On reading Judges

Today I finished reading the book of Judges. It was like reading a compilation of short stories—some were wonderful, some were gripping, others were tragic. But most of them, I found to be atrocious. 

I don’t mean it in a way to say that the writing’s terrible (in fact, I’d say otherwise for I enjoyed the read). But the stories touched on subjects like murder, rape, dismemberment and other things depraved that it made the hairs on my back stand. The entire time I was reading, I was horrified and I kept asking God how come.

But every once in a while, the following passage would show up and I get reminded why:

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”

The Judges was a dark time in the history of Israel. And it felt like such a scary place to live in. 

But as in all scripture, there’s a timeless truth that we can pick up from it: Without a king or a ruler, each man will do what seems right in his eyes. And when that happens, chaos ensues. The same can be true for our lives. When Christ isn’t Lord and King of every part of us, we are left on our own to decide what seem good to us, what seem good for us. But with our limited vision and finite wisdom, sometimes we only get to see a good that is relative. It’s easy to fail to see the big picture and focus on what will help us in our primal desire for self preservation.

I mull on all these things as I cross the street, walking, on my way home. The pedestrian light goes red, signaling me to stop. I pause but as there were no cars actually passing, I contemplate if I should make a run for it. And then I am reminded:

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”

I heave a sigh of surrender and wait. Some people who were actually behind me paused for a while. They look at me, look at the traffic light, look at the empty street and back to me again. And then I watch them pass me by, cross the street as if strolling in a park and only quicken their pace when there’s a sure sign of an approaching car.

“Everyone did as he saw fit” rung at my ears as if the times of the Judges were here where I lived. Again, the hairs of my back stand and I shudder at the thought of it.

Nov

27

2011

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CUDDLE FUDDLE by DEDDY