Author: Rich Gorecki

No one likes to go before a judge. We also don’t want anyone to judge us, especially those who do not sit behind a courtroom bench. But the book of Judges shows us that judges are heroes too when they help us return to godly behavior and right living.  This week’s lesson from The MANual, an NIV (New International Version) translation of the Bible, describes the work of 12 judges — men and women, who heroically delivered the people of Israel from their oppressors, despite repeated cycles of disobedience. Here Come The Judge(s)   With apologies to comedian Flip Wilson, I paraphrase a line from one of his famous bits to open this lesson. The 21 chapters in the book of Judges cover a time span of 325 years and six successive periods of oppression and deliverance. The setting is the land of Canaan which is modern-day Israel. God helped the Israelites conquer

Our lessons from The MANual continue in the early part of the Old Testament with the book of Joshua. After venturing through the first five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), we now look at the events that follow the conquest of the Promised Land for more lessons on becoming godly men.  The next several posts come from what some call the “History books of Israel.” These books are often out into two groups. The first, consisting of Joshua through Kings, is known as the Former Prophets. The pairs of 1 and 2 Samuel & 1 and 2 Kings were originally single books so Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and Kings were once considered a mirror set to the first five books of Moses. The second group, Chronicles through Esther, is known as The Writings. I’ll cover all these over the next several posts. About the Book of Joshua The setting

The next set of lessons on becoming a godly man comes from Deuteronomy, the last of the five books of Moses. This chapter in The MANual, our NIV Bible for men, is called “Replay.” In it, Moses delivers what is called his farewell speech to remind the Isrealites how God cared for them throughout their journey from slavery in Egypt. These stories also remind and encourage us to rededicate ourselves to following His commandments.  About Deuteronomy Deuteronomy is the last book written before Moses dies. It is written approximately 1406 B.C. as Moses is speaking to the people of Israel. The setting is the east side of the Jordan River, on the plains of Moab in view of the land of Canaan, where the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea. The Israelites are ready to enter the Promised Land. It was time to break camp and move on. The