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1399 BC CANAAN IS DIVIDED BETWEEN THE TRIBES
In approximately 1399 BC, Joshua assigned a specific territory in the Promised Land to each tribe, even though there remained much of the land of Canaan yet to be conquered. The first parcel was given to eighty-five-year-old Caleb, the faithful spy (Numbers 13) to whom Moses had promised the hill country of Hebron for his faithfulness (Joshua 14-22). Two tribes—Reuben and Gad—and half the tribe of Manasseh received land east of the Jordan River (Joshua 13:8-33). In the north, the land was divided between the tribes of Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar, Ephraim, Dan, and the other half of Manasseh. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon settled in the south (Joshua 13-19). The Levites (the priestly tribe of Levi) were not allotted a portion of land, but were given forty-eight cities scattered throughout Canaan (Joshua 21).
In approximately 1399 BC, Joshua assigned a specific territory in the Promised Land to each tribe, even though there remained much of the land of Canaan yet to be conquered. The first parcel was given to eighty-five-year-old Caleb, the faithful spy (Numbers 13) to whom Moses had promised the hill country of Hebron for his faithfulness (Joshua 14-22). Two tribes—Reuben and Gad—and half the tribe of Manasseh received land east of the Jordan River (Joshua 13:8-33). In the north, the land was divided between the tribes of Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar, Ephraim, Dan, and the other half of Manasseh. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon settled in the south (Joshua 13-19). The Levites (the priestly tribe of Levi) were not allotted a portion of land, but were given forty-eight cities scattered throughout Canaan (Joshua 21).
The Tribes West of the Jordan: Judah, Ephraim, and half the tribe of Manasseh were the first tribes to receive land west of the Jordan because of their past acts of faith. The remaining seven tribes—Benjamin, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Simeon, and Dan—were slow to conquer and possess the land allotted to them.
The Tribes East of the Jordan: Joshua assigned territory to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh on the east side of the Jordan, where they had chosen to remain because of the wonderful livestock country (Numbers 32:1-5).
1367 BC JUDGESHIP OF OTHNIEL BEGINS
Othniel was the son of Caleb's brother Kenaz. After he distinguished himself by capturing the city of Kiriath-sepher, Caleb rewarded him by giving him his daughter Acsah in marriage (Judges 1:11-15). After the Israelites settled the land, they intermarried with the inhabitants of the land, contrary to God's law, and began to worship foreign gods. In judgment, God sent the king of Aram to rule over them for eight years. When the people finally repented of their sins, God raised up Othniel in about 1367 BC to deliver Israel from the control of Aram. Othniel was the first judge of Israel. (The word judge means one who administers justice by punishing the doer of evil and vindicating the righteous.) The peace lasted forty years, until the death of Othniel (Judges 3:1-11).
1309 BC JUDGESHIP OF EHUD BEGINS
When the Jewish people once again returned to their evil ways, God brought judgment upon them by making Israel a vassal kingdom under Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years. When the Jews cried out to God in repentance, God raised up Ehud as the next judge, in about 1309 BC. As he presented Israel's tribute to Eglon, Ehud said to him, "I have a message for you from God!" and plunged a sword he had hidden under his clothing into Eglon's stomach, killing him. Ehud then led the Israelites in war against Moab, killing ten thousand men. The balance of power shifted, and Moab became a vassal kingdom of Israel. Peace prevailed for eighty years (Judges 3:12-30).
1230 BC JUDGESHIP OF SHAMGAR BEGINS
After Ehud had delivered Israel from the oppression of the Moabites, another judge, named Shamgar, arose to save Israel during difficult times. Shamgar killed six hundred Philistines using an unconventional weapon: an ox goad. In so doing, he was a forerunner of Samson, who killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Little is known of Shamgar other than his amazing victory over the Philistines. It is unlikely that he was an Israelite, because his title, "son of Anath," indicates that he may have been from Beth-anath, south of Israel. Regardless of Shamgar's ethnic origin, God used him as a judge and a deliverer of Israel (Judges 3:31; 5:6).
1209 BC JUDGESHIP OF DEBORAH BEGINS
When the Israelites again returned to their sinful ways, God delivered them into the hand of Jabin, the king of Canaan, who oppressed Israel for twenty years. Then, in about 1209 BC, Deborah, the only judge of Israel who was a female prophet, along with Barak, her commander-in-chief, assembled an army often thousand to fight Sisera, commander of the Canaanite army. After Barak defeated Sisera's troops and his nine hundred iron chariots, the subsequent peace lasted for forty years (Judges 4:6-5:31). Immediately following the great victory, Deborah composed the song recorded in Judges 5.
1162 BC JUDGESHIP OF GIDEON BEGINS As a result of renewed evil among the Israelites, God gave them into the hands of the Midianites for seven devastating years. Then, in about 1162 BC, God called Gideon to deliver Israel. Gideon's first task was to destroy his father's altar to Baal, the god of Canaan. The Israelites of his father's city were so apostate that they wanted to kill Gideon for what he had done. Gideon next defeated the Midianites by obeying God's command to reduce his original army of thirty- two thousand to a mere three hundred. Gideon's sudden nighttime attack produced a complete victory. After his great victory, Gideon was asked to set up a monarchy, but he refused. Israel lived at peace for the rest of Gideon's life (Judges 6:1-8:32).
1120 BC KING ABIMELECH ENCOURAGES BAAL WORSHIP
Abimelech was the son of a concubine from Shechem and Gideon, the judge of Israel. After Gideon's death in about 1120 BC, Abimelech, with the help of his mother's family (Judges 9:1-3), murdered all but one of his half-brothers who would have been his rivals for the throne (Judges 9:5). He then tried to set himself up as king of a Canaanite city. Abimelech was subsequently killed as he laid siege on the city of Thebez, when a woman dropped a millstone on his head from a tower (Judges 9:50-57). Abimelech was the very antithesis of the judges God appointed. Whereas his father, Gideon, had attacked the worship of Baal (Judges 6:25-32), Abimelech encouraged Baal worship in Shechem, the very place where Joshua had renewed Israel's allegiance to God (Joshua 24:14-27).
1105 BC SAMUEL IS BORN
During the latter years of the judges, while Eli was the priest in Shiloh, Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was in the Tabernacle pleading for God to open her womb and give her a son. She vowed that this son would be dedicated to God. Hannah's prayer was so desperate that Eli at first mistook it for drunken babbling. Soon after this, in about 1105 BC, Hannah conceived and bore a son. When her son Samuel was still very young, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle and left him in the care of Eli the priest. Because of the wickedness of Eli's own sons, when Eli died Samuel succeeded him as priest and judge over Israel (1 Samuel 1-7).