's message of doom, 13:1-10.
    2. b. The old prophet leads him to disobey God, 13:11-19.
    3. c. God's punishment of the young prophet, 13:20-32.
  3. 3. Jeroboam persists in his evil ways, 13:33-34.
  4. 4. The prophet Abijah prophesies the doom of Jeroboam's dynasty and the kingdom, 14:1-20.
3. C. Rehoboam's reign and death, 14:21-31.
  1. 1. The invasion of Jerusalem by Shishak, of Egypt, 14:25-26.

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1. D. The administration of Abijam in Jerusalem, 15:7-8.
  1. 1. His heart was not perfect with Jehovah, 15:3.
2. E. The reign of Asa over Judah, 15:9-24.
  1. 1. He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, 15:11.
  2. 2. He made a league with Ben-Hadad, King of Syria, 15:16-22.
3. F. The rule of Nadab, son of Jeroboam in the north, 15:25-32.
  1. 1. He did that which was evil, 15:26.
  2. 2. He was assassinated by Baasha, 15:27.
4. G. The reign of Baasha, 15:33-16:7.
  1. 1. He did that which was evil, 15:14.
  2. 2. The prophetic word of doom delivered to Baasha by Jehu ben Hanani, 16:1-4.
5. H. The rule of Elah over Israel, 16:8-14.
  1. 1. He made Israel to sin, 16:13.
  2. 2. He was assassinated by Zimri, his officer, while drunk, 16:9-10.
  3. 3. All of Baasha's and Elah's heirs were killed, 16:12-13.
6. I. Zimri's one week usurpation, 16:15-20.
  1. 1. He did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, 16:19.
  2. 2. The people rejected him as king and chose Omri, 16:15-17.
  3. 3. He committed suicide by burning his house over him, 16:18.
7. J. Omri takes the throne of Israel, 16:21-28.
  1. 1. The civil war between Omri and Tibni, 16:21-22.
  2. 2. Omri founds Samaria, 16:24,
  3. 3. He did that which was evil, 16:25.

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 151

1. K. Ahab assumes the rule of the northern kingdom, 16:29-34.
  1. 1. His wickedness exceeded all the kings before him, 16:30.
  2. 2. He married Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon, 16:31.
  3. 3. He promoted Baal worship, 16:31-33.
  4. 4. In his days Hiel sought to rebuild Jericho, 16:34.
    1. a. Compare Joshua's curse, Jos. 6:26.
IV. The Ministry of Elijah against Ahab and Jezebel, 17:1-22:53.
1. A. God sends the drought upon Ahab's kingdom, 17:1-24.
  1. 1. Elijah announces the judgment to the king, 17:1-7.
    1. a. The prophet flees to Cherith and is sustained by God, 17:3-7.
  2. 2. He goes to Zarephath where he is sustained by a widow, 17:8-24.
    1. a. The widow's meal and oil are miraculously restored, 17:8-16.
    2. b. The widow's son dies and is revived by the prophet, 17:17-24.
2. B. The contest on Mt. Carmel, 18:1-46.
  1. 1. Elijah sends a promise of rain to Ahab, 18:1-16.
  2. 2. Elijah rebukes the king and issues a challenge to a prophetic confrontation, 18:17-19.
  3. 3. Elijah challenges the people to take a firm stand, 18:20-24.
  4. 4. The Baal priests fail, 18:25-29.
  5. 5. Jehovah answers Elijah by fire, 18:30-39.

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1. 1. 6. The Baal priests are slain, 18:40.
  2. 7. God sends rain in answer to Elijah's prayer, 18:41-46.
2. C. At Jezebel's threat, Elijah flees to Horeb, 19:1-14.
  1. 1. Jezebel threatens to kill God's prophet, 19:1-2.
  2. 2. He flees to Horeb, 19:3-8.
  3. 3. God reveals himself to Elijah to encourage him, 19:9-14.
  4. 4. Elijah given a two-fold mission, 19:15-18.
    1. a. Anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, 19:15.
    2. b. Anoint Elisha to be prophet in his (Elijah's) stead, 19:16-18.
  5. 5. Elisha called from plowing to be a prophet, 19:19-21.
3. D. Ahab is given victory over Syria twice, 20:1-43.
  1. 1. Benhadad's arrogant claim, 20:1-12.
  2. 2. A prophet promises victory to Ahab, 20:13-21.
  3. 3. A second attack is also defeated, 20:22-30.
  4. 4. Ahab spares the defeated Benhadad, 20:31-34.
  5. 5. A prophet rebukes Ahab and predicts his doom, 20:35-43.
4. E. Jezebel and Ahab confiscate Naboth's land after killing him, 21:1-29.
  1. 1. Naboth refuses to sell his vineyard to Ahab, 21:1-4.
  2. 2. Jezebel arranges to have innocent Naboth framed and killed, 21:5-16.

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 153

1. 1. 3. Elijah rebukes the king and announces his doom, 21:17-24.
  2. 4. Ahab is humbled, 21:25-29.
2. F. The events leading to Ahab's death, 22:1-40.
  1. 1. Ahab and Jehoshaphat form an alliance to fight Syria, 22:1-4.
  2. 2. Micaiah the prophet is imprisoned for predicting defeat and death for Ahab, 22:5-28.
  3. 3. Ahab is smitten by a random arrow and dies, 22:29-37.
  4. 4. Dogs lick Ahab's blood as Elijah had predicted, 22:38-40.
3. G. The reign of Jehoshaphat, 22:41-50.
  1. 1. He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, 22:43.
  2. 2. He made peace with the northern kingdom, 22:44.
  3. 3. He failed to establish a navy of merchant ships, 22:48.
4. H. Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, takes the reigns of Israel, 22:51-53.
  1. 1. He did that which was evil, 22:52.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. David saw in the strife between his own children the fruit of his sins against Uriah the Hittite.
2. In Solomon and the Davidic dynasty we see the faithfulness of God to his promises, Compare II Sam. 7:12-16.
3. Solomon's marriages to foreign women was the cause of his downfall. So today many Christians marry out of the family of God to their ruin. II Cor. 6:14.
4. Like Solomon, let us ask God for wisdom, Jas. 1:5.

154 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

5. Especially do elders need to pray this prayer to properly "judge thy people."
6. As wise as Solomon was, we have a greater than Solomon to rule us today, i.e., Jesus, Matt. 12:42.
7. Solomon built God a temple of wood and stone, today the saints' body is the temple of God, I Cor. 3:16, 6:19.
8. Under Solomon, Israel possessed the ultimate limits of the land promise God made to Abraham, Gen. 15:18-21. There is no evidence that the Hebrews will ever again be given this land as premillennialists say.
9. Solomon thought he could find compromise and coexistence between the gods of his foreign wives and Jehovah. He could not. He lost. Nor can we compromise with false religion.
10. And, let us not be stupid, stubborn and insolent like Rehoboam.
11. We should carefully consider the advice of the "older men" who have much experience.
12. The young prophet had too much confidence in the word of the older prophet, and he disobeyed God to his destruction. Let us never make that mistake. Acts 5:29.
13. We need 10,000 fearless preachers like mighty Elijah.
14. As God provided for Elijah and the hospitable widow, so He will see that we have our daily bread, Matt. 6:33.
15. The power of prayer is seen in Elijah's struggle against Ahab, Jas. 5:17-18.
16. Ahab and Jezebel reaped the violence they sowed, Gal. 6:7.
17. How long will ye go limping between the two? If God is God then be wholly dedicated to his service, I Kings 18:21.

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 155

18. In Ahab and Jezebel we see two misfits of humanity, a craven man and a domineering woman.
19. God always has His 7,000 faithful ones, the righteous remnant that will not bow the knee to Baal.
20. In the death of Naboth we see the evil power of false witnesses. But we are thankful that there is yet a higher court to hear and judge the matter.
21. Preachers need the conviction of Micaiah to preach the truth even if they stand alone; even if it means affliction.
22. In the books of Kings we see the first and last successors of David on the throne in Jerusalem...the glory and the shame.

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FIRST KINGS
Appendix A
Chronological Record of the Kings of Israel and Judah
The Cambridge Bible, The First Book of the Kings
Edited by J. R. Lumby, D. D.
The solid line indicates a change in dynasty

Reigning Years	JUDAH	B.C.	ISRAEL	Reigning Years
17	REHOBOAM	975	JEROBOAM	22
			Jeroboam builds Penuel
			(I Kings 12:25)
	Shishak plunders Jerusalem
	(I Kings 14:25-26)
3	ABIJAM (18th year of	957
	Jeroboam) I Kings 15:1
	II Chron. 13:1
41	ASA (20 year of	955
	Jeroboam) I Kings 15:9	954	NADAB
			(2nd year of Asa)
			(I Kings 15:25)	2
		953	Baasha	24
			(3rd year of Asa)
			(I Kings 15:28)
	War with Zerah the
	Ethiopian (II Chron. 14:9)
			War against Judah
			(II Chron. 16:1)
	Asa's alliance with
	Benhadad I
	(I Kings 15:18)	930	ELAH	2
			(26th year of Asa)
			(I Kings 16:8)

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 157

Reigning Years	JUDAH	B.C.	ISRAEL	Reigning Years
		929	ZIMRI	7
			(27th year of Asa)
			(I Kings 16:10)	days
		929	OMRI	12
			War between Omri
			and Tibni 4 years
			(I Kings 16:21)
		925	OMRI unopposed
			(31st year of Asa)
			(I Kings 16:23)
			Victories over the
			Moabites
			Omri builds Samaria
			(I Kings 16:24)
			Samaria invaded by
			the Syrians
			(I Kings 20:34)
		918	AHAB	22
			(38th year of Asa)
			(I Kings 16:20)
			Ahab marries Jezebel,
			princess of Zidon
			(I Kings 16:31)
25	JEHOSHAPHAT	914
	(4th year of Ahab)
	I Kings 22:41
			Benhadad II attacks
			Samaria twice and is
			defeated (I Kings 20:29)
			Battle of Ramoth-Gilead
			Ahab slain
			(I Kings 22:37)
	Philistines and Arabians	898	AHAZIAH (17th year	2
	tributary to Judah		of Jehoshaphat)
	(2 Chron. 17:11)		(I Kings 22:51)
			Moab regains its
			lost territory
		897	JEHORAM (18th	12
			year of Jehoshaphat
			(II Kings 3:1)

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Reigning Years	JUDAH	B.C.	ISRAEL	Reigning Years
			War against Mesha,
			king of Moab
			(II Kings 3:4-27)
8	JORAM (5th year of	893
	Jehoram) (II Kings 8:6)
	Revolt of Edom and Libnah
	(II Kings 8:22)
	Juhad ravaged by
	Philistines and Arabians
	(II Chron. 21:17)
1	AHAZIAH (12th year	885
	of Jehoram)
	(II Kings 8:25)
			Defense of Ramoth-
			Gilead (II Kings 9:14)
	Ahaziah slain by Jehu	884	Jehoram slain by Jehu
6	ATHALIAH the	884	JEHU	28
	usurper (II Kings 11:3)		(II Kings 10:36)
	The temple desecrated
	(II Chron. 24:7)
40	JOASH David's dynasty	878
	restored (7th year of Jehu)
	(II Kings 11:4, 12:1)
			Israel smitten by Syria
			(II Kings 10:32)
		856	JEHOAHAZ	17
			(23rd year of Joash)
			(II Kings 13:1)
	Hazael threatens Jerusalem
	(II Kings 12:17)
			Continued oppression
			by the Syrians
			(II Kings 13:22)
		842	JEHOASH	16
			(37th year of Joash)
			(II Kings 13:10)
29	AMAZIAH (2nd year of	841
	Jehoash) (II Kings 14:1)

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 159

Reigning Years	JUDAH	B.C.	ISRAEL	Reigning Years
			Death of Elisha
			(II Kings 13:14)
			Some territory
			recovered from Syria
			(II Kings 13:25)
	Edom smitten by Judah
	(II Kings 14:7)
	Defeat of Amaziah at Beth-
	shemesh (II Kings 14:13)
		826	JEROBOAM II	41
			(15th year of Amaziah)
			(II Kings 14:23)
52	AZARIAH	811
	(27th(?) year of Jeroboam)
	(II Kings 15:1-2)
			Jeroboam recovers
			Damascus and Hamath
			(II Kings 14:25)
		773	ZECHARIAH	1/2
			(38th year of Azariah)
			(II Kings 15:8)
		772	SHALLUM	1/12
			(39th year of Azariah)
			(II Kings 15:13)
		772	MENAHEM	10
			(39th year of Azariah)
			(II Kings 15:17)
1/4	JEHOHAZ	609
	(II Kings 23:31)
	Pharaoh-necoh carries
	Jehoahaz captive
	(II Kings 23:33)
11	JEHOIAKIM	609
	(II Kings 23:36)
	Jehoiakim tributary to
	Egypt (II Kings 23:35)
	Afterwards tributary to
	Babylon (II Kings 24:1)

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Reigning Years	JUDAH	B.C.	ISRAEL	Reigning Years
	Judah attacked by
	Chaldeans, Syrians,
	Moabites and Ammonites
1/4	JEHOIACHIN	598
	(II Kings 24:8)
	Egyptians driven back by
	the Babylonians
	(II Kings 24:7)
	Jehoiachin taken captive
	to Babylon
	(II Kings 24:12)
11	ZEDEKIAH	598
	(II Kings 24:18)
	Jerusalem besieged	589
	by Nebuchadnezzar
	(II Kings 25:1)
	Capture and destruction	587
	of Jerusalem
	Gedaliah appointed governor
	(II Kings 25:22)
	The residue of the Jews
	flee unto Egypt
	(II Kings 25:26)
	Jeohoiachin kindly treated	562
	by Evil-Merodach

FIRST KINGS -- The Road To National Ruin 161

FIRST KINGS
Appendix B
A List of Psalms That Have Their Historical
Background in Kings and Chronicles

Many Psalms are ascribed to more than one occasion by different scholars. These opinions vary greatly. This compilation is by Joseph Angus in The Bible Handbook (Revised), Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1952.

Historical Connection	References	Psalms
On Solomon being made king	1 Ch. 29:19	72
Solomon's marriage to the daughter of the king of Egypt	I Kings 3:1, 9:24	45
Building of the Temple and of Solomon's House	I Kings 6, 7:2; 2 Ch. 3, 4	127
Transfer of Ark by Solomon from the Tabernacle to the Temple	I Kings 8; 2 Ch. 5	132
Heman the Ezrahite's lament concerning his lot after the death of Solomon	2 Ch. 12	88
Defeat of Rehoboam by Shishak	I Kings 14:25, etc. 2 Ch. 12	89
Jehoshaphat's reforms	2 Ch. 19:4-11	82
Confederacy of Moabites, Ammonites and others against Jehoshaphat	2 Ch. 20:1-13	46, 47, 48, 83
Jehoshaphat's deliverance	2 Ch. 20:20-30	46, 47, 76, ? 115

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Historical Connection	References	Psalms
Invasion by the Philistines of Judah in time of Hezekiah	2 Kings 16:7-9: 2 Ch. 28:18	2
Threatened invasion by Sennacherib	2 Kings 19:8-19; 2 Ch. 32	80
Overthrow of Sennacherib before Jerusalem	2 Kings 19:20-35; 2 Ch. 32	75, ?, 76, 87
Destruction of Jerusalem	2 Kings 25; 2 Ch. 34:11-19	74, 79, 80

SECOND KINGS
The Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms

Key Verses:
17:22-23;
24:1-3.

Key Phrase:
"According to the Word of Jehovah."

Key Words:
"Man of God," used 36 times, more than in any other Bible book.

Key Concepts:
"He did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah," 17:2, used 21 times.
"He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah," 18:3.

Key Person:
Elisha.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. Author:
1. A. See information on the authorship of I Kings. Remember that originally the two were one book.
II. The Book:
1. A. Introductory material on I Kings is applicable here.
2. B. According to the Septuagint, this was the Fourth Book of the Kingdom.
3. C. Second Kings is a continuation of the history begun in Samuel and I Kings.
4. D. Time covered:
  1. 1. Second Kings covers a period of some 250 years.
  2. 2. Approximately 852-587 B.C.
  3. 3. From the death of Ahab to the Babylonian captivity of Judah.

-- 163 --

164 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. E. Date of composition: the same as I Kings, i.e., prior to 587 B.C.
2. F. Purpose of Second Kings:
  1. 1. To present a reliable history of the two kingdoms from the term of Ahab, approximately 852 B.C. to the Babylonian Captivity of Judah, 587 B.C.
  2. 2. To show the causes that led to the Divine punishment of the two kingdoms.
  3. 3. To demonstrate God's loyalty to his promise to David to establish his dynasty forever.
  4. 4. To provide a series of lessons that would benefit future generations that they might not repeat the same errors, Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 10:6.
3. G. Classification of Kings:
  1. 1. The Hebrews classed the books of Joshua through Kings as the early prophets.
  2. 2. Ruth was not included in that list.
4. H. The Chief Person of Second Kings is Elisha.
  1. 1. The first half of the book deals largely with Elisha's ministry, a period of some 50 years.
  2. 2. His story is primarily a record of his miracles, 16 in all.
5. I. Character Sketch of Elisha:
  1. 1. Born in Abel-mehelah in the upper Jordan Valley.
  2. 2. A farmer prior to his call to the prophetic office.
  3. 3. His ministry began about 850 B.C. and continued some 50 years.
  4. 4. He spent some time in apprenticeship to Elijah.

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 165

1. 1. 5. His personal manner and style is the opposite of Elijah.
  2. 6. He performed many notable miraculous deeds. Sixteen are recorded.
  3. 7. He served as advisor to his kings.
  4. 8. He was leader of the Schools of the Prophets.
  5. 9. His ministry has several points of similarity to that of Christ.
2. J. Some notable things in Second Kings:
  1. 1. Elijah's translation to heaven in the fiery chariot, 2:1-12.
  2. 2. The healing of Naaman the leper, 5:1-19.
  3. 3. The destruction of Sennacherib's army by the Lord, 19:35.
  4. 4. Hezekiah's healing and the miracle of the sun dial, 20:1-11.
  5. 5. Josiah's great moral and religious reform, 22:1-23:25.
III. About the Two Rival Kingdoms:
1. A. The northern Kingdom of Israel.
  1. 1. Often called, Jacob, Ephraim, or Samaria.
  2. 2. Its capital was Samaria.
  3. 3. Nineteen kings ruled over Israel, not one of them was righteous.
  4. 4. Nine different dynasties ruled the north. All ended violently.
  5. 5. The nation was given to idolatry, calf worship and Baalism with its attendant immorality.
  6. 6. Those people and prophets who followed Jehovah were often persecuted.
  7. 7. Samaria fell to Sargon II of Assyria in 721 B.C.

166 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 8. The government was dismantled and its people deported to Assyria.
  2. 9. Foreigners were brought in and given their land.
2. B. The southern Kingdom of Judah:
  1. 1. Often called, the house of David, Jerusalem or Israel.
  2. 2. It was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the Levites.
  3. 3. Over the years many refugees from the north took up residence in Judah.
  4. 4. Judah had nineteen kings and one queen, eight of them good.
  5. 5. The dynasty of David ruled in the south to its fall.
  6. 6. Judah worshipped Jehovah at his temple with varying loyalty.
  7. 7. Judah came under the control of Babylon in 606 B.C.
  8. 8. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ordered Jerusalem destroyed in 587 and her people deported to Babylon.
  9. 9. The land was largely unoccupied for the 70 years of captivity.
IV. Second Kings and the New Testament:
1. A. II Kings 1:10 Lk. 9:54
2. B. II Kings 4:34 Heb. 11:35
3. C. II Kings 5:14 Lk. 4:27
4. D. II Kings 24:15 Matt. 1:12; Acts 7:43
V. Some Miscellaneous Observations:
1. A. Hezekiah, the best king of Judah, gave birth to one of her worst kings, Manasseh, see 20:21- 21:18.

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 167

1. B. What seemed to have been the only known copy of the law was lost for some time during apostasy, 22:8-20.
2. C. The description "man of God" is applied to God's prophets 36 times, more than any other book,
3. D. The writer traces the course of the nation from corruption to captivity.
VI. Foreign Rulers who seriously affected the Hebrews during this period.
1. A. See Appendix A for a chronological listing of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings.
VII. Chronology of Events affecting Judah from 626 B.C. to 587 B.C.
1. A. See Appendix B.
VIII. Main Divisions of Second Kings:
1. A. The close of Elijah's ministry and his translation, Chapters 1:1-2:12.
2. B. The ministry of Elisha, Chapters 2:13-13:25.
3. C. The decline and fall of the Northern Kingdom, Chapters 14-17,
4. D. The decline and fall of the Southern Kingdom, Chapters 18-25.

OUTLINE OF SECOND KINGS:

I. The Close of Elijah's Ministry and His Translation, 1:1-2:12.
1. A. The sin and sickness of Ahaziah, 1:1-5.
2. B. Elijah's conflict with the king's messengers, 1:6-16.
3. C. The death of Ahaziah, 1:17-18.

168 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. D. Elijah is taken to heaven, 2:1-12.
  1. 1. Elijah miraculously divides the Jordan and crosses over with Elisha, 2:1-8.
  2. 2. The fiery chariot takes Elijah away, 2:9-12.
II. The Ministry of Elisha, 2:13-13:25.
1. A. Elisha assumes his office, 2:13-25.
  1. 1. Elisha divides the Jordan with Elijah's mantle and assumes his leadership, 2:13-18.
  2. 2. He heals the bad water at Jericho, 2:19-22.
  3. 3. The irreverent young men of Bethel are punished by death, 2:23-25.
2. B. Kings Jehoram and Jehoshaphat war against Moab, 3:1-27.
  1. 1. Mesha, king of Moab, rebelled against Israel, 3:1-8.
  2. 2. The Hebrew kings and their armies run short of water, 3:9-12.
  3. 3. Elisha is called and produces water by the power of God, 3:13-20.
  4. 4. In defeat, the king of Moab sacrifices his son, 3:21-27.
3. C. Notable miracle wrought by Elisha, 4:1-7:20.
  1. 1. A prophet's widow is miraculously supplied with oil, 4:1-7.
  2. 2. The "great woman" of Shunem is given a son by special blessing, 4:8-17.
  3. 3. The Shunemmite woman's son dies and is resurrected by Elisha, 4:18-37.
  4. 4. The poisoned pottage is made eatable, 4:38-41.
  5. 5. He multiplies bread and grain to feed one hundred men, 4:42-44.
  6. 6. Naaman, the Syrian leper is healed, 5:1-19.

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 169

1. 1. 7. Gehazi, Elisha's servant is smitten with leprosy for his greed, 5:20-27.
  2. 8. Elisha causes the ax-head to float on water, 6:1-7.
  3. 9. Elisha reveals the secret plans of the Syrian King, smites his army with blindness and leads them captive, 6:8-23.
  4. 10. The people of Samaria are saved from siege and famine, 6:24-7:20.
    1. a. The awful famine associated with the Syrians, 6:24-30.
    2. b. The king plans to kill Elisha for his dire plight, 6:31-7:2.
    3. c. The Syrian army is frightened by sounds of armies and flees, leaving all their supplies, 7:3-8.
    4. d. Lepers find the deserted camp and report the news, 7:9-15.
    5. e. The people eat in plenty as Elisha predicted, 7:16-20.
2. D. The great influence of Elisha, 8:1-6.
  1. 1. The Shunemmite woman's land restored because of his influence.
3. E. Elisha predicts the death of Benhadad and the succession of Hazael as king over Syria, 8:7-15.
4. F. The reigns of Jehoram of Judah and Joram of Israel, 8:16-29.
5. G. The reign of Jehu over Israel, 9:1-10:36.
  1. 1. Elisha sends a messenger to anoint Jehu king over Israel, 9:1-13.
  2. 2. Jehu kills Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah, 9:14-29.
  3. 3. He then kills and mutilates Jezebel, 9:30-37. a. As Elijah had predicted, I Kings 21:23.

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1. 1. 4. All of Ahab's heirs are smitten by Jehu, 10:1-17.
  2. 5. He takes vengeance on all the Baal worshippers and destroys the images and temple, 10:18-28.
  3. 6. The failure of Jehu and his death, 10:29-36.
2. H. The rise and fall of Athaliah, the only queen over Judah, 11:1-20.
  1. 1. The destruction of Ahaziah's children and the escape of Joash, 11:1-3.
  2. 2. Jehoiada the priest crowns young Joash. king, 11:4-12.
  3. 3. Athaliah is put to death, 11:13-16.
  4. 4. Baal worship is driven out, 11:17-20.
3. I. Joash's long reign, 11:21-12:21 (Note that the names Joash and Jehoash are used interchangeably.)
  1. 1. He orders the Lord's temple repaired, 12:1-16.
  2. 2. He pays tribute to Hazael, King of Syria, 12:17-18.
  3. 3. He is assassinated, 12:19-21.
4. J. The reigns of Jehoahaz and Joash of Israel, 13:1-5.
  1. 1. Jehoahaz rules in Samaria, 13:1-9.
  2. 2. Joash's reign and Elisha's death, 13:10-25.
    1. a. Remember that the names Joash and Jehoash are used interchangeably, being simply different ways of spelling.
    2. b. Summary of his reign, 13:10-13.
    3. c. The interview between Elisha and Joash, 13:14-19.

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 171

1. 1. 1. d. Elisha's death and the resurrecting of the corpse that touched his bones, 13:20-21.
    2. e. Joash gains three victories over Syria as Elisha predicted, 13:22-25.
III. The Decline and Fall of the Northern Kingdom, 14:1-17:41.
1. A. The reign of Amaziah in Jerusalem, 14:1-22.
  1. 1. His vengeance on his father's assassins, 14:1-7.
  2. 2. He provokes a war with Jehoash of Israel and is defeated, 14:8-14.
  3. 3. The deaths of Jehoash and Amaziah, 14:15-22.
2. B. Years of rapid decay and disintegration of the north, 14:23-15:38,
  1. 1. The reign of Jeroboam II, 14:23-29.
    1. a. The last great king of the north.
    2. b. Jonah prophesied under his rule, 14:25.
  2. 2. Azariah (Uzziah) rules in the south, 15:1-7.
    1. a. He ruled 52 years, 15:2.
    2. b. He was punished with leprosy, 15:5-7.
  3. 3. Zechariah takes the throne of Samaria, 15:8-12.
    1. a. He reigns six months.
    2. b. He was assassinated by Shallum.
  4. 4. Shallum reigns a month and is smitten by Menahem, 15:13-16.
  5. 5. Menahem's ten year administration in Samaria, 15:17-22.
    1. a. He did that which was evil, 15:18.
    2. b. King Pul of Assyria put him under heavy tribute, 15:19-20.
      1. 1) Pul is the Tiglath-pileser III of history.

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1. 1. 6. Pekahiah rules Israel two years and is assassinated by Pekah, 15:23-26.
  2. 7. Pekah leads Israel twenty years, 15:27-31.
    1. a. Tiglath-pileser takes all of Israel but Samaria, 15:29.
    2. b. Hoshea overthrows and kills Pekah, 15:30.
  3. 8. Jotham's reign over Judah, 15:32-38.
2. C. The reigns of Ahaz in Judah and Hoshea in Israel and Israel's fall to Assyria, 16:1-17:41.
  1. 1. Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria conspire against Judah, 16:1-6.
  2. 2. Ahaz requests help from Assyria, 16:7-9.
  3. 3. He brings a strange altar into the temple, 16:10-20.
  4. 4. The rule of Hoshea and the fall of Samaria, 17:1-23.
    1. a. Hoshea's rule, 17:1-2.
    2. b. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, puts Hoshea under tribute, 17:3.
    3. c. He conspires with Egypt to resist Assyria, 17:4.
    4. d. The Assyrians defeat and depopulate the land, 17:5-6.
    5. e. The reasons why God delivered Israel into Assyria's hand, 17:7-18.
    6. f. Judah was walking in the same path as Israel, 17:19-23.
  5. 5. The origin of the Samaritan peoples, 17:24-41.
    1. a. The king of Assyria sends settlers from other conquered lands, 17:24-26.
    2. b. The blending of foreign idolatry with Jehovah worship, 17:27-41,

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 173

IV. The Decline and Fall of the Southern Kingdom, 18:1-25:30.
1. A. The good reign of Hezekiah over Judah, 18:1-20:21.
  1. 1. The qualities of Hezekiah and his administration, 18:1-8.
    1. a. He destroyed the brazen serpent Moses had made, 18:4.
      1. 1) The people had made an idol of it.
  2. 2. His conflicts with the kings of Assyria who invaded his land, 18:9-37.
  3. 3. He turns to Jehovah in faith for deliverance, 19:1-19.
  4. 4. God's answer: a promise to save, 19:20-34.
  5. 5. Assyria's army is destroyed by the angel of Jehovah, 19:35-37.
  6. 6. Hezekiah's sickness and recovery, 20:1-11.
    1. a. The terminal illness, 20:1.
    2. b. His fervent prayer, 20:2-3.
    3. c. Isaiah brings God's answer, 20:4-7.
    4. d. The fantastic sign from God, the shadow on the sundial reversed, 20:8-11.
  7. 7. Hezekiah is rebuked for his poor judgment with the Babylonian embassy, 20:12-19.
  8. 8. Hezekiah's end, 20:20-21.
2. B. The evil reigns of Manasseh and Amon, 21:1-26.
  1. 1. Manasseh's corrupt regime, 21:1-18.
    1. a. He reinstituted idolatry, 21:3-7.
    2. b. He offered his son as a human sacrifice, 21:6.
    3. c. The prophecies of his and the nation's doom, 21 10-15.
    4. d. His death, 21:18.

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1. 1. 2. Amon's evil reign was cut short by his assassination, 21:19-25.
2. C. The great reformation of Josiah, 22:1-23:30.
  1. 1. The temple ordered to be repaired, 22:1-7.
  2. 2. The book of the law found and read, 22:8-15.
  3. 3. The prophecy of Huldah of Jerusalem's doom, 22:16-20.
  4. 4. The reformation begins, 23:1-27.
    1. a. The law publicly read, 23:1-2.
    2. b. The covenant is renewed, 23:3.
    3. c. All idolatry is abolished, 23:4-20.
    4. d. The passover is observed, 23:21-23.
    5. e. The results of the reform movement, 23:24-27.
  5. 5. Josiah's death at Megiddo, 23:28-30.
3. D. The death throes of the nation, 23:31-24:20.
  1. 1. Jehoahaz reigns three months, 23:31-33.
    1. a. Pharoah-necoh carries him captive to Egypt, 23:33.
  2. 2. Jehoiakim takes the throne, 23:34-24:7.
    1. a. He is also called Eliakim.
    2. b. Nebuchadnezzar defeated him and put him under tribute, 607 B.C.
    3. c. He did that which was evil, 23:37.
  3. 3. The reign of Jehoiachin, 24:8-17.
    1. a. He was also called Coniah or Jeconiah.
    2. b. He ruled only three months, 24:8.
    3. c. He did that which was evil, 24:9.
    4. d. He was carried to Babylon a captive, 24:12-13.
  4. 4. Zedekiah's administration, 24:18-20.
    1. a. Also known as Mattaniah, 24:17.
    2. b. He was a son of Josiah.
    3. c. He did that which was evil, 24:19.

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 175

1. E. The fall of Jerusalem and the captivity, 25:1-30.
  1. 1. The rebellion, siege and fall of Jerusalem,
    1. a. Zedekiah was blinded and carried to Babylon in chains, 25:7.
  2. 2. The city and temple looted and burned, 25:8-17.
  3. 3. Execution of the notable men of the city,. 25:18-21.
  4. 4. Gedaliah the governor assassinated, 25:22-26.
  5. 5. Jehoiachin given special privileges in captivity by Evil-merodach, 25:27-30.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. We need hundreds of faithful men in schools of the prophets, the schools of preaching of today.
2. What a joy heaven will afford when we can get personally acquainted with great servants of God like Elijah and Elisha.
3. Those who show disrespect to God's cause and God's teachers will pay a fearful price for their irreverence, 2:23-25.
4. In the Kings of Israel, we see how evil leaders can lead a nation into ruin and destruction.
5. When the faith-healers can work miracles like Elisha did, then they will deserve a hearing.
6. May our homes offer Christian hospitality like the Shunemite couple, 4:8-11.
7. God can still multiply our material blessings as he did by Elisha. Compare II Kings 4:42-44 and II Cor. 9:6-11.

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8. Naaman is typical of sinful man in general as he seeks. salvation from sin, II Kings 5.
9. Most people have the same problem with water baptism that Naaman had with washing in the Jordan,. II Kings 5:10.
10. Gehazi's greediness cost him his health; it has cost many others that or even their souls, II Kings 5:20-27.
11. The angels of God protected Elisha from his enemies, so they watch over the saints today, Heb. 1:13-14.
12. May God open our eyes that we may see His care and protection for us, II Kings 6:17.
13. God can disperse our enemies with "the sound of horses and chariots" and give us the victory, II Kings 6:6-7.
14. May all of God's prophets have the good influence and reputation that Elisha had, II Kings 8:1-7.
15. God in his providence can use even a violent man like Jehu to punish the wicked.
16. For a woman to take control of God's nation was usurping authority, for one to take control of the church is the same sin today, II Kings 11:1-3; I Tim. 2:12.
17. In the case of the brazen serpent we see how even good things can be prostituted to dishonorable purposes, II Kings 18:4.
18. Many today are like the Samaritans, they fear Jehovah and serve other gods, IT Kings 17:33.
19. In Hezekiah we see the value of fervent prayer for help in time of trouble.

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 177

20. How tragic that the book of God can be lost in the house of God, yet this is happening today as many "churches" have a book but have lost its meaning.
21. Many great reforms have been wrought by righteous young leaders like Josiah. Do not despise youth, I Tim. 4:12.
22. Even as Israel fell from righteousness to corruption and was destroyed, so our nation can experience the same fate.

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SECOND KINGS
Appendix A
Foreign Rulers Whose Nations Seriously
Affected the Hebrews.

	Assyrian Kings	Reign		Babylonian	Kings
A.	Assur-nasipal	B.C. 885-860	A.	Nabopolassar	B.C. 626-605
B.	Shalmaneser II	860-825		Crowned King
	The first to have con-			Nov. 23
	flict with Israel			Established
C.	Shansi-adad	825-805		independence
D.	Adad-nirari	808-783		of Babylon
E.	Shalmaneser III	783-771		Conqueror of
F.	Assur-dayan	771-753		Assyria
G.	Assur-lush	753-747	B.	Nebuchadnezzar	606-561
H.	Tiglath-pileser III	747-727		Crowned Sept. 7
	"Pul"			The great
	Carried part of			Babylonian monarch
	northern kingdom			Made Babylon
	into captivity in			mistress of
	734 B.C.			the world
I.	Shalmaneser IV	727-722		Conquered and
	Beseiged Samaria			deported Judah,
J.	Sargon II	722-705		587 B.C.
	Destroyed Samaria,		C.	Evil-Merodach	561-560
	took Israel into		D.	Neriglissar	559-556
	captivity		E.	Labash-Marduk	556
K.	Sennacherib	705-681	F.	Nabonidus	555-536
	Defeated before			The mystic
	Jerusalem by an		G.	Belshazzar, co-regent	536
	angel which smote			with his father
	his army.			He saw the hand-
L.	Esar-hadden	681-668		writing on
	Rebuilt Babylon			the wall.
M.	Assur-banipal	668-626		The kingdom
	Destroyed Thebes			defeated by
N.	Assur-etil-ilani	626-607		Medes and Persians
	The last king,
	defeated by Babylon

SECOND KINGS -- Record of Two Ruined Kingdoms 179

SECOND KINGS
Appendix B
A Chronology of the Events Affecting Judah from 626

1. Nabopolassar (father of Nebuchadnezzar) crowned King of Babylon November 23, ..... 626
2. Asshuruballit II, King of Assyria, abandoned Haran in ..... 610
3. The battle of Megiddo in which King Josiah died. ..... 609
4. Jehoahaz reigned 3 months, was carried captive to Egypt. ..... 609
5. Jehoiakim begins his reign. ..... 609
6. The battle of Carchemish (Nebuchadnezzar defeated armies of Egypt and Assyria). ..... May or June, 605
7. Nabopolassar died. ..... Aug. 16, 605
8. Nebuchadnezzar crowned King of Babylon ..... Sept. 7, 605
9. The armies of Babylon were defeated by Egypt on the Egyptian border. (This explains Jehoiakim's rebellion against Babylon) ..... 601
10. Jehoachin reigned for 3 months. ..... 597
11. Jerusalem taken by Nebuchadnezzar first on ..... Mar. 15-16, 597
12. Jehoachin was taken as a prisoner to Babylon, where he later died. ..... 597
13. Zedekiah appointed King of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. ..... 597
14. Jerusalem falls again to Babylon, to be destroyed. ..... 597

For a full discussion of this, see Gleason Archer, p. 281. Kings opens with the nation in its glory -- II Kings closes with the nation in ruins.

FIRST CHRONICLES
The Spiritual History of David's Kingdom

Key Verses:
11:3;
28:11-13.

Key Person:
David.

Key Thoughts:
The importance of the divinely prescribed temple worship, administered by the heaven ordained priesthood, led and protected by David's dynasty which God chose.

Key Institutions:
Jehovah's Temple, called the house of God 34 times.
The Levitical Priesthood.
David's dynasty.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. No name is affixed to the book.
2. B. A long-standing Jewish tradition ascribes it to Ezra, the scribe of the Restoration period.
  1. 1. This is based upon the obvious connection between the closing verses of II Chronicles and the first verse of Ezra.
  2. 2. Ezra's being a priest would explain the great emphasis on the temple and the priesthood.
  3. 3. There is a similarity of vocabulary and structure in Chronicles and Ezra.
3. C. Sources made use of by the author of Chronicles:
  1. 1. The Book of Kings of Judah and Israel,

-- 180 --

FIRST CHRONICLES -- History of David's Kingdom 181

1. 1. II Chron. 16:11; 25:26; 28:26. (Not our Book of Kings)
  2. 2. The History of Samuel the Seer, I Chron. 29:29.
  3. 3. The History of Nathan the Prophet, I Chron. 29:29.
  4. 4. The History of Gad the Seer, I Chron. 29:29.
  5. 5. The Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, II Chron. 9:29.
  6. 6. The Vision of Iddo the Seer, II Chron. 12:15.
  7. 7. The History of Jehu the son of Hanani, II Chron. 20:34.
  8. 8. The Commentary of the Book of Kings, II Chron. 24:27.
  9. 9. The History of Shemaiah the Prophet and Iddo the Seer, II Chron. 12:15.
  10. 10. The Acts of Uzziah by Isaiah the son of Amoz, II Chron. 26:22.
  11. 11. The Vision of Isaiah the Prophet, the son of Amoz, II Chron. 32:32.
  12. 12. The history of the Hozai, II Chron. 33:19.
  13. 13. By inspiration God guided the author to make use of these in recording the divine history of His people.
II. The Book:
1. A. Period of time covered: Approximately the 33 years of David's reign over all Israel, 1048-1015 B.C.
2. B. Time of Composition: At the time of the resettlement after King Cyrus' decree that the Jewish exiles in Babylon could return home, i.e., 536-450 B.C., II Chron. 36:22-23.
3. C. Name:
  1. 1. In the Hebrew Bible, Chronicles was called

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1. 1. The Words of the Days, i.e., The Diaries or Journals.
  2. 2. In the Septuagint they are distinguished as The Books of Omissions, and are considered as supplemental to Samuel and Kings.
  3. 3. Jerome in the Vulgate placed the name, Chronicles, on them.
  4. 4. A "Chronicle" is a detailed account of history in order of time.
2. D. Original form: In the early Hebrew manuscripts, our two books of Chronicles were one.
  1. 1. The authors of the Septuagint were the first to separate them.
  2. 2. Some scholars think that Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book since the last verse of Chronicles and the first of Ezra are the same.
3. E. Type of Literature: Historical record.
4. F. Place in the Hebrew canon:
  1. 1. Included in the Kethubhim or Hagiographa, The Writings.
  2. 2. These included Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and the Chronicles.
  3. 3. Chronicles were placed last in the Hebrew Bible.
5. G. Condition of the Text:
  1. 1. The available manuscripts of Chronicles are among the most poorly preserved of the Old Testament.
  2. 2. This is not to be taken as indicating that they are in terrible condition, full of errors, but it does mean that they have a larger number of scribal errors and uncertain renderings than the other books.

FIRST CHRONICLES -- History of David's Kingdom 183

1. 1. 3. Really the number is small and most of them are easily resolved.
2. H. Purposes:
  1. 1. To provide the returning exiles a fresh review of the spiritual foundations of their theocracy.
  2. 2. He reminds the readers that it was God's mercy that had brought them back.
  3. 3. To instill in the heart of the nation a deep loyalty to Jehovah and a delight in His worship.
  4. 4. He reminds the people that God's covenant was with David and his dynasty, they were God's ordained rulers and the nation's strength lay in following them.
  5. 5. The author stresses that the true glory of their nation was found in their covenant relation to God.
  6. 6. Its message is directed especially to the religious and political leaders of the nation. 7. It provides important supplemental material to the records of Samuel and Kings.
III. Character Sketch of David. See the summary about David in the introduction to First Samuel.
IV. Chronology of the Chronicles.
1. A. For a study of the chronology of David's reign, see the notes on Second Samuel.
2. B. For a chronology of the divided kingdoms, see the Appendix A of the notes on First Kings.
V. The Books on Chronicles, compared with Samuel and Kings.
1. A. First Chronicles covers the same ground as II Samuel, i.e., the reign of David.

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1. B. Second Chronicles covers the same history as the two books of Kings except that it deals only with the Southern Kingdom, omitting most references to the Northern Kingdom.
2. C. Well over half of the material in Chronicles is found in other Old Testament books, especially in Genesis, Samuel and Kings.
3. D. In Samuel and Kings we have more of the facts of History. Here we see the heavenly interpretation of these facts.
4. E. Chronicles provide an excellent commentary on the books of Samuel and Kings.
VI. Some Miscellaneous Information About Chronicles.
1. A. The genealogies: A major portion of First Chronicles is given to the genealogies of the important families of the nation, Chapters 1-9.
  1. 1. The genealogies are incomplete, but they do give the key persons in the family connections. They indicate the Divine choice of the channels through which God accomplished His purpose.
  2. 2. The purpose of these family records may have been for the proper redistribution of the land after the return from Babylonian captivity. Each family was entitled to its proper inheritance.
2. B. The author makes little mention of the kings of Israel. He is totally silent about the wars with Assyria and the deportation of the northern kingdom.
3. C. Jerome described Chronicles as the "epitome of the Old Testament."

FIRST CHRONICLES -- History of David's Kingdom, 185

1. D. The historical perspective of Chronicles is the Temple of Jehovah in the history of the nation.
  1. 1. The writer has more to say about the Temple and its ritual than of the wars of the kings.
  2. 2. The author deals more with the spiritual history of the nation than the secular.
2. E. Much prominence is given to the activities of the Lord on behalf of His people.
3. F. The justice of God's judgments is declared, 5:25-26; 6:15; 9:1.
4. G. Chronicles are among the "less read" books of the Bible. Many find them dry or uninteresting only because they have not found the keys to their study.
VII. Chronicles and the Liberal Scholars:
1. A. Few Old Testament books receive as much abuse and destructive criticism as Chronicles.
2. B. Skeptics attack the contents as exaggerated and totally unreliable. They charge the author with dishonesty, deception and self-interest.
3. C. They allege that it is full of serious mistakes and contradictions.
4. D. The liberal opinion of Oesterley and Robinson: "In applying this theory to the doings of men in the past he (the author of Chronicles, J.W.) often distorts history." " it will be clear that not much importance can be attached to the history as presented in Chronicles." "...the tendencious cause of so much that is recorded forbids one to take the history seriously. Nevertheless here and there some scraps (emp. mine, J.W.) may be gathered which are probably re-

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1. liable data..." An Introduction to the Rooks of the Old Testament, Macmillan, New York, 1934.
2. E. A conservative response by Gleason Archer, Jr.: After a lengthy discussion and refutation of these attacks, Archer sums up: "It is safe to say that all the so-called discrepancies that have been alleged are capable of resolution either by textual criticism or by contextual exegesis."
  1. 1. Again we refer the student to the masterful defense of these sacred books by Archer and Young in their Old Testament introductions.
VIII. A Summary of First Chronicles:
1. A. Summary
  1. 1. The Genealogies, Chapters 1-9.
  2. 2. The defeat and death of Saul, Chapter 10.
  3. 3. David's administration, Chapters 11-12.
  4. 4. The Ark of Jehovah brought to Jerusalem, Chapters 1317.
  5. 5. David's reign, Chapters 18-20.
  6. 6. Preparations for Jehovah's Temple, Chapters 21-29.
2. B. A Simpler Summary:
  1. 1. Genealogies from Adam to David, Chapters 1-9.
  2. 2. History of the Reign of David, Chapters 10-29.

OUTLINE OF FIRST CHRONICLES:

I. The Genealogies from Adam to David, 1:1-9:44.
1. A. The record of 'the race from Adam to Jacob, 1:1-54.
  1. 1. From Adam to Isaac and Ishmael, 1:1-28.
  2. 2. Descendants of Abraham other than Israel, 1:29-54.

FIRST CHRONICLES -- History of David's Kingdom 187

1. B. The Descendants of Jacob's twelve sons, 2:1-8:40.
  1. 1. The family of Judah, 2:1-4:23.
  2. 2. The offspring of Simeon, 4:24-43.
  3. 3. The children of Reuben, 5:1-10.
  4. 4. The posterity of Gad, 5:11-17.
  5. 5. Notable people and events connected with the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half of Manasseh, 5:18-26.
  6. 6. The tribe of Levi, 6:1-81.
  7. 7. The sons of Issachar, 7:1-5.
  8. 8. The genealogy of Benjamin, 7:6-12.
  9. 9. Naphtali's descendants, 7:13.
  10. 10. The offspring of Manasseh, 7:14-19.
  11. 11. The children of Ephraim, 7:20-29.
  12. 12. Asher's posterity, 7:30-40.
  13. 13. Benjamin's tribe continued, 8:1-40.
2. C. The record of those who returned from Babylonian captivity, 9:1-44.
  1. 1. Inhabitants of Jerusalem, 9:1-9.
  2. 2. Priests who returned, 9:10-13.
  3. 3. Levites who came back, 9:14-34.
  4. 4. Those whose home was in Gibeon, 9:35-44.
II. The Defeat and Death of King Saul, 10:1-14.
1. A. Saul destroys himself when the Philistines defeat his army, 10:1-6.
2. B. The humiliation of Saul and his sons by the Philistines, 10:7-12.
3. C. The reason for Saul's fall, 10:13-14.
III. The Administration of King David, 11:1-12:40.
1. A. David anointed king over all Israel, 11:1-3.
2. B. The capture and occupation of Jerusalem, 11:4-9.

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1. C. The list of "mighty men" of war who served David, 11:10-47.
2. D. The record of those who were loyal to David in Saul's persecution, 12:1-22.
3. E. Those who supported the reign of David in Hebron, 12:23-40.
IV. The Ark of Jehovah Brought to Jerusalem, 13:1-17:27.
1. A. The abortive attempt to move the ark, 13:1-14.
  1. 1. David's plan to bring the ark to Jerusalem, 13:1-8.
  2. 2. Uzza smitten for touching the ark, 13:9-12.
  3. 3. The ark left at the house of Obed-edom, 13:13-14.
2. B. David's growing family and his victories, 14:1-17.
  1. 1. His wives and sons, 14:1-7.
  2. 2. His two victories over the armies of Philistia, 14:8-17.
3. C. The successful removal of the ark to Jerusalem and the attendant celebrations, 15:1-16:43.
  1. 1. David instructs that only the Levites may carry the ark, 15:1-15.
  2. 2. The arrangement of the Levites who led in the holy procession, 15:16-24.
  3. 3. The procession described, 15:25-29.
    1. a. David's wife Michal despises her husband's enthusiastic participation, 15:29.
  4. 4. The dedication and thanksgiving service in the city, 16:1-6.
  5. 5. David's psalm of thanksgiving for the occasion, 16:7-36.
  6. 6. Those whom David appointed to minister before the ark, 16:37-43.

FIRST CHRONICLES -- History of David's Kingdom 189

1. D. David's desire and plan to build a permanent house for God, 17:1-27.
  1. 1. The king announces his plan to Nathan the prophet, 17:1-3.
  2. 2. Gad's message in response to David's plan, 17:4-15.
    1. a. God forbids David to build the temple, 17:4-10a.
    2. b. God promises to build David a house (dynasty), 17:10b-11.
    3. c. He promises that David's son will build the temple David dreamed of, 17:12-15.
  3. 3. David's humble prayer of gratitude unto God for this blessing, 17:16-27.
V. Events of David's Reign, 18:1-22:1.
1. A. David's victories over neighboring kings, 18:1-17.
2. B. His victories over the Ammonites and the Syrians, 19:1-19.
  1. 1. David's ambassadors of peace are abused by the Ammonites, 19:1-5.
  2. 2. Joab leads David's armies to victory over the Ammonites and their allies, 19:6-19.
3. C. Further victories over Ammon and the Philistines, 20:1-8.
4. D. David's fateful attempt to number his people, 21:1-22:1.
  1. 1. The census, 21:1-6.
  2. 2. God's displeasure at David's deed, 21:7-8.
  3. 3. The choices of punishment offered to David, 21:9-13.
  4. 4. The Lord smites the population with pestilence, 21:14-16.

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1. 1. 5. Jerusalem is spared by David's prayer and sacrifice at Oman's threshing floor, 21:17-22:1.
VI. Preparation for Jehovah's Temple, 22:2-29:25.
1. A. David's preparation for building the temple, 22:2-5.
2. B. The king's charge to Solomon and the princes of Israel, 22:6-19.
3. C. The Levites, their classes, families and duties, 23:1-26:28.
  1. 1. The Levites and their families, 23:1-24.
  2. 2. The duties of the Levites, 23:25-32.
  3. 3. The courses of the sons of Aaron, the priests, 24:1-19.
  4. 4. Other sons of Levi, 24:20-31.
  5. 5. The courses of the temple musicians, 25:1-31.
  6. 6. The door-keepers and treasurers, 26:1-28.
4. D. The officers and judges of the nation, 26:29-32.
5. E. The military captains by their courses, 27:1-15.
6. F. The princes over the tribes of Israel, 27:16-24.
7. G. The stewards over the king's treasures, 27:25-31.
8. H. Special helpers to the king, 27:32-34.
9. I. David's address to Solomon and his princes regarding his temple plans, 28:1-29:22a.
  1. 1. David rehearses his desire to build a temple for God, 28:1-8.
  2. 2. He gives Solomon the pattern for the temple and charges him to serve God faithfully, 28:9-21.
  3. 3. The gifts of David and the princes for the temple, 29:1-9.

FIRST CHRONICLES -- History of David's Kingdom 191

1. 1. 4. His prayer of dedication for the temple gifts, 29:10-19.
  2. 5. They worship and sacrifice, 29:20-22a.
2. J. The ascension of Solomon to the throne, 29:22b-25.

CONCLUSION:

A summary of David's reign and death, 29:26-30.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. Be grateful that today it matters not who your fleshly ancestors were for all can be Abraham's seed by faith, Gal. 3:29.
2. Like David was concerned for the Ark of God, so we should always be concerned for the church of our Lord and its welfare.
3. In ignoring the simple rule about the Levites carrying the ark on their shoulders, David cost Uzza his life. We today must also honor even the most insignificant laws of God. I Chron. 13:7-10; 15:2.
4. How tragic to worship a god that an enemy can destroy with fire, I Chron. 14:12.
5. The irreligious and worldly minded can never appreciate the joy and happiness of the saints, I Chron. 15:29.
6. God says, "Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm." I Chron. 16:22. Let us respect and honor God's prophets (preachers) today.
7. May we ever worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness, I Chron. 16:29 (see margin).
8. Our Lord Jesus today sits on David's throne in glory and we share in the blessings of his reign, I Chron. 17:10-15; Acts 2:29-37.

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9. Beware for Satan will use every effort to lead you into sin as he did David, I Chron. 21:1.
10. No man sins without affecting those around him adversely, I Chron. 21:7, 14.
11. If we must be chastened, let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies, I Chron. 21:13.
12. David would not offer to God that which cost him nothing, I Chron. 21:22-25.
13. As God gave David a pattern for the temple, so He has given unto us a pattern for the church, i.e., the New Testament, I Chron. 28:19; II Tim. 1:13.
14. The people offered willingly to finance the building of God's temple, so should Christians bring their freewill offerings to God today, I Chron. 29:9; II Cor. 9:7.
15. Of God's own do we give back unto Him, for we are only stewards of His possessions, I Chron. 29:14.
16. Let us never forget that our days on the earth are as a shadow and that there is no abiding, I Chron. 29:15.
17. Every parent should pray for his children as did David for Solomon, "give...my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies and thy statutes and to do all these things..." I Chron. 29:19.

SECOND CHRONICLES
The Book of Religious Revivals

Key Verses:
20:20.

Key Phrase:
30:18b-19. "Seek God" used some 20 times.

Key Characters:
Solomon,
Jehoshaphat,
Hezekiah and
Josiah.

Key Thought:
When the people neglected God's house and the divine worship associated with it, degeneracy resulted. When they returned to God's house, it brought renewal and strength.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Since the two books of Chronicles originally were one, the information given in First Chronicles will suffice for both books.
II. The Book:
1. A. Period of Time Covered: Approximately 428 years from the ascension of Solomon in 1015 B.C. to the Babylonian captivity in 587.
2. B. The historical viewpoint of Chronicles: Keep in mind that the history of God's people is viewed from the ecclesiastical, not the political, standpoint; from the Divine and not the human viewpoint.
3. C. Second Chronicles covers the same ground as

-- 193 --

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1. I and II Kings, confining its information to the kings of Judah.
2. D. Religious Revivals: The last three-fourths of this book is built around the religious revivals brought about by good kings of the nation: Asa in Chapter 15; Jehoshaphat in Chapter 20; Joash in Chapters 23 and 24; Hezekiah in Chapters 29-31; and Josiah in Chapter 35.
3. E. A sad story: The book begins with the splendor and glory of Solomon's reign and ends with the disaster of the Babylonian captivity.
4. F. The building of the temple of God is an important event in the book. Remember that it is estimated to have cost several millions of today's dollars.
5. G. For more information about the book see the notes on First Chronicles.
III. Character Sketch of Solomon.
1. A. See the notes on First Kings for a sketch of King Solomon's life.
IV. Some Interesting Things in Second Chronicles.
1. A. Solomon built his Egyptian wife a home outside of Jerusalem because he felt it inappropriate that a pagan dwell in the holy city, 8:11.
2. B. King Jeroboam I not only worshipped the golden calves but also he-goats or devils, 11:15.
3. C. A bad king, Abijah, did call upon the Lord at one point of his reign, 13:4-18.
4. D. Good King Asa neglected to call upon God in his illness, 16:12.
5. E. Queen Athaliah and her sons desecrated and damaged God's temple, 24:7.

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1. F. Good King Jehoshaphat did two things that displeased God: 18:1; 19:1-2; 20:35.
2. G. Here we are told why King Uzziah was smitten with leprosy, 26:16-21.
3. H. It tells us of King Manasseh's captivity and restoration to his throne, 33:11-13.
V. The Ten Tribes, were they lost?
1. A. The kings of Assyria defeated the Northern Kingdom and deported its citizens in two major steps:
  1. 1. In 734 B.C. Tiglath-pileser carried a portion into captivity.
  2. 2. In 721 Sargon II destroyed Samaria and carried many of its citizens into exile.
2. B. Not all of the people of the north were taken out of the land.
  1. 1. It seems that a sizeable remnant was left in their homeland.
    1. a. The Assyrian records state that 27,290 captives were taken when Samaria fell. D. Winton Thomas, Documents from Old Testament Times, New York, Harper and Row, 1961, p. 60.
    2. b. King Hezekiah sent messengers to the regions of the Northern Kingdom inviting those left in the land to come worship Jehovah at Jerusalem, II Chron. 30:1, 5-6.
    3. c. They travelled from the far south to the far north with their invitation, meeting with a mixed response, 30:10-12.

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1. 1. 1. d. A multitude from the ten tribes did come to worship, 30:18. They renounced their idolatry, 31:1.
    2. e. Even in Rehoboam's day many from the north gravitated to the south to live, II Chron. 11:16.
2. C. Those who were taken into Assyrian captivity soon came under control of the Babylonian kings when Nineveh fell in 712 B.C. Babylon in turn fell to Persia and King Cyrus allowed all the Hebrews who so desired to return home. This would include those of both the north and south, II Chron. 36:23, Ezra 1:2-3.
3. D. Occasional mention is made of individuals of the northern tribes after the restoration.
  1. 1. Anna was of the tribe of Asher, Lk. 2:36.
  2. 2. II Chron. 9:13, Children of Ephraim and Manasseh.
  3. 3. Matt. 10:5, 6. The lost sheep of the house of Israel were in the land of Palestine in Jesus' day.
4. E. The government of the Northern Kingdom was destroyed, never to be restored again, but the remnant of the tribes was absorbed by the kingdom of Judah and following the return of the kingdom of Judah from Babylon there was but one government for all the people.
5. F. The term "ten lost tribes" is a misnomer that has caused much confusion and should be discarded.
VI. A Summary of Second Chronicles:
1. A. The reign of King Solomon, Chapters 1-9.
2. B. The History of the Southern Kingdom to its fall, Chapters 10-36.

SECOND CHRONICLES -- Religious Revivals 197

OUTLINE OF SECOND CHRONICLES:

I. The Reign of King Solomon, 1:1-9:31.
1. A. Solomon established in his kingdom, 1:1-17.
  1. 1. The celebration at Gibeon, 1:1-6.
  2. 2. The Lord appears to Solomon in a vision and grants his request for wisdom, 1:7-12. 3. A summary of the prosperity of his reign, 1:13-17.
2. B. Solomon's determination and plan to build Jehovah's temple, 2:1-18.
  1. 1. The covenant with Huram (Hiram) King of Tyre is renewed to provide the stone and timber and the skilled workers, 2:1-14.
  2. 2. The supplies and workers are requisitioned, 2:15-18.
3. C. The Construction of the Temple, 3:1-5:2.
  1. 1. The date and place of building, 3:1-2.
  2. 2. The dimensions and materials of the temple, 3:3-17.
  3. 3. The brazen altar and the lavers, candlesticks and tables, 4:1-22.
  4. 4. The building completed, 5:1-2.
4. D. The Ark of Jehovah brought into the sanctuary and the glory of Jehovah filled the house, 5:3-14.
  1. 1. The assembly and procession, 5:3-13a.
  2. 2. The glory of the Lord appeared, 5:13b-14.
5. E. Solomon's Address to the people and prayer of dedication, 6:1-42.
  1. 1. His address to the worshippers, 6:1-11.
  2. 2. His prayer of dedication for the temple, 6:12-42.
6. F. The heavenly acceptance of the temple and offering, 7:1-3.

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1. G. The great feast of dedication, 7:4-11.
2. H. God appears to Solomon and delivers a message of blessing and warning, 7:12-22.
3. I. A sketch of Solomon's royal achievements, 8:1-18.
4. J. The Queen of Sheba seeks Solomon's wisdom, 9:1-12.
5. K. The revenue and splendor of the King's administration, 9:13-28.
6. L. The death of Solomon, 9:29-31.
II. A History of the Division of the Monarchy, 10:1-19.
1. A. Rehoboam takes the throne of Israel, 10:1-2.
2. B. The people request relief from their heavy burdens, 10:3-5.
3. C. Rehoboam listens to foolish advice and rejects. their plea, 10:6-11.
4. D. The ten tribes secede, 10:12-19.
III. The History of the Kings of Judah from Rehoboam to the Babylonian Captivity, 11:1-36:21.
1. A. Rehoboam's wicked reign, 11:1-12:16.
  1. 1. God forbids Rehoboam to make war on Jeroboam and the breakaway state, 11:1-4.
  2. 2. Rehoboam's military preparations, 11:5-12.
  3. 3. The priests and Levites driven out by Jeroboam flee to Rehoboam, 11:13-17.
  4. 4. Rehoboam's family, 11:18-23.
  5. 5. His apostasy and punishment at the hands. of Shishak, king of Egypt, 12:1-12.
  6. 6. A summary of his reign and death, 12:13-16.
2. B. The rule of Abijah (also called Abijam), 13:1-22.
  1. 1. Abijah's war with King Jeroboam and Israel, 13:1-19.

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1. 1. 1. a. Abijah's remonstrance and exhortation to Jeroboam and his troops, 13:4-12.
  2. 2. A summary of Abijah's reign, 13:20-22.
2. C. The Administration of good King Asa, 14:1-16:14.
  1. 1. The righteous acts of Asa, 14:1-8.
  2. 2. His victory over Zerah the Ethiopian, 14:9-15.
  3. 3. The exhortation of Azariah the prophet, 15:1-7.
  4. 4. Asa's religious reform in Judah, 15:8-19.
  5. 5. His war with Baasha, king of Israel, 16:1-6.
  6. 6. Hanani rebukes King Asa and is imprisoned for it, 16:7-11.
  7. 7. Asa's sickness and death, 16:12-14.
3. D. The reform under King Jehoshaphat, 17:1-20:37.
  1. 1. Jehoshaphat takes the throne of Judah, 17:1-5.
  2. 2. The revival of religion under Jehoshaphat, 17:6-9.
  3. 3. The political, economic and military power of the king, 17:10-19.
  4. 4. Jehoshaphat's sinful alliance with Ahab of Israel, 18:1-19:3.
    1. a. The purpose of the alliance, war on Syria, 18:1-3.
    2. b. False prophets seek to please the kings, 18:4-11.
    3. c. Micaiah's true prophecy of their defeat and his imprisonment, 18:12-27.
    4. d. Their defeat at Ramoth-gilead and Ahab's death, 18:28-34.

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1. 1. 1. e. The prophet Jehu rebukes the king for the alliance, 19:1-3.
  2. 5. Jehoshaphat's further efforts at reformation, 19:4-11.
  3. 6. Moab invades Judah and is smitten by God, 20:1-30.
    1. a. The invasion, 20:1-2.
    2. b. The king calls upon Jehovah for deliverance, 20:3-13.
    3. c. The Lord's answer through Jahaziel the Levite, 20:14-19.
    4. d. The armies of Moab are destroyed, 20:20-25.
    5. e. The troops of Judah return to Jerusalem in triumph, 20:26-30.
  4. 7. A summary of Jehoshaphat's administration, 20:31-34.
  5. 8. His unsuccessful maritime venture, 20:35-37.
    1. a. Compare I Kings 22:48, i.e., ships like those that go to Tarshish.
    2. b. Note that Eliezer the prophet announced God's displeasure of this commercial alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel.
2. E. The reign of King Jehoram, 21:1-20.
  1. 1. A summary of his violence and evil, 21:1-7.
  2. 2. Revolts among his tributaries, 21:8-11.
  3. 3. The message of doom sent to Jehoram by Elijah the prophet, 21:12-15.
  4. 4. Philistines and Arabians sack Jerusalem, 21:16-17.
  5. 5. Jehoram's loathsome disease and death, 21:18-20.
3. F. The regime of Ahaziah (also called Jehoahaz, comp. 21:17), 22:1-9.

SECOND CHRONICLES -- Religious Revivals 201

1. 1. 1. His mother was Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel, 22:2.
    1. a. He did that which was evil, 22:4.
  2. 2. His alliance with King Jehoram of Israel and his death by Jehu, 22:8-9.
2. G. The usurpation of Athaliah over Judah, 22:10-23:21.
  1. 1. The coup by which Athaliah gained the throne, 22:10-12.
    1. a. All the royal heirs were killed but Joash, son of Ahaziah, 22:11.
    2. b. She was very wicked.
  2. 2. The strategy of Jehoiada the priest to place Joash on the throne, 23:1-11.
  3. 3. Athaliah taken and executed, 23:12-15.
  4. 4. Jehoiada renews the covenant between the people, the house of David and God, 23:16-21.
3. H. The reign of Joash (also called Jehoash, II Kings 12:1), 24:1-27.
  1. 1. A summary of his rule, 24:1-3.
    1. a. He did that which was right for part of his rule, 24:2.
  2. 2. Funds are raised and the temple is repaired, 24:4-14.
  3. 3. The death of Jehoiada, the righteous priest, 24:15-16.
  4. 4. The apostasy of the princes and the murder of Zechariah the priest, 24:17-22.
  5. 5. Jehovah delivers Judah and Jerusalem into the hand of the Syrians, 24:23-24.
  6. 6. The assassination of Joash by his servants, 24:25-27.

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1. I. The accession of Amaziah over the nation, 25:1-28.
  1. 1. A summary of his career, 25:1-4.
    1. a. He did that which was right but not with a perfect heart, 25:2.
  2. 2. His successful war against Edom, 25:5-14.
  3. 3. His foolish act of keeping and worshipping Edom's gods, 25:15-16.
  4. 4. Joash, King of Israel, defeats Amaziah in battle and sacks Jerusalem and the temple, 25:17-25.
  5. 5. The death of Amaziah by assassins, 25:26-28.
2. J. King Uzziah's long rule (also called Azariah, II Kings 14:21), 26:1-23.
  1. 1. A summary of his reign, 26:1-5.
    1. a. For a while he did that which was right, 26:4-5.
  2. 2. His success in military and economic matters, 26:6-15.
  3. 3. Because he dared to enter the temple sanctuary, God smote him with leprosy, 26:16-21.
  4. 4. Uzziah's death, 26:22-23.
3. K. Jotham becomes king over Judah, 27:1-9.
  1. 1. A summary of his rule, 27:1-6.
    1. a. He did that which was right, 27:2.
  2. 2. His death, 27:7-9.
4. L. The administration of Ahaz, 28:1-27.
  1. 1. A summary of his evil deeds, 28:1-4.
  2. 2. His disastrous defeat at the hands of Israel and the Syrians, 28:5-8.
  3. 3. Oded the prophet intercedes for the captives and saves them, 28:9-15.

SECOND CHRONICLES -- Religious Revivals 203

1. 1. 4. Further military setbacks by the Edomites, Philistines and Assyrians, 28:16-21.
  2. 5. His degeneration into idolatry, 28:22-25.
  3. 6. Ahaz' death, 28:26-27.
2. M. The reign of King Hezekiah and his reform, 29:1-32:33.
  1. 1. A summary of his rule, 29:1-2.
    1. a. He did that which was right, 29:2.
  2. 2. The great revival under Hezekiah, 29:3-31:21.
    1. a. His speech of exhortation to the priests and Levites, 29:3-11.
    2. b. The priesthood and temple are purified, 29:12-19.
    3. c. The temple worship set in order and restored, 29:20-36.
    4. d. The great passover celebration which Hezekiah sponsored, 30:1-27.
    5. e. The people destroy the idols throughout the land, 31:1.
    6. f. Further reforms concerning the support of the priesthood, repairs to the temple, and the priests, 31:2-21.
  3. 3. The invasion of Judah by King Sennacherib of Assyria, 32:1-23.
    1. a. Hezekiah's preparation to meet the invader, 32:1-8.
    2. b. The Assyrians seek to intimidate the people of Jerusalem, 32:9-19.
    3. c. God destroys the Assyrian army in answer to Hezekiah's prayer, 32:20-23.
  4. 4. Hezekiah's illness and recovery, 32:24-26.
  5. 5. His great wealth and the Babylonian embassy, 32:27-31.
  6. 6. The death of Hezekiah, 32:32-33.

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1. N. Manasseh's rule over Judah, 33:1-20.
  1. 1. A summary of his reign, 33:1-10.
    1. a. He did that which was evil, 33:2.
  2. 2. His captivity, conversion and restoration, 33:11-13.
  3. 3. Manasseh's closing years and death, 33:14-20.
2. O. The reign of Amon, 33:21-25.
  1. 1. He did that which was evil, 33:21-23.
  2. 2. His murder, 33:24-25.
3. P. King Josiah's restoration, 34:1-35:27.
  1. 1. A summary of his rule, 34:1-2.
    1. a. He did that which was right, 34:2.
  2. 2. He purged Judah and Jerusalem of idolatry, 34:3-7.
  3. 3. He ordered the temple of Jehovah repaired, 34:8.13.
  4. 4. The law of Moses discovered in the temple and read, 34:14-21.
  5. 5. The message of Huldah the prophetess, 34:22-28.
  6. 6. Josiah renews the covenant with Jehovah, 34:29-33.
  7. 7. The nation observes the passover, 35:1-19.
  8. 8. Josiah wars against Necho, king of Egypt, and is killed, 35:20-27.
4. Q. The brief reign of Jehoahaz (also called Joahaz and Shallum), 36:1-4.
  1. 1. Necho, king of Egypt; deposed him and took him to Egypt, 36:4.
5. R. The rule of Jehoiakim (also called Eliakim), 36:5-8.
  1. 1. He did that which was evil, 36:5.
  2. 2. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took him captive, 36:6.

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1. S. The accession of King Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah and Coniah), 36:9-10.
  1. 1. He did that which was evil, 36:9.
  2. 2. He was taken prisoner to Babylon, 36:10.
2. T. The rule of Zedekiah (also called Mattaniah), 36:11-21.
  1. 1. A summary of his evil administration, 36:11-14.
  2. 2. The fall of Jerusalem and the deportation to Babylon, 36:15-21.
    1. a. The reason for this awful judgment, 36:15-16.
    2. b. The details of the fall, 36:17-21.
      1. 1) The purpose of the captivity, 36:21.
IV. The Decree of King Cyrus of Persia to free the captives and rebuild the temple, 36:22-23.

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, II Chron. 1:9-10; Jas. 1:5.
2. The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, II Chron. 2:6; Acts 7:48.
3. In building the temple, Solomon had a divinely given pattern to go by. In building the Lord's church we have a divine pattern in the New Testament.
4. In Solomon's day, Jerusalem in Palestine was his chosen city, today the church of Christ is his heavenly Jerusalem, Heb. 12:22.
5. God faithfully kept His promises to David and will keep His promises to us today.
6. There is no man that sinneth not, II Chron. 6:36; Rom, 3:23.

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7. If God's people will humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, God will hear their prayer and forgive their sins, II Chron. 7:14.
8. Sheba had only heard the half of Solomon's greatness, behold a greater than Solomon is our Lord, II Chron. 9:6; Matt. 12:42.
9. Rehoboam was not the last young fool in a seat of power.
10. "Fight ye not against Jehovah...for ye shall not prosper." II Chron. 13:12.
11. May we all be as those good kings who did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah.
12. "Jehovah is with you while ye are with him...", II Chron. 15:2.
13. "The eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth...", II Chron. 16:9. In this we see God's omniscience and omnipresence.
14. We need public leaders who would encourage the public reading of the word of God as did Jehoshaphat.
15. Jehoshaphat did wrong in making alliances with wicked men and so do we, II Chron. 20:35-37; II Cor. 6:14.
16. For Athaliah to take the helm of the nation was wrong and it is wrong for women to seek control of churches today, I Tim. 2:12.
17. Too many try to serve God "without a perfect heart." II Chron. 25:2.
18. Uzziah was punished for ignoring God's laws regarding worship, many more will be punished for the same wrong, II Chron. 26:16-21.

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19. A remnant of the ten tribes was joined unto the house of David and continued until Messiah came, II Chron. 39:1-12.
20. God can give a nation victory or defeat without the use of modern armaments, 32:20-22.
21. Give us 10,000 young men who seek the Lord in their teens like Josiah and we will change the world for good, II Chron. 34:3.
22. How strange that the word of God can be lost in His temple but it is evident all about us today, II Chron. 34:14.
23. Nothing will reform and purify a people like the reading and study of God's word, 34:29-32.
24. When the people mock and despise God's messengers, they leave God no recourse but judgment, 36:15-16.
25. What God predicted by His prophets came true, not a word of it failed, 36:21.
26. God breaks down sinful nations, but He also raises up those who repent, 36:22-23.
27. Nations are judged in time, individuals will be judged in eternity.
28. Think how much poorer we would be if we did not have the Chronicles to tell us about God's work with His chosen people.

EZRA
The Story of the Restoration and
Reorganization of the Hebrew Theocracy

Key Verses:
Ezra 7:6, 10.

Key Expression:
"Word of the Lord;" this or its equivalent is used at least nine times.

Key Characters:
Zerubbabel, the first governor of the Restoration; Ezra, the priest-scribe, who led the nation in a spiritual reformation.

Key Concept:
The reconstruction of the Hebrew theocracy upon the geographical and spiritual foundations of the past.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. Author:
1. A. Ezra the scribe and priest.
2. B. About the man Ezra:
  1. 1. He was a Levitical priest, 7:1-5.
    1. a. He was a great grandson of Hilkiah the high priest in Josiah's day, 7:1.
    2. b. His father was Seraiah.
  2. 2. He was a scribe, that is, a student, interpreter and teacher of God's Law, 7:6.
  3. 3. His name means "help."
  4. 4. He was born and raised among the exiles in Babylon, 7:6.
  5. 5. He was held in high esteem by the Persian court.

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1. 1. 6. Ezra was a man of deep devotion: humble, prayerful, full of faith in God and zeal for His cause, In him was mingled patriotism and religious zeal. He was a powerful leader, yet unselfish and truly kind to all men. He was a notable teacher and organizer. As a sacred historian and religious leader he ranks next to Moses among the Hebrews.
  2. 7. He was a zealous student of the Holy Scriptures, 7:10.
  3. 8. He established a grand plan for teaching all of Israel God's Law, Neh. 8:1-8.
  4. 9. Many Bible scholars credit Ezra with the writing of the two books of Chronicles and Psalms 119.
  5. 10. He is thought to be the originator of the Jewish Synagogue worship.
  6. 11. Jewish tradition says he with others determined the sacred canon of the Old Testament Scriptures.
  7. 12. Also, he is given credit for establishing the great synagogue or Sanhedrin court of Jerusalem.
  8. 13. His contemporaries: Haggai and Zechariah the prophets; Nehemiah the governor.
II. About the Book:
1. A. Named after its author and one of its principal characters.
2. B. Date: It seems to have been written about 440 B.C.
3. C. Type of Literature: A historical sketch with a biographical report of Ezra's work.
  1. 1. The text reflects a very polished skill in the use of the Hebrew language.

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1. D. Period of History covered: Together, Ezra and Nehemiah cover approximately 80 years of Hebrew history from 538-457 B.C. They tell the story of the restoration of the Hebrew people from the Babylonian exile; the repopulation of their land and the rebuilding of the religious and political life.
2. E. Purposes:
  1. 1. It was written to provide an ongoing history of the kingdom of Judah from the end of the exile to the reorganization of the nation on its home soil.
  2. 2. It gives an account of the Restoration from the priestly point of view.
  3. 3. It shows that as God had delivered His people from their external foes, He also delivered them from foes within the land and even within the nation itself. It thus stresses His. Divine Providence.
  4. 4. He seeks to impress upon the Hebrews that their Restoration to their homeland was an act of God's grace and not that which they had merited.
  5. 5. He traces the history of the opposition of the rebuilding of the temple.
3. F. The major message of the book: The place and power of the Word of God in the religious, social and civil life of the nation.
4. G. Original form:
  1. 1. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Ezra and Nehemiah were considered one book.
  2. 2. Some have thought that they and the two books of Chronicles were one because the

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1. 1. last two verses of II Chronicles and the first three of Ezra are identical.
  2. 3. The Septuagint called these (Ezra and Nehemiah) II Esdras, allowing the apocryphal Esdras to stand first.
  3. 4. The Vulgate divided Ezra and Nehemiah calling them First and Second Ezra.
2. H. The text: Part of the text of Ezra is written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew, notably 4:8-16:18 and 7:12-26.
III. Chronological Information for the Restoration Period.
1. A. 538 B.C., the Persians conquered Babylon and became rulers of the fertile crescent.
2. B. 537, 49,897 Hebrews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon under the leadership of Zerubbabel,
3. C. 537, in the seventh month the altar is built and sacrifices are offered.
4. D. 536, work on the temple is begun and stopped.
5. E. 520, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah stir the people to renew the work on the temple.
6. F. 516, the temple is completed and dedicated.
7. G. 479, Esther the Jewess becomes Queen of Persia by marrying King Ahasuerus.
8. H. 458-457, Ezra goes up from Babylon to Jerusalem with 1,750 males.
9. I. 445-444, Nehemiah goes up to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city and brings about a reform. in the social and religious life of the nation.
10. J. 432, Nehemiah makes a second visit to Jerusalem.
11. K. Additional facts relating to the chronology of Ezra.

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1. 1. 1. Between chapters 6 and 7, a period of some 60 years of uneventful history elapse.
  2. 2. Thus Ezra's history along with Nehemiah's. covers two major periods of Jewish history.
    1. a. The twenty years from 537-517 (the first year of Cyrus -- the sixth year of Darius) when the Hebrews under Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple.
    2. b. The twenty-five years from 458-433 when Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest rebuilt the walls of the city and reformed the religious, social and moral life of the people.
IV. Interesting Facts about the Book of Ezra.
1. A. Jeremiah had predicted the return of the nation to the homeland after 70 years of exile, Jer. 29:10.
2. B. Jews: From the time of the Restoration onward the Hebrews were called Jews because most of them were of the tribe of Judah.
3. C. Zerubbabel the governor of the returning exiles was descended from Jehoachin (also called Jeconiah and Coniah) the last king of David's dynasty before the exile.
4. D. The Artaxerxes, king of Persia, of 7:1 is Artaxerxes Longimanus of history who was ruling in 458-457 when Ezra went up to Jerusalem.
5. E. Ezra views the return from the religious standpoint, Nehemiah from the civil. Ezra tells of the rebuilding of the temple, Nehemiah tells. about the rebuilding of the city.

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OUTLINE OF EZRA:

I. The return of the exiles under Zerubbabel, 1:1-2:70.
1. A. The proclamation of King Cyrus allowing the Hebrews to go home, 1:1-4.
2. B. The preparation for the return, 1:5-11.
  1. 1. Some were stirred by the Lord to go home, 1:5.
  2. 2. Those who stayed behind strengthened them financially, 1:6.
  3. 3. Syprus returned the temple utensils to the pilgrims, 1:7-11.
3. C. The roster of those who returned, 2:1-70.
  1. 1. The children of Israel by families, 2:1-35.
  2. 2. The priests, some 4,000 returned, 2:36-39.
  3. 3. The Levites and their assistants, 2:40-44.
    1. a. It is interesting to note that only 74 Levites are noted, 2:40.
  4. 4. Solomon's servants, possibly descendants of the old Canaanite tribes who had been absorbed but kept distinct as to genealogy, 2:55-58.
  5. 5. Israelites and priests whose family records were lost, 2:59-63.
  6. 6. The total number of returnees and their beasts, 2:64-67.
    1. a. 49,897 in all, 2:64-65.
  7. 7. The gift they made for the reconstruction of the house of God, 2:68-70.
II. The Restoration of the Worship of God and the Rebuilding of His Temple, 3:1-6:22.
1. A. The re-erection of the altar and the resumption of sacrifice, 3:1-6.

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1. 1. 1. Joshua and Zerubbabel lead in rebuilding of the altar of God, 3:1-3.
  2. 2. The feast of tabernacles is kept. 3:4.
  3. 3. The daily sacrifices are resumed, 3:5-6.
2. B. Work is begun on the temple building, 3:7-13.
  1. 1. Arrangements are made for the building materials and laborers, 3:7.
  2. 2. The Levites were appointed to oversee the construction, 3:8-9.
  3. 3. A religious celebration was observed when the foundation was laid, 3:10-13.
3. C. Opposition of enemies successfully blocks the work on the temple, 4:1-24.
  1. 1. The Samaritan enemies first seek to join the Hebrews in building but are rejected by Zerubbabel and Joshua, 4:1-3.
  2. 2. They then succeed in securing a legal injunction from the Persian government halting construction, 4:4-24.
    1. a. They harass them by hiring legal counsellors to press false charges against them, 4:4-6.
      1. 1) For a period of 14 years -- from the last five years of Cyrus till the second year of Darius.
    2. b. A sample of the type of harassment used: A letter of accusation to King Artaxerxes charging the Jews with conspiracy to rebellion, 4:7-16.
    3. c. The king ordered all building activities to cease, 4:17-24.
4. D. Under the leadership of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the work on the temple is renewed, 5:1-17.

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1. 1. 1. The Jews resume building after being instructed by God's prophets, 5:1-2.
  2. 2. Immediately the Persian governor challenges their right to build, 5:3-5.
  3. 3. The letter of inquiry the governor Tattenai sent to King Darius, 5:6-17.
2. E. Darius, king of Persia, finds the lost decree of his predecessor Cyrus and proceeds to give aid and comfort to the Jews in the project, 6:1-15.
  1. 1. Darius orders a search for the missing document, 6:1.
  2. 2. The document is found and its specifications are given, 6:2-5.
  3. 3. The letter Darius wrote in answer to Tattenai authorizing not only their work, but ordering assistance from the state's treasuries, 6:6-10.
  4. 4. The threat of punishment is given to all who dare to obstruct this work, 6:11-12.
  5. 5. Tattenai obeys the court order and the work prospers, 6:13-14.
  6. 6. The temple is finally completed in 516 B.C., 6:15.
3. F. The dedication of the new temple and the attendant celebrations, 6:16-22.
  1. 1. The temple is dedicated in accordance with Moses' Law, 6:16-18.
  2. 2. The people observe the passover, 6:19-22.
III. Ezra Leads a Group Back to Jerusalem, 7:1-10:44.
1. A. Ezra is introduced as a leader of the migration, 7:1-10.
  1. 1. His family record, 7:1-6a.
  2. 2. His spiritual qualifications, 7:6b.

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1. 1. 3. A summary of his mission, 7:7-10.
    1. a. His group was composed primarily of priests, Levites and other temple workers, 7:7.
    2. b. The time of his trip: leaving April 1(?) and arriving on approximately the 1st of August.
    3. c. His purpose, to teach Israel the statutes and ordinances of Jehovah, 7:10.
2. B. The letter which King Artaxerxes sent by Ezra authorizing his mission, 7:11-26.
3. C. Ezra blesses God for the king's generous assistance, 7:27-28.
4. D. A record of the exiles who returned with Ezra, 8:1-14.
5. E. A preliminary counsel is held before the departure, 8:15-30.
  1. 1. The place of meeting, by the river at Ahava, 8:15a.
  2. 2. A problem is uncovered, no Levites are in the group, 8:15b.
  3. 3. A delegation is sent to recruit Levites, 8:16-17.
  4. 4. They were successful in gaining 258 Levites and helpers, 8:18-20.
  5. 5. They fast, requesting God's protection for their trip, 8:21-23.
  6. 6. The funds for the temple are placed in the hands of honorable men for safe-keeping, 8:24-30.
6. F. A sketch of their trip and arrival at Jerusalem, 8:31-36.
  1. 1. The journey was a safe one, 8:31.
  2. 2. The gifts were safely delivered to the priests. in Jerusalem, 8:32-34.

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1. 1. 3. Sacrifices of thanksgiving were offered, 8:35.
  2. 4. They delivered the king's commission to his officers there, 8:36.
2. G. Ezra's reaction to the conditions he finds at Jerusalem, 9:1-15.
  1. 1. He discovers that even some of the priests and Levites had married the heathen women and adopted their ways, 9:1-2.
  2. 2. Ezra is shocked and publicly mourns for the nation, 9:3-4.
  3. 3. His fervent prayer of intercession for the people, 9:5-15.
3. H. Ezra succeeds in winning repentance and reformation by the people, 10:1-17.
  1. 1. The example of Ezra's sorrow causes the people to realize their wrong doing, 10:1-4.
  2. 2. The proclamation for a national convocation to resolve the matter, 10:5-8.
  3. 3. The assembly and its results, 10:9-17.
    1. a. The Lord chastened the people with "great rain," which encouraged them to hear God's word, 10:9.
    2. b. Ezra's charge and instructions about the foreign wives, 10:10-11.
    3. c. The people agree but request time and help in making the adjustment, 10:12-14.
    4. d. Opposition was minimal, 10:15.
    5. e. The job is completed under Ezra's supervision, 10:16-17.
4. I. A list of those Hebrews who had sinned in taking foreign wives, 10:18-44.

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LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. The Most High rules in the kingdoms of men today even as in Cyrus' day, 1:1-2.
2. God brings to pass the predictions He has uttered through His prophets, Jer. 29:10.
3. Though the 49,897 returning exiles was a discouragingly small number, it was the righteous remnant that God was watching over through which to fulfill His promises.
4. The people gave willingly to the rebuilding of the temple, so will God's people give today, 2:68; II Cor. 9:7.
5. As did Zerubbabel and Joshua, God's people should refuse to associate and cooperate with the enemies of God's cause, 4:2-3.
6. When we do God's work and take a strong stand against error, we can expect them to try to weaken our hands, 4:4; II Tim. 3:12.
7. God's eye was upon Israel to help them, so today it is upon His children, 5:5; I Pet. 3:12.
8. What joy the Hebrews experienced in the dedication of their temple, and how similar should be our joy in serving God today, 6:16.
9. We need thousands of men like Ezra who are ready scribes in the law of Moses, 7:6.
10. Ezra provides the example for all who would teach God's word, (1) to seek the law, (2) to do it, (3) then. to teach it, 7:10.
11. Let us remember to thank God when He directs the affairs of the nations to favor His children, 7:27-28.
12. Ezra actively recruited more ministers for the house of God, so should we seek gospel workers today, 8:17.

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13. It created grave problems when God's people married the people of the world, Many a Christian's life and testimony is ruined by such marriages today, 9:1-2; II Cor. 6:14-16.
14. The sins of the Hebrews in marrying unlawful mates worked a hardship not only on them but on their wives and children, 10:44. When people today contract unlawful marriages (with unscripturally divorced mates) great hardships will come to all involved.
15. The fact that putting away the unlawful wives worked great hardships did not change God's will in the matter and the necessity to obey His will.

NEHEMIAH
The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem

Key Verses:
2:17;
6:3.

Key Words:
Prayer and Work.

Key Thought:
It takes prayer, hard work and perseverance to succeed in God's work.

Key Character:
Nehemiah, governor of Jerusalem.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Nehemiah.
  1. 1. He writes much of the book in the first person as he relates the events of his administration.
  2. 2. Parts of Chapters 8-10 may have been taken from the public records of the nation.
2. B. This autobiography of Nehemiah was later incorporated as a part of Ezra's book.
3. C. The composition and use of the language reflects an author that was not so highly polished as a writer.
4. D. About the author:
  1. 1. His name means, "Jehovah comforts."
  2. 2. He was the son of Hacaliah of Judah.
  3. 3. He held a high office in the Persian court before his appointment as civil governor of Judea.
    1. a. He was cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes I, called Longimanus, who was the step-son

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NEHEMIAH -- The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem, 221

1. 1. 1. of Queen Esther. He reigned from 465-425 B.C.
  2. 4. Nehemiah is a noble example of patriotism, courage, prayer and hard work. He feared God and no man. He respected God's word and sought His approval in all things. He was an humble man of energetic, forceful action.
  3. 5. His contemporaries were Ezra and Malachi. II. The Book:
2. A. In the ancient Hebrew scrolls, Ezra and Nehemiah were one.
  1. 1. Some have argued that the two books of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah were all one unit.
3. B. The time of composition: It was likely written following the second administration of Nehemiah, sometime after 430 B.C.
4. C. Name: The book is named after its principal character and author, Nehemiah.
5. D. Type of literature: An historical record built around the work of Nehemiah, as recorded by him (autobiographical).
6. E. Purposes:
  1. 1. To set forth a true historical account of one of Israel's greatest events, the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the exile and restoration.
  2. 2. It shows that in addition to repairing the city walls the moral and spiritual life of the nation needed repairing.
  3. 3. It provided a permanent reminder to the Hebrews that they were a separate people and that God expected them to abstain from marriage to the heathen.

222 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 4. It taught the Hebrews the importance of cooperation and sticking together whether to resist an enemy or to accomplish a big job.
  2. 5. It shows the important place of prayer in the leadership of a nation.
2. F. The period of history covered. His two administrations cover approximately 26 years from 445/444 to 418 B.C.
  1. 1. His first tenure as governor lasted some 12 years, 5:14.
  2. 2. He then returned to Babylon, 13:6.
  3. 3. Later he returned to Jerusalem and continued his reforms in 433-432 B.C.
  4. 4. A period of 12 years elapsed between Ezra's arrival at Jerusalem and Nehemiah's first arrival.
3. G. Nehemiah is the last historical book of the Old Testament and thus it is the final chapter of inspired history until the New Testament opens.
4. H. The structure of Nehemiah:
  1. 1. The record of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls, Chapters 1-7.
  2. 2. The status of religion under Nehemiah's administration, Chapters 8-10.
  3. 3. The enlargement of Jerusalem's population, Chapters 11:1-12:36.
  4. 4. The dedication of Jerusalem's walls and the attendant religious reforms, Chapters 12:27-13:31.
5. I. The theme of the book is the story of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah's leadership and his spiritual and moral reforms.

NEHEMIAH -- The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem 223

OUTLINE OF NEHEMIAH:

I. Introduction to the author, 1:1-2:8.
1. A. The author identified, 1:1a.
2. B. His location and date, 1:1b.
3. C. His burden, the desolation and reproach of Jerusalem, 1:2-3.
4. D. His grief and prayer for the children of Israel, 1:4-11.
5. E. Nehemiah receives permission from the king of Persia to go and see that the walls are rebuilt, 5:1-8.
  1. 1. His position as cup-bearer to the king, 2:1.
  2. 2. The king inquires as to the cause of his sadness, 2:2.
  3. 3. He lays his case before the king and seeks permission to go to Jerusalem, 2:3-5.
  4. 4. The king grants his permission to all of Nehemiah's requests, 2:6-8.
II. How they were able to Rebuild the walls, 2:9-6:19.
1. A. He delivers his letters to the Persian governor over Judea, 2:9.
2. B. He introduces the men who would prove to be his chief adversaries, 2:10.
3. C. His arrival at Jerusalem and the conditions he found, 2:11-16.
4. D. His challenge to the men of Jerusalem to rise up and build, 2:17-20.
  1. 1. He reminds them of their pitiful plight, 2:17.
  2. 2. He informs them of God's blessing and the king's permission which he had, 2:18.
  3. 3. The immediate response of the adversaries, 2:19.
  4. 4. The confidence of Nehemiah's faith that God would sustain them, 2:20.

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1. E. A record of the building project with details of who did which jobs, 3:1-32.
  1. 1. The high priest and his brethren rebuilt the sheep gate, 3:1-2.
  2. 2. The sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate, 3:3-5.
    1. a. The nobles of Tekoa refused to work for the Lord, 3:5.
  3. 3. Joiada repaired the old gate, 3:6-12.
    1. a. Men of Gibeon and Mizpah came and helped though they lived in another district, 3:7.
    2. b. The goldsmiths worked, 3:8.
    3. c. Hananiah, a perfumer, aided, 3:8.
    4. d. Rephaiah, mayor of part of Jerusalem, assisted, 3:9.
    5. e. Shallum, also a mayor, and even his daughters, worked, 3:12.
  4. 4. Hanun built the valley gate, 3:13.
  5. 5. Malchijah, district ruler, built the dung gate, 3:14.
  6. 6. Shallun, a district ruler, built the fountain gate, 3:15.
  7. 7. Levites and priests did their share, 3:16-27.
  8. 8. Priests did the work above the horse gate, 3:28-30.
  9. 9. Goldsmiths and merchants did their part, 3:31-32.
  10. (Notice that he is stressing that everyone had a part to do and did it, both high and low, rich and poor, and the few who did not help were shamed.)
2. F. The opposition of the enemies and how the Jews met and overcame it, 4:1-23.

NEHEMIAH -- The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem 225

1. 1. 1. The chagrin of the Samaritans, 4:1-3. a. Notice they mocked and ridiculed their work.
  2. 2. Nehemiah's prayer of imprecation, 4:4-5.
  3. 3. The first stage of the walls is finished, 4:6.
  4. 4. The heathen neighbors conspire to attack the city, 4:7-8.
  5. 5. Defense measures are employed that the work might continue, 4:9-23.
    1. a. Prayer and watchfulness were first, 4:9.
    2. b. Weak points in the wall were reinforced with armed guards, 4:10-13.
    3. c. Nehemiah spoke to boost their morale, 4:14.
    4. d. Half the workers guarded while half worked, 4:15-18.
    5. e. An alarm system was employed to warn of attack and rally the men, 4:19-20.
    6. f. All workers stayed in the city around the clock, 4:21-23.
2. G. Internal difficulties threaten to disrupt the project, 5:1 19.
  1. 1. The poor workers had been abused by wealthy Jews who had taken mortgages on their lands, loaned them money at usury and taken their children for unpaid debts, 5:1-5.
  2. 2. Nehemiah rebukes the wealthy for this injustice and appeals for a cessation of this evil practice, 5:6-11.
  3. 3. They agree to his request and take a solemn oath to honor their word, 5:12-13.
  4. 4. Nehemiah records for posterity the fact that he never took so much as a loaf of bread

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1. 1. from the people, rather that he fed many of them freely from his own table, 5:14-19.
2. H. The walls are completed in spite of great opposition, 6:1-19.
  1. 1. The invitation to negotiate a compromise with the Samaritans is rejected, 6:1-4.
  2. 2. An open letter is circulated by the enemy charging Nehemiah with treason, 6:5-9.
  3. 3. A spy by the name of Shemaiah was found in the city, 6:10-13.
  4. 4. False prophets were speaking against the work, 6:14.
  5. 5. The wall was finished after 52 days, 6:15-16.
  6. 6. There were many among the Jewish nobles who were loyal to Tobiah the enemy, 6:17-19.
III. The Spiritual Rededication of the City and the People unto God, 7:1-10:39.
1. A. Nehemiah gives the oversight of the city unto Hanani and Hananiah, 7:1-4.
2. B. A census is made of the people, also their family record is checked, 7:5-7a.
  1. 1. God instructed Nehemiah to take the census, 7:5-7a.
  2. 2. The number of the common Israelites, 7:7b-38.
  3. 3. The number of the priests, 7:39-42.
  4. 4. The number of the Levites, 7:43-45.
  5. 5. The number of the Nethinim, 7:46-56.
  6. 6. The number of the children of Solomon's servants, 7:57-60.
  7. 7. The number of those whose proof of ancestry was lost, 7:61-65.
  8. 8. The number assembled and the gifts they gave, 7:66-73a.

NEHEMIAH -- The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem 227

1. C. The citizens all gather to hear a public reading of God's law, 7:73b-8:12.
  1. 1. Ezra the priest read the scriptures, 7:73b-8:5.
  2. 2. He blest the people and they worshipped, 8:6.
  3. 3. The priests and Levites helped the people to understand the law, 8:7-8.
  4. 4. Nehemiah and Ezra declare the day to be for feasting and joy, 8:9-12.
2. D. The Feast of Tabernacles is observed, 8:13-18.
  1. 1. They learn of the feast from the reading of the Word, 8:13-15.
  2. 2. They all proceed to keep the ordinance, 8:16-18.
    1. a. Notice that the Feast of Tabernacles had not been kept since Joshua's day, 8:17.
3. E. The day of national repentance, prayer and renewal, 9:1-38.
  1. 1. They again read, confess and worship, 9:1-4.
  2. 2. The Levites rehearse the history of God's dealings with the nation and call for His continued help, 9:5-38.
    1. a. They praise Jehovah as the creator and preserver of the universe and their father Abraham, 9:5-8.
    2. b. They recall the exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Law to Moses, 9:9-15.
    3. c. They shamefully remember the failures of Israel in the wilderness, 9:16-21.
    4. d. They speak of how God gave their fathers victory over the heathen and possession of Canaan, 9:22-25.
    5. e. They reminisce about the tragic period of the judges and God's mercy, 9:26-31.

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1. 1. 1. f. They freely confess the sins of themselves and their fathers and entreat God's mercy, 9:32-38.
2. F. They renew the covenant between them and God, 10:1-39.
  1. 1. Those who signed the document, 10:1-27.
  2. 2. The pledges that were made, 10:28-39.
    1. a. They would not intermarry with the heathen, 10:28-30.
    2. b. They would honor the Sabbath day and Sabbath year, 10:31.
    3. c. They would support the priesthood and the temple with their taxes, tithes and offerings, 10:32-39.
IV. The Resettlement of City of Jerusalem and the Dedication of its Walls, 11:1-13:3.
1. A. The plan to increase the population of Jerusalem implemented, 11:1-12:26.
  1. 1. The Plan: one of ten families would move into the city, 11:1-2.
  2. 2. A record of those who dwelt in Jerusalem, 11:3-24.
    1. a. The chiefs of the province, 11:3-6.
    2. b. The sons of Benjamin, 11:7-9.
    3. c. The priests, 11:10-14.
    4. d. The Levites, 11:15-18.
    5. e. The porters, 11:19-21.
    6. f. The overseers of the Levites and the civil overseer for the Persians, 11:22-24.
2. B. A record of those who dwelt in the villages, 11:25-36.
3. C. A record of the priests and Levites who served in different periods, 12:1-26.

NEHEMIAH -- The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem 229

1. D. The dedication of the walls of Jerusalem and the events of celebration, 12:27-13:3.
  1. 1. The Levites were brought to provide the music of celebration, 12:27-30.
  2. 2. The princes led a parade around the walls, 12:31-39.
  3. 3. Great sacrifices were offered with all the people rejoicing, 12:40-43.
  4. 4. Special arrangements for the priests and, Levites were made, 12:44-47.
  5. 5. The law was read and all foreigners were separated from Israel, 13:1-3.
V. Nehemiah's Second Visit to Jerusalem and Final Reform, 13:4-31.
1. A. Eliashib the priest and Tobiah are thrown out of the temple chambers, 13:4-9.
  1. 1. The abuses Eliashib had engaged in, 13:4-5.
  2. 2. A note about Nehemiah's trip back to Babylon thus explaining how this problem had developed, 13:6.
  3. 3. The strong action of Nehemiah, 13:7-9.
2. B. He corrects the failure of the people to support the Levites, 13:10-14.
3. C. He succeeds in stopping the buying and selling on the Sabbath day, 13:15-22.
4. D. He again dealt with the problem of marriage to foreigners, 13:23-30.
  1. 1. He rebuked those who had sinned in entering such marriages, 13:23-27.
  2. 2. He drove one of the priests out of the temple who had married San-ballat's daughter, 13:28-29.
  3. 3. He thus cleansed the priesthood and appointed them their jobs, 13:30-31.

230 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. We need Christians concerned enough for God's kingdom to weep when it is broken and reproached, 1:4.
2. Our nation needs godly souls to confess the sins of the nation unto God, 1:6.
3. God's providence provided Nehemiah an opportunity for service, so it will be provided for us, 2:8; Matt.
4. In every generation God's people need to rise up and build the walls of Zion, 2:18.
5. Opposition to God's word can always be expected.
6. Ridicule and insult are powerful tools of Satan in attacking the saints, 4:1-6.
7. Unbelievers have no part in the kingdom of God and its work, 2:20.
8. There is work for every man and woman on the walls of Zion.
9. Even today God's workers must be prepared to fight if the kingdom is attacked, 4:17-18.
10. We must never take advantage of a brother because of his weakness or poverty.
11. We must resist the invitation to compromise with the enemy, 6:2.
12. Even God's finest men will suffer slander and abuse at the hands of wicked men.
13. A revival will come to a group of people only when the word of God is taught and accepted.
14. We need men who can make people understand the word of God, 8:7.
15. It does a people good to review what God has done for them.

NEHEMIAH -- The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem 231

16. Apostasy is never more than one generation away.
17. Those who corrupt and defile the temple of God should be cast out, 13:4-9; II Thess. 3:6.
18. Let us train our children so they will not speak the language of Ashdod, 13:24.

ESTHER
The Queen of Persia

Key Verse:
4:4.

Key Thought:
The reality of Divine Providence.

Key Characters:
Esther, a Jewish orphan girl who became Queen of Persia.
Mordecai, Esther's older cousin who raised her.
Ahasuerus, King of Persia.
Haman, a chief minister in the king's court and bitter enemy of the Jews.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:

I. The Author:
1. A. Unknown. The text itself gives no indication of the author or date.
2. B. Jewish tradition is divided, some attribute it to the men of the Great Synagogue. Josephus ascribes it to Mordecai.
3. C. Augustine thought Ezra wrote it.
4. D. It was likely written by some Jew of the dispersion, living in Persia during the last half of the fifth century B.C.
5. E. Some think that the style suggests it might have been copied in part from the Persian court documents.
II. The Book:
1. A. Name: The book bears the name of its heroine and principal character.

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ESTHER -- The Queen of Persia 233

1. B. Time of composition: It was likely written soon after the events described in the last half of the fifth century B.C. (450-400).
2. C. Type of Literature: A historical chronicle built around the life of Esther.
3. D. The book's place in the Hebrew canon:
  1. 1. It was grouped with the five books of the Megilloth, called the Kethubhim, The Writings. (Also called the Hagiographa or Holy Things.)
  2. 2. Ancient Jews loved the book and ranked it second to the Pentateuch.
  3. 3. The Jewish rabbi Maimonides (d. 1204) said that when Messiah comes the other books of the Old Testament may pass away, but the Torah and Esther will abide forever.
  4. 4. At the same time, some Jewish and Christian scholars disputed Esther's right to a place in the canon up until the fourth century A.D. Even Martin Luther questioned it. Their points of objection were:
    1. a. God is nowhere mentioned in the book.
    2. b. No other Old Testament verses are cited or referred to.
    3. c. Esther is not quoted or mentioned in the New Testament.
    4. d. There is no religious terminology in the book except a reference to fasting.
4. E. The value of the book:
  1. 1. It gives a valuable picture of court life under the Persian kings.

234 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 2. It provides an insight into conditions that the Hebrews of the Dispersion were faced with.
  2. 3. It provides us with an historical background for the origin of the Jewish festival of Purim.
2. F. The story of the book: It tells how God saved the Jewish nation from extermination at the hands of an enemy by the placing of Esther, a Jewish girl, in the role of Queen of the great Persian Empire.
3. G. The events of the book are in chronological order.
4. H. Purposes:
  1. 1. To give a true historical record of the rise to the queen's throne by Esther, and the events associated with the nation's deliverance from Haman's death decree.
  2. 2. To explain the origin of the national holiday of the Jews, the Feast of Purim.
  3. 3. To show the great providential protection of Jehovah toward his people.
5. I. Some unique facts about the book:
  1. 1. It is one of only two Bible books devoted to the life of a woman.
  2. 2. The events of the book cycle around three feasts.
  3. 3. The name of God is not mentioned, yet no book of scripture shows more of God's providential working. Neither does it mention prayer, praise or worship.
    1. a. Matthew Henry writes, "If the name of God is not here, His finger is."
  4. 4. The Jewish people still keep the Feast of Purim that dates from this event. It is ob-

ESTHER -- The Queen of Persia 235

1. 1. served on the 14-15th day of Mar which corresponds to our February and March.
  2. 5. The Persian gallows were not for hanging by the neck as we know, but for impaling (like a cross). The victim was disemboweled and left to die in that manner.
  3. 6. The book of Esther is read by Jews in the synagogues on the Feast of Purim each year.
2. J. Esther and the Septuagint: Some uninspired author sought to help make the book of Esther more religious in its contents. His efforts are seen in the Septuagint version of Esther which is much longer: 270 verses compared to our 163 from the Hebrew text. This addition can be seen in the apocryphal book entitled, The Rest of Esther."
III. Characters of the book:
1. A. Esther:
  1. 1. Her name in Persian means Venus or Star of the East; in Hebrew it is Hadassah which means the myrtle tree, a lovely flowering shrub of Palestine.
  2. 2. She was a Jewish orphan girl who was raised by her older cousin Mordecai.
  3. 3. She was beautiful, modest, obedient, humble, winsome, courageous, and loyal.
  4. 4. She became queen of Persia when the former queen Vashti was removed.
  5. 5. Her husband king was Ahasuerus, the Xerxes of history.
  6. 6. She reigned as queen for approximately a period of 13 years, 479 B.C. to 466. Persia was the most powerful kingdom in the world at that time.

236 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 7. She no doubt lived on into the reign of Artaxerxes I, Longinamus, her step-son who ruled in the days of Nehemiah who rebuilt Jerusalem.
  2. 8. Had there been no Esther the Jews might have been exterminated, Jerusalem might never have been rebuilt, Jesus might never have been born.
2. B. Ahasuerus, king of Persia.
  1. 1. He is known in secular history as Xerxes.
  2. 2. He ruled Persia from 485 to 465 B.C.
  3. 3. His kingdom covered over one half of the civilized world of that day from India to Ethiopia.
  4. 4. Shushan was his winter palace.
  5. 5. The ruins of Xerxes' palace were excavated by Loftus and Dieulafay in the 19th century.
  6. 6. His great feast was held in 483-482 in preparation for his attack on Greece.
    1. a. His army for that war numbered 5 million men, yet the Greeks defeated them,
    2. b. In this war occurred the famous battles of Thermopylae and Salamis in 480 B.C.
    3. c. The history of Herodotus gives a great deal of important information about Xerxes and his reign.
  7. 7. He was a cruel man. He put to death the engineers who built his bridge across the Hellespont when a storm destroyed it.
  8. 8. He died in 465 B.C.
IV. A Chronology of the events of this period:
1. A. 538 B.C., the Persians defeat the Babylonians and take control of the empire.

ESTHER -- The Queen of Persia 237

1. B. 537, the first Jews returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel.
2. C. 516, the temple is rebuilt and dedicated under the leadership of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
3. D. 479, Esther becomes Queen of Persia.
4. E. 473, the Jews are saved from extermination by Esther.
5. F. 457, Ezra leads a group of priests and Levites from Babylon to Jerusalem.
6. G. 445-444, Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.
IV. Esther and the Liberals.
1. A. Liberal scholars dispute the historical reality of the events of Esther, usually styling it a romance or novel. They deny its ancient date and charge that it is full of mistakes. Of course, they deny its inspiration.
2. B. The radical liberal De Witte wrote, Esther "consists of a long string of historical difficulties and improbabilities, and contains a number of errors in regard to Persian customs."
3. C. In a similar vein the liberal Cornill wrote, "The Christian expositor of the Old Testament would prefer to pass over the Book of Esther altogether, and at any rate does not care to occupy himself with it more than is absolutely necessary; for, valuable as the book is to us as a document for the history of religion, in receiving it into the collection of the sacred writings the framers of the canon committed a serious blunder. All the worst and most unpleasing fea-

238 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. tures of Judaism are here displayed without disguise..." Introduction, p. 257.
2. D. As a matter of fact the alleged historical difficulties and improbabilities disappear upon a careful unprejudiced examination. For a thorough refutation of these impudent charges see Gleason Archer's and Edward Young's volumes previously cited.
V. The Structure of the Book:
1. A. The feast of Ahasuerus, and its sequel, Chapters 1-2.
2. B. The feasts of Esther, the events leading up to and following, Chapters 3-7.
3. C. The feast of Purim instituted and its sequel, Chapters 8-10.

OUTLINE OF ESTHER:

I. The Feast of Ahasuerus and the Deposing of Queen Vashti, 1:1-22.
1. A. The sixth month's feast of Ahasuerus for his nobles, 1:1-4.
  1. 1. Remember this feast was held in preparation for his attack upon Greece.
2. B. The seven day's feast for all the citizens in Shushan, 1:5-8.
3. C. Queen Vashti is called from her feast to display her beauty but refuses, 1:9-12.
4. D. The king and his advisors elect to depose Vashti from the royal court for her refusal, 1:13-22.
II. Esther is Chosen to be Queen, 2:1-23.
1. A. The order is given to recruit candidates for the new queen, 2:1-4.

ESTHER -- The Queen of Persia, 239

1. B. Mordecai and Esther are introduced, 2:5-7.
2. C. Esther is enrolled as a candidate for the king's wife, 2:8-11.
3. D. The method of preparation and presentation of the virgins, 2:12-15.
4. E. Esther is selected to be queen and crowned, 2:16-18.
5. F. Mordecai saves the king from assassination by Bigthan and Teresh, 2:19-23.
III. Haman's Conspiracy to Destroy Mordecai and the Jews, 3:1-15.
1. A. Haman is promoted by the king and honored, 3:1-2a.
2. B. Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, 3:2b-4.
3. C. Haman is stirred to seek the destruction not only of Mordecai but his whole race, 3:5-6.
4. D. Haman secures the king's permission to carry his plot through, 3:7-15.
  1. 1. He first selects the day and month for the slaughter by casting lots, 3:7.
  2. 2. He approaches the king with a twofold plan, 3:8-9.
    1. a. He maligns and falsely accuses the Jews, 3:8.
    2. b. He offers a huge gift to the king for the favor, 3:9.
  3. 3. The king thoughtlessly grants the request, 3:10-11.
  4. 4. The decree is published throughout the kingdom, 3:12-15.
IV. Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help Block the Death Decree, 4:1-17.

240 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. A. The consternation of Mordecai and the Jews, 4:1-3.
2. B. Mordecai pleads with Esther to act for her people, 4:4-14.
  1. 1. Esther sends a messenger to inquire of Mordecai's grief, 4:4-6.
  2. 2. Mordecai rehearses the plight with the messenger and sends him back to inform Esther, 4:7-9.
  3. 3. Esther reminds her cousin of the law forbidding her to approach the king uninvited, 4:10-12.
  4. 4. Mordecai appeals to her to take the risk to save her people, 4:13-14.
    1. a. She would be discovered to be a Jew and also perish, 4:13.
    2. b. Had not she been placed in her position by God for just such an occasion, 4:14.
3. C. Esther agrees to attempt to save them, 4:15-17.
  1. 1. She requests that all the Jews fast with her that God might prepare the way for her success in this dangerous mission.
V. Esther Succeeds in Exposing Haman's Wicked Plot, 5:1-8:2.
1. A. Esther gains the king's favor and has him and Haman for a meal, 5:1-8.
  1. 1. She dares to approach the king uninvited, 5:1.
  2. 2. The king receives her kindly, 5:2-3.
  3. 3. He agrees to dine with her, 5:4-5.
  4. 4. She requests yet another banquet, 5:6-8.
2. B. Haman prepares a gallows for Mordecai's death, 5:9-14.
  1. 1. He gloats over his riches, power, honor and family, 5:9-12.

ESTHER -- The Queen of Persia 241

1. 1. 2. He is indignant about Mordecai's refusal to bow before him, 5:13.
  2. 3. His wife suggests that a gallows be made and he orders it, 5:14.
2. C. The king's sleepless night and Mordecai's subsequent reward, 6:1-14.
  1. 1. Not able to sleep, the king has his court history read to him, 6:1.
  2. 2. They chance to read where Mordecai saved the king's life, 6:2.
  3. 3. He discovers that no reward had been given for this act, 6:3.
  4. 4. Haman inadvertently prescribes the royal award for Mordecai's service, 6:4-9.
    1. a. He thought he was planning an honor for himself.
  5. 5. Haman is ordered to honor Mordecai and lead him through the city proclaiming the king's decree, 6:10-14.
3. D. Esther's second feast and Haman's overthrow, 7:1-8:2.
  1. 1. The king and Haman arrive, 7:1.
  2. 2. The king promises to grant her petition, 7:2.
  3. 3. Esther explains to Ahasuerus what Haman had done, 7:3-6.
  4. 4. The king orders Haman hung on the gallows prepared for Mordecai, 7:7-10.
  5. 5. Haman's office and possessions are given to Mordecai, 8:1-2.
VI. How the Jews were Delivered from the Death Decree, 8:3-9:16.
1. A. Esther again intercedes to save her people from the decree, 8:3-8.

242 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

1. 1. 1. The king grants them permission to do what is necessary, 8:7-8.
2. B. An order is dispatched granting every Jew the right to arm and defend himself against all who seek their hurt, 8:9-14.
3. C. Mordecai and the Jews of the empire rejoice in their blessings, 8:15-17.
4. D. On the day of slaughter it is the enemies, not the Jews, that are destroyed, 9:1-16.
  1. 1. The Persian rulers and officers help the Jews against their enemies, 9:1-5.
  2. 2. Five hundred enemies are slain in Shushan, 9:6-10.
  3. 3. Haman's ten sons are impaled on gallows, 9:11-14.
  4. 4. A total of 75,000 of the Jew's enemies perished in the conflict, 9:15-16.
VII. The Origin of the Feast of Purim, 9:17-32.
1. A. The Jews in Shushan celebrated their deliverance and gave gifts, 9:17-19.
2. B. Mordecai enjoined all the Jews throughout the empire to celebrate their deliverance from Haman annually with this feast, 9:20-25.
3. C. A further explanation about the origin of the Feast of Purim, 9:26-28.
4. D. Esther and Mordecai use their offices to bring this observance about, 9:29-32.
VIII. Conclusion:
1. The greatness of Mordecai in King Ahasuerus' administration, 10:1-3.

ESTHER -- The Queen of Persia 243

LESSONS TO REMEMBER:

1. The most high ruleth in the kingdoms of men, Dan. 4:25.
2. We see the silent working of God in human affairs.
3. The modesty of Vashti and her convictions about exposing herself to the lustful eyes of men is a needed example in our day, 1:11-12.
4. We see the destructive influence of strong drink in the conduct of Ahasuerus toward his wife. No single thing has caused as much shame and sorrow and pain as beverage alcohol. May all of God's children totally abstain from it, 1:10-11.
5. Even an oriental moral reprobate like Ahasuerus appreciated the chaste beauty of the young Jewish virgin.
6. Anti-semitism is not a phenomenon of our century. Haman was the Hitler of his day.
7. We see the evil influence of false pride in Haman who would kill a man who would not bow before him.
8. In the Persian's law that could not be recalled, we see the foolishness of a man, organization or government that cannot admit it has made a mistake and correct its course.
9. In Haman's evil plot we see the meaning of Ps. 76:10, the wrath of man shall praise God.
10. Were we called into the kingdom for such a time as this? 4:14.
11. To try and fail is not sin, but faithlessness is.
12. God always raises up a deliverer for his people when they repent and look to Him.

244 An Outlined Introduction To The Bible

13. The wicked are often hung on their own gallows because of God's providence.
14. Let us remember to thank God for every deliverance.
15. We will always be more than conquerors through him that loved us, Rom. 8:37.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allis, Oswald T., God Spake by Moses, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1951.
Anderson, C. Reuben, The Books of Ruth and Esther, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1970.
Angus, Joseph, The Bible Handbook, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House, 1952.
Archer, Gleason L., Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 6th printing, Chicago, Moody Press, 1964.
Batten, Loring W., The Old Testament, A Study in the Hebrew Sacred Writings, Sewanee, University Press, 1917.
Cooke, G. A., The Cambridge Bible, The Book of Judges, Cambridge, University Press, 1914.
Crockett, William Day, A Harmony of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1964.
Davies, T. Whitton, The Century Bible, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Edinburg, T. C. & E. C. Jack, no date.
Davis, J. D., Davis Dictionary of the Bible, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1961.
Deal, William S., Baker's Pictorial Introduction to the Bible, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1967.
Driver, S. R., An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891.
Francisco, Clyde T., The Book of Deuteronomy, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1964.
Halley, Henry H., Pocket Bible Handbook, 19th edition, 2nd printing, Chicago, Henry H. Halley, 1952.
Hastings, James, A Dictionary of the Bible, Edinburg, T. & T. Clarke, 1906.

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Hester, H. I., The Book of Books, Nashville, Convention Press, 1959.
Hester, H. I., The Heart of Hebrew History, 8th printing, Liberty, The William Jewell Press, 1956.
Jones, Russell Bradley, A Survey of the Old and New Testaments, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1963.
Keil, C. F. and Delitzsch, F. B., Biblical Commentary on The Old Testament, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 4th printing, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1963.
Kirkpatrick, A. F., The Cambridge Bible, The First Book of Samuel, Cambridge University Press, 1891.
Kirkpatrick, A. F., The Cambridge Bible, The Second Book of Samuel, Cambridge University Press, 1886.
McClintock, John and Strong, James, Cyclopaedia, of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1970.
McKane, William, Tracts For The Times, Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, New York, Abingdon Press, 1965.
Mears, Henrietta C., What The Bible Is All About, Minneapolis, Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn., 1966.
Morgan, G. Campbell, The Analyzed Bible, Westwood, N. J., Fleming H. Revell Company, 1964.
Muliens, Leonard, God's Wonderful World, Dallas, Gospel Teachers Publications, Inc., 1970.
Oesterly, W. O. E. and Robinson, Theodore H., An Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament, New York, The Mcmillan Company, 1934.
Orlinsky, Harry M., Ancient Israel, Ithaca, N. Y., Cornell University Press, 1960.
Orr, James, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Chicago, Howard Severance Company, 1915.

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Pfeiffer, Charles F., The Book of Genesis, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1965.
Pfeiffer, Charles F., The Book of Leviticus, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1963.
Pledge, Charles A., Getting Acquainted With The Old Testament, Volumes I and. II, Memphis, Pledge Publications, 1971.
Robinson, Gordon, Historians of Israel (1), I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, New York, Abington Press, 1962.
Ryle, H. E., The Cambridge Bible, The Book of Genesis, Cambridge University Press, 1914.
Sampey, John R., Syllabus for Old Testament Study, Nashville, Southern Baptist Convention, 1924.
Schofield, C. I., Schofield Reference Bible, New York, Oxford University Press, 1917.
Spence, H. D. M., and Exel, J. S., The Pulpit Commentary, Volumes I and II, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1961.
Thomas, D. Winton, Documents from Old Testament Times, New York, Harper and Row, 1961.
Turnbull, Ralph G., The Book of Nehemiah, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1968.
Young, Edward J., An Introduction to the Old Testament, 3rd printing, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965.

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AN OUTLINED INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE

AN OUTLINED INTRODUCTION
TO THE BIBLE