When I hear people talk about the book of Judges, it’s usually something along the lines of “That book is so depressing.” The sentiment is understandable. Things just go from bad to worse. Even the good things that happen seem to be a prelude for greater trouble. Yet our struggles with God’s word should draw us deeper into it. That’s the point. Why does Judges weigh so heavily upon us? And why should this make us more eager to read it? Here are three reasons:
1) It leaves us without wiggle room for our sin.
One of the greatest themes of Judges is found in the closing words of the book: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 21:25). We so often wish we could banish discussion of sin to those surrounding us, but this description is made of God’s own people. The nations aren’t the problem in Judges—they are instruments of God’s judgment upon his own people. The problem is our own hearts.
God continually brings judgment upon his people so that they cry out, but their cries are not for forgiveness but for relief. God graciously appoints a judge who intercedes and fights on their behalf and they are delivered from their enemies. But then his people descend back into sin—often of a greater magnitude—and the cycle starts over. This is why the book often makes us cringe—it not only pictures the depths of human depravity, but it holds up a mirror to our very own.
2) It shows the futility of human deliverance.
Each of the judges raised up by the Lord is used for the deliverance of God’s people, but they are just human. They can no more save God’s people from their sins than they can save themselves. In fact, the judges could well be considered Old Testament saviors, but they are woefully insufficient in that role. They are only able to save a portion of God’s people, and only for a time. And not from their sins, but from their immediate suffering.
This is a stark reminder to those of us who look to ourselves or exclusively to others in our time of need. You can dive into an intersection to save a child from a speeding car, but that child will still eventually die. And you have done nothing for the sin of that child. You may find love, or success, or recognition—and none of it will be your salvation. Our need is such that only God can provide for us the remedy. We need him to not only appoint a savior but to be the savior.
3) It directs our eyes to our heavenly Savior.
The heart of Judges is found in the account of Samson in chapters 13–16. Every child who has passed through Sunday School has been awed by the strength of Samson. But all that awes us about Samson did not come from his own strength, but the one who strengthened him.
Samson was the product of a miraculous birth announced by the angel of the Lord. Yet Samson was profoundly flawed. His pride and infatuation with women were so widely known that the Philistines could exploit his sin using Delilah. We are never stronger than our own sin. Yet God’s salvation was stronger than Samson’s sin and is stronger than our own.
Samson thought his strength was in his hair, but his strength was in the Lord. It was the Lord who set him apart from birth. It was also the Lord who grew back his hair and strengthened him to destroy the Philistines, making his death for God’s people even more effective than his life.
In both his strength and his weakness, Samson points forward to Jesus. Our Savior did not die for a portion of God’s people but for all of them. He did not accomplish a temporary salvation but a permanent one. He died not for his sin but for ours. And unlike Samson and all the judges, he was raised from the grave and sits at God’s right hand, where he intercedes for us (Rom. 8:34). Judges shows not only the depths of our sin and need for a Savior, but it also pictures the one who came and saved us to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).
