The Promised Land Series covers the books in the Bible from Exodus to Judges. These books describe events from the birth of Moses to the end of the era of the judges of Israel.
In Genesis, God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan, so Canaan became known as The Promised Land. Modern Israel and Palestine encompass the majority of Canaan.
Abraham’s grandson was Jacob, whose name was changed to “Israel” by God. His descendants became known as the Hebrews or Israelites. During the later life of Jacob, the Hebrews moved to Egypt during a famine. The book of Exodus opens about four centuries later with the Hebrews still in Egypt, having become slaves of the Pharaoh.
The book of Exodus is primarily about Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and into the wilderness, their covenant with God, and the construction of the Tabernacle.
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy tell of the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness, the laws given to the Hebrews by God, and their adventures on the way to the Promised Land. These books end with the Israelites poised to enter the Promised Land, and the death of Moses.
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According to historians, the Sea Peoples left Crete and other islands of Greece and settled around the Mediterranean Sea. One of these groups settled on the coastal plain of Israel and became known as the Philistines. This happened before the time of Samson. By the time of Samson, the Philistines had total control of the coastal plain and had powerful cities, such as Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath.
The Philistines were able to protect the coastal plain with chariots, which worked well on the flat lands. The Israelites first encountered these types of chariots in Joshua 11. The Israelites were pushed eastward into the Judean hills and mountains. Between the coastal plain and the mountains was a buffer zone of six fertile valleys known as the Shephelah. During Samson’s time, it appears the Philistines were either taking or already had control of the Shephelah. Judges 13:1 says all of this happened because the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines.
Virtually all of the land controlled by the Philistines had been taken from the tribe of Dan. In fact, Dan controlled very little land in the time of Samson. The other tribes of Israel had their own problems, so they did not come to Dan’s aid to dislodge the Philistines.
Shiphrah – Eleanor Threatt Hardy Zipporah – Giovannie Cruz First Israelite Elder – Bill Jenkins Second Israelite Elder – Sean McGraw Aaron – Phil Mendoza Moses – Eric Starkey Bezalel – Kenny Gardner Nadab – Philip Ngorima Caleb – Lynn Miller Phinehas – Parker Gray Rahab – Ashton DeGroot Joshua – Marcus M. Mauldin Paul – Brian Shoop King Solomon – Todd Terry Deborah – Sally Vahle Gideon – Cody Bagshaw Delilah – Vanessa DeSilvio Eli – Donald Hampton
