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ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES

+ + + Joshua + + +

At last the time came for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land.

The Lord said to Joshua, "You will lead My people into the land I have promised them. Have courage, I will be at your side wherever you go, as I was always with Moses."

Joshua and all the people camped by the banks of the Jordan.

Joshua said, "Prepare yourselves. We are going to cross the river and enter the land which the Lord promised us and our forefathers."

They started out, the ark of the covenant first and all the people following. The waters of the River Jordan parted and the people walked across to the other side on dry land, just as they had crossed the Red Sea.

Here they celebrated the Passover. The manna stopped falling because they were now in the Promised Land.

The Lord promised to deliver the city of Jericho to the Israelites. He told them to march around the city once a day for six days, carrying the Ark of the Covenant with them. On the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times. The trumpets were to blow a long blast and all the people were to shout as loud as they could.

The Israelites did as the Lord told them. On the seventh day the trumpets were blown loudly, all the people cried out, and at that the walls of the city crumbled and fell down flat. The Israelites went into the city and captured it.

With God's help, they had taken the mighty city of Jericho.

Canaan was captured piece by piece by the Israelites. Finally the whole land came into their possession, as the Lord had promised them long ago. Joshua divided the land into equal parts, one each for the twelve tribes of Israel.

God had fulfilled His promise to the Chosen People that He had spoken through Moses.

+ + + Gideon + + +

After Joshua died, and the people had lived in the Promised Land for some time, they forgot their life of slavery in Egypt and their forty years' wandering in the desert and all God's help. They also began to forget God's commandments to them. To bring them to their senses, God let the Midianites, a wild shepherd people, overrun Israel for seven years.

One day an angel of the Lord appeared to an Israelite called Gideon. "Gideon," he said, "the Lord is with you." But Gideon answered, "Forgive me for saying this, but if God is with us, why is it that all this is happening to us now? Where are all the great signs our fathers tell us of when they say, ' Did not God bring us out of Egypt?' But now God has forgotten us and left us to the Midianites."

God said to Gideon, "It is you who will rescue Israel from the power of the Midianites. Do I not send you Myself?" But Gideon answered, "Forgive me for saying this, but how can I deliver Israel? My family is the weakest one, and I am the least important person in my family."

God answered, "I will be with you, and you will overcome."

But Gideon still wanted a sign. "If You really want to deliver Israel by my hand," he said, "see, I am spreading out a woolen fleece on the ground. If there is dew on the fleece tomorrow morning, but all the ground around it is dry, then I will know You will deliver Israel by my hand as You have said." When Gideon got up next morning, there was enough dew on the fleece to fill a whole cup, and the ground around it was perfectly dry.

So Gideon gathered together an army of 32,000 Israelites.

The Lord told him that his army was much too big: if the Israelites won, they would claim they had done it by themselves, without God's help. "Tell the ones who are afraid to go home," He said. 22,000 men went home; this left Gideon with an army of 10,000 men.

"There are still too many," said the Lord. "Take them down to the water side." At the water side, the Lord told Gideon to separate those men who lapped the water like dogs from those who took the water up in their cupped hands.

There were only three hundred who lapped the water, and the Lord said, "These three hundred will win your victory over the huge army of the Midianites."

The Lord showed Gideon how to win. He divided his men into three companies and told each man to take a trumpet and an empty pitcher, with a lighted torch inside the pitcher. He posted them on three sides of the Midianites' camp.

When they were ready, Gideon blew a blast on his trumpet; this was the signal for all the others to blow their trumpets. Each man shattered his pitcher against the next man's, and they cried out, "For the Lord and for Gideon!"

The Midianites heard the crashing of the jars, and saw the flames of the torches; at the same time they also heard the sounding of the trumpets and the shouting of men on three sides of the camp. They were very confused and frightened and the whole army ray away. In this way, three hundred of the Israelites won the battle without fighting at all.

+ + + Samson + + +

There was peace for a time, but the Israelites disobeyed the Lord again, and He let the Philistines conquer them for forty years. There was no one to be the champion of the Israelites until there came a man named Samson. Samson was so strong that he once killed a fierce lion with his bare hands, as easily as if it had been a lamb. The Philistines were afraid of Samson.

They wanted to find out the secret of his great strength, so they could take it away from him.

Now, Samson's secret was this: Before he was born, an angel of the Lord had appeared to his parents. "You will have a son," the angel told them, "who will rescue Israel from the Philistines. Do not let your son take wine or strong drink, and let no razor touch his head. This is because he is to be dedicated to God from the very beginning. He will be what is called a nazarite." Samson would always have the great strength God had given him as long as his hair was not cut.

Samson was very fond of Delilah, a Philistine woman. So the Philistines went to Delilah and promised her 1,100 silver coins if she could find out Samson's secret. Delilah begged and begged Samson to tell her. At last he got sick and tired of Delilah's begging him this way day in and day out. He told her, "A razor has never touched my head, because I have been God's nazarite since I was born."

After supper Samson went to sleep, and Delilah had his hair cut off. He woke up to find that he had lost his strength, and the Philistines easily took him prisoner. They blinded Samson and carried him off to Gaza. He was put to work at grinding corn in the mill.

But Samson's hair grew again.

One day the Philistines had a banquet and decided to bring their prisoner in to make fun of him. Samson, standing between the pillars which held up the building, called on the Lord to give him back his old strength once more. Then he cried out, "Now, Samson, die with the Philistines!" and he shook the pillars and the whole building fell, and killed all the Philistines and Samson, too.

+ + + The Ark + + +

The Israelites and the Philistines fought each other for a long time. Whenever the Israelites forgot what the Lord had done for them and worshipped false gods, they fell under the power of their enemies.

Once, in a battle, the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites.

They took it to one of their cities and placed it in a temple with their god Dagon.

Next morning they found the statue lying face down before the Ark. They put the statue of Dagon back in its place but the next morning they again found it lying face down on the ground before the Ark, and this time it was all broken in pieces. Then terrible plagues struck them and they became very frightened.

The Philistines asked their wise men what they must do to stop the plagues. They told them to put the Ark on a wagon drawn by two cows and to put an offering of gold with the Ark.

They were to let the cows go whichever way they wanted. If they went toward Israel, that would mean that the Lord of the Israelites had sent the plague as a punishment for the Philistines for stealing the Ark. They did this and the cows hauled the wagon straight to Israel.

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