Doing What is Right in Their Own Eyes
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6, 21:25)
Four times the Book of Judges tells us there was no king in Israel during those days (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25). Two of those occurrences also add that “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” We need to think back and remember that by this time, Israel had been led by Moses and Joshua among others. They had also been given the written Law of God by the finger of God Himself. Clearly, the children of Israel had the opportunity to know right from wrong.
Instead of obeying God’s commands after they settled the Promised Land, the Bible says they turned to sin over and over again. And because we serve a merciful God, each time the Israelites would cry out to God He would raise up a “judge” that would deliver them from their enemies. But sadly, the Jews had short memories – nearly as soon as God would spare the Jews from their adversaries, they would turn right back to the sins that got them in a mess in the first place.
The culmination of Israel’s sin is that “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Rather than doing what was right in the eyes of God, those chose to do what seemed best to themselves. That’s a sure-fire recipe for disaster, and one we seem to be following quite well in the United States. Sometimes even our “churches” tend to follow their own desires rather than God’s. Today I encourage you to discover what God desires for your life and do what’s right in HIS eyes.
Four times the Book of Judges tells us there was no king in Israel during those days (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25). Two of those occurrences also add that “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” We need to think back and remember that by this time, Israel had been led by Moses and Joshua among others. They had also been given the written Law of God by the finger of God Himself. Clearly, the children of Israel had the opportunity to know right from wrong.
Instead of obeying God’s commands after they settled the Promised Land, the Bible says they turned to sin over and over again. And because we serve a merciful God, each time the Israelites would cry out to God He would raise up a “judge” that would deliver them from their enemies. But sadly, the Jews had short memories – nearly as soon as God would spare the Jews from their adversaries, they would turn right back to the sins that got them in a mess in the first place.
The culmination of Israel’s sin is that “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Rather than doing what was right in the eyes of God, those chose to do what seemed best to themselves. That’s a sure-fire recipe for disaster, and one we seem to be following quite well in the United States. Sometimes even our “churches” tend to follow their own desires rather than God’s. Today I encourage you to discover what God desires for your life and do what’s right in HIS eyes.
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