“But I don’t want to! I’ll die if I eat my veggies!” wailed my child who has a flair for the dramatic. He thought he knew best and was convinced of the morbid outcome, but as his parent I knew the truth:

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1. He would not die if he ate his veggies.

2. Veggies are actually good for him.

3. He was letting his stubbornness and pride control him.

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In today’s passage we’re looking at the Israelites after they settled in the Promised Land. Before they ever appointed a human king, God raised up leaders called “judges” to guide and lead them. Some of the judges did well (such as Othniel and Deborah), while others struggled in their calling (like Abimelech and Samson). In Judges 17:6 we first see the phrase “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

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In this chapter we see the lawlessness starting small - in a single household. A man named Micah and his mother take (or possibly steal) silver, forge a pagan idol, and build a private shrine. Micah even appoints his own son as a priest. This went directly against what the Lord commanded, and Micah had no authority to make that decision (Num. 3:5-10). It appears that Micah is disappointed with his son’s performance because he hires a wandering, corrupt Levite, foolishly telling himself, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest” (vs. 13).  

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In chapter 18 the corruption moves from the family unit to the whole tribe. Some men see Micah’s idols and his priest and use them as an excuse to brutally slaughter a whole town and take it over. None of this compares, though, to the extreme moral depravity of the entire nation of Israel in chapters 19-21. I’ll spare the horrifying and gruesome details, but even the Israelites said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day” (Jdgs. 19:30).

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The Israelites chose to let sin and pride control them. They had turned away from God and decided they knew what was best for themselves. They had even moved past the tantrums and fighting against God and started ignoring him altogether.  

When my son threw a tantrum over his dinner, he couldn’t see that I was doing anything but punishing him. He didn’t realize that as his parent, my job isn’t to make his life easy and happy, but to guide and teach him as he grows up. When we reject God’s boundaries, we think we are gaining “freedom.” But the end of Judges proves that when human beings become their own highest authority, it doesn’t lead to freedom - it leads to a nightmare of lawlessness, abuse, and destruction.

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Hebrews 12:7-8 says, “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” God is a good Father because he disciplines us, not despite it.

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In what area of your life right now are you tempted to "do what is right in your own eyes" instead of trusting God's Word?

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Is there a boundary or a commandment from God that you are treating like a restriction rather than a protection?

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Lord, remind me today that you are King. Forgive me for the times that I let my own pride, comfort, or stubbornness dictate my choices. Give me a heart that trusts your boundaries, knowing that you are a good Father who leads me to life. Amen.