Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Judges 17:6b
Up to this point in the book of Judges, the threats against Israel came mainly from external forces (other nations that oppressed them). We now see a transition to a focus on the internal threat. It is the heart of the nation that is ultimately the greatest threat against them. We see that the corruption of worship was not confined to one family (Judges 17:1-5), but it quickly spread to a priest (7:7-13), and then a tribe (18) and it would continue to infect the whole of Israel to new depths.
Sin – in whatever form – doesn’t happen or stay in a vacuum. It spreads, it influences, it poisons, it grows. When we lose sight of the fact that we live in God’s world, that every breath we breathe and every beat of our heart is dependent fully upon him, and that we were created and are sustained for the sake of the glory of his name – things get very ugly.
One thing I noticed in this book is there is no mention of sacrifices to the Lord, no mention of the appointed festivals, and no mention of the reading of the law. All we see is people doing what they believe is right in their own eyes. Granted, there was surely a remnant of faithful people in the land of Israel, but it appears they were in the minority.
Not much different that we find today. Many churches are not preaching and teaching the whole counsel of God. They don’t speak of sin or hell, or of obedience to the will of God. But rather they give you entertainment and a TED talk. Many self-proclaiming Christians barely open their Bible, much less study it.
When the roots of the church aren’t deep, it allows people to be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:14). And before you know it, people are doing what is right in their own eyes.
The result of that is not good for a society or a nation.
Leave a Reply