Day 5

One common expression regarding the Bible is that the good news of Jesus saving sinners is like a single crimson thread spanning from Genesis to Revelation. A gospel thread can seem difficult to find in a book like Judges. The reason for such difficulty is because Judges can be a bleak and distressing portion of scripture. The final verse best captures the wretched nature during the day of the Judges: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)

There are two glaring problems in this verse. First, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” A false sense of self-reliance led the nation of Israel into deep, dark sin. Sin was the root cause of all of Israel’s pains and woes. The second problem was that “in those days there was no king in Israel.” The nation of Israel was not satisfied being led by God himself and instead wanted to be led by an earthly king like other nations.

The gospel comes to center stage in the book of Judges because Jesus is the true and better King of Israel, God’s people. Jesus is the ultimate protector and savior of his people from their own sin. The good news of Judges is that Jesus can save his people, even from rock bottom!

By: Eli Alexander