Institute
Lesson 22: Judges 1–12

“Lesson 22: Judges 1–12,” Old Testament Instructor’s Guide, Religion 301–2 (1994), 43–44

“Judges 1–12,” Old Testament Instructor’s Guide, 43–44

22

Judges 1–12

Scripture Content Outline

Supplementary Study Sources

  1. Judges 1:1–3:7. Israel Established a Pattern of Apostasy

    1. Israel continued to war against the Canaanites (see Judges 1:1–26).

    2. An angel rebuked Israel for leaving remnants of the Canaanites in the land (see Judges 1:27–2:5).

    3. A new generation rejected the Lord (see Judges 2:6–15).

    4. The Lord raised up deliverers, or judges, but their successes were temporary and fleeting (see Judges 2:16–19).

    5. The Lord said he would prove Israel’s faithfulness by not driving out those enemies who were among them when Joshua died (see Judges 2:20–3:7).

Religion 301 student manual, 22-1 through 22-11.

Psalms 106:34–43. What was the result of Israel’s failure to rid the land of Canaanites? What particularly abominable habits did they learn from their Canaanite neighbors?

D&C 95:1–3. Why does the Lord chasten those he loves?

  1. Judges 3:8–12:15. The Pattern of Apostasy Was Perpetuated, and Heroic Exploits Failed to Bring Lasting Peace

    1. Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar were raised up by the Lord to deliver Israel (see Judges 3:8–31).

    2. Deborah and Barak led Israel to victory over the armies of Jabin (see Judges 4:1–16).

    3. Sisera, captain of Jabin’s armies, fled and was slain by Jael (see Judges 4:17–24).

    4. Deborah and Barak sang a song of praise (see Judges 5).

    5. The Lord called Gideon to deliver Israel from Midianite oppression (see Judges 6:1–24).

    6. Gideon threw down his father’s altar to Baal and cut down his grove (see Judges 6:25–32).

    7. Gideon assembled an army for the Lord (see Judges 6:33–7:8).

    8. The Lord used Gideon to subdue the Midianites (see Judges 7:9–8:35).

    9. Abimelech rose to power by slaying his brothers, but he was slain also after a wicked reign (see Judges 9).

    10. Tola and Jair reigned, and Israel was sorely oppressed because they had forsaken the Lord (see Judges 10:1–14).

    11. Jepthah led repentant Israel to victory against the Ammonites, but he caused himself great difficulty by a rash vow (see Judges 10:15–12:7).

    12. Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judged Israel (see Judges 12:8–15).

Religion 301 student manual, 22-12 through 22-30.

Exodus 15:20–21; Acts 21:8–9. Can women possess the gift of prophecy? (see also Judges 4:4; Religion 301 student manual, 22-14).

Deuteronomy 20:8. Is there any precedent in scripture for Gideon’s removing fainthearted soldiers before going into battle? (see also Judges 7:3).

Helaman 12:1–6. Why do men continually fall into apostasy despite the Lord’s goodness?

DBY, p. 350. Disobedience to the Lord’s commandments causes persecution.

Some Suggestions for Presentation

You are not expected to teach everything in the scripture content outline. Select those concepts that you feel will be the most helpful to your students.

The Challenge of the Ages (Sections A–B)

Maintaining righteousness from one generation to another has been a continuing challenge through the ages.

Ask students if the Israelites deliberately chose to reject God in this era. If not, how did they slide into such a spiritual stupor?

“Few men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to reject God and his blessings. Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to material things. Therefore, in all ages when men have fallen under the power of Satan and lost the faith, they have put in its place a hope in the ’arm of flesh’ and in ’gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know’ (Dan. 5:23)—that is, in idols. This I find to be a dominant theme in the Old Testament. Whatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn’t also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry.” (Spencer W. Kimball, “The False Gods We Worship,” Ensign, June 1976, p. 4.)

Use references from the supplementary study sources to discuss the reasons for Israel’s cycle of apostasy and faith. Compare the time of the judges with our time, showing the need to continually renew our spiritual strength and commitments to the Lord.

Quiz (Sections A–B)

The book of Judges is full of interesting characters and stories. Such questions as those below could be used either as a pretest to assess your students’ knowledge of this part of the Old Testament or as a review after you have taught the lesson. You may want to make the quiz a matching quiz, particularly if it is used as a pretest.

  1. Which two judges sang a song about their victory? (Deborah and Barak.)

  2. Which of the judges was able to win a battle by relying on the Lord and by using only three hundred men? (Gideon; see Judges 7.)

  3. Which judge was the son of righteous Gideon? (Abimelech.)

  4. Which judge, as a young man, was cast out of the family by his brothers? (Jephthah.)

  5. Who slew seventy of his brothers so he could be king? (Abimelech.)

  6. This judge vowed a foolish vow. (Jephthah.)

  7. Name two pagan peoples that the judges fought against. (Caananites, Moabites, Midianites, Ammonites, Amulekites.)

  8. How did Jephthah’s Gileadite soldiers detect the Ephraimites? (By the way the Ephraimites pronounced the word Shibboleth [Shib-bo-leth]; see Judges 12:5–6.)

  9. Who was the woman with the nail? (Jael.)

  10. How did Gideon select the three hundred men to help him in battle? (By the way they drank; see Judges 7:4–7.)

  11. What object did a woman throw that broke Abimelech’s skull? (A piece of millstone; see Judges 9:53.)

  12. What did Jephthah promise the Lord if the Lord would bless him? (He would sacrifice the first thing that came from his house to meet him after the victory.)

  13. What man helped Deborah deliver Israel from the Canaanites? (Barak.)

  14. Why did Abimelech have his armor bearer kill him after he had been hit by a millstone? (So it would not be said of him that a woman had killed him; see Judges 9:54.)

  15. Sisera escaped from Barak’s armies on foot, but he met death when he fell asleep in a tent. What happened? (A woman killed him. See Judges 4:21.)

  16. Which man was both king and judge? (Abimelech.)

  17. How did Ehud arrange to be alone with King Eglon? (Ehud told the king that he had a secret errand, so the king sent his servants away; see Judges 3:19.)

A Look at Individual Judges (Section B)

This period of Israel’s history lends itself well to reports by individual students. A few days before you teach this lesson, assign students to prepare oral reports for the class on each of the major judges. Ask them to point out such things as the condition of Israel at the time of the judge, how the judge rose to power in Israel, the judge’s faith or lack of faith in God, the manner in which the judge delivered Israel, lessons that can be learned from the judge’s rule, and so on.

Instead of giving homework assignments, you may choose to divide the class into study groups to look for the same concepts and then have a representative from each group briefly review the findings before the class.

The Twelve Judges and Their Victories (Section B)

The period of the judges was a time of regional confederacies with charismatic leaders leading comparatively small groups in regional battles. Select stories from the lives of the judges, and discuss the principles taught by events in their lives. Use transparency 20 to point out the areas associated with each of the judges and the nations or enemies they defeated.