The Cycle of Judges

Toward the end of the book of Judges, we're told a very important key about the problems that keep rising up. The Bible says in Judges 21:25, ‘In those days, there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes.’ If you ever want to see anarchy at work, the book of Judges deals with that a great bit. In this lesson we're thinking about a very dark time, probably some of the darkest days in Israel's history are found in the book of Judges. There are some very important keys to help us understand what's going on in this book. As we mentioned, the key idea to the ultimate downfall in these dark days in Israel's history is found in Judges 17:6, and Judges 21:25. The Word of God records this for us. ‘In those days, in the days of the judges, there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ It isn't just the fact that Israel was living in an anarchic society that is that everybody was their own law unto themselves, but did you hear that statement in the first of Judges 21:25? ‘In those days, there was no king in Israel.’ The problem is not that they didn't have a human king. The problem is Israel had tried to dethrone God. Not even God was their king anymore. They were living immorally, they were living like the heathen nations around them. Oftentimes they would get freedom from their oppressors, and their lives will begin to be blessed, and they'll forget about God, and they're living, they're living a life without God is the problem. God is not at the center anymore, and thus they're living for their own selfish desires. Keywords are anarchy and confusion. They are confused and often oppressed by their enemies because they're living a life of anarchy. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)