Lessons from The Judges

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. — Judges 21:25 ESV

The book of Judges reads like a commentary on our country in 2024 yet it describes the nation of Israel between 1375-1100 B.C. In Judges, Israel has rejected God and embraced the surrounding culture. Men exchanged leadership for passivity. Everyone was doing what they wanted rather than what they ought to have done. There was mass unrest and anxiety about the future. Sound familiar?

But the Book of Judges also provides perspective for those seeking to walk by faith when the culture feels like it has gone crazy.

Lesson 1: Politicians Are Not Your Hope

Commentators note a cycle through the Book of Judges. The nation of Israel sins then they are taken into captivity. The people eventually pray to God for rescue and He sends a judge who provides rest for the people. But once the judge dies, the cycle starts again.

Even with more godly leadership, all the judges could do was restrain evil, never fully defeat it. God's Word describes earthly rulers as “God's deacon” meant to restrain evil and promote good (see Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17). The purpose of law is to punish wickedness and cultivate virtue. But what the nation needed was not simply rewritten laws, but also recreated hearts.

As Election Day nears, we need to know that the leaders of our nation have an important role. Public policy has public impact. Your vote matters. But it isn't ultimate. The judges would die and the people would go back to their sin. Eventually, every President will leave office and your political party will lose power. What will we be left with when that happens?

What we need is a hope that can't be voted away. What people need is to be transformed by the gospel. The dark days of the judges prepare us for the light of Jesus

Lesson 2: Jesus is an Eternal King.

Throughout the Book of Judges, the Holy Spirit rushes upon the leaders of Israel for temporary empowerment (Judges 14:6, 19, 15:14). But what Israel needed was a leader on whom the Spirit rests. In earlier days, Moses longed for the Spirit that empowered Israel's leaders to dwell on all of God's people (see Numbers 11:29). Isaiah 11 foretells of a Savior on whom the Spirit will rest and never depart. What the nation needed was Jesus.

As our Savior was being baptized in the Jordan River, an extraordinary thing happened. As He goes down in the water, the Spirit descends on Jesus and “rests” on Him (Matthew 3:16). At His baptism, the truth is declared. Jesus is the King that Israel needs because He alone is able to transform the people by the power of the Spirit.

Like the judges, Jesus died. But unlike the judges, Jesus rose again and ascended to His throne never to die or be voted out of office! The Spirit has rested on Him and He sends the Spirit to rest in His followers. Jesus is an eternal King who offers His eternal Spirit and eternal hope under His rule. We don't have to live like the people in the days of the Judges any longer. Believers in Jesus can live differently.

Lesson 3: We Have Something Greater Than the Judges

By faith, followers of Jesus are united with Him and the Spirit that rested on Him now rests on us. Believers are indwelled, sealed, and empowered by the Spirit of God. God used to dwell in a temple made of stone, but now He dwells inside the heart of every believer (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

We have a resource that our Old Testament heroes longed to have; “the Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells within us” (Romans 8:11)! In Christ, we experience recreation and are invited to partake in resurrection power. What the nation in the days of the judges needed we have received.

So regardless of how November goes or how the culture descends, followers of Jesus have access to hope and power that transcends our circumstances. We don't have to despair on November 7th nor do we have to go with the flow of the culture. By the Spirit we can walk in confidence as the culture goes to chaos.

May the Spirit of God empower us to cultivate virtue and to experience peace that surpasses all understanding.