Bible in 90 Days – Day 19 – Judges 15-21, Ruth, 1 Samuel 1-2
Judges 17:6 “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Judges is a hard book to read. Only a single generation after Joshua’s generation: the same generation that followed the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night; the same generation that witnessed miraculous victories in the conquest of the promised land, the same generation the drove out all the giants from that land… just one generation later, they “did not know the Lord” (Judges 2:10).
Chaos ensues.
Gross immorality that destroys families and lives, mass injustice, slavery, rape, murder, mob rule, pagan idol worship. Israel is a complete mess.
Even after being given a perfect law and an ideal dwelling place, they, on their own, turn the place into a cesspool. God’s people are incapable of managing themselves. They need help. They need a priest to teach them God’s law. They need a prophet to call them to repentance. They need a king to rule them and carry out justice.
We’re getting there in the story. Imperfect human prophets and priests and kings are coming to lead Israel to an unprecedented level of prosperity. And not long after that, the promised prophet-priest-king Messiah is coming to establish His perfect kingdom.