Scripture:
Judges 21:25 – In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
Observation:
We need God to be our king.
Application:
The stories in the book of Judges are awful. Really… you start wondering why God would include them in His book. The one that really stood out this morning was the story of the raped concubine. I’ll save you the recap… you can read it if you want … Judges 19… Suffice it to say that no one comes off looking good in this story. No one. Not even God. The story leaves you wondering why God is not judging this awful sin… and there is plenty of sin to go around: the Levite, the concubine, the father of the concubine, the old man who offered his home, the men of Gibeah… it goes on and on. Why do I say that God doesn’t even look good? He is silent on a lot of the sin. He judges some of it, but not all of it. Finally… at the end of the book… one of the phrases that is said at the beginning of chapter 18 and 19 is explained. The phrase is, “In those days Israel had no king.” God explains it with the last sentence in Judges. He says, “everyone did as he saw fit.” For most people, doing whatever you want to do sounds like freedom. The stories in the book of Judges show the folly of that thought. Whatever we see fit, when our thoughts are not shaped by God’s holiness, is evil. Evil thoughts lead to evil deeds. These stories are supposed to shock us. They are supposed to show us what a life not surrendered to the holiness of God looks like. It isn’t pretty.
One of the beautiful things about reading through the Bible in 90 days is that I am reading more Bible than I usually read in a single sitting. It caused me to read the story of Ruth and Boaz immediately following all that disgusting stuff from Judges. The story of Ruth and Boaz is a beautiful Old Testament picture of what Jesus will do for us on the cross. Jesus is our kinsman redeemer. He is our Boaz. It was also a beautiful reminder that God is not silent on our sin. He has not missed one single act of rebellion. He has punished it thoroughly on the cross. For those who trust in Jesus, He has taken the punishment we deserve. He was crushed for our iniquity. Praise God, Jesus is our kinsman redeemer. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. Praise Him.
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for the sacrifice you gave to pay for my sin. Thank you that you have not treated me as I deserve, but instead have lavished grace and mercy on me. Help me point people to the only source of grace and mercy that exists… your Son, Jesus.
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