Promised Land, Judges, and Kings

This article explores topics and excerpts from the newly released book Journey Through the Bible and Your Story, now available on Amazon.

After forty years of wandering, the people of Israel stood on the edge of the Promised Land. What had begun as a journey out of slavery was now entering a new chapter: a home they had never seen, but had been promised generations before. God’s covenant with Abraham—that his descendants would inherit a land “flowing with milk and honey”—was now coming to pass (Genesis 12:7; Exodus 3:8).

Under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River—again miraculously, as the waters parted at flood stage—and stepped into their inheritance. Their first battle came at Jericho, where God brought down walls with nothing but their obedience and a shout. Along the way, redemption stories emerged too—none more beautiful than Rahab, a Canaanite woman of questionable past, who protected Israel’s spies and was folded into God’s story, even becoming part of the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

The conquest of the land involved powerful victories over Jericho, Ai, and large Canaanite coalitions. God even stopped the sun in the sky (Joshua 10), showing His unmatched power and care for His people. Still, not all the land was claimed. Several tribes failed to fully drive out the inhabitants, leaving room for spiritual compromise and future conflict.

Joshua eventually divided the land among the twelve tribes. Levi, the priestly tribe, was given cities rather than territory. Caleb, now an old man, was honored with the hill country of Hebron—his reward for a lifetime of faithful belief in God's promises.

After Joshua's death, Israel entered the era of the Judges—a 400-year cycle of faith and failure. The people, lacking centralized leadership, often drifted away from God, only to cry out for help when oppression came. God raised up deliverers like Deborah, Gideon, Samson, and Samuel, but the refrain “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25) shows the spiritual disarray of the time.

Eventually, the people begged for a king, desiring to be “like the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). Though this grieved God, He allowed it. Saul was chosen first—impressive on the outside, but spiritually unreliable. Then came David, a shepherd with a heart for God. Though David failed deeply, his sincere repentance and God’s covenant with him (2 Samuel 7) set the stage for a royal line that would one day lead to Christ.

Solomon followed David, building the temple and expanding the kingdom—but his later compromises brought division. After his reign, the kingdom split: ten tribes formed the Northern Kingdom (Israel), while Judah and Benjamin stayed in the South (Judah). In time, both fell—Israel to Assyria in 722 BC, Judah to Babylon in 586 BC. The exile scattered the people, yet God’s promises still held firm.

This stretch of Israel’s story—conquest, kings, collapse—is a mirror of the human heart. There is faith, failure, mercy, discipline, and always, a God who does not let go. Though the people faltered, God’s redemptive plan pressed forward. And today, that same God invites us into the story He is still telling—one rooted in grace, fulfilled in Christ, and extended to all who follow Him.