Historical Books Flashcards
1
Q
What books are called the “Former Prophets”?
A
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings (Deuteronomic Books)
2
Q
What are the themes of the Deuteronomic Books?
A
- Covenant faithfulness: Yahweh’s covenant faithfulness vs. the people’s covenant (un)faithfulness
- Leadership and identity: Centralized, godly leadership and identity vs divided identity and destructive leadership
- Worship: Centralized worship of Yahweh vs. local altars and idols
- Blessing in the land vs. suffering/destruction/exile
3
Q
What books are in the “Writings”?
A
Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther, Ruth
4
Q
What is the audience of the Deuteronomic Books?
A
Southern Kingdom
5
Q
What is the audience of the Writings?
A
Post-exilic Jews struggling to define and preserve Jewish identity
6
Q
What themes are in the Writings?
A
- The meaning of the promises/covenant for post-exilic people
- The temple and Torah as keys to Jewish identity
- Intermarriage and interactions with foreigners
7
Q
What is the structure of Joshua?
A
- Conquest (Josh 1-12)
- Distribution of Land (Josh 13-22)
- Covenant Renewal at Shechem (Josh 13-24)
8
Q
What are five key events in the conquest?
A
- Crossing the Jordan
- Victory at Jericho
- Failure at Ai (Achan’s mistake)
- Failure through treaty with Gibeonites
- Partial conquest of the land (with tribes on both sides of the Jordan)
9
Q
What tensions exist in Joshua?
A
- Total victory vs. partial success
- Justice and holiness of Yahweh vs mercy and graciousness of Yahweh
- Absolute possession of the land on the basis of promise vs. conditional possession of the land on the basis of obedience
10
Q
What are four key themes in Joshua?
A
- Charismatic leadership
- Covenant obedience
- Land as something promised
- Holy war
11
Q
What are three key facets of Judges?
A
- The people do (and continue to do) “the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh.”
- “Judges” are people who govern and exercise authority, often militarily (not judicial judges)
- They are sample stories about local events and leaders rather than a comprehensive history of an entire people
12
Q
What is the structure of Judges?
A
- Double introduction (military success and failure)
- Cycle of the judges (sin, discipline, crying, divine word, deliverance, peace, death, repeat)
- Double conclusion (total anarchy, establishment of cult at Dan and intertribal warfare)
13
Q
Key Judges
A
- Othniel (paradigmatic good judge)
- Ehud (left-handed judge who kills Eglon in a latrine)
- Deborah & Barak (female judge and reluctant leader whose victory honour goes to Jail)
- Gideon (shy, untrusting judge who devolves into a vengeful and problematic leader)
- Abimelech (an internal enemy who oppresses Israel from within)
- Jepthah (raised up by elders, sacrifices his own daughter)
- Samson (impure womanizer used by God despite repeated failures)
14
Q
What are nine key themes in Samuel
A
- Request for a king (Samuel upset; God warns; request granted; Davidic dynasty established; God works despite changing political arrangements and covenant faithfulness is still expected
- Saul as tragic character who moves from humble and obedient to arrogant and disobedient
- David as a man of God’s choosing (“after God’s own heart”)
- David with theological vision, but also cunning and outside the box thinker; not a ‘nice’ boy
- David wanting to build a house for God, but God instead builds a house for David
- David as an ideal (paradigmatic) king, but must be confronted by the prophetic word
- The decline of David and his family and the contrasting faithfulness of God
- KEY THEME: Obedience to prophets is better than ritual/sacrifice
15
Q
What are thirteen key themes in Kings
A
- David functions as the ideal king (no other southern king measures up); Jeroboam functions as a negative example (with northern kings being judged for being like him)
- Southern kingdom (Judah) occupies the traditional territory of Judah and Benjamin
- Northern kingdom (Israel) maintains the designation Israel
- In the north, golden calves stand at Bethel and Dan (idolatry)
- The most prominent historical kings (e.g. Omri) are not the most prominent spoken of kings (e.g. Ahab) because the emphasis is on religious impact, not historic
- Elijah/Elisha stories and the themes of kingly obedience/disobedience in relation to Yahweh’s prophets
- Fall of Hoshea and the northern kingdom to Assyrians in 722 B.C.E.
- Emphasis on Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah as good kings in the South.
- Solomon as a key to God fulfilling his promises to David and patriarchs (land); but requires God’s faithfulness as he descends into disobedience
- Hezekiah rules well in the shadow of northern destruction, but his reign ends with prophecy about Jerusalem’s destruction
- Josiah depicted as similar to Moses, but dies in battle
- Ends with destruction of Jerusalem, but a sliver of hope because Jehoiachin is given an elevated place in exile
- Overall, a picture of God’s faithfulness to David dynasty, while acknowledging failings as problems that led to exile
