I BET YOU DON’T KNOW WHO WROTE JUDGES, KINGS, AND CHRONICLES.

I also bet you don’t have a good grasp of the 500-year period from the Conquest of Canaan to the coronation of King Saul, the first king of Israel.  There are many familiar names that figure into the story. But it might be the least understood period in the Bible.

“FOR ALL REAL STUDENTS OF THE BIBLE . THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE IS A FOUNDATIONAL STUDY .  IT PROVIDES ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT DOUGLAS WOODWARD BEGAN IN REBOOTING THE BIBLE . BOTH ARE EXCELLENT AND EXHAUSTIVE WORKS ON HOW OUR BIBLE CAME TO BE AND WHY IT CAN BE TRUSTED . I RECOMMEND THIS WORK FOR ALL WHO WANT A DEEPER VIEW INTO THE FORMATION OF THE BIBLE AND SPECIFICALLY, THE BIBLE USED BY THE APOSTLE’S OF JESUS .”
— MIKE HORSEY, DURANGO , CO

Below is a brief synopsis of what happened, the chronology which I researched for Rebooting the Bible, Part 1 (for this 500+ year period, all the way from the Exodus until the the time of King Solomon’s Temple. And I tell you who wrote these books of the Bible from the period of Judges to the Kings – inclusive (that’s another 500 years, from about 1000 B.C. to 500 B.C.) … All in this brief article drawn from my new book.

Indeed, this is a small portion of the Prologue for my book, A Biography of the Christian Bible: And How We Defend the Protestant Scriptures in the 21st Century … It’s 94,000 words and 330 pages, regularly priced at $21.95 (and is so priced on Amazon.com). But this weekend, starting at midnight tonight,  I finally open my store at Faith-Happens.com. Its been a labor of love for the last few months, building the store and a new website. In celebration, I’m offering both the new book and Rebooting the Bible, Part 1, at a 10% discount plus FREE SHIPPING. Free shipping is the more expensive USPS Priority 2-day shipping. So, you can buy both books and have them by the following Tuesday if you act quickly.  Signed by yours truly too. (You are able to buy one or both).

I am very appreciative of the support I receive from my followers on Facebook and my website. And I sincerely hope that these books are a blessing to you.

From A Biography of the Christian Bible…

The Judges

After sufficient land in Canaan was conquered, to the satisfaction of Joshua and the other leaders of Israel, the people settled into various tribal regions, established by Joshua with direction for the Lord; and in response to the requests from several of the twelve tribes and their leadership, as well as from casting lots. For the next lengthy period (approximately 490 years from the conquest of crossing over into Jordan until the crowning of Saul, 1588 B.C. to 1096 B.C., see 1 Kings 6:1), many leaders make a name for themselves – some positively and others leaving much to be desired. Joshua is the first judge after the land is conquered, and Samuel is the final judge. While the length of their “judgeship” is debated, my research suggested that both served as judges for about 30 years. Among others less notable, we recall the names of Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. These were the good judges. Others ruled during the not-so-good times when Israel was oppressed. This negative period occurred at various times, but in total, lasted almost 120 of the 490 years.

As for the Bible, the books of Joshua and Judges address this period with considerable detail. Who wrote this material down? It is generally believed that the priest and prophet Samuel compiled and composed these books during his term as judge, running from 1127 to 1097 B.C. (using my dates). He likely assembled Israelite history from several sources, at least four are estimated, and served as editor knitting them together and attempting a sequential presentation of what happened and when it took place in accordance to the duration of each judge. However, to establish the exact length of this period, based upon my research, we must settle the time of the Exodus at one end of the timeline, and the coronation of Israel’s first king, King Saul, at the other. Through these bookends and other chronological work completed by this author, there were approximately 500 years in total from Saul to the Exodus, and 500 years from the Exodus to the birth of Abraham. My timeline is presented in Figure 2 below, created for Rebooting the Bible, Part 1. While it takes some work, the duration of each the Judges can be established by Scripture except perhaps the two most important, Joshua and Samuel, which are estimated based upon the limited data we have and by aligning with those other dates, we deem sure as the beginning and ending markers for the timeline.

I’m well aware that my chronology is at odds with the standard chronology of both Evangelical and secular academics. However, the first is based upon the mistaken chronology derived from the Masoretic Text (for now, think of this as the Hebrew Bible), and the other from the Septuagint (this is the Hebrew Bible translated into Greek almost 300 years before the birth of Jesus). It has been necessary for me to calculate chronology to support my thesis that the Septuagint contains the oldest record of the Hebrew writings, and that the Masoretic Text was corrupted by Jewish rabbis circa 100 A.D. to obscure the claims of Christ to be the Jewish Messiah. This thesis is the story-line of Rebooting the Bible, Part 1. And more will be covered on the topic later in this book.

The Kings

Some of the most famous events in Hebrew history occur during the reign of the kings of Israel, its kingdom united, and later its Northern and Southern Kingdoms. The Israelite Kingdom remained as one during the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. And under Solomon, Israel achieved its most celebrated world status, with its Kingdom ranging from Egypt to Persia. Its navy may even have allied with its Canaanite cousins, the Phoenicians, and forayed into the new world. Regardless, currently, Israel was at the center of the ancient world.  However, this geographical intersection was not all hunky-dory. It was also at its center when the divided Kingdom lay in ruins, as foreign kings and their armies crossed over it for nearly 2,000 years. And the Hebrew people were generally far worse off from what seems to be the rise and fall of many foreign rulers throughout the region.

Regarding biblical content, with the Kingdom united, David, composed most of the Psalms while Solomon wrote his great wisdom: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon (aka Song of Songs).  These books are considered “the writings” (Ketuvim). Although they are poetic, many of the Psalms are also prophetic, particularly as it relates to the coming of Messiah.

After the death of Solomon, the kingdom splits into two parts: The Northern and Southern kingdoms. Israel is identified as the north, Judah the south. Technically speaking, there are more tribes (perhaps 10) comprising the Northern Kingdom and 2 tribes, the Southern. The Southern Kingdom included Judah, Benjamin, and the priestly tribe, the Levites (Levi). The remaining ten tribes were the Northern Kingdom, aka Ephraim. But, it should be noted that some members of the Northern tribes moved to Judah when Jeroboam, a very evil king, set up an alternative religion in the North. These included members of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. A colorful and easy to grasp overview of the history of the twelve tribes of Israel, developed with vivid use of graphics, can be found at overviewbible.com. I recommend checking it out.

While the Northern Kingdom never seemed free of corruption or opposing the ways of Yahweh, it did witness some of the most famous Hebrew prophets: Isaiah, Elijah, and Elisha who would be counted among them. Although Elisa and Elijah worked great wonders and gave explicit warnings to the Northern Kings, they failed in turning the ship around. The famous dastardly duo, King Ahab and his queen, Jezebel, ensconced Baal worship – the native religion of Tyre and Sidon, and the ancient Ugarit kingdom along with the other “northwest Semitic” tribes. The ten tribes of the North were finally judged, and the people of the Northern King dispersed throughout the world by the Assyrian Empire circa 712 B.C.

The history of the Kingdoms was most likely compiled and composed first by Jeremiah and later Ezra. Jeremiah probably wrote 1 and 2 Kings before the Babylonian captivity circa 590 B.C, while Ezra authored 1 and 2 Chronicles roughly 130 years later. However, before we proceed, we must step back a generation before Jeremiah‘s time to discuss a significant turning point in the history of the Jewish people and their Bible.

(And that’s the subject for the next post!)

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