What or Who has Authority in Your Life?

As I have been watching events unfold these last few years on both a national and local scale, I have found the book of Judges impressed upon my heart. In particular I have been drawn to the events that unfold in Judges 19. My heart aches as I read this tragic story. I feel grief for both Israel historically and for the people (You and I) today.

Judges 19 documents an horrific account of a Levite’s concubine, who is abused and battered to the point of death, because of the Levite’s choice.

This woman should have been safe in a city full of Israelites. Instead, she is the victim of a group of perverse and wicked men who prove themselves to be no better than the Canaanites. Judges 19 reminds us of a similar story and time in Biblical History, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19.

Similar to the sinful men in Judges 19 (V22-25) who demand for the Levite to be sent out to them to have sex with (the Levite instead offers his concubine), Genesis 19 (V4-8) documents Abraham’s nephew Lot in a similar set of circumstances. Evil men of the town came to Lot’s door demanding to have sex with the two male guests inside of Lot’s house (Lot offers his two virgin daughters instead). These two stories are not exactly alike in detail and outcome but they do highlight just how easily man can fall into the bondage of sin and rebellion against God.

Small acts of disobedience turn into larger acts of evil.

What drastic consequences can result when social protocol carries more authority than moral convictions…

“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6). This is a key verse and phrase in the book of Judges;

This phrase, "in those days Israel had no king..." is repeated several times: In the epilogue indicating the main theme of the book and this phrase is used to close the book as well.

The period of the Judges, while bloody and horrendous at times, exemplifies the magnitude of God’s loving mercy and His heart for His people. Judges is a historical book documenting the history of Israel from a theological viewpoint. The repeated failures and Israel’s unfaithfulness to God is on full display! BUT… so is God’s character! You get to see a just God allowing a nation to fully reap the consequences of their actions; You see a God who REPEATEDLY proves to be faithful and merciful, and with testing HE provides deliverance. Through many cycles of disobedience we get to see God’s love for us in HIS patient discipline.

The people had clear direction from the Lord on what they were to do going forward now that they were in the Promised Land of Canaan.

However, true to theme the people decided that they knew better and chose for themselves what they would do, oftentimes ignoring very clear directions from the Lord such as:

Failing to obtain all of the Promised Land; they did not drive out the inhabitants of the Land, disobeying the covenant from Deut. 12:9. This unfaithfulness necessitated judges needing to be raised up to lead them.

The failure of the generations after Joshua to teach God’s covenant to their children had devastating impacts spiritually, politically, socially, and economically. “After that a whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who new neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel”, Judges 2:10.

A few practical takeaways from the book, broadly speaking:

1. When we allow seemingly harmless habits to go unchecked before the Lord, they grow and can become dominating forces that rule us. And without God – there is no stopping the depravity and the deeds which follow.
2. Unity of the Church is important, holding each other accountable to God’s laws is essential. Obedience will lead to blessings.
3. When the Israelites faith disintegrated, their unity as a nation disintegrated. They could have taken complete possession of the land had they obeyed and trusted God. At this time they had been in the promised land around 300 years.
4. The nation failed to establish a government based upon God’s moral principles. Laws were not enforced, crime was ignored, and the magnitude of these crimes grew. It took a terrible tragedy to wake the people up and even then, instead of the matter being dealt with swiftly, many lives were lost unnecessarily.
5. To prevent our unresolved problems from turning into major conflicts, we should take action to deal with them swiftly.
6. We find our direction through God’s word, prayer, and obedience.

The most important takeaway from the period of the Judges is a warning! A firm warning against synchronizing your behavior with the behavior of the world. In Christ we are called to be set apart and holy, not conforming to this world. (Romans 12:2) (John 17:15-18) (Ephesians 2:10).

This book provides for us the groundwork laid for the people’s needs of a righteous king, ONE who will save the people and change their hearts, ONE who will lead them to faithfulness to God. Judges shows us the imperfection of fallen man and gives a stark contrast to who the Christ will be and our need for a perfect Savior.

I encourage you to pray and search the scriptures to test what is true, I encourage you to pray and ask God to reveal to you anything in your life that you may be giving authority to over the authority of God’s word; for His word is the light to guide our path (Psalm 119:105).