Title: What A Mess! / Topic: No Moral Code

Today’s Reading: Judges 19; Judges 20; Judges 21; 2 Corinthians 4

Scripture: Judges 21:25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

Observation: The story in today's reading from Judges 19-21 is probably my least favorite in the whole Bible (yes, there are things in the Bible I don't like). What is obvious is this: moral confusion reigns. The closing verse, Judges 21:25 (above) gives the underlying cause. The situation was without leadership and had degenerated into a "anything goes" situation. However, it is clear that though there was a great deal of moral confusion, some semblance of a sense of right and wrong prevailed. The men of Israel were outraged by the actions of those who brutalized the woman. And the ghastly demonstration by the Levite surely stunned them.

Application: But the problem is not that Israel needed a king to rule over the nation -- at least not a human one. They needed a King, that is, God, over their hearts. God had led them through Moses and had imparted a code of morality but the people had apparently long-forgotten it. Though Moses has explicitly warned them and instructed them to write it down and to rehearse it to one and another and to their children and grandchildren, it had fallen from their awareness. "Everyone did as he saw fit." There were no standards. This brings me back to this truth: it is vital that each person instill God's truth into their own heart. A leader, whether a king or an pastor or a parent, cannot keep others on the right path. We each need God as our mentor and, thankfully, that is easy to do. We only need to spend time in reading and study of his word. It is readily available to us and within its pages we find the keys to life as God intended it to be lived. So the only question is, "Will we make it happen?"

Prayer: Lord, you did not leave us without guidance, to guess or feel our way forward. You gave us a clear code of principles on which to live. Thank you. Help me to regularly study it, to imbed it into my awareness, and to follow it carefully. And help me to lead others in this right and righteous path.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.