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in the Aegean region.

      So it was that the Israelites were able to covenant with God in the wilderness. Since we explored this topic earlier, we need not expand on it further. They remained to possess the promised land.

      With the conquest. “See, the Lord your God has given you the land,” Moses declared to the populace. “Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your fathers told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deut. 1:21). But the people were reluctant to comply, and asked that spies be sent ahead, to bring back word as to what they might expect. The suggestion seemed to have merit, and so Moses did as they requested.

      The spies subsequently reported that it was indeed a good land. However, “The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.” The Anakim were said to be giants. So that the people refused to lay hold of God’s promise and possess the land. “We have sinned against the Lord,” the Israelites eventually concluded. “We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.”

It was too late, because God had withdrawn his approval from this generation. Nonetheless, the people insisted, and were soundly defeated. It remains for “every generation of God’s people to avoid such a chain reaction: you were unwilling . . . you rebelled . . . you were afraid . . . you saw but . . . you did not trust . . . you thought it easy . . . you would not listen . . . you rebelled . . . you came back . . . you wept . . . you stayed.”19

      The midbar (wilderness) was an uninviting prospect. Life was exceedingly difficult, and survival threatened. The people complained. The food was not to their liking. They questioned the wisdom of their leaders. They were inclined to blame others for their misfortune. One generation passed and a new generation replaced it.

After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua: “Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses” (Josh. 1:2–30. “God points Joshua and the tribes toward the potential gift, the Fertile Crescent, the part of the Middle East that reaches across the northern Syrian Desert and extents from the Nile Valley to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The tribes will need to wait until the reign of David to achieve anything near to those borders.”20

      Joshua subsequently instructed the populace, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are the Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it” (Josh. 3:3). After which, he admonished them: “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Although the Jordan River was at flood stage, when the priests’ feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing—allowing the Israelites to pass over into the promised land.

“From a geographical perspective, the Jordan River Valley lies at the juncture of tectonic plates that create an unstable region. Earthquakes occur and have been known to block the flow of the river.”21 However explained, this qualified as one of the amazing things they were to witness.

      Another consisted in the collapse of the walls of Jericho. The people were instructed to march around the city’s wall once for six days. “On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you have them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout: then the all of the city will collapse and the people will go up” (Josh. 6:4–5). So it came to pass, providing a foothold for the Israelites within the promised land.

      The struggle intensified. Sometimes with favorable results, and on other occasions with disaster. Consequently, the Israelites were able to settle in the land, while many of its inhabitants yet remained. This was in keeping with the promise that they would possess every place you set your foot.

With the monarchy. The turbulent time of the judges served as a transition into the era of the monarchy. It consisted of a predictable pattern: the people would succumb to sin, call out to God in their desperation, be delivered, enjoy peace for a time, only to fall back into their sinful ways. “The type of leadership that judges provided was unique to the ancient Near East. They were charismatic figures, divinely raised up in times of crises from outside the traditional power circles to meet a specific threat, namely, oppression.”22 An exception did not prove to be the rule.

Now when Samuel was well advanced in years, he appointed his sons as judges. However, they “did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice” (1 Sam. 8:3). So all the elders protested: “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” While their concern was justified, looking to all the other nations as a model suggests that they hoped to embrace a contemporary cultural pattern rather than seeking God’s will. “The unreconciled ambiguity found in the attitude toward kingship throughout its somewhat questionable history is reflected. On the one hand, kingship could be seen as a rejection of God’s own kingship. On the other hand, it was a gift from God, a model and a channel through which God’s relationship with Israel could be illustrated and strengthened.”23

      Consequently, God counseled Samuel: “Now listen to them, but warm them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” In greater detail, “He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and others of fifties, and others plow the ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war.”

      But the elders insisted, “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” Without regard for their unique calling as the chosen people, and in this capacity, to serve as a light to the Gentiles.

Samuel subsequently summoned the people of Israel before the Lord at Mizpah, to anoint a ruler over them. “We cannot be sure how the lottery took place. But the indication of God’s choice through the drawing of lots is fairly common throughout Scripture and various, sometimes now obscure, methods being used. The king is appointed from among the people and, whatever powers he might be assigned, he remains one of them.”24

      In any case, Saul appears as a likely candidate. He was from the relatively small tribe of Benjamin, and so should not fuel controversy among the major clans. He was also “an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others” (1 Sam. 9:2), and appealingly humble (9:21, 10:22). As a matter of record, the rulers of the united monarchy had an auspicious beginning, while falling away with the passing of time. David’s record would remain the least tarnished, due in large measure to his deep sense of contrition.

      The monarchy consisted of an intricate system of checks and balances. There was the king. Qualifications aside, if he observed the covenant stipulations, the people would prosper. If not, they would suffer along with him. In brief, like ruler, like people.

There were the prophets. Whose monumental task was to fine-tune the people to their covenant commitment. “What manner of man is the prophet?” Abraham Heschel rhetorically inquires. “To us a single act of injustice—cheating in business, exploitation of the poor—is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence; to us, an episode, to the, a catastrophe, a threat to the world.”25

      There were the priests. Such provided meaningful ritual for worship purposes. While accenting God’s holiness and righteous resolve.

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