Created Wed. July 8, 2009

 The Chronology of the Judges Period

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Intro to the Judges

The period of the Judges can be a very confusing one, if you try to make some sort of chronological sense out of it from within the period. But the Bible does give us solid dates with which to nail down times and events that solidly fix the period in place and define its length of time. From there, we will have to understand the intention behind Joshua and Judges. I would sum up Judges this way. It is a continuation of what Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy did. They established the creation and installation of the priesthood and nation of Israel and Judges set up the territories and boundaries to each tribe to establish the Nation of Israel and the priesthood with its cities of refuge.

These national and tribal boundaries were not supposed to be moved or tampered with. Israel was supposed to go out and conquer the Canaanites, per God's command, as God has the right to judge peoples and nations and prescribe judgment upon them. Men do not have that right. God placed limits on boundaries which only He could expand. Without His permission, Israel could not seek more territory than what was allowed to "him" by Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel.

So wars were waged and territories settled in. But there was yet another goal in this book that God had in mind. Israel had a repeated common continual problem in that he/she would not obey the commands of God nor drive out the Canaanite inhabitants as God had insisted upon. So problems fell upon Israel as he was left to find out why God commanded as He had. Israel was left undefended by God and soon was subdued and enslaved by the inhabitants around them.

But neither the book of Joshua or Judges starts off telling you this. It is not addressed until Judges 2:11, just after Joshua and his generation pass away in death in verses 8-10. And from chap. 2:11 to 3:7, the Bible gives a summary of the typical cycle of problems that Israel would go through, due to their own neglect of the laws of God. I felt I should put it here for you to read as it will help us understand the entirety of the period of the Judges.

Judges 2:
8  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a son of a hundred and ten years.
9  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hills of Ephraim on the north of Mount Gaash .
10  And also all that generation was gathered to their fathers, and another generation arose after them who had not known Jehovah, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel .

Judges 2:
11  And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baals.
12  And they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out from the land of Egypt . And they went after other gods of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves to them, and angered Jehovah.
13  Yea, they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
14  And the anger of Jehovah glowed against Israel , and He gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them. And He sold them into the hand of their enemies all around, and they were not able to stand before their enemies any longer.
15  Wherever they went, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had spoken, and as Jehovah had sworn to them. And it distressed them very much.
16  And Jehovah raised up judges, and they saved them from the hand of their plunderers.
17  But they also did not listen to their judges, but went whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves to them. They quickly turned aside out of the way in which their fathers walked to obey the commands of Jehovah. They did not do so.
18  And when Jehovah raised up judges to them, then Jehovah was with the judge, and rescued them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For Jehovah took pity because of their groaning before their oppressors, and those that crushed them.
19  And at the death of the judge, it happened that they would turn and act more corruptly than their fathers, to go after other gods, to serve them, and to bow themselves to them. And they did not fall away from their own doings, and from their stubborn way.
20  And the anger of Jehovah glowed against Israel . And He said, Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice,
21  I also from now on will not expel any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died;
22  so that by them I may test Israel , whether they are keeping the way of Jehovah, to go in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.
23  And Jehovah left those nations without expelling them quickly. And He did not deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

Judges 3:
1  And these are the nations which Jehovah left in order to test Israel by them, all who did not know all the wars of Canaan;
2  only that the generations of the sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, only those who did not before know them:
3  five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that lived in Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to the entering of Hamath.
4  And they existed to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commands of Jehovah, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5  And the sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
6  And they took their daughters to themselves for wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.
7  And the sons of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

One might wonder how right after a generation who saw their parents die off for not having had faith in Jehovah and not obeying him, and came into Canaan and fought wars and still saw miracles, could produce another generation that completely ignored God, even as their grandparents had. Was it the fault of the parents such as Joshua and Caleb? Or was it just human nature? Whatever the answer, they are a good example of how not to do things and a warning to us who are still willing to learn and search out God to the best of our abilities.

But now as for the technique of telling a story and then begin telling it all over, perhaps in summary of from another point of focus, or something of a similar sort, we have other examples in the Bible. The first is in Genesis where the Creation is told from an overall large view, from the heavens and the earth being created, to Jehovah more precisely shaping the earth, which was void and desolate up to that time, in 6 days that He selected to perfect/complete it for life and His purposes. This account starts at Genesis 1:1 and lasts through 2:3. Then in 2:4, it tells the story of Creation over again, focusing on man and what he did in the early days which led to his fall from grace under God.

This exact sort of technique and style is repeated many times in the book of Revelation, where certain symbols might be introduced in one chapter, and then elaborated on, in another chapter, such as Babylon the Great over several chapters, or the scrolls and trumpets as symbols to be explained. The very end is shown to us in chap. 11:15-18 and then it starts over again in 11:19 and on into chap. 12, with new symbols and in a new direction, to a time before chap. 11's end. This is also what has happened in Judges 2, at verse 11. Literally, the oldest trick in the book; that book being the Bible.

So Judges is about Israel's many stupid follies and mistakes in not keeping the law of God delivered through Moses at Mt. Sinai. It is after chapter 3:7 that we are then given details about particular instances of these follies that happened again and again through the history of Israel and Judah, till finally Rome, by the will of God, extinguished Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel for good on earth. For it had been foreseen that earthly physical fleshly Jerusalem would be a failure. God's real, but not grasped in the days when prophecies were first given, intention was that "Israel" and "Jerusalem" had always been destined to have their ultimate fulfillment in a symbolic spiritual sense. What has reappeared in our day, the modern nation of Israel, is real enough, but it is not of God nor does it have anything to do with God's will and worship.

The Israel and Jerusalem of God are fulfilled in those who choose to accept the promises of salvation delivered to and through Abraham, and not the actual territory in the Middle East where fleshly Israel sits to day. Abraham becomes the father of all those who benefit from the salvation that was worked through his line, due to God promising this would all take place through his line of descent. Christians are the Israel of God and New Jerusalem, descendants of Abraham in a spiritual sense, according to promise and not because they were born of the "flesh" of Abraham.

It was not all clearly understood till it took on that greater fulfillment after Pentecost. Even then, many to day do not really understand what Paul or Peter and others spoke and taught on these "mysteries" for it was not granted to unbelievers to understand.

A Big Change in Wording
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The next problem is that there is a real change in descriptions after the days of Jephthah, who judged Israel for 6 years in Judges 11 through 12:7. Prior to that, we are given, in Judges 3:8, a line of periods where Israel would end up serving other peoples and nations around them and become bitterly oppressed, much as we are today in most places on earth. Some things never change, right? Then a judge would come along and lead them, guide them, call them back to their God, Jehovah, and lead them into battle to overthrow their oppressors, which were called periods "of rest." Perhaps relative freedom, we might say. We might also call it a return to God.

Judges 11:
4  And it happened after some time, the sons of Ammon fought with Israel .
11  And Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead , and the people appointed him head over them, and as commander. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.
12  And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, What have you to do with me, that you have come in to me to fight in my land?
13  And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took my land when he came up out of Egypt , from Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan . And now, restore them in peace.
14  And Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon,
15  and said to him, So says Jephthah , Israel did not take the land of Moab , and the land of the sons of Ammon.
16  For when they came up out of Egypt , Israel went in the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds , and came in at Kadesh.
17  And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom , saying, Please let me pass on through your land, and the king of Edom did not listen. And Israel sent also to the king of Moab , and he was not willing. And Israel remained in Kadesh.
18  And he went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom , and the land of Moab , and came in at the rising of the sun to the land of Moab . And they camped beyond Arnon, and did not come into the border of Moab , for Arnon was the border of Moab .
19  And Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, Please let us pass on through your land, to my place.
20  And Sihon did not trust Israel to pass on through his border. And Sihon gathered all his people and they camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel .
21  And Jehovah the God of Israel gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel , and they struck them. And Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land.
22  And they took possession of all the border of the Amorites from Arnon and to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and to the Jordan .
23  And now, Jehovah the God of Israel has expelled the Amorite from before His people Israel . And would you possess it?
24  Whatever Chemosh your god causes you to possess, do you not possess it? And all that which Jehovah our God has expelled from before us, we will possess!
25  And now, are you at all any better than Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab ? Did he indeed ever strive with Israel ? Did he ever fight against them?
26  When Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, in all the cities by the sides of Arnon three hundred years, then why have you not delivered them in that time?
27  So I have not sinned against you, and you are doing me wrong to fight against me. Jehovah the Judge shall judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.

12:7  And Jephthah judged Israel six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead .

So the sons of Ammon, one of 2 sons of Lot, descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew, himself a good man, were making a false claim. The territory they wanted had never been theirs. It had been the Amorites when Israel took it from the king of the Amorites, Sihon. The Ammonites had no real claim. But they wanted the land, anyway. Jephthah asked why they had waited 300 years to make this claim and try to take this land they never owned. King Sihon and the Amorites had been conquered just before entering Canaan, about the time Moses died at age 120 and Joshua took over. So from that time to this confrontation with Ammon was 300 years. Jephthah then judged Israel 6 years before dying. This point at 300 past entry into Canaan leaves us with only 56 years till Saul is made king of Israel. Far too much happens for the many accounts given to allow a sequential addition of these years to fit into 56 years.

As we consider how things are drastically out of sequence, we will see that this period, one of extreme chaos most of the time, was never intended as an accounting of time but, rather, a highlighting of the chaos that led to kings being installed in Israel as opposed to judges. God had to protect the survival of His nation and priesthood so that He could bring about the arrival of His son, at the right time, to install a new covenant and give his life as a ransom for mankind. But a king was needed, not because it was a better system but because the people of Israel were continually disobedient and neglectful of Jehovah and His laws. A king could be more forceful in demanding the obedience of people, although at a price.

So things take a big change after Jephthah in Judges 12:7. Three more judges are referred to, but without mentioning Israel serving anyone in particular. Nor is any rest mentioned with these judges any time after them or during their times. Judges does mention Israel serving the Philistines 40 years at Judges 13:1 and then we read about the exploits of Samson and how he judged 20 years. But no rest is mentioned, nor do we have any firm period to anchor this story in. In fact, we do not have any anchor for the 2 stories to follow after this, either.

The story of the tribe of Dan, who steals idols and wealth and a priest from a man and then conquers a seemingly peaceful decent people, rather than a nasty deserving bunch who would be much more trouble if not eliminated. Dan appears as an out of control bunch who have no regard for God and His laws and may have something to do with other prophecies of Dan, indicating Dan's impact of future events. This account, too, takes place in the early days of the judges, and not the time of the judges after Jephthah. So the Bible takes us out of sequence again, even as it does in Revelation.

I will point out that God does introduce a little bit of troublesome, out of sequence events, in order to mix things up a little to confuse, not so much good studious Christians who are willing to put the time and effort into getting the story straight by unscrambling the coded sequence of events, but to confuse God's enemies so that the Bible would be given little attention or concern by the enemies so that we would have it to read and decode. Who could take seriously a book with so much apparent confusion, right?

Next up is the horrible account of a tribe gone totally mad and depraved. The tribe of Benjamin, rather than caring for travelers, called sojourners in some Bible translations, as commanded by Jehovah, Himself, in the law of Moses, ultimately takes out the traveler's wife and rapes her quite brutally by a large group of men so that she dies just as she gets back to her husband. Her husband is outraged, justly so, and cuts her up into 12 pieces to be sent to the 12 tribes of Israel to get their attention, whereby he may demand justice, which God would certainly require of Benjamin. Israel mishandles the situation throughout, but at least manages to punish most of Benjamin. They should have wiped out Benjamin entirely.

When did this take place? Well, Phineas is prominent in this story towards the end of it. Phineas was alive and well during days of Moses while Israel wandered through the desert. So it is probably among the days not long after Joshua and his generation had yet died out. But it is also likely told out of sequence or time context. Its purpose was to show how far gone the entire nation was in various places. Why, what Benjamin did was almost the same as what nearly took place in Sodom and Gomorrah. The law prescribed that if Israel should do as Sodom and Gomorrah and the like did, they should and will be wiped out completely and cease to exist forever with the same basic result that Sodom and Gomorrah experienced, but in a more figurative way. See Deuteronomy 29: 16-29 and 32:15-35. Odd that Benjamin should exactly duplicate the very sin of Sodom.

So as I see it, many things were left out of any time sequence as time was not the focus. Time was considered in other places so as to enable a reliable timeline and chronology. Those places are 1st Kings 6:1 which counts 480 years from the Exodus to the 4th year of Solomon, when construction of the temple in Jerusalem began. This solidly defines a timeline for us between those 2 points in time. We also know the years and points when Moses was born, and when he ran away to Midian after killing an Egyptian at age 40. He was 80 at the Exodus, and 120 when Israel was about to enter the promised land and Moses appointed Joshua and then died.

We also know the years of the reigns of Saul, 40 years, David, 40 years, both of which can be backed out of the 480 years, as well as the 4th year of Solomon just after David. So from the death of Moses and Joshua/Israel entering Canaan to Saul being crowned King, amount to 356 years. This period is firmly fixed and can not be tempered with. In addition, we have a 300 year period defined, sort of, in the days of Jephthah, where a boundary dispute occurred over a land taken by Israel just after entering Canaan from a king.

We can estimate the age of Joshua, which is quite likely near the age of Caleb, which was 78 at the Border of Canaan, being ready to enter the promised land. If we allow 79 for Joshua at that same time, then his death at 110 years of age matched perfectly with the rest of the numbers given to account for exactly 300 years to Jephthah's dispute and beginning of his judging, mentioned previously. We do not know that Joshua was exactly this age but if the 300 years is to be precise, then this, by far, would be the best explanation for how 300 years comes to be. The only other choice is to merely except the 300 without explanation, if you prefer. I prefer reason when it is reasonable and possible.

Ages of Joshua and Caleb
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I need to cover the ages of Joshua and Caleb to show the precise dating sequence obtained by the death of Joshua.

Deuteronomy 2:
13  Now, rise up and you yourselves pass over the torrent Zered; and we crossed over the torrent Zered.
14  And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we had crossed over the torrent Zered, were thirty eight years, until the end of all the generation, even the men of war were destroyed from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah swore to them.
15  And the hand of Jehovah was also against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.

This was an important point for it shows that at the end of the 40 years of wandering to kill off the generation who would not fight the Canaanites after they were spied on was 38 years. So the spying of Canaan took place 2 years after the Exodus. Caleb next gives his age at this time.

Judges 14:
6  And the sons of Judah came near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, You know the word that Jehovah spoke to Moses the man of God as to me and as to you in Kadesh-barnea.
7  I was a son of forty years when Moses the servant of Jehovah sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land.

10  And now, behold, Jehovah has kept me alive, as He said, these forty five years since Jehovah spoke this word to Moses, when Israel went in the wilderness. And now, behold, today I am a son of eighty five years;

Caleb was 40 at the time of his spying. So he was 38 at the Exodus and 78 upon entering Canaan. He was 85 speaking to Joshua after the wars with the Cannanites had been completed for the time being. 85-78 = 7 years. So Joshua led 7 years of war with the Canaanites at this time when the tribes were being assigned territory to live.

I next tried assuming a similar number of years of age for Joshua as for Caleb. I picked round numbers for ease of figuring, making Joshua 40 at the Exodus and 80 at his entrance to Canaan. that would make him 2 years older than Caleb at the same times. The total time for when Joshua dies at 110, to Jephthah and the Ammonites ended up 299. So I added one more year to Joshua to arrive at a perfect 300. This made Joshua 3 years older than Caleb and 41 at the Exodus and 81 entering Canaan.

Some might argue that the rest of Joshua's generation had to die out as well but I think this was figured in, in general, with the passing of the death of Joshua. Whether it was or not, Jephthah said it was 300 years to his encounter with Ammon and that will have to do.

But What About 450 Years at Acts 13:20?
And Who Defines the Period of the Judges?
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Wow! You guys know your stuff. Well, those are good questions and not ones that many might even know except the well studied or those trying to discredit God and His Word. So, lets talk about Acts 13:20 first. Here, the Apostle Paul speaks of 450 years of Judges, and who better ought to know than an Apostle, being obviously anointed with the spirit of God, right? But 450 could seem to violate the 480 years mentioned at 1st Kings 6. But we who trust God would never conclude such a thing. We know an explanation must exist to resolve the matter. Notice the entire 6 verses concerning this issue.

Acts 13:
16  And rising up, and signaling with his hand, Paul said: Men, Israelites, and the ones fearing God, listen.
17  The God of this people Israel chose out our fathers, and exalted the people in their stay in the land of Egypt . And with a high arm, He led them out of it.
18  And as forty years time passed, He tenderly bore them in the wilderness. Deut. 1:31
19  And He pulled down seven nations in Canaan land, and gave their land to them as an inheritance. Deut. 7:1
20  And after these things, as four hundred and fifty years passed, He gave judges until Samuel the prophet.
21  And from there they asked for a king. And God gave Saul the son of Kish to them, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

Paul is making it clear in verses 18 and 20 that 450 years is passing, beginning with the Exodus. Recall that Moses judged Israel at Mt. Sinai, and in the wilderness for 40 years. He was a judge and not a king. He established law as a judge. Even God is called a judge in many places. But a judge in the Bible was a leader as well as a judge. Judges often were generals leading armies as well. Moses led armies as well. Moses was the first judge installed in the new nation of Israel, beginning with the Exodus. After him came Joshua and his generation with him. And then things went to "hell." Many judges came and went after this.

So it is clear that Paul starts with Moses and goes 450 years. He, by the authority of God, defines the period of the judges, from Moses to Saul's installation and Samuel's death. If we take 356 years from Moses' death at 120 to Saul becoming king, and add 40 from the Exodus, we have 396. If we add Samuel's years of judging after the appointment of Saul, since it is said Samuel judge Israel all the days of his life, we have about another 35 years to add, giving us about 430.

For all we know, it may have begun with Moses "judging the Egyptian" when he was 40, as the start. That would give us, without going beyond Saul, 436 years. Further, if we add a portion of Samuel's years as a judge after Saul's appointment, we would have to add at least 30 years and that gives us 466 years, and I have no doubt that Paul was speaking in general terms, not precise exact terms. And with a range of 436 to 466 years, we are right in the neighborhood of 450 years. This seems a reasonable accounting from my point of view. I would state that Samuel's full days as judge allows for more than 450 years but Paul stops short of going beyond that and 450 is a nice round number.

For those who do not like my starting with the judging of the Egyptian by Moses, I point out that 400 years of affliction beginning with the taunting of Isaac, which would never have occurred to me, had Paul not said this, was the start of that fulfillment. Given that info, Moses and the Egyptian seems like a similar situation and starting point. It was a strong and decisive action on the part of Moses in behalf of his people, even if it was a little premature in not waiting for God.

The Exodus to Jephthah's 300 Years - Table
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I put in the date calculated by Dendro-Chronologists (those who study tree rings for climate patterns and timelines) at 1159 BC to see what was going on at that time. It is interesting that it takes place in the middle of this chaotic period of the Judges, even as the world seemed plunged into a dark age at from about 1200 BC to 800 BC. I would place that dark age as possibly being more like 1350 to 950 BC. That will have to wait for further articles on secular dates. But 1159 BC stands, as its dating is independent of other methods of relative dating schemes, most relying in a questionable Egyptian Chronology.

An Uncertain Time in Judges - and why!
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The events in red all happen near to the same time. There are at least 150 years worth of assigned time for a period that needs to fit inside of 56 years to satisfy the 480 years of 1st Kings 6:1.
That being the case, it is pretty clear that like so many other events in Judges, these are not in sequence and are likely taking place at the same time as judges operating during the 300 years and in other places in Israel. To the point, Israel was a mess and a disaster from the standpoint of God and that does come through loud and clear in the book of Judges.

My best explanation is that the Philistines were quite the problem for Israel and God's purpose. And while Samson did win his battles with the Philistines, that does not mean their domination of Israel did not continue, despite Samson's judging. It may have ceased but the Bible does not say for sure one way or the other. Fact! Eli judged 40 years but when and whether in rest or not is not ever said. After the Philistines returned the Ark, the Ark remained in Kirjath-jearim for 20 years, where Philistine domination is said to end. Saul is made king somewhere near 30 years later. This would indicate that Eli judged during the time of Philistine domination.

Did Samson judge in Dan while Eli judged at the Temple/Tent/Tabernacle of God? It is not said. There are 31 years of judges judging mentioned from Jephthah's 6 to Abdon's 8, a total of 31 years, which brings us to within 16 years of  Samuel crowning Saul. Did these judges judge consecutively? Or near the same time, but in different places? It does not say! We are left with possibilities and nothing anywhere near certain. All we know is that Israel got into trouble time and again and had to be baled out all the time.

While a Judge type system is a good one for those obedient to God and somewhat capable of behaving and being responsible to God, for those who do not obey by not aggressively wiping out the Canaanites as Israel grew, and not inter-marrying with the Canaanites, such as Samson did, and not taking up the gods and religion of the Canaanites, likely makes it necessary to God to create a King type system/government, a more authoritarian top-down, more controlling type of government rather than the tribal, less-controlled, less-regulated, more individually-empowered and power-shared-between-tribes type government which would prevent more abuses of power and taxes.

But a king/monarch type government was probably better suited toward national survival against continually battling nations without as much help from God due to Israel rejecting Him more often than not. People are like sheep and they prefer strong leader to boss them and dominate them and tell them what to do. So be it for lazy people, spiritually speaking. A king they will have! But it was their fault that they even needed a king.

So there we have tumultuous time period of the kings. Israel did not want to be grown adults who handle their own affairs diligently and cooperatively. They like authoritarian governments and standing armies to do their dirty work for them . . . for a price, of course. There is always a price, my friends.

The book of Judges need not make us lose faith. It purpose was never to give a good accounting of time. It was written to show us why Israel and later Judah, resorted to kings and why God went along with it at the proper time. First to show that Israel was not capable of keeping a good shared system of governing by giving them a chance to try it. Further, to show how quickly people forget their God. Just one generation is all it takes for things to dissolve. Something for the so called "Baby Boomers" generation of the USA to consider. Third, that lazy people are their own worst enemies in not adequately involving themselves in their own self rule and carefully passing on important information to their kids so that a legacy can be maintained from one generation to another.

Israel had the best chances of any nation or people on earth. God was constantly giving them help and they would drop the ball every time. For it is inevitable from the fall of Adam onward, that mankind was doomed, due to this inherited flaw passed on by Adam in the Garden of Eden. Violating even the smallest command of God, such as eating a piece of fruit from a tree forbidden to them, would ultimately plunge humanity into chaos which would eventually end in a complete breakdown and total moral madness as man would wipe out most of his fellow human beings from the earth in order to have everything for just himself and his own few companions in conspiracy. Total absolute selfishness on a grand scale almost beyond contemplation and with complete and absolute disregard for God and other people.

If you doubt all this, just wait and little longer and you shall have your answer, for sure.

One More Thought
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Amos 9:
5  And the Lord Jehovah of hosts is He who touches the earth so that it melts, and all dwelling in it shall mourn. And all of it will rise up like the Nile , and sink down like the Nile of Egypt.
6  It is He who builds His staircase in the heavens, and He has founded His binding heavens on the earth; He who calls for the seawater and pours them out on the face of the earth, Jehovah is His name.
7  Are you not like the sons of the Ethiopians to Me, O sons of Israel ? declares Jehovah. Have I not brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt , and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

God not only brought up Israel from Egypt, but also the Philistines from Caphtor, better known today as Crete and Syrians from Kir. God is the God of all the earth and all the universe. And not only does He control the paths and destinies of all nations, but even as He has judged these other nations on behalf of Israel, He can also judge Israel. But Israel was too dull its senses to discern this. This reinforces much of the theme of the book of Judges. But I feel there is another point as well.

It was God's purpose from the beginning of time to accomplish salvation for any man of any race or nation who should want it, accepting it on God's terms, of course. So while other nations were adversely affected as God chose to protect His chosen (because of a promise to Abraham) nation (and chosen only for a time) till the Kingdom of God and the fulfillment of promises in God's son being offered in sacrifice be fulfilled, days would come when Israel would no longer enjoy any advantages or protections and nations would no longer be slighted in behalf of Israel. God is the God of all nations. And it is His desire to spare as many as possible in every nation through the ransom sacrifice of His son, if they accept God's terms of surrender, so to speak.

So we want to be careful in thinking that "Israel" has always been and will always be God's chosen and protected people or that Philistines or other, at times, nuisance peoples and nations shall always be a nuisance. For God will take from every nation a people for His name, as first fruits of the harvest of mankind to live and rule with God's son in heaven over the rest of mankind living under God on earth. These in heaven, the Real Temple God and New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, so to speak, will shepherd mankind and reside with mankind, so to speak. The kingdom of God will finally come to the earth God's will, will be done on the earth, even as it is in heaven.

So don't look down too much on those foreign peoples and nations. For out of those will be some who serve God in His heavenly temple along with His son to fulfill God's many purposes. Just a thought!

How to Interpret the Bible
The 7 days of Creation - Are they literal or symbolic? - The best arguments yet, are here!

An Overview of Biblical Chronology - Tells how the Timeline is figured for Bible Chronology in a concise overview - From Adam to Jerusalem's fall in 70 AD.
The Chronology of the Judges Period - This period is confusing but it is very understandable once you know the secrets. I got'em!
Biblical Chronology of the Kings - of both the Judean and Israelite kings together, resolving all problems and gaps!
Timelines of Jesus   -  The 483 years - 69/70 weeks of Daniel 9 to the birth, baptism, crucifixion, and resurrection with scriptures supplied.
A Detailed Chronology of the Bible - This covers every little detail along the way, so one can get a perspective of time as well as flow of events. Its a great way to become acquainted with the scriptures very quickly and gain a great oversight of the purpose of God, which is why its linked on this page.

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