It’s always exciting when I get to start a new book in God’s Word, especially at the rate of covering only one chapter per day. It has taken roughly one year to cover the first 5 books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) and about a month to cover the 24 chapters of Joshua. And that leads us today right to the doorstep of the book of Judges. The book of Judges is a fascinating yet heartbreaking book, full of the cyclical pattern of God’s people repeatedly departing from God and then desperately yearning to be back within the safety and goodness of His protection and provision.
We have just seen at the end of the book of Joshua, his passing, and for the first time in 70 years, the Israelites have no leader. Moses led them through the hardships of wandering in the desert for 40 years and directly after, Joshua led them in the conquering of the Promised Land for the next 30 years. The people find themselves mourning at the graveside of Joshua and wondering who will lead them now. In fact, it doesn’t take long for this revelation to set in as we see the people praying to God about just this in the very first verse of Judges.
“After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” Judges 1:1
It’s really quite ironic if you think about our human nature. We are fiercely independent, yet we seek for a leader in all aspects of our lives. Depending on your personality type, it might manifest in different degrees, yet overall, the greatest percentage of the population desires for someone to lead them. Maybe it’s because we don’t want the responsibility of doing it ourselves. Maybe it's because we crave the comfort of being led. Or today, it seems we only want a leader so we can have a scapegoat to blame for every single thing that goes wrong on the planet. Regardless, whether it be 4,000 years ago or today in 2020, we look to leaders to lead us, guide us, and direct us in the ways we should go. But in this moment the Israelites had no one to look to. What do they do?
In the book of Judges, we will see God appoint 13 different leaders for the people. They will not be kings but rather be called judges. The succession of kings that will lead Israel will come a few books later in the aptly named books of first and second Kings. So, for now we will follow the path of the God appointed men and women that will lead God’s people before God introduces kings.
There’s a funny thing about all leaders though, they can be good, or they can be bad; all leaders are not created the same. Whether it be kings, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, or sultans, they all share one common thing that I think many people today forget, they are all merely human. And all humans have a sin nature and are prone to follow their own flawed ways. You see, we are all flawed before God and all flawed before our fellow man. The idea of finding a perfect leader that will have a perfect life, make perfect decisions and operate a perfect government is, well, simply impossible and highly irrational. The only hope any human has of achieving righteousness in their lives, including our leaders, is whether they bow to Almighty God and take wise counsel from the Holy Spirit of God.
As we see God name the judges in the next 21 chapters, we will see a myriad of personalities, styles and qualities of leading. Some good, some bad, but all flawed. As you study these men and women you will see one constant, the good leaders fear, respect, honor and worship Almighty God and the bad leaders shun God, instead choosing to operate in their own pride, arrogance, and self-sustainability. The same is true of all leaders today.
As we progress through the book of Judges it is valuable to mention the cycle you will see the people repeatedly move through. Just as good and bad leaders persist even today, you will also notice that this pattern persists even today. In this it reveals the glory of God’s Word, the fact that it deals directly with the human heart. And it doesn’t matter whether that human heart beats in 3500BC or 2020AD, the human heart has not changed. Sin nature adheres to the human heart relentlessly, only being countered and corrected by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
We’ve already witnessed this cycle repeatedly as the Israelites wandered in the desert with Moses, so it’s not new, but it will persist. The people first rebel against God and in their selfish and fleshly desires, sin against Him. Whether it be false gods, idol worship, sexual immorality, drunkenness, or inter-marrying with unbelieving gentiles, they decide their way is better and they stray from God. As a result, God judges them and calls them to repentance. In the desert this manifested in many different ways. It might be fiery serpents killing with one bite, fire raining down to destroy them, plagues brought down that killed instantly, or being sold into slavery. Regardless of how God judged, it brought repentance and as the people realized their great error, they cried out to God to save them. As a result, God would have mercy on His people, and He would send a leader or judge to deliver them from their plight. This cycle repeats viciously from the Book of Genesis all the way to Revelation and folks, it still repeats today on a daily basis.
You can pretty well sum up the book of Judges using just one single verse, Judges 21:25. As the old saying goes, when the cats away the mice will play. The people had such an infantile personal relationship with God that without a Godly leader, they quickly went their own sinful ways.
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25
Folks, today what do you expect of your leaders? Do you expect for them to lead you civically, economically and politically? Do you also expect for them to lead you financially, morally, and even spiritually? You see, as you operate your personal life there can be only one king for you, King Jesus. As you look for the leadership in your life that your heart truly desires, don’t look to men and women that will only fail and falter, look to the only perfect man that has ever walked this planet, Jesus Christ. Don’t look to your earthly leaders to be perfect, make perfect decisions and run perfect organizations, they cannot do it. Instead, commit your life to Christ and allow Him to lead you in life. He is perfect, He will never leave you and He will never forsake you. He will never lie to you, He will never lead you astray and He will never deny you. And most importantly…He will never, ever, stop loving you.
Today, choose wisely. Choose a king, a judge, a leader, a high priest, a Savior, that will be all you ever need in this life. Choose Jesus.
I choose Jesus! Blessings to you today Dan. Thank you for studying and sharing truth with us.