Now we step into the next set of books: the 12 books of history. We step into the entrance into the land, and the conquering of the land. Joshua is all about the land. Judges is about a time when they were in the land, but they had no King. They didn’t have a king because God longed to be their King. The book of Judges is also a cycle. The people go into a time of sin, then there’s a time of oppression. This is a direct fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28, because they are not in faithful relationship with Yahweh and his covenant. But the people in this context would repent, and God would bring up a Judge who would deliver them. We see this cycle all the way through the book of Judges. Deuteronomy 28 is very, very real, and it’s going to work its way through the nation, the people, and the land. Strings attached.

Then comes the book of Ruth. It’s paired up with the book of Judges because it took place in the time frame of “the days when the judges judged.” It fits the context, because we realize that there was a famine in the land. There was a famine because of Deuteronomy chapter 28. Ruth gives us a picture of the type of covenant faithfulness that Yahweh longed to see in His own people. The irony of ironies was that Ruth was a Moabitess. But that’s the heart God longed to see in His people.