Tag: Deborah

When Israel Rejected Their King

(A recap of the book of Judges and God’s Kingdom people)

A Kingdom with No Throne in Sight

The story of Judges doesn’t open in darkness. It begins with light. Israel had been rescued from slavery in Egypt, led through the wilderness, and brought into the land God promised their ancestors. Under Joshua, they had heard the call: Be faithful to the Torah so that all the nations will see what God is like. Yahweh Himself was their King, their Protector, their Lawgiver.

But the seeds of trouble were already in the soil. The tribes took possession of their territories, but they didn’t fully drive out the Canaanites as God had commanded. This wasn’t about ethnic rivalry — it was about worship. The Canaanites’ practices included idolatry, ritual prostitution, and even child sacrifice. Yahweh’s warning was clear: Do not learn their ways.

Instead, Israel settled alongside them… and eventually became just like them.

The Spiral: Pretty Good → OK → Bad → Worse1

From there, Judges traces a tragic downward spiral:

  • Pretty good — Leaders like Othniel, Ehud, and Deborah mostly trusted Yahweh, delivered Israel from enemies, and brought periods of peace.
  • OK — The fearful Gideon learned to trust God in battle. But he also had a bit of a temper that led to murder. He ended up fashioning a gold ephod that became an idolatrous snare for the nation.
  • Bad — Jephthah, a capable warrior, was so unfamiliar with Yahweh’s character that he made a vow, promising, if victorious in battle, to sacrifice “whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return.” He was victorious. And he kept his vow, sacrificing his own daughter!
  • Worse — Samson, though set apart from birth, had no regard for Yahweh. He chased women, picked fights, and acted out of arrogance. Though God used his strength to deliver Israel, Samson’s life reads more like a warning than a model.

This repeating pattern — disobedience, oppression, crying out, rescue — reveals something deeper: the judges were never the true solution. Even the best were flawed. And yet, God chose, as he always does, to work through flawed humanity. Although his Spirit empowered them, it’s good to remember that empowerment does not equal endorsement.

The Refrain that Says It All

By the end, the nation hit rock bottom. The last chapters are filled with moral collapse: a man named Micah sets up a private temple to an idol. A roving militia from Dan stole it. Violence erupted. Women were abused and treated as property. Civil war broke out.

Over it all, the writer of Judges hammers this refrain:

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” (cf., Judges 17:6; 21:25)

This isn’t just a lament over the lack of a political monarch — it’s a theological diagnosis. Israel did have a King: Yahweh. But they rejected His reign, replacing covenant obedience with self-rule. “What is right in our own eyes” is rarely right in God’s eyes.

Freedom or Chaos?

We like to think we’re free when no one tells us what to do. Judges shows the opposite: self-rule without God’s rule leads to chaos. The human heart untethered from its Creator drifts, not toward flourishing, but toward destruction.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”  (Proverbs 14:12, NKJV)

The chaos of Judges is not just ancient history — it is a mirror. Our culture prizes autonomy, but unchecked autonomy is just another name for rebellion.

A Ray of Hope in the Darkness

Judges closes with darkness — but not without hope. The next chapters of Israel’s story will bring a king after God’s own heart. The line of David will rise, and from that line will come the true King, Jesus Christ, who perfectly embodies justice, mercy, and covenant love.

The refrain that defined Israel’s chaos — “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” — still echoes today. But for those who acknowledge Jesus as King, there is another way: to do what is right in God’s eyes, even when it’s hard, even when the culture disagrees. That way leads not to ruin, but to life.

1Credit to Tim Mackie of The Bible Project