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“Who Needs a King?” Judges 21:25 “In
those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his
own eyes.” Judges 21:25 (ESV) Today we begin a new series on the
book of Samuel. While next week I’ll
begin with what we know as 1 Samuel, originally the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel were considered one
volume. When you hear me say
“Samuel,” that is what I’ll be referring to. In order to help you understand
the book of Samuel better, what I’m actually going to do today is give you an
overview of the whole book of
Judges. Why start with Judges? The answer is relatively simple. To begin with you need to know at
least one fact about the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) that is often
overlooked. This fact is that the
Hebrews categorized everything in their Bible into one of three genres: The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.[1] The Law refers to the Pentateuch
(the first five books of the Bible: Genesis-Deuteronomy). The Writings refer to what is commonly
known as “wisdom literature” (Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the
Song of Solomon). The Prophets
category encompasses everything else, including, and especially important for
us, the books that we commonly view as “historical books.” In other words, all of the
“historical books” in the Old Testament were considered to be prophetical
writings. This is important to know
because, while these books record true history, their purpose is greater than
that. They were written to persuade
their original audiences and us of something. In the case of Samuel, the history
recorded documents Israel’s transition from a loose confederation of tribes
into a unified nation under a king.
The purpose of the book is to persuade us that the only king who can
unite Israel and help her to fulfill her destiny as a blessing to the world
is a king like David, in spite of his flaws. The reason I want to begin with the
book of Judges is because, like Samuel, its goal is to persuade us of
something. That “something” is why
Israel needs a king in the first place.
In other words the purpose of the book of Judges is to make the case
that Israel (and we) needs a king.[2] We’ll look at the three reasons
that Israel (and we) need a king by considering a big-picture outline of the
book of Judges. That outline is as
follows: I.
Faltering
Conquest (Judges 1-2:5) II.
Cycles of
Good and Bad under the Judges (Judges 2:6-16) III.
Anarchy without
a King (Judges 17-21) The Faltering Conquest (Judges
1-2:5) In Israel’s history up to this
point, they had been delivered from bondage in Egypt and given the mandate to conquer the land of
Canaan (the Promised Land). While the
conquest started relatively successfully as seen in the book of Joshua, it
didn’t continue this way. The very
first line in the book of Judges is a question, “Who shall go up first for us
against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” The question is a question of
leadership. Who will lead us? God answers, “Judah...” In fact, Judah
does lead for a time, and God blesses them by giving the Canaanites into
their hands. However, a problem
arises: everyone else fails! •
The house
of Benjamin did not drive out the inhabitants of Jerusalem (1:21). •
The house
of Joseph cut a deal with an inhabitant of Bethel and let him live because of
his assistance. He went on to build a
city (1:22-26). •
The tribe
of Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean...they put the
Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out (1:27-29). •
The
tribes of Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Napthali, and Dan all failed (1:29; 30;
31; 33; 34). Their problem, at the end of the
day, was unbelief and disobedience.
God delivered them from Egypt and promised them that he would give
them the land. They were to take it
by faith. What they lacked was a
leader, a king, who would lead them in conquering their foes by keeping
covenant with God and believing His promises. What’s this got to do with
us? Everything. Let me ask you a question, whether you are
a Christian or not. Isn’t your life
one long string of faltering or failed conquests? You try to overcome besetting sins or “bad habits” and over and
over again you fail. Can anything
help? The answer is “yes”—a
king. Fortunately for you and me,
there is such a king. His name is
Jesus. He conquered sin where you and
I failed. He even bore the punishment
that our unbelief and disobedience merited.
Not only this, but He promises all who trust in Him not only victory
over sin and death here and now, but that He, in fact, will deliver us into
not just the Promised Land, but into a new heaven and new earth. If “faltering conquest” doesn’t convince
you that you need a king, perhaps the next portion of the book of Judges from
when it takes its name will persuade you. Cycles of Good and Bad Under the Judges
(2:6-16) After the narrative of Israel’s
faltering conquest of the land, we’re given the story of Joshua’s death and
this transitions us into the time of “Cycles of Good and Bad Under the
Judges.” What we see here are the
same cycles happening over and over. Starting
at 2:13, we see a summary of the cycle they repeat over and over: “They
abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of
the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who
plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies,
so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched
out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned,
and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. Then
the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who
plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored
after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way
in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the
LORD, and they did not do so. Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them,
the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies
all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning
because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge
died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after
other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of
their practices or their stubborn ways.” (Judges 2:13-19 ESV) In summary, Israel sins; God turns
them over to their sins; they despair and cry out for deliverance; God pities
them and sends a “judge” to deliver and lead them.[3] Eventually, the judge dies and the people
fall back into their sin and the cycle begins again. There are twelve different judges
whose stories we are told and the order in which they are presented is just
as important as the stories themselves.
The first “judge” we see is Othniel and, for the sake of argument,
he’s “perfect.” By this I mean that
as the story is recorded he does nothing wrong for forty years. As the narrative progresses through each
successive judge, we see a progressive slide down both in their effectiveness
and their faithfulness. The last judge recorded is Samson
and, while he’s redeemed in the end, he is a picture of everything bad that
was going on in Israel. The point is
that while the judges offered temporary help and deliverance for Israel, at
the end of the day, they weren’t good enough. They weren’t able to break these cycles of good and bad. Only one person could break these cycles
of good and bad, leading Israel in and to faithfulness to God’s covenant—a
king. What’s this got to do with
you? Everything. Let me ask you another question? Whether you are a Christian or not, is
your life anything more than “cycles of good and bad”? You stray from God and then something bad
happens; you’re delivered and are thankful for a while and then you
stray—over and over. The only thing
that can break these cycles of good and bad is a king—Jesus. Jesus came and delivered us from
our sins once and for all. So instead
of living in cycles of good and bad, we live with purpose and direction. And when we fall or stray, our great God
not only graciously forgives, but in fact, pursues us and reigns us in. If a faltering conquest and cycles
of good and bad fail to convince you, there is one more argument the writer
of Judges employs and that is the argument of anarchy without a king. Anarchy without a King (17-21) Chapter 16 is the last we hear of
judges in this book. In chapter 17 the focus turns to Israel’s
preachers. In other words, if you
thought things were bad under the reign of the judges, under religious
leaders it is worse. The primary example in these chapters
is the story of a Levite sojourning with his concubine through the hill country of Ephraim. He stops for the night near Jerusalem and
is put up for the night by an old man who urges him not to stay near the city
square. During the night men from the
tribe of Benjamin come and demand that the Levite be sent outside that they
may “know” him (19:22). Does this
remind you of anything? It should. The language is almost exactly the same as
the language and the actions that brought God’s judgment upon Sodom and
Gomorrah! And this is Israel! It gets worse. The Levite hands over his
concubine to the men. They abuse her
throughout the night and, in the morning, he finds her dead on the
doorstop. At this, “he entered his
house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb
by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of
Israel” (Judges 19:29 ESV). The reason he cut her up and sent
her to Israel was because, essentially, he was making a declaration of war
against the tribe of Benjamin saying, “Whoever does not come and fight with
me, what has happened to this woman [normally an animal], will happen to
you.” Needless to say, mayhem ensued. The summary of this story and the
whole book is, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what
was right in his own eyes.” (Judges
21:25 ESV) In other words, the remedy
for Israel’s self-destructive impulses was, apparently, a king. What’s this got to do with
you? Everything. Let me ask you another question. While
your life might not be as crazy as some of the things we’ve seen in the book
of Judges, how successful have you been or are you at overcoming your own
self-destructive impulses or running your life or family? If you’re honest, you’ll say, “not
very.” The only thing that can both
deliver you and guard you from your own self-destructive impulses is a
king. There is one—His name is Jesus. After He conquers our sin and breaks the
cycles of good and bad in our lives He says, “Follow me...I’ll not only
protect you from your enemies without, but I’ll defeat the enemy within.” Do you see your own need for a
king? Do you have relationship with
the only king who can meet those needs?
Think about that as we move forward and consider the book of Samuel. |
[1]
Also known as the tanakh. An acronym for Torah (the Law); Nevi’im (the Prophets); and Ketuvim
(the writings).
[2] Specifically, Judges makes the case that
Israel needs a king from the line of Judah, not Benjamin.
[3]
The Hebrew word for “to judge” is shaphat, which also means “to lead.” This said, with the exception of one person,
Deborah, who heard some judicial cases, all Israel’s judges were military
leaders.