Page 37 - Old Testament Survey Student Textbook- short

Study section 6: Introduction to Historical Books – Joshua,
Judges, Ruth

6.1 Connect.
Do you trust in God’s promises? Does God fulfill his promises? The Book of Joshua is a
very significant book because it helps the reader to understand that God always fulfills
his promises… Do you feel like we live in a dark time? Do you feel that sin is rampant
and evil is prevailing? The Children of Israel lived in a time that felt like that. The book
of Judges is a narrative about Israel’s darkest time. It is a record of Israel’s both
spiritually and leadership decline. It is also a very beautiful book because it also
portrays God’s relentless love for his chosen people… Do you dare to be different even when you live in
dark times? The book of Ruth is a very significant book because it reveals a remnant that remains
faithful to God while living in dark times. It also books that reveals a self-giving faithfulness of Gentiles
coming to Yahweh let’s survey…

6.3 Objectives

1. The student should be able to explain what Pre-exilic historical books (time of conquest
and judges) of Joshua, Judges and Ruth are all about.

2. The student should be able to explain the important questions such as: what, when,
where, how.

3. The student should be able to discuss the main message and main divisions of these three
books.

4. The student should be able to create an application for life from these three historical books.

6.3 Introduction to Historical Books

The Historical books trace the history of Israel from a theological perspective from the
conquest of the Land of Canaan under Joshua around 1400 BC to the return from the
Babylonian captivity and the close of the Old Testament around 430BC. Thus, almost 100
years of Israel’s history are included.

The historical books fall into fairly two distinct categories
A. Pre-exilic (9 books) 1400 to 586 BC
1. Time of Conquest and the judges (3 books) 1400 to 1051BC
a. Joshua
b. Judges
c. Ruth
2. Time of the Kings (6 Books) 1051 to 586 BC
a. 1 Samuel
b. 2 Samuel
c. 1 Kings
d. 2 Kings
e. 1 Chronicles

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