The Old Testament book of Judges records some of the most ridiculous episodes recorded in biblical history. In those days people seemed to have no idea what God's will was or who the true God was. Indeed, they were very spiritual or religious. They feared curses and went out of their way to keep the ignorant vows they had made, but, as 1 Samuel 3:1 says,
"In those days the word of the Lord was rare."
The book of Judges ends by saying,
"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."
The government in the days of the Judges was the government Moses and Joshua had set up under God's direction. It was a representative form of government based on local leadership. Each family was represented in a clan and each clan was represented in the tribe. The leadership of the 12 tribes would then make national decisions. But, within 3 and 4 generations after Moses the people had wandered from God's truth and embraced the philosophies (called "idols" or "false gods") of the Canaanites.
The book of Judges is filled with unbelievably stupid decisions by individuals. This culminates in some of the most un-taught chapters of the Bible. In these chapters the national leadership can only be described as pathetically incompetent. The political and military decisions that the leaders of the tribes of Israel made would consistently take a very bad situation and manage to make it unbearably worse.
The only answer for an ignorant people who can not make the right decision to govern their own families, clans and tribes is to find someone to think for them. The people asked Samuel for a king. Samuel resisted by saying God doesn't want you to have a king because he wants you to govern yourself and follow him. But, the situation is obvious and God agreed with the people's diagnosis of their own incompetence and said:
"Listen to them and give them a king." (1 Samuel 8:22)
When people at the personal, local and national level prove to be so ignorant and undisciplined in governing themselves, God will provide a king to lead the people in their private, local and national lives. The failure of our national "group-thinking" ability proves that our representatives have no idea what to do which reflects on us as local governments and as individuals. America, behold, your king is coming!
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