“In those days Israel had no King…” that’s for sure! I’m so thankful for that last verse in Judges. If it was taken out, we would have quite the puzzle to solve as to what the problem was with Israel during those years, and why God even allowed those maniacal chapters in the Word.

I thank God for these chapters, as I believe they show part of the depths of what can happen when man is given over to “what is right in His own eyes”. I hope to flesh that out more fully over the next few days. Obviously, the lack of a King left Israel in major sin. But what is it about a King that is so necessary? And what can we as the church glean from these chapters of the Bible? Lord, guide our thoughts here!

Let’s start by examining this a little closer. What were the specific problems Israel encountered without a King?

1) Idolatry “in the name of the Lord” - Judges 17 talks about a mother who creates an idol in honor of her son, and “dedicates it all to the Lord”. How foolish does this seem? That someone would make an idol out of something created, and then say - well, I’m doing it to honor the Lord? Actually might sound a bit more familiar than we might care to admit! Our “key” last verse of Judges is repeated in this chapter in verse 6.

2) Division among the People of God - Massive infighting, division, and downright attacking of each other. They burned down each others towns, and killed each other’s women and children. Surely God’s very own people wouldn’t attack each other with swords? Would they?

3) Sexual Immorality - Unfortunately, enough of this to go around throughout the chapters. The most horrible thing is, the one mentioned most is a Levite - a man who was supposed to be consecrated to the Lord in ministry. Surely God’s very own ministers would not dealing with such perversion? Would they?

4) Lack of the Knowledge of God’s Heart and Ways - The people would go up and “worship”, and then make vows that they would kill anyone who didn’t worship with them. Then, they felt it was “just” to give the young girls of a different town to the left-over men that they had just killed in battle. Is this what God desired? Surely not - but without revelation of God’s heart - the people just “assumed” they thought they knew what God wanted. Interesting.

These are just a few examples of what happens to the people of Israel without a King. Did God want them to have a King? Didn’t He not want them to have a King, because He wanted to be their King?