The Conquest to the Monarchy

This module covers over 400 years of Israel’s history, starting with the conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, through the dark ages of the Judges, into the establishment of the Monarchy and ending with King David finishing what Joshua began, by conquering all the Promised Land and overcoming Israel’s enemies, bringing a time of peace to Israel.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module you should:


                      • Have a good understanding of how God and Israel took possession of the Promised Land through holy warfare.
                      • Be familiar with the geography of the Promised Land.
                      • Understand how this period and the characters in the events impacted the nation of Israel and played a part in God's redemptive plan for humanity.
                      • Have studied and completed the books Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, using this Inductive method of Bible study.
                      • Have explored some of the implications of these books for modern day life.

 

 

Joshua, Judges, Ruth and the Samuels are historical books following the Pentateuch in the arrangement of the Old Testament. They are shown in red on the table below.

 

Module 3, Unit 1: Joshua

God’s Covenant people are ready to enter the long awaited Promised Land. The book of Joshua describes how this happens and how Israel settles in the land fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham.

Module 3, Unit 2: Judges

Although the people of Israel are living in the Promised Land, their failure to fully drive out its previous occupants, as the Lord had commanded, leads Israel into spiritual and moral decline.

This is a very sad period of Israel’s history and is sometimes described as the ‘dark ages’. But throughout this dark time we see God’s love and faithfulness prevail to His Covenant people.

Module 3, Unit 3: Ruth

The book of Judges left Israel crying out for redemption. Through the book of Ruth God reveals the next step in His plan of redemption for humanity. We see God’s heart for all nations as He works through a loyal and faithful Moabite widow to bring about His divine purposes.

Module 3, Unit 4: Samuel

1 and 2 Samuel were originally one book and therefore we will study them together. Over the 55 chapter of Samuel, we see a big change in Israel's history as they move from a theocracy, with God as their King, to a monarchy, with a human king. The text records the impact this had on the nation by focusing on the lives of 3 key figures; Samuel, Saul and David.