The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble
Week 4: History — Conquest, Judges, and the Early Kingdom (Joshua–1 Samuel)
Read The Bible Recap daily entries covering Joshua through 1 Samuel. Primary Scripture: Joshua 1:9; Joshua 24:15; Judges 2:16–19; Ruth 1:16; 1 Samuel 16:7.
Previewing Week 4 of The Bible Recap
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Israel enters the land God promised — and what follows is a cycle of faithfulness, failure, rescue, and repeat that will feel uncomfortably recognizable. Let these questions help you find yourself in Israel's story.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Joshua opens with God's command to "be strong and courageous" — repeated four times in just a few verses. What do you think Joshua needed to hear that so urgently, and where in your own life do you need that same word today?
2.The conquest narratives in Joshua include violence that troubles many modern readers — entire cities destroyed, populations killed. How did Cobble's recap help you hold this tension? What aspects of God's character does she point to that help make sense of this difficult material — and what questions remain for you?
3.The book of Judges presents a repeated cycle: Israel sins, suffers under oppression, cries out to God, God raises a judge to rescue them, and then the cycle begins again. How does this cycle describe the human heart — including your own? What does God's repeated rescue say about His character?
a.Which judge's story from Cobble's recaps stood out to you most, and why?
b.Judges ends with the haunting line: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." What are the consequences — personally and socially — when there is no external moral authority?