Bible study · Judges 1:1-36
Judges 1: Who goes up first?
Read Judges 1:1-36 before you meet.
In a few lines
Judges opens and nearly closes with the same question, who will go up for us first, and the same answer, Judah (1:1-2, 20:18). The only voice in this chapter that says "God" is Adoni-Bezek's, the enemy Judah defeated (1:7). And the list of cities turns from "the Canaanites lived among them" (1:30) to "the Asherites lived among the Canaanites" (1:32).
The verse to carry
“The LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.””
Judges 1:2
To talk about
1. The first thing Israel did after Joshua died was to ask the LORD who should go up first (1:1). When someone you leaned on is no longer there, what do you tend to do first?
2. Adoni-Bezek looked at what happened to him and said, "As I have done, so God has done to me" (1:7). Have you ever seen your own way of treating others come back to you? What did you make of it?
3. The chapter moves from "the Canaanites lived among them" (1:30) to "the Asherites lived among the Canaanites" (1:32). What helps you notice when something you've been living alongside has started to shape you?