No King but Christ
By Matt Watson
The thesis statement for the Book of Judges is “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 21:25). This book of the Bible shows us what happens when people reject God.
In those days, the only law acknowledged was the one enforced by the edge of the sword. As a result, it was an early precursor to the Old West or the Viking conquest featuring assassinations, invasions, guerilla warfare, raids, warlords, oppression, stupid vows, rape, pillaging, town-razing, and army slaying. Every problem Israel faced in the Book of Judges traces back to this issue: instead of obeying God’s Word, will, and ways, they followed their own. And that always got them in worse and worse situations.
But here’s the thing: when Israel did get a king, they weren’t necessarily better off. The prophet Samuel told them as much, relaying this warning from God himself:
11 These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.
1 Sam 8:11-18 ESV
That’s what happened when Saul was appointed king. Saul was from Benjamin and acted just like his ancestors did. Even David acted corruptly, taking Uriah’s wife and then sending him to the front lines to die for his king and country. David’s son Solomon had a sex addiction that led to having 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kgs 11:3). And they only got worse after that.
Yet, David reminds us that when we place our trust in kings and armies, chariots and horses, rather than in the name of the Lord, we will be failed by them (Ps 20:7). We can’t put our hope in presidents or congress. We can’t place our sense of security in the military-industrial complex that sends our young men (and now women) to be cogs in a war machine, either dying in foreign lands or returning home with PTSD, only to be told their "disability is not service-related." We can’t put our financial hopes in job promotions, raises, and bank accounts. We can’t place our joy in our success, or the success of our children.
Why not? One might point out that a good job, well-behaved kids, sacrificing for a justified war and national security, and a functional government are all good things. True, but they aren’t ultimate things, and when a people reject God, they aren’t possible things either. They are fragile and fallible, leading to failure.
All the kings of Israel (and later Judah), the good ones and the bad ones, point forward to one in the line of David who would redeem rather than abuse his people. Jesus is the implication behind the last verse in the Book of Judges, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” and the point of this sermon and blog series. Jesus is the King we all need. He is the only person whom we can place our trust, hope, joy, and security in because he is the Son of God. He will not fail us like governments and armies, bank accounts, or even family.
Here are just a handful of verses about the nature of Jesus’ Kingship:
Heb 1:8, “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.’”
Rev 19:15-16, “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Rom 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Jer 23:5, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
So here is my final invitation, one that is imperative to accept. Reject the ways of the world, your sin, and your flesh. Repent from doing what is right in your own eyes, and instead do what is right in God’s eyes, for those who love the Lord obey his commandments (1 John 5:3). Place your full hope and faith on the one King that will not fail you, Jesus. He is mighty to save.
This article was originally published by Matthew Watson with Awake! Put on strength!, and is used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.