[Many thanks to Larry Bunch for catching me up on the notes I missed for this lesson. -MRW]

• Last lesson
  • Role of women in 1st century Jewish society
    • Start with status in Old Testament times
    • Finish next week
• Question from last week:
  • Did Josephus mention demon possession?
  • Answer:
    • Yes
    • Antiquities chapters 2, 5, 8, 45-48
    • Wars of the Jews chapter 7.6.3
    • Bizarre references to a root “described” by Solomon
    • “Eyewitness” account
    • No mention with regard to Jesus or disciples
• Status of women in Old Testament times
  • Women’s main purpose
    • Promulgate God’s blessing on Abraham
      • Genesis 22:15-19
      • Psalms 105:24
    • Continuing the family line – Deuteronomy 25:5-10
    • Shame of being barren – I Samuel 1:1-11
  • Limitations of women
    • Scriptural (Old Testament) limitations few
    • Innovative limitations were multitudinous
• Range of women’s activities in Old Testament times
  • Shared in the teaching of their children – Proverbs 1:8
  • Performed chores outside home
    • Genesis 29:9-10
    • Exodus 2:16
  • Prophetess: Exodus 15:20-21; Numbers 12; Judges 4; 2 Kings 22:14-20
  • Judge over Israel: Judges 4
  • Shadow combatant: Judges 4, 9
• Women’s Old Testament activities continued …
  • Commerce, real estate, etc. – Proverbs 31
  • Manual labor – Exodus 35:25; Ruth 2:7; I Samuel 8:13
  • Musicians in the tabernacle/temple – Psalms 68:25
  • Lead women in song of praise – Exodus 15:20-21
• How women were considered in Old Testament times
  • Included in the covenant – Deuteronomy 29:9-12
  • Sources of wisdom – 2 Kings 22:14-20
  • Wisdom personified as feminine – Proverbs 7:4, 8
  • Having great prudence – I Samuel 25:23-42
  • Wife is a very good find – Proverbs 19:14; 18:22
  • Life of a women on par with life of a man – Exodus 21:22-29
• Coming weeks
  • Comparing women in Old Testament times to 1st century
  • Social strata of Jerusalem
  • Religious sects
  • Temple
  • Priesthood

• Judges 2:13-20 – Summary of the cycle of the judges.
• Quick facts about the judges
  • The tribes were surrounded by enemies. Judges 1:27-3:5
    • Judges 2:20-3:5 – God used these enemies to punish the Israelites for sin.
  • The same cycle keeps repeating.
  • The judges were mainly military leaders. Deuteronomy 16:18-20; 17:8-13; Judges 4:4-5; 3:9-11
  • Depending on how you count, there were 12-18 judges.
  • The judges seem to be local leaders. Judges 4:10; 7:23ff; 12:1
  • The time periods of the judges may have overlapped.
    • About 114 years of total oppression
    • About 296 years of total rest
• Lessons we need today
  • Always choosing the please myself is a terrible way to live!
    • Judges 3:5
    • Judges 17:6; 21:25; 17:7-13
    • Judges 19-20 – Benjamin defeated and nearly destroyed
    • James 3:13-18
  • God is willing to punish and forgive
    • Judges 6:1-14; 7-8 – Gideon defeats the Midianites.
    • God was willing to punish His people when they sinned. Hebrews 10:31
    • The cycle:
      • Judges 5:31b – Rest and peace
      • Judges 6:1 – Sin → oppression (Judges 6:2-5)
      • Judges 6:6-10 – Cries to God
      • Judges 6:11-14 – Judge to deliver
      • Repeat
    • God saw the horrible things in Judges and forgave.
    • God knows how to fix what is broken for everyone!
      • I John 4:14; I John 1:9

• Psalms 19-22
• Psalms 19:12-13 – Compare Leviticus 16:21-22, 30, 34 and Hebrews 5:1-3. Our hidden faults are sins we have committed unknowingly. Under the Old Covenant, the scapegoat took on all the sins of the congregation – not just those they were aware of.
• Psalms 21 – The king rejoices in God’s salvation.
• Psalms 22 – We know this is a Messianic psalm because it is quoted in the New Testament and applied to Jesus.
• Psalms 22:1
  • John 8:28-29 – God has never forsaken someone for doing that which pleased Him.
  • John 16:31-32
  • When Jesus quoted this psalm on the cross, He was bringing the entire contents of the psalm to the crowd’s attention.
  • Luke 23:48
  • Jesus did not become a sinner on the cross – He became a scapegoat to carry our sins away.
  • I Peter 1:19

• Last lesson
  • More aspects of Herod’s rule
  • The temple renovations by Herod
  • How Jerusalem of Herod’s day appeared
• This lesson
  • Finish Lesson 8!
  • Role of women in 1st century Jewish society
• Absence from history of killing infants
  • Josephus was not a Christian
  • He was a Pharisee
  • No interest in promoting Jesus as the Messiah
  • What about the Testimonium Flavianum?
  • Was it consistent with Herod’s behavior?
• How did Jerusalem appear in 1st century?
  • Why might it matter?
  • What is to gain?
• What do we have to work with?
  • Archaeological finds
  • Verbal descriptions from the time
  • Resultant cartographers’ and artists’ depictions
  • Matthew 23:29-39
  • Matthew 24:1-3
  • Luke 19:36-44
  • II Kings 20:20 – Hezekiah’s tunnel