This week's readings are in Judges and Ruth.
When I read the first few chapters of Judges, some of the topics being discussed in our current Sabbath School study guide came to mind. Is Judges about historical facts and accuracy, or something else? If the former, then there are some real problems because Judges 1 contains very similar material to Joshua 15, but one appears to occur prior to Joshua's death while the other could have occurred after Joshua's death. Then again, his death is mentioned twice in the opening chapters of Judges.
And what about the reason God didn't drive out all the inhabitants of Canaan in one single pass? The original reason is found in Deuteronomy 7:20-24. But Judges 2:20-23 provide a different reason. Did God change his plans based on the peoples' response? Did the author of Judges interpret God's actions based on actual experience of his people? Both?
Of how about the ending chapters of Judges? Most scholars believe that chronogically, this fits in somewhere in the middle of chapter 3. But the author makes no attempt to clarify that point. As far as the book is concerned, it very well could have occurred at the end.
The book of Judges seems to be a pretty good example of Bible literature that is based on historical experiences, but is not about history. I think that it's primarily about God's interactions with people; how the people kept wandering away from God, yet God kept rescuing them from the holes they dug themselves -- many times without being asked first. I suppose we might call it the story of God's grace in the Old Testament.
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