#53.# The only other case to which attention is called here that of the longest of all the periods of oppression,--the second under the Philistines, which lasted forty years. Here it was Samson who was to deliver the people from the iron hand of the Philistines, and it took the iron hand of a Samson to do the work.
#54. Not a Time of National Unity.#--During all these many years, the government of the people was largely that of the tribal leaders. There was not the national unity that we saw in the days of their two great leaders, Moses and Joshua. Nor was there the same unity of action that came later on under the kings. But none the less, the great need of the people during these years was not so much political as religious. Had they only obeyed the commands of God as given to Moses, and as reiterated by the angel of the Lord to Joshua, God would not have permitted them to be ground under the heel of their oppressors as they were. We fail to read the story aright unless we seize the truth that righteousness exalts a people, while sin is a reproach to any nation. This truth has its modern as well as its ancient application.
Where was Israel at the time of the death of Moses?
Whom did God appoint to be Moses' successor?
What peculiarity was there in God's directions to Joshua?
In what order were the different parts of the land conquered?
What was the general trend of the history of Israel during the times of the Judges?
What was the cause of each period of "oppression"?
What was the cause of each "deliverance"?
Give the proportion of the years of "oppression" and those of "rest."
Give the first two leaders named as deliverers.
Who brought relief from the oppression of Midian?
Who delivered the people from the first Philistine bondage?
Who did the same thing in the case of the second Philistine bondage?
What was the condition of the people politically during the period of the rule of the Judges?
#Samuel.#--The connecting link between the times of the Judges and of the kings (1 Sam. 1-8).
#Saul.#--First king, who made a good beginning (1 Sam. 10:1-27). He united the people, breaking down factions. Spurned Samuel's advice (1 Sam. 15:1-35). He became jealous of David, and angered at his own son, Jonathan (1 Sam. 18:8 to 19:11). Rejected by God as king (1 Sam. 15). Killed in battle at Gilboa (1 Sam. 31:1-13).