Contemplative Bible Reading

Judges 21:25 (New Living Translation)

25 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

This sentence appears four times in the book of Judges. There are many explanations and interpretations of it. Some reflect good on the people while others reflect bad.

There are times when it is best for individual followers of God to do what they believe is best. These followers need no instruction from someone else. They are following God and they continue to follow God in what they decide to do. Some human leaders lead people in the wrong direction in some situations. It is better not to follow them.

There are times when it is best for individual followers of God to follow the lead of a person provided by God. The leader from God knows better.

During the times recorded in the book of Judges, it appears that most of the people were weak in how they followed God. For one reason or another, they just didn’t have what it took to tell right from wrong and do what was righteous.

I can sit here in the coffee shop this morning and proclaim that us coffee shop dwelling Christians of 2024 have what it takes to tell right from wrong and do what is righteous. Please, quiet the laughter at the foolish arrogance of that statement.

Let’s return to the subject at hand and the time of the Judges. The people were looking for a man to sit in a fancy chair and show them righteousness. No one appeared. The people floundered about with some of them being righteous. The cream, however, didn’t rise to the top.

It took a prophet named Samuel, born miraculously of a dejected mother, to be righteous and show righteousness. God eventually told Samuel to anoint a man as king. God then told Samuel to anoint another man to replace the first man after the first man strayed away from God’s instructions. A long list of kings followed. Some were worth following while many weren’t.

God remained faithful and steadfast the entire time to this day. Thank you God. Please keep guiding me in my weakness.