April 2: Judges 7:1 – Judges 9:21

Gideon's Three Hundred Men – Judges 7

• Gideon and all the soldiers with him camp beside the spring of Harod, with the camp of Midian to the north of them. God tells Gideon that he has too many men with him, and if they overcome the Midianites, they will think they did it by their own hand. He tells Gideon to tell the men that whoever is fearful should return home. 22,000 return home, leaving 10,000 with Gideon.
• God again tells Gideon there are too many people with him. He tells him to take the men down to the water and have them drink. Any who lap with their tongue, like a dog, will be set aside and anyone who kneels to drink will be set aside. Those who lapped with the tongue numbered 300, and God tells Gideon to take them with him to fight the Midianites. The others are sent home to their tents.
• That night, God tells Gideon to take his servant Purah and go to the camp of the Midianites. At the outpost of the armed men, they see that the Midianites and Amalekites are many. They hear two men talking about a dream where a cake of barley tumbled into the camp and struck a tent so it turned upside down. The dreamer's comrade tells him that the dream depicts Gideon and that God has given them over to him. As soon as Gideon hears this, he worships God.
• Gideon gathers his 300 men into three companies and tells them that when they come to the outskirts of the camp, they are to do as he does. When he blows the trumpet, they are to blow their trumpets and shout, "For the Lord and for Gideon!"

Gideon Defeats Midian

• Gideon's men go to the outskirts of the camp, blow their trumpets and smash their jars, and shout. All in the Midianite and Amalekite army run. The men of Napthali, Asher, and Manasseh pursue them. The men of Ephraim are called in to "capture the waters". They kill the kings, Oreb and Zeeb, and bring their heads across the Jordan to Gideon.

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna – Judges 8

• The men of Ephraim accuse Gideon of not calling them in for the initial fight against Midian. Gideon's flattering response that God gave the kings over into their hands, not his, and they are pacified.
• Gideon and his 300 men pursue Zebah and Zalmunna, two other kings of Midian. When they reach Succoth, they request food from the townspeople, but the townspeople tell them they must catch the kings before they will give them food. Gideon moves on to Penuel, and the townspeople there give him the same answer. Gideon tells them that when he returns in victory, he will tear down their tower.
• Gideon captures the two kings, then returns to Succoth and demands that a young man write down the names of the 77 officials and elders of the town. He punishes the elders of the town with thorns and briers and tears down the tower in Penuel, killing all the men in the town.
• Gideon asks the two kings what the men at Tabor who they killed looked like, and they tell him they looked like Gideon. Gideon tells them they were his brothers and that if they hadn't killed them, he wouldn't kill them.
• Gideon tells his young son, Jether, to kill them, but he doesn't draw his sword (he is a young man). Zebah and Zalmunna tell Gideon to kill them himself, and he does.

Gideon's Ephod

• The men of Israel tell Gideon to rule over them along with his son and grandson. Gideon tells them to have God rule over them. He then requests all the golden earrings the men had taken as spoils, and they give them over as well as crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple garments worn by the Midianite kings and collars worn on the necks of their camels. From these Gideon makes an ephod (ornate ceremonial garment). He puts it in his city, and all of Israel "whores" after it. The land rests for forty years.

The Death of Gideon

• Gideon returns home and has seventy sons by his many wives. One son by his concubine is named Abimelech. Gideon dies and is buried in the tomb of his father. Right away, the people of Israel turn to other gods, making Baal-berith their god.

Abimelech's Conspiracy – Judges 9

• Gideon's son Abimelech goes to his mother's relatives in Shechem and tells them to ask the leaders what would be better—to be ruled by seventy sons of Gideon or one son (Abimelech). They agree that it would be better to be ruled by Abimelech and give him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith. 
• With the money Abimelech hires worthless and reckless men to help him kill all his brothers. They murder all but Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, who hides himself. All the leaders of Shechem come together and make Abimelech king.
• Jotham goes the the Shechemites and tells them a fable depicting noble trees in the forest each rejecting kingship, which is then accepted by a lowly bramble bush. He tells them if they acted in good faith in making Abimelech king, then they should rejoice in Abimelech and let him rejoice in them. But if not, let fire from Abimelech devour the Shechemites and let fire from the Shechemites devour Abimelech. Jotham then flees to Beer and lives there.

April 1: Judges 3:31 – Judges 6:40

Shamgar – Judges 3:31

• Shamgar, son of Anath, kills 600 Philistines and saves Israel.

Deborah and Barak – Judges 4

• After Ehud dies, the people again do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, so He sells them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan. The people of Israel cry out to Him for help because Jabin oppressed them for twenty years.
• The prophetess Deborah was judging Israel at the time, from her place between Ramah and Bethel in the land of Ephraim. She sends for Barak and instructs him to take 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and Zebulun and go to war again Jabin. He tells her that he will go if she will go with him. She agrees.
• Deborah, Barak, and the 10,000 chase Sisera, Jabin's army commander, and he goes to the tent of Jael (wife of Heber the Kenite) for safety. She offers to conceal him, but once he is asleep, she drives a peg into his temple, killing him. Jael then goes out to meet Barak and brings him to her tent to show him Sisera.
• Israel subdues Jabin the king.

The Song of Deborah and Barak – Judges 5

• Deborah and Barak sing a victory song, praising God for His triumph over the Canaanites on Israel's behalf and describing their victories.
• The land rests for forty years.

Midian Oppresses Israel – Judges 6

• The people of Israel again do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, and God gives them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years. The Israelites make for themselves dens in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. Whenever they planted crops, the Midianites and Amalekites would devour all their produce. The people of Israel cry out to God for help, and God points out that He has brought them out of slavery and told them not to fear the Amalekites, but they have not obeyed Him.

The Call of Gideon 

• The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, son of Joash the Abiezrite, while he was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. The angel tells him that God is with him, and Gideon asks why, if this is so, that they have been given into the hand of the Midianites. He asks how he can save Israel, since he is the least of his father's house and his clan is the weakest in Manasseh. God tells him that He will be with him, and Gideon asks that if God has found favor with him, that he would show him a sign—that He would stay there until he returns with a gift. God agrees.
• Gideon goes into his house and prepares a young goat and unleavened cakes. He puts the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and takes it to Him. The angel tells him to put the meat and cakes on a rock and pour the broth over them. When Gideon does, the angel reaches out the tip of his staff and touches the meat and cakes, and fire consumes them. Then the angel disappears.
• Gideon believes that the angel was from the Lord and builds and altar there. That night, the Lord tells him to take his father's bull, tear down his father's altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it, and build an altar to the Lord. He is then to offer the bull as a sacrifice. Gideon takes ten of his servants and did what the Lord instructs, but he does it at night instead of during the day because he fears his family and the men of the town. 

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

• When the men of the town wake up in the morning, the altar of Baal is destroyed and the Asherah cut down. They learn that Gideon has done it, and tell his father Joash to bring him out so they can kill him. Joash tells them to let Baal contend for himself. Gideon is then called Jerubbaal.
• The Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east come together and cross the Jordan. The Spirit of the Lord clothes Gideon, and he sounds the trumpets, calling out the Abiezrites to follow him. Messengers are sent to the people of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and together they go to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

• Gideon tells God that he is laying a fleece on the threshing floor, and that if God will save Israel by his hand, to place dew on the fleece but not on the ground beside it. The next morning, Gideon is able to fill a bowl with dew wrung from the fleece. He asks God to again give him a sign by placing dew on the ground but not on the fleece, and God again follows through.

March 31: Judges 1:1 – Judges 3:30

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan – Judges 1 (A repeat of what happened in Joshua)

• Upon the death of Joshua, Israel asks God who will go first against the Canaanites to fight them. God tells them that the tribe of Judah will lead them, and Judah invites the tribe of Simeon to join them. Together they go against the Canaanites, and God gives them over to them. They find Adoni-bezek (a king), capture him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. He later dies in Jerusalem.
• Judah goes on to conquer several other cities in the area, including Jerusalem, Hebron, and Debir. Before they conquer Debir, Caleb promises to give his daughter Acsah to the man who attacks and conquers Kiriath-sepher. Othniel (son of Caleb's brother Kenaz) conquers the city and gets Acsah as a wife. She requests springs from her father, and he gives her them to go with the field he has already given her.
• Judah and Simeon capture other towns in Canaan. 

Failure to Complete the Conquest

• God is with the tribe of Judah, and they take possession of the country, but they fail to drive out the people living in the plains, who had chariots.
• The tribe of Benjamin fails to drive out the Jebusites in Jerusalem. They also attack Bethel, and kill all but one man and his family (he had showed them a way into the town). The man and his family build a new town in the land of the Hittites.
• The tribe of Manasseh fails to drive out the people living in several cities. The Israelites make the people of these towns their slaves.
• The tribe of Ephraim fails to drive out the people of Gezer, so the Canaanites there continue to live among them.
• The tribe of Zebulun fails to drive out the people living in Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites there continue to live among them.
• The tribe of Asher fails to drive out people from several cities. They move into the area and live among the peoples.
• The tribe of Naphtali fails to drive out the people in two cites and move in to live among them.
• The tribe of Dan is pushed back into the hill country by the Amorites, but the descendants of Joseph increase their strength and make the Amorites their slaves.

Israel's Disobedience – Judges 2

• The angel of the Lord tells the people that they have been disobedient to God by not driving the Canaanites out of the land as He instructed. He tells the Israelites that these people will now be thorns in their sides. The people lift up their voices and weep, then sacrifice to the Lord.

The Death of Joshua

• Joshua dies at the age of 110 years, and Israel buries him in Timnath-heres. All of the other people of this generation die, and the generation afterward does not know the Lord or what He had done for Israel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness

• The Israelites serve the Baals, abandoning God. They go after other gods, provoking the Lord to anger. God gives them over to plunderers.

The Lord Raises Up Judges – Judges 2 & 3

• God raises up judges who save them from the hands of those who plunder them. But Israel does not listen to the judges. Whenever He raises up a judge, He is with the judge, and the judge saved the people from their enemies. The people return to their evil ways after the judge dies, and God decides he will no longer drive out any nations from among them.
• The five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites that live on Mount Lebanon remain in the land. Israel now lives among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They marry with these people and worship their gods.

Othniel

• God is angered, and He sells them into the hand of the king of Mesopotamia, who they serve for eight years.
• Israel cries out for a deliverer, and God raises up Othniel, the son of Kenaz (Caleb's younger brother). The Spirit of God is on him, and he goes to war against the king of Mesopotamia, who he conquers. Israel rests in the land for forty years, then Othniel dies.

Ehud

• Israel again does what is evil in God's sight, and God strengthens the king of Moab, who along with the Ammonites and Amalekites, defeats Israel. The people of Israel serve the king of Moab for eighteen years.
• Israel again cries out for a deliverer, and God raises up Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite. Ehud makes a double-edged sword and binds it to his thigh under his clothes, then goes to the king of Moab, who is quite overweight. After presenting a tribute to the king, he sends everyone else away from the roof chamber and tells the king that he has a message for him from God. He gets up from his seat and thrusts his sword into the king, all the way to its hilt, then closes and locks the doors as he leaves.
• The king's men find the doors locked and think he is relieving himself, but after a while, they open the doors with the key and find the king dead.
• Ehud escapes into the hill country of Ephraim, sounding the trumpet. The people of Israel go with him to war against the Moabites, subduing it, and Israel rests for eight years.

March 30: Joshua 22:1 – Joshua 24:33

The Eastern Tribes Return Home – Joshua 22

• Joshua calls to himself the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh and tells them that they have fulfilled their duties to the tribes now west of the Jordan. He instructs them to return to their lands and to remember all of God's statutes. Joshua blesses them and sends them home. The tribes return home.

The Eastern Tribes' Altar of Witness

• When the Gadites, Reubenites, and half tribe of Manasseh return home, they build a large altar on the western shore of the Jordan. When the people of Israel on the western side see it, they meet at Shiloh to plan to go to war against them (misunderstanding the purpose of the altar). They send Phinehas (son of Eleazar the priest) as well as ten other men to the three tribes, who question them about the "breach of faith" they have committed against God and remind them of the breaches of faith in the past.
• The people of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh proclaim that if they did this as a breach of faith, may the Lord not spare them. They claim that they build the altar in fear of the Lord and so their children would see it and worship Him—an altar of witness.
• Phinehas and the ten men return to the other tribes of Israel and report what they learned. The people bless God, and the tribes of Reuben and Gad call the altar "Witness."

Joshua's Charge to Israel's Leaders – Joshua 23

• A long time afterward, after God had given Israel rest from their surrounding enemies, Joshua (who is now old) summons all Israel. He tells them that he is advanced in age and that God has given them what he promised, and tells them to keep all the statutes listed in the Book of the Law of Moses. They are not to mix with other nations or worship their gods. He exhorts them to love the Lord, and then tells them that he will soon die. He again warns them not to serve or bow down to other gods.

The Covenant Renewed at Shechem – Joshua 24

• Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summons the elders, heads, judges, and officers. Joshua reminds them how God gave Abraham Canaan, and Isaac and Jacob and Esau lived there. Then Jacob and his children went to Egypt (by way of Joseph's selling into slavery), until He brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Joshua goes on to recount how God finally brought them to the Promised Land and drove out all the people there. God gave them land that they had not labored and cites that they hadn't built.

Choose Whom You Will Serve

• Joshua exorts Israel to fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness. The people respond that far be it from them that they would forsake Him and worship other gods, because of all He has done for them.
• Joshua reminds Israel that they are witnesses that they have chosen to choose God and tells them to put away the foreign gods among them and incline their hearts to God. He makes a covenant with the people and writes this in the Book of the Law of God, then sends the people back to their homes.

Joshua's Death and Burial

• Joshua dies, being 110 years old. The people bury him in his own inheritance in Timnah-serah. Israel has served the Lord throughout Joshua's time as leader. 
• The people bury the bones of Joseph, brought from Egypt, in Shechem, on the piece of land that Jacob had bought from Hamor, the father of Shechem.
• Eleazar, the son of Aaron, dies, and they bury him at Gilbeah, the town of Phinehas his son.

March 29: Joshua 19:49 – Joshua 21:45; 1 Chronicles 6:54–81

The Inheritance for Joshua – Joshua 19:49–51

• Joshua is given his inheritance—the city of Timnath-serah in the hill country within the land of the tribe of Ephraim.

The Cities of Refuge – Joshua 20

• God tells Joshua to appoint cities of refuge, so there are places for men to flee if they kill another by accident.
• The towns of Kedesh, Shechem, Kiriath-arba (Hebron), Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan as cities of refuge.

Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi – Joshua 21

• The heads of the Levites go to Joshua and Eleazar the priest and remind them that Moses said they would be given cities to dwell in and pasturelands around those cities. Through a casting of lots, the Levites are given their cities and pasturelands—forty-eight cities.
• God has given the Israelites the land He has promised to them, and they settle there.

Descendants of Levi – 1 Chronicles 6:54–81

• The cities and pasturelands allotted to Levi are repeated.

March 28: Joshua 18:1 – Joshua 19:48

Allotment of the Remaining Land – Joshua 18

• The rest of the Israelites gather at the tent of meeting set up in Shiloh. Joshua asks them when they are going to take up the lands God has promised them, and tells each tribe to select three men that he will send out to scout the lands.
• The men go and explore the land, mapping it out, then return to Joshua. Joshua casts sacred lots in the presence of the Lord to determine who will receive what lands.

The Inheritance for Benjamin 

• The land given to the tribe of Benjamin is described. It lies to the south of that of the tribe of Ephraim.

The Inheritance for Simeon – Joshua 19

• The land given to the tribe of Simeon is described. It lies west of the Dead Sea, a circle within the land given to the tribe of Judah.

The Inheritance for Zebulun

• The land given to the tribe of Zebulun is described. It lies west of the Sea of Galilee.

The Inheritance for Issachar

• The land given to the tribe of Issachar is described. It lies on the west side of the Jordan, south of that of the tribe of Zebulun.

The Inheritance for Asher

• The land given to the tribe of Asher is described. It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the other tribes' lands.

The Inheritance for Naphtali

• The land given to the tribe of Naphtali is described. It lies west of the Jordan River and east of the land of the tribe of Asher.

The Inheritance for Dan

• The land given to the tribe of Dan is described. It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the land of the tribe of Judah.

March 27: Joshua 15:20 – Joshua 17:18

The Allotment for Judah – Joshua 15

• The lands inherited by the tribe of Judah are described. The area is west of the Dead Sea and east of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Since the tribe could not drive out the Jebusites, they remained in Jerusalem.

The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh – Joshua 16 &17

• The lands inherited by the descendants of Joseph are described. The tribe of Ephraim receives land north of the Dead Sea, on the west side of the Jordan. Half of the tribe of Manasseh receives land north of the tribe of Ephraim's land (West Manasseh), while the other half receives land on the east side of the Jordan (East Manasseh).
• The tribe of Ephraim couldn't drive out the Canaanites, but they made them their slaves.