Synopsis
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” – Judges 17:6
The book of Judges raises a lot of questions. Through a downward spiral of moral decay, the stories in this book can lead us to question even the purpose of the book itself. Are these brutal depictions really necessary, and what lessons can we learn from them? In this cautionary tale, we learn that when God’s people forgot His covenant and rejected His guidance, the leaders (and therefore the people, and the society) went from bad, to worse, to ultimate moral corruption that would make anyone’s stomach turn. Through it all, God continued to rescue His people by sending a new leader when they finally cried out for help and repented. But the cycle repeated. Judges prompts us to ask ourselves – will God’s people finally ask for the King they really need?