In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jdg. 21:25). The phrase is often used to evoke visions of godless anarchy in Israel with the accompanying suggestion that centralization of influence and authority would cure the problems.
The fact there was no king in Israel was surely significant as the point is made in Judges 17:6, 18:1 and 19:1 and is consistently associated with ungodly conduct. We misread scripture, however, if we think the solution Yahweh had in mind was a concentration of influence in human hands.
Iniquity initiated by kings
When the kings did rule, on numerous occasions they were the ones who introduced idolatry into the nation. Time after time, the sin came from the top down, not the bottom up.
Solomon — To satisfy his foreign wives, Solomon built “an high place for Chemosh…and for Molech…and likewise did he for all his strange wives” (I Kgs. 11:7). Having thus made these places of abomination, Solomon gave the people a green light to turn away from the living God.
Jeroboam — “And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David…whereupon the king made two calves of gold and said unto [the people], It is too much…” (I Kgs. 12:27-33). And the false worship established by Jeroboam the son of Nebat became a continual entanglement for those of the northern kingdom. This iniquity did not originate with the people but with the king.
Ahab — “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD…and he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove…”
(I Kgs. 16:30-33). This was all Ahab’s doing that he might satisfy the Zidonian wife he had taken and secure favor from the foreign power she represented.
Jehoshaphat and Jehoram — Even Jehoshaphat, a king of Judah whose heart was devoted to “the ways of the LORD,” did terrible harm to his people by entering into a marital alliance with Ahab and Jezebel. Once his son Jehoram took over the kingdom, Jehoram “walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife…moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto” (II Chron. 21:6,11). The king caused the inhabitants to sin and “compelled” them into iniquity.
Amaziah and Ahaz — The litany of spiritual havoc wreaked by the kings continued. “Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites [and] brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods…”
(II Chron. 25:14). Ahaz “walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim…and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen…” Baal worship had been rooted out of Judah, but Ahaz reintroduced it, bringing the wrath of God upon the nation.
Manasseh — And then there was Manasseh, who went on an orgy of idolatry determined to destroy the worship of Yahweh in God’s own land. “He reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house of the LORD…So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen…” (II Chron. 33:3-9). “Manasseh made” them do it! The king was the initiator and leader of wickedness.
True, David and Hezekiah did great things for the spiritual welfare of the people. But, on balance, the kings were a spiritual disaster and in most generations the people would have been better off each doing his own thing. Perhaps then more of them would have chosen to love what was right and hate what was evil (as Boaz did in the time of the judges).
A form of national organization
This illustrates our point. The phrase in Judges is not advocating a human monarchy as the solution to spiritual anarchy. The words describe the national organization of Israel at the time as being tribal and patriarchal with places of worship scattered throughout the land, rather than being centralized (cf. Deut. 12:8).
There are two outstanding spiritual lessons in the phrase, however. In later generations, Israelites living under a corrupt monarchy could not look back to the tribal system and contend they had done better in those days. They had not, as is amply illustrated by the closing chapters of Judges.
Second, the statement is heavy with irony for there was a King in Israel during this time, but He was almost universally ignored. “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee [in wanting a human monarch]: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (I Sam. 8:7). In fact, the people ignored God to such an extent that Samuel agonized: “Ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king” (I Sam. 12:12).
The fact that God had anticipated the people’s desire centuries earlier (Deut. 17:14) did not remedy the situation. God’s anger was demonstrated by such thunder and rain at the wheat harvest that the people cried out: “Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king” (v. 19).
They had a king but could not see Him and did not obey Him. They wanted a human center of power and influence like the peoples around them. This was, however, against the will of God. When they received what they wanted, they may have been more politically cohesive but their spiritual condition eventually worsened.
Our similar situation
There is a striking parallel in our own situation. We have an organizational head that we cannot see. Christ is the head of our body; we can not see him but we must obey his words. We may find ourselves, like Israel, yearning for earthly centers of influence and authority.
It is often awkward being structured as we are with a significant degree of ecclesial autonomy. We may despair that everyone in the community does not react as we do and may favor a power center that forces everyone to walk in step with what we prefer.
But that is not the guidance provided by the New Testament. The only authority center was the Jerusalem Ecclesia which completely disappeared in A.D. 70. There is no provision for a center to replace Jerusalem or even for area bishops over a group of ecclesias. Each ecclesia is addressed on its own and was responsible for its own spiritual welfare.
Let us not misuse the closing verse in Judges to countermand the New Testament guidelines, but let us work to follow our head and apply the principles of his teaching within our lives both ecclesially and individually.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One