Judges: When Times of Peace or Judgment Reigned

The conquest of the Promised Land that began so promisingly with Y'hoshua (Joshua) is never really completed. After the initial conquest of key cities, such as Yericho (Jericho), the L nd is divided among Israel's tribes, with each tribe responsible for conquering their own area. The book of Judges opens by describing how each tribe "did not drive out" (1:21) the inhabitants of the Land as God commanded. In time, these idol-worshipping nations became the downfall of God's people. The period of the judges lasted more than four hundred years, from the death of Y'hoshua to the time of Sh'mu'el (Samuel; see Acts 13:20).