A fascinating book in the Old Testament is the book entitled, Judges. It tells of a period of time in Israel’s history that they were lacking strong consistent leadership, which is extremely ironic sense the book highlights some very strong leaders like Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson (he was at least physically strong).
Throughout the book, we see the people of God being drawn into ungodly practices and false beliefs that are influenced deeply by the surrounding countries. It appears that in the book, the Israelites continually forget the importance of worshipping God and following his teachings. Over and over again, it is only when the Israelites find themselves suffering difficult times, do they turn to the LORD and cry out for His help.
God’s faithfulness and grace is demonstrated through Him continually answering Israel’s prayer for deliverance by providing a “judge” to provide leadership and direction during difficult times. And then typically as result of the spiritual leadership provided through this judge, the people of God experience a time of peace and victory. Once this leader dies, the people quickly return to evil practices.
The book demonstrates numerous faith lessons. One lesson is that human beings can be very fickle and continually forget the importance of seeking God and obeying His teachings. The second lesson is that strong spiritual leadership makes a huge difference in the life of believers.
The last verse of the book could serve as a theme or summary verse of the entire book. It reads simply, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” Judges 21:25 NLT
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