What does it mean to have no king?

April 5, 2008

Judges 17:6 UPDV
(6) In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

What does it mean to have no king? In our world today, especially in the United States, it does not seem to make a lot of sense. What if I was to say they had no mayor or city council. Here in the United States we might even say they had no governor or president. The king was the one responsible for making the laws. Others may enforce them, but he made them or approved of what others brought to them. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had no laws? If we had no laws we could drive any way we wanted and if we had an accident we could claim it was the other persons fault since they did not do what I wanted them to do. Or worse, we could kill innocent lives any time we wanted because they were inconvenient to us.

Israel however did have a king. Yes I know it says that they did not, but it was that they did not have a physical king. God was their king but they could not see Him. So they all just did what ever it was they wanted to do. Isn't it great that we have laws and people to rule us? We don't just do what we want and kill people innocently do we? Or do we. We as a nation and a world have lost track of the God who created us. We throw around laws that are good for most of the people but then we decide what is OK to do and what is not. Since a newly formed baby in the mother's womb is not a life we can terminate it's existence if it is inconvenient for us. When people get too old to care for do we care for them. Already some people are saying when someone gets too old that maybe we should terminate their lives. What's next. Extinguishing the lives of people born with or who acquire a defect like a hearing or a sight problem?

No I guess it is good that we have a ruler over us, isn't it. It is not the governor or the president. His name is God Almighty. Let us follow His rules for life.

Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Judges 16:1-18:31
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Judges 19:1-21:25
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