OLD TESTAMENT HISTORICAL AND Tsedey Alemayehu

WISDOM LITERATURE
 THE NATURE OF BIBLICAL HISTORY
 The history of Israel is a redemption history. God wanted to redeem human kind
and He choose the people of Israel for this purpose.
 This story of redemption started in Genesis 3:15.
 It continued in the call of Abraham and shaped by Abrahamic covenant in Genesis
12:1 – 3
 For Israel and through Israel the Abrahamic covenant promises three things: land,
nationhood (seed) and blessing.
 In our study of the Historical Books we shall see how the history of Israel was
shaped by these three promises.
BIBLICAL HISTORY
 The Holy Spirit not only inspired the writing of the fact in the Bible, but He also
directed the writers in the arrangement of the facts.
 The source of data for Divine/Bible History are:
 Revelation (inspiration)
 Testimonies of eyewitness accounts by writers
 Testimonies of written records, chronicles
 Testimonies of others (research)

 Revelation means that God showed the authors what they could not have
discovered or known by themselves.
 Inspiration is the means by which the writers wrote the message or revelation in the
Bible; the Holy Spirit guided not only their thoughts but their words in full extent.
STRUCTURE OF REDEMPTIVE HISTORY
 The first 11 chapters of Genesis present what may be called a universal history
based on revelation. It tells us how God created the earth and its inhabitants; how
mankind fell; the degrading results of sin, ending in the judgment of the flood.
 Genesis 12 – 50 focus on the beginning of the Hebrew nation or people.
 As monotheists the Hebrew were endowed with a theocratic or theocentric viewpoint
of History. Revelation played a major role in their understanding of history and God’s
interventions in history.
 Thus Genesis 1 – 11 reveals the secrets of the beginning of the universe. It deals
with the rest of humanity, however, in an incidental way, only as it comes into contact
with God’s chosen people. All events are preordered by providence. It is as a drama
written by Him, where no one actor has the main role.
CONT.
 The conclusion of world affairs, for the Hebrew, centers around the coming of
Messiah.
 Bible history is also interpretative because it explains the reason why certain things
happened.
 It is in the light of the redemptive message and purpose of God’s Word that you
will want to study the history of the Bible.
Therefore the nature of Biblical history is God-centered (seeing God directing
history as theocentric view.
 As you study the history of Israel in the Old Testament historical books, look for this
characteristics.
INTRODUCTION
 Joshua has been called “the Book of Victory.”
 He was one of the outstanding persons of the Old Testament:
 Assistant to Moses (Exod. 24:13; 32:17; 33:11)
 One of the twelve spies (Num. 14)
 Successful general (Exod. 17)

 courageous and godly, he served as God’s instrument for bringing the people of
Israel into the Promised Land.
The book rightly bears his name, but in the end it must be realized that the book in
not about Joshua, it is about God.
NAME OF THE BOOK
 The name of the book comes from Moses’ successor and the chief character of the
book.
 His name is made up of two Hebrew terms:
1. YHWH (J plus a vowel)
2. salvation (Hoshea)
 This is exactly the same Hebrew name as Jesus (Matthew 1:21).
 The meaning of his name is: God is my salvation
KEY IDEAS

Faithfulness of God in fulfilling Covenant

Promises
 The conquest and apportionment of the
land
 The importance of obedience
PURPOSE STATEMENT
 Thepurpose of the book of Joshua is summarized nicely in Joshua
21:43 – 45
“So the LORD gave Israel all the land … and they took
possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them
rest on every side the LORD handled all their enemies
over to them. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the
house of Israel failed: everyone was fulfilled.”
The book shows how God kept His covenant promise to give the
land to Israel.
MAJOR THEMES
 Covenant and land
 Ban
 Divine Worrier
 Sovereign involvement
 Corporate solidarity
OUT LINE
I. Entrance into the Land (1 – 5: 12)
II. Conquest Narratives (5:13 – 12
III. Description of Allotment of Land (13 – 21)
IV. Covenant Matters (22 – 24)
MESSAGE
 There are two popular misconceptions about the book of Joshua.
1. It is just the story of a courageous and godly person
 The lack of biographical details and a shortage of expressions
of approval or disproval of Joshua’s actions suggest that Joshua is
really the focus of the material, though he certainly plays a central
role in the events of the Book.
2. it is a military record of a conquest
 A close examination reveals that there is actually very little given
of the details of military strategy and achievement
CONT.
 These misconceptions dispelled, we see that when military strategies are described
in the text, they are God strategies, not Joshua’s.
 In each battle narrative only enough information is given to convey that
1. God was the one who engineered the victory
2. God’s instructions were carried out in placing the defeated cities under the
ban.
 The orientation of the texts toward the role of God is evident in several places. The
theological point is being made even though military records are used to get the
point across.
CONT.
 Theological Purpose in the Book of Joshua
 God instructed the Israelites to enter the land 1:1 – 9
 God has gone before them to terrify the occupants of the land 2:9 – 11
 God brings them across the Jordan 3 – 4
 Circumcision required for rededication 5:1 – 12
 The commander of the Lord’s army (God as a warrior) 5:13 – 15
 God-given strategies 6:2 – 5; 8:2
 God-given victories 6:16; 8:7; 10:42
 Defeat when God’s instructions had been violated 7:5 – 12
CONT.
 Based on this orientation toward the role of God, on including every segment of the
writing, and on the comments made by the narrator, it is evident that the purpose of
the book is to convey how God kept his covenant promise to bring the Israelites into
the land he had showed to Abraham.
 The message is that God keeps his promises, no matter how impossible they may
seem. God’s covenant with Abraham is something that he took very seriously and
intended to fulfill. God was determined to carry it out and is capable of carrying it
out.
THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK
 At least four important themes can be discerned
as central to the theology of the book.
1. The Land
2. Rest
3. The Covenant
4. Purity of Worship
THE LAND
 The major theme in the book is the possession of the Promised Land, which had
been promised to Abraham, and repeated to Isaac, to Jacob and to succeeding
generations.
 In Joshua, the concept of the land as God’s gift to Israel occurs more than fifty
times.
 As a gift of God, it never belongs absolutely to Israel: it belongs to God (Lev.
25:23; Deut. 9:4 – 5)
 The fact that a major portion of the book is devoted to detailing the specific
inheritances of individuals and tribes is very important in showing that the land
promises were now fulfilled in tangible ways.
An important concept is that possession and retention of the land is tied to
obedience to the law.
REST
 The idea of the possession of the land as the accomplishment of God’s “rest” is
important as we consider the book of Joshua.
 The “rest” is a gift, part of the inheritance. The inheritance is of two parts: (1) the
land and (2) “rest” from conflict with enemies.
 The idea of rest for the entire nation from their enemies is found in Deuteronomy
12:10 and 25:19; and it is echoed in the summarizing passages in Joshua 21:44 and
23:1.
 Typologically, the NT equate the OT concept o rest with entering into Christ's “rest.”
Hebrews 3 and 4.
THE COVENANT
 Obedient to the law and the covenant is urged upon Joshua in 1:7 – 8, upon the
Transjordan tribes in 22:5, upon the people in 23:6; 24:15.
 Two covenant renewal ceremonies are recorded in the book. The first took place on
Mount Ebal (8:30 – 35) and the second was at Shechem in Joshua 24.
 In chapter 3, the Ark of the Covenant occupied an important place. The ark was the
symbol of God’s very presence and its reference with covenant suggest that there is
such a close relationship between the ark and the covenant.
 God, who is associated with the ark, is closely associated with the covenant as well,
and these ways of referring to the ark highlight this fact.
PURITY OF WORSHIP (HOLINESS0
 An important passage in Joshua that speaks of holiness is chapter 5 and 22.
 The special emphasis at the time of Joshua was that Israel was to keep itself
undefiled and the land itself was to be undefiled.
 Holiness is rooted in God’s very nature. Leviticus 19, a crucial chapter in a book o
holiness, shows that the commands to be holy are rooted in God’s own character, since
He Himself is holy.
 This command was behind Israel’s self-understanding in the land of Canaan.
INTRODUCTION
 The book of Judges is one of sharp contrasts with the book of Joshua.
 Joshua has been called “the book of victory.” By contrast, Judges has been called
“the book of failure.”
 The period has been called the “dark ages” of Israel’s early history.
 The reason for failure will be apparent from the beginning of the book; they are to
be measure against the yardstick of Joshua’s farewell address at the close of the
book of Joshua (chs. 23 – 24).
Through studying this book, we should have a deeper insight into and a better
understanding of the underlying cause of social, moral and spiritual deterioration
around us.
THE NAME OF THE BOOK
 The name of the book is the generic name given to the twelve leaders of Israel
during the period between Joshua and Samuel.
 The Hebrew called them shophtim and the translated Greek word means “to judge.”
 Because the book centers around these people called judges, we call it the book of
Judges.
KEY IDEAS
 The Cycles of the Judges period
 God’s justice and grace
 God’s Sovereign provision of deliverers
 Covenant failure by the people, the priests and the tribal leadership
 The role of the Spirit of the Lord
AUTHORSHIP AND DATE OF COMPOSITION
 The book is the collection of various blocks of materials about different judges and
these blocks are not attributed to any particular source.
 Many scholarship dates its final form in the seventh or sixth centuries B.C. since it
sees 2:6 – 16:31 as “Deuteronomistic.”
 Certainly it was written after the last events recorded in it. The reference in 18:30
to “the day of the captivity of the land” refers to the exile (in the sixth century B.C.),
suggesting that at least the final “edition” of the book came from the exile or
afterwards.
 Otherwise there are no clear indicators of its date of composition in the book or
elsewhere in the canon.
DATE OF THE EVENTS
 The book of Judges covers a lengthy period,
beginning after the death of Joshua and ending
prior to the rise of Samuel to prominence and the
coronation of Saul. As such it covers some 300 –
350 years.
PURPOSE
 The book was written to show the consequences of disobedience to God and
to point the way to the king.
 The book shows that Israel began to disobey God even in the time of Joshua
and that this disobedience grew more serious and more degraded throughout
the period.
 Judges 2:16 – 23 points out the cyclical or repetitive nature of history during
this period.
 However, the book makes clear that the repetitions were not merely of the
same degree each time; rather each cycle took Israel further downward in its
relationship with God and in its own religious misconduct.
 By the end of the book, it is clear that Israel had violated its covenant with
God in almost every way imaginable.
MAJOR THEMES
The Nature of Charismatic Leadership
 Spirit of the Lord
 Israel’s Apostasy
THE NATURE OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP
 The Judges are referred to as charismatic leaders because they spontaneously took
leadership roles when the need arose. Thus, it can be affirmed that God raised them
up to deliver Israel.
The most prominent tasks undertaken by the judges were military in nature. In this
sense the judge was establishing justice for the Israelites who were oppressed by
other people.
The Judges has no relation to the tabernacle or to the ark of the covenant, and they
did not call the people back to Yahweh.
Though the Lord is identified by the narrator as the one who raise up the judges,
there is little evidence to conclude that they were chosen on the basis of their
spirituality.
CONT.
 The judges were not intended to be spiritual role models, nor was their spirituality
necessarily a criterion or God’s raising them up.
 The task of the judge was to be a deliverer, in fact the Lord’s instrument or
providing deliverance.
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD
 It was under the Spirit’s power that several of the judges accomplished their tasks,
this therefore demonstrated that the Lord was at work and ultimately responsible for
the deliverance brought by a judge.
It is very likely that the Spirit of the Lord was understood by the Israelites, not as a
separate entity, but as an extension of Yahweh’s power and authority.
 In this sense the Spirit was viewed as something like “the hand of the Lord.”
 This discontinuity, however, need concern only perception, not reality. That is, we
need not doubt that the Spirit of the Lord in the Old Testament was actually a
manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
The text speaks of the Spirit’s empowering individuals. This empowerment was not
the same as the baptism of the Holy Spirit and need not imply spiritual regeneration.
CONT.
 In both the Old and New Testament, the Spirit gave people the ability or authority
to do what they normally could not have done.
As a result, the OT most frequently refers to the Spirit of the Lord as empowering
and authorizing the prophets.
 None of these instances, however, offer a suitable definition of the role of the Spirit
of the Lord with regard to the judges.
In most cases the Spirit is mentioned in relation to military ventures of the judges.
ISRAEL’S APOSTASY
 Reading the book of Judges one wonders how the Israelites could have gone so
wrong. How could they just turn their backs on all what the Lord has done on their
behalf and worship other gods?
 The reasons could be
1. Prior to Sinai, it is evident that there was no command that the people were to
worship only one God.
2. We must recognize the polytheism of the ancient Near East.
 The monotheistic view that was accepted in theory at Sinai involved sophisticated
philosophical adjustments that most of the people simply never made.
UNITY
 The book of Judges is divided into several distinct sections:
1. It begins with a prologue indicating that the conquest described in Joshua was
incomplete (1:1 – 2:5)
2. It then proceeds with an introduction that summarizes the cycle of events that recur
over and over again in the book (2:6 – 3:6; esp. 2:10 – 23)
3. Then the core of the book tells the stories of the individual judges (3:7 – 16:31)
4. Finally, the book ends with two appendixes that portray the period as almost
completely debased (17:1 – 21:25)
OUTLINE
I. Background
II. Introduction
III. Cycles
IV. Tribal Depravity
INTRODUCTION
 This book complements Judges. It’s setting is in the era of the judges (1:1).
 The book does not advance the history of Israel, but it does illustrate life in the
days of the judges.
 The touching story of Ruth introduces the reader of the OT to one of the keepers of
the covenant.
 As a record of an incident that occurred during the judges period, it offers a plain
contrast to the negative perspective of Israelites abandoning their loyalty and
deserting the worship of Yahweh for other god, the story portrays Ruth acting out of
loyalty and embracing Yahweh, denouncing other gods, even as that which becomes
the Davidic line hovers on the brink of extinction.
KEY IDEAS
 God’s faithfulness and loyalty stimulated by people’s faithfulness and loyalty to one
another.
 David’s faith shown to be the legacy of his ancestors.
 The light of loyalty dispersed during the apostasy of the judges period.
 The concept of kinsman-redeemer introduced.
AUTHORSHIP AND DATE OF RUTH
 The Jewish Talmud claims that Samuel wrote the book, but the author is unknown.
 It was not written prior to the time of David, since he is mentioned in 4:22.
 Since David is mentioned, but David’s son Solomon is not mentioned, it has led some
to assume that it was written before Solomon’s time.
 Samuel could have written the book. If he did, a date of about 1000 B.C. would be
given.
PURPOSE OF RUTH
1. One purpose of the book is to reveal that there were godly people during the era
of the theocracy.
 Even though the nation found itself in deep apostasy, there were people in Israel
who loved and obeyed the Lord God of Israel.
 In the book of Judges Israel forsakes the Lord and turn to idols, whereas in the book
of Ruth one Gentile woman turns from her idols to serve the living and true God.
 The purpose of Ruth is to show that when people are faithful, God is faithful.
2. Another purpose of the book is to reveal something of the family line of Israel’s
greatest king, David.
 God preserved such families of faithfulness, and that is the very background from
which David came.
OUTLINE
I. Flight and Tragedy of Elimelech’s Family (chapter 1:1 – 5)
II. Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem (Chapter 1:6 – 22)
III. Ruth Meets Boaz (Chapter 2)
IV. Naomi’s Plan and Its Success (Chapter 3)
V. The Marriage of Ruth and Boaz, and Birth of a Son (Chapter 4:1 – 17)
VI. The Genealogy of Perez (4:8 – 22)
IMPORTANT DATA ABOUT RUTH
 Key Words: Kinsman and redeemer (based on Lev. 25:25, 47 – 79; Deut. 25:5 – 6)
 Key Chapter: 4 – The family line of David
 Key Verse: 1:15 – 16; 4:10
 Key Characters: Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz
THE MESSAGE
 God preserved families of faith and that from one such family King David came.
 The preservation of this family shares many motifs with God’s preservation of the
patriarchs.
 Thus it provides another example of God’s covenant loyalty and the faith it
produces.
MAJOR THEMES
 Kinsman Redeemer
 Hesed
THE KINSMAN-REDEEMER
 The Levirate system (Deut. 25:5 – 10)
 Under this law, if a man died without having a son, his brother was obligated to bear a son by his
widow.
 That son would thereafter be considered the heir to the dead brother’s household. In this way families
could not easily die out.

 Land redemption law (Lev. 25:25 – 31, 47 – 55)

 The kinsman-redeemer is taken from the land redemption law.
 According to this law, land sold by a person could be bought back by a relative so as to keep the
land in the family.

 Both the land law and levirate marriage were intended to preserve family and
land-covenant matters of the first degree.
CONT.
 They were social provisions by which God’s covenant promises could continue to be
realized even for families in crisis.
The kinsman redeemer provided the means by which jeopardized covenant blessings
could be regained and thus served as an appropriate metaphor for God’s grace.
 Yahweh constantly acted as kinsman redeemer for Israel, and the NT was quick to
apply that concept to the role of Christ.
HESED
 Related most frequently to covenant loyalty, the Hebrew term hesed envelops all
the far-reaching implications of Yahweh’s loyalty to his covenant.
 Different Bible versions translated the word into: mercy, lovingkindness; kindness,
love, loyalty, steadfast love and more.
 Ruth is a book of hesed on both the human and the divine level.
 The most explicit statement of this is found in Ruth’s stirring expression of
commitment to Naomi (1:16 – 17)
 It is this quality that gains her Boaz’s favor (2:12). Boaz is likewise praised for the
hesed he shows to Naomi (2:20)
 The issue of hesed serves as the premise for the discussion between Boaz and Ruth
as negotiations are made (3:9 – 13)
CONT.
 The Lord’s hesed is introduced in 1:8 – 9 as the factor that will eventually lead to
the successful remarriage of Naomi’s daughter-in-law, so that it cannot help but be
recognized in the provision of kinsman redeemer for Ruth (4:14).
 All these demonstrates that hesed to one another is among the most fitting vehicles
God can use to display his own hesed.
 This again provides a contrast to the book of Judges, in which loyalty within the
bounds of the covenant in scarce.
INTRODUCTION
 The books of 1 and 2 Samuel fall together naturally as a unit and originally
constituted a single book.
 Together they cover the period of the transition from the judges through the
establishment of the monarchy, including the reigns of Saul and David.
 Although the Septuagint combines the books of Samuel with the books of
Kings under the title “Kingdoms,” the Hebrew text traditionally has referred to
these books as the books of Samuel in recognition of the significant role of
Samuel in the establishment of the monarchy.
KEY IDEAS
 The institution of kingship
 The process toward establishing a covenant with
David’s line
 The importance of divine kingship
AUTHORSHIP AND DATE
 The books of 1 and 2 Samuel, originally one book, were divided
into the present two books in the third century B.C.
 The Jewish Talmud states that Samuel wrote part of the book (1
Samuel 1 – 24) and that Nathan and Gad composed the rest (1
Chronicles 29:29).
 The idea of there being several authors does not detract from
the unity of the books or from the doctrine of inspiration.
 For this study, a date of 975 B.C. is given for these books.
PURPOSE
 1 Samuel was given to record the great transition in the national
life of Israel, as Israel left the theocracy and went into the
monarchy.
 Samuel was the key individual during this time, and 1 Samuel
provides the account of his ministry.
 The purpose of 2 Samuel is to continue the account of the
development of the monarchy in Israel.
 Second Samuel is the record of the reign of David, Israel’s
greatest king.
 The book also sets forth the elements of the Davidic Covenant.
OUTLINE
I. The Shiloh Traditions (1 Samuel 1:1 – 4:1a)
II. The Ark Narrative (1 Samuel 4:1b – 7:1)
III. The Institution of the Monarchy (1 Samuel 7:2 – 12:15)
IV. The Reign of Saul (1 Samuel 13 – 15)
V. David’s Rise to Power (1 Samuel16:1 – 2 Samuel 5:10)
VI. David’s Success (2 Samuel 5:11 – 9:13)
VII. David’s Failures (2 Samuel 10 – 24)
IMPORTANT DATE ABOUT 1 SAMUEL
 Key Word: King
 Key Chapter: 8 – The first king in Israel
 Key Verse: 2:30; 8:7; 15:22 – 23; 16:7
 Key Character: Samuel, Saul and David
IMPORTANT DATA ABOUT 2 SAMUEL
 Key Word: David
 Key Chapter: 7 – The great Davidic Covenant
 Key Verse: 7:8 – 16; 12:7 - 14
 Key Character: David, Nathan, Abner, Joab, and
Absalom
MESSAGE
 The major purpose of Historical books is not history for history’ sake rather it
is theological.
 As Genesis gives us the history of the establishment of the Abrahamic
covenant, so Samuel give us the history of the establishment of Davidic
covenant (2 Samuel 7).
 The emphasis in these books and ultimately in the covenant itself is the
development of the proper concept of divine authority.
 The primary message is that the Davidic covenant was established by God.
People may choose kings, as they did Paul, but God chooses dynasties. The
institution of a monarchy was in God’s plan for Israel (Deut. 17:14 – 20)
MAJOR THEMES
 Ark of the Covenant
 Kingship
 Davidic Covenant
 Assessment of Saul
 Assessment of David
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
 Built at Sinai under the supervision of Moses, it represented Yahweh’s presence in
their midst.
 Occupying the place in the temple that was given over to the idol of the deity in
most of the regions of the ancient Near East, the ark was nevertheless considered
only the footstool of Yahweh’s throne.
 The ark operates only at the imitative of the Lord.
 There was no other physical object that had the endowment of Yahweh’s presence
as the ark did.
 therefore the successful installation of the ark in Jerusalem at the beginning of
David’s reign was not simply a ritual bur designated the Lord’s approval of the new
era and his favor on David. This theology of the ark is supported in Psalm 78:53–72.
KINGSHIP
 From the biblical standpoint, kingship over Israel was the entitlement of Yahweh
(Judg. 8:23; 1 Samuel 8:7; 12:12).
 The function of the king was to maintain justice, both in a domestic sense in society
and in an international sense by means of an effective military force.
 In the judges period the Lord raised up and empowered individuals to accomplish
this purpose.
 The people of Samuel’s day viewed kingship as a more permanent office that
would eliminate the need to wait for the Lord to raise up a deliverer.
 It was this perspective on kingship that caused the Lord to be angry.
CONT.
 There was nothing wrong with having a monarchic form of government.
 We should remember that even as early as the Abrahamic covenant it was
promised that kings would come from Abraham’s family (Genesis 17:6).
 Likewise the appointment of a king was anticipated in the book of Deuteronomy
(17:14 – 20).
 The crime of the people was not their request for a king, but their expectation that
a human king could succeed where they believed the Lord had failed.
 Saul was chosen as the one who would “go out before us and fight our battles” (1
Samuel 8:20)
 That this view was ultimately flawed is shown in 1 Samuel 17.
CONT.
 There we learn that Saul was unwilling to fight the Israelites’ battles for them, so he
offered a reward to anyone who would go out and fight Goliath.
 In contrast, the true king-David-fully realized that it was the Lord who fought their
battles for them (1 Samuel 17:37, 46).
 A proper monarchy still had to function as a theocracy rather than replace it.
 The king was to be viewed as the earthly head of God’s theocratic kingdom.
THE DAVIDIC COVENANT
 It is the central focus of the books of Samuel and a significant aspect of OT
theology.
 It requires considering at least three points:
1. what did the Lord promised to David?
 To make his name great (2 Sam. 7:9); a place to plan Israel (2 Sam. 7:10); to make
the land a place of security (2 Sam. 7:10 – 11). All these were similar to Abraham’s.
 To make David’s descendant established on the throne after him (2 Sam. 7:12).
2. Was the covenant conditional or unconditional?
 The promises made to David were unconditional, but the covenant was subject to
periodic renewal, so we would expect that there must have been criteria by which it
was decided whether or not the covenant would be renewed to the next generation.
CONT.
3. What impact did the covenant have on the rest of Israelite history?
 The hope that someday a Davidic king would meet the conditions and bring the
restoration o the full Davidic covenant was the foundation or the messianic theology
as we see it in the prophets (Jeremiah 33:14 – 22).
 The NT came to recognize Jesus as the one who would bring the renewal of the
Davidic covenant.
ASSESSMENT OF SAUL
 In the early section of Samuel, Saul was portrayed as a shy, sincere, and likable
person.
 Saul’s failures seemed to be fueled by his lack of spiritual sensibility. He was
sincere but superficial.
 This was evident early on when Saul appeared totally unaware of Samuel’s identity
or function (1 Sam. 9:10 – 15), even though Samuel’s home was barely five miles
from Saul’s.
 Saul neither had nor acquired the theological sophistication to see and perform his
role in proper perspective or to function in it successfully.
ASSESSMENT OF DAVID
 David has frequently been put high on the pedestal of a spiritual giant.
 In contrast to Saul, there can be no doubt of David’s heart for God, spiritual
sensitivity, and theological sophistication.
 Yet David committed a number of serious errors. Yet God chose David and
affirmed that he walked in accordance to his law.
 David was loyal to the Lord and recognized when he had committed sin.
 A balanced view of David recognizes his godliness, bur realizes that, like any of us,
he was not immune to lapses in judgment.
 A balanced view will focus not on David himself, but on how he was used by God.