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Judges and Ruth: Anarchy and Faithfulness

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of Judges (Judges 1–3)
    19 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Judges (Judges 4–8, 13–16)
    27 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  3. Lesson Three
    A Divine Judge and Anarchy (Judges 9–12, 17–21)
    20 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  4. Lesson Four
    Ruth the Moabite (Ruth 1–4)
    15 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Lovingkindness in Ruth (Ruth 1–4 review)
    15 Activities
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment
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Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Israel’s first king, Saul, will be a Benjaminite, and his story will echo what we find in these last few chapters of Judges. A number of these echoes are shown in the table below.

Adapted from: Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Historical Books, 2001, pp. 167-168.

Judges1 Samuel
A Levite dismembers his concubine and sends pieces of her body throughout Israel as a call to arms for revenge (Judg 19:29-30).Saul will dismember a yoke of oxen and sends pieces of their bodies throughout Israel as a call to arms for revenge (1 Sam 11:7).
Benjaminites of Gibeah rape and murder the concubine (Judg 19:15).Gibeah will be the hometown and capital of Saul (1 Sam 10:26; 11:4; 15:34).
An old man from Ephraim hosts and entertains the Levite (Judg 19:16-20).A man from Ephraim (Samuel) hosts and entertains Saul (1 Sam 9:22-26).
There are six hundred Benjaminite survivors from the war with other Israelite tribes (Judg 20:47).There are six hundred followers of Saul as he prepares to meet the Philistines (1 Sam 13:15; 14:2).
  1. We’ve compared a scene at the end of the book of Judges with some later actions of Israel’s first king. What might this imply about Saul? 
Assessments