IN HIS OWN EYES
LIBERTY AND LOVE #131
The Book of Judges is the dark account which describes the moral failure of God’s people during the early inhabitance of the land of Canaan. Whereas in the Book of Joshua, the Israelites enjoyed one success after another, in Judges they are defeated time and again because of their idolatry and rebellion against God.
The key phrase in the book that describes the spiritual condition of the Hebrew nation during the period of the Judges is found in Judges 17:6 and 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes.”
There is a recurring cycle that occurs throughout the nearly four centuries spanned by this book. This cycle consists of sin against God, the subsequent suffering brought about by the wrath of God, followed by the people’s supplication to God, and then God raising up a savior to deliver them out of their bondage. All too soon, however, the children of Israel slipped again into rebellion and idolatry and the cycle repeated itself.
There are many lessons to be learned from the Book of Judges relevant to today, not the least of which is the result of man doing what seems right to him. It should be obvious to anyone seeking to follow in the steps of the Savior that problems are caused whenever feelings become the standard that governs people’s lives. People like to be told that everything is black and white in religion because they don’t want to have to think. They just want to do what feels right because thinking requires effort.
Jeremiah states that it is “not in man to direct his own steps” (10:23). This is a lesson that the majority of the religious world is yet to learn. Human beings cannot decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. There has to be an outside, objective standard. Obviously the only qualified standard is that of the word of God. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in His way” (Ps. 37:23). “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9). The only way for men and women to sustain lives of godliness in the eyes of God is for life to be governed by the will of the Lord.
“All scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). Does not this within itself cover every area of life in which man needs a standard by which to be governed?
The Bible is described as a “...lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path” (Ps. 119:105). What does a light do? It provides direction in darkness. In the present darkness of earthly life (John 1:11), mankind must subject themselves to God’s will and make use of the divine lamp that has been provided to us.
1 John 1:7 states that “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.” To “walk in the light” certainly carries with it the idea of walking according to the direction of God’s word.
What happens today when man does what is right in his own eyes? The same thing that happened in the Book of Judges—man will rebel against the ways of God. We are seeing this everywhere today. The masses of humanity are going through life with no direction. They trust their opinions and the philosophies of darkness. Even in religion, with multitudes of people claiming to be Christians, there are those who are doing things that are contrary to God’s word simply because they will not let the Bible be their guide. They hold onto their man-made doctrines like they were gold. Unfortunately, as sad as it is to say it, people in religion don’t care what the Bible teaches about anything. What their church believes is all that matters.
Dewayne Dunaway
