In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. -Judges 21:25
The book of Judges tells the story of Israel immediately after Joshua died. Joshua's generation followed the LORD until they passed away, but soon after, Israel found itself at a fork in the road, with no one to lead them down the right path. So, the next generation ended up turning to other gods "...and there arose another generation...who did not know the LORD...and they served the Baals..." (vv. 10-11).
The very last verse in Judges summarizes the events of the entire book, "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (21:25). But, how did Israel get to this state of anarchy? After all, Moses led Israel out of Egypt. Joshua led Israel into the promised land. Then... wait for it... wait for it... NO ONE led Israel. Without leadership, the people faltered. They went their own way. They made up their own standards and gods and ways of life—i.e., civil war with the tribe of Benjamin, enslavement to other nations, someone sacrificing his own daughter to God, a Levite handing a woman over to be raped then cutting her into 12 pieces to be sent throughout the land!? Insane!
Without leadership, that's what people do. They falter. They go their own way and make up their own standards for everything. It leads to insanity. Leadership is important because it keeps people on the right path whenever there's a fork in the road. With the passing on of each successive generation, oh how we need good leaders!
No comments:
Post a Comment