LESSON FIFTEEN
Israel Needs a King
We wince at Israel’s repeated pattern:
- They commit idolatry
- God punishes them by handing them over to their enemies
- God graciously raises up a judge to rescue and restore them
- Israel abandons the Lord—again—after the judge dies.
Even the judges who deliver Israel fail. They do not combine their military leadership with moral integrity. Therefore Israel spirals further into spiritual, moral, political, and social chaos. Israel provides a window into the human condition through the ages: without God’s mercy and restraining grace, we spiral into deepest darkness.
Israel’s unraveling in the book of Judges is uncomfortable and painful to watch. It leaves us asking questions: Is there any hope? Will they remain in the land, or will God exile them like humanity was exiled from the garden? Can anything, or anyone, end this downward spiral?
This final section of Judges subtly points the way forward with a repeated refrain: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” If God’s plan of grace is going to continue to unfold through Israel, the people will need a king.